Pollution Assessment & Remediation
Apr 03, 2014
In February 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP) promulgated significant amendments to the Department’s solid waste regulations 310 CMR 19.000 that include the addition of commercial organic waste as a “waste ban” material, and lowering of thresholds to existing banned materials such as paper, plastic, glass, and metal. Commercial organic material means food material and vegetative material from any entity that generates more than one ton of those materials for solid waste disposal per week. Regulations exclude material from a residence, and must be in a solid waste stream at 10% or less by volume. The allowable percentage of paper, glass, metal and plastic in a solid waste stream was lowered from 25% to 10% for each material individually and 30% for cumulative mixtures of banned material. While the brunt of compliance will first be felt by the solid waste management community (i.e. haulers, transfer stations, landfills, waste-to-energy plants), the need for improved recycling and source separation programs will be pushed up the waste stream to the generating site.
In support of these new solid waste rules, SAK Environmental organized a program for the Environmental Business Council of New England where the implications of compliance were discussed. Click here to view.
For assistance interpreting the regulations or to learn how SAK Environmental can assist with compliance, contact Steve Sakakeeny at ssakakeeny@sakenvironmental or (978)688-7804 ext 112.
