New York State Solid Waste Management Plan
The New York State Solid Waste Advisory Group's next meeting on the State Solid Waste Management Plan will be held on Tuesday, July 15, from 10am - 3pm at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation office at 102 Smith Boulevard at the Port of Albany. Directions to the NYSDEC office at the Port of Albany can be found here.
NYS law (ECL Section 27-0103), requires the Department to develop a solid waste management plan and biennial updates. The Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) was issued in 1987. It set a waste reduction and recovery goal of 50%-bold for its time--and contained a broad and aggressive list of recommendations. While the goal has, for the most part, been met many of the original plan's recommendations were never pursued and New York's recycling rate has leveled off, and may even have dropped, for the better part of the last decade. The most recent SWMP Update was issued in 1999/2000. No recycling or waste disposal data has been officially released since then.
The original plan, its implementation and the biennial updates were central to New York's efforts to proactively and properly address solid waste generation and management. However, since the last update, many municipalities, institutions and agencies have lost focus on waste prevention, reuse, and materials recovery as evidenced by flat or declining recovery rates. At the same time, disposal capacity has increased and new waste treatment technologies, such as high temperature conversion technologies (gasification, plasma arc conversion, etc), have emerged and are being promoted as a new panacea for disposal - fighting greenhouse gases, generating energy, and disposing of waste. Furthermore, emerging waste streams that were unheard of when the initial SWMP was developed, such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, and mercury-containing products, present new challenges for today's waste management decision-makers.
Given the time that has lapsed since the original plan was issued in 1987, the substantial changes in the industry and technology that have taken place since then, and the reported decline in recycling rates statewide, a comprehensive reevaluation of the state's solid waste programs, policies, plans and goals is long overdue. This year, the Department is tackling that task by developing a new SWMP.
This SWMP process offers an opportunity to take stock of where we are with regard to solid waste management strategies and articulate a bold vision for maximizing recovery and minimizing waste. A SWMP will provide the Department with an opportunity to address the broader environmental implications of solid waste management alternatives, including global climate change. The Plan will include an analysis of the environmental and economic benefits of its recommendations to maximize recovery and reduce waste. In so doing, we will build the case for legislative and regulatory actions to achieve more aggressive recovery goals.
Process
The department will host a series of stakeholder meetings with various interested parties/sectors to discuss these issues and gather input and direction this February and March. We are also soliciting ideas, input and suggestions (120kb, pdf) into our process. We will also assemble an advisory group to work more closely with staff to develop the plan and integrate public feedback. Once a draft plan is completed, hopefully by late Spring, the Department will hold regional meetings to present the draft plan and gather additional input and feedback as well as discuss the overall state of recycling and the barriers to improvement.
Positions of Interested Parties
Stakeholders are enthusiastic about the Department's attention to these issues. Precise positions are difficult to ascertain, which is why we've developed an in-depth stakeholder and public review process.
