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III.D. Solid Waste Management
According to RCRA, solid waste means any garbage, or refuse; sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi- solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities. The main constituent of the latter group is municipal solid waste (MSW), which includes paper and paperboard, yard waste, wood, metal, glass, food waste, plastics, rubber, leather, textiles, household hazardous waste, and miscellaneous inorganic waste.
Local governments may be responsible for managing the solid waste created by the households and businesses within the community. Proper management of solid waste is critical to public health, as well as to the aesthetics of a community. As shown in Exhibit 50, such management usually includes several distinct activities:
· Collection and storage
· Recycling and composting, source reduction
· Disposal (including landfilling and municipal waste combustion)
· Household hazardous waste management.
Activities conducted by the local government have the potential to impact the environment and are regulated under U.S. environmental laws and regulations:
· Activities with aspects regulated under RCRA:
- Landfill design and operation
- Municipal waste combustion
· Activities with aspects regulated under CWA:
- Operation of transfer stations (storm water)
· Activities with aspects regulated under EPCRA/CERCLA:
- Composting (chemical storage)
· Activities with aspects regulated under CAA:
- Collection
- Landfill design and operation
- Municipal waste combustion.
The initial activities in solid waste management are collecting and storing the solid waste. Collection involves either picking up the waste at curbside or backdoors or gathering it from drop-off locations. Storage is basically maintaining the waste at an interim site prior to recycling or final disposal.
Collection
Depending on the demographics, geographic environment, and/or state law, every local government has some type of service in which solid waste is collected from residents. Collection services can be provided by a local government using its own employees and equipment, by a private firm(s) through an established contract(s) with the local government, or by a private collection service that has contracted directly with residents.
Local governments use an array of methods for collecting solid waste, including:
· Curbside or alley collection
· "Backyard set out-set back" or "backyard carry," in which containers are carried from backyards by collection crews to the curbs for collection
· Drop-off stations, where residents deliver solid waste to a specified site, such as a transfer station, local dumpster, or the disposal site itself.
Most activities undertaken during collection are not regulated by any particular environmental statute. Federal guidelines for the collection and storage of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste exist at 40 CFR Part 243, but are not binding on state and local governments. There may be local ordinances or state health laws relating to the frequency of collection, depending on the community.
Storage/Operation of Transfer Stations
Once a local government has collected the solid waste, it may have the task of storing the waste at an interim location prior to recycling or final disposal. If such storage is necessary, it usually occurs at a transfer station. A transfer station is a facility where wastes are transferred from the smaller collection vehicles to larger transport vehicles, such as tractor trailers, railroad gondola cars, or barges. These vehicles then transport the waste to its final destination.
Not all local governments have transfer stations. In small communities where the nearest landfill is within 10-15 miles, compactor trucks take solid waste directly to the landfill. Where stations are used, collection crews take waste to the transfer stations where it is weighed and either temporarily stored or moved directly into a larger vehicle.
These activities may impact the environment if waste is not contained and kept from leaving the transfer station by wind or storm water run-off. In addition to basic local building and health codes, the operation of transfer stations may be regulated under the local government's NPDES storm water or CSO permit. Storage should be on a short-term basis only and should prevent the waste from being released to the environment (in some conditions, improper storage could be deemed disposal and could trigger more stringent regulation of the waste).
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