Public Hearing, Draft of the Solid Waste Master Plan, MassDEP

Today I attended the preliminary Public Hearing on the Draft of the Solid Waste Master Plan at the Mass Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It is so motivating to hear the powerful women and men fighting for our state, our cities and towns, our environment, our public voice and to hear those who believe in the truth of REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE!

Below I have broken down what the draft focuses on, and what the advocates were suggesting as changes to the draft on record, during the hearing.

This is taken directly from the DRAFT - MASSACHUSETTS 2010-2020 SOLID WASTE MASTER PLAN, from JULY 1, 2010 titled "Pathway to Zero Waste"

Solid Waste Master Plan Focus

• Dramatically increase recycling and re-use and provide assistance to cities and towns;

• Maintain moratorium on additional municipal solid waste combustion (aka incinerators). Begin to develop new performance standards for existing waste-to-energy facilities that require higher recycling rates in waste collection areas, lower emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and higher efficiency in energy recapture;

• Seize green economic opportunities to build markets, jobs and firms in recycling, re-use, and related waste management efforts;

• Increase producer responsibility to reduce waste that needs to be recycled or disposed of by municipalities and eliminate products containing toxic chemicals from disposal; and

• Develop integrated solid waste management systems that minimize the amount of material that must ultimately be disposed of.

Major Issues With The Draft

Condensed and summarized from testimony of appx. 15 speakers from different organizations, governmental divisions, waste management companies, non-profit groups, advocacy groups, activists, volunteers etc.

• The time line. This draft proposes that we will be able to reduce annual solid waste disposal 30% by 2020, from 6,550,000 tons of disposal in 2008 to 4,550,000 tons of disposal in 2020. AND that by 2050, Massachusetts should reduce the amount of waste residents and businesses dispose of by 80%, and virtually eliminate products containing toxic chemicals from our disposal facilities.
This is too long, it's been proven from MANY other places in the commonwealth (Nantucket) and the country (CA) can reduce their waste to these numbers in under 5 years, so why do we need 50?

• The Title "Pathway to Zero Waste" was decidedly considered a poor title for this plan because the steps delineated did NOT suggest a way to get to an actual level of ZERO. The opposition felt that it should be called some other title that would accurately reflect the goals, OR to change the goals to make ZERO WASTE feasible.

• Success? Massachusetts had a previous Solid Waste Reduction Management Plan that the commonwealth did not come close to meeting its goals. The opposition wanted to know why there was not a specific section in the draft that said how this plan would be different in its ability to be successful.

• Loopholes! This draft contains several sections that allow for loopholes to occur - primarily with the wording for the section on municipal solid waste combustion (aka incinerators). The wording allows for alternate types of incinerators to be built and they are currently on the way in places like Taunton. We CANNOT allow for this draft to be finalized with wording that encourages loopholes!

You can Help fight this! Head over to MASSPIRG to read more on the Zero Waste Solution or to make a pledge now.

Here is the link to the MassDEP's site where you can see the draft for yourself, as well as updates, hearing times and contact information.
http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/priorities/dswmpu01.htm#swmp

DO YOUR PART AND: REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE!