Dive summary:
- This spring marks the end of three years of planning to cut the amount of waste Massachusetts residents send to the landfill by 80% by 2050.
- The plan would loosen up a previous 23-year-old-restriction on trash incinerators, a somewhat unpopular move.
- In 2009 the state hit a 42% recycling rate, one of the highest in the nation, but since then Massachusetts has not been able to boost their diversion rates.
From the article:
Most controversially, the plan would relax a longtime moratorium on new trash incinerators and require some commercial food waste to be diverted from landfills next year. It also aims to step up recycling by businesses and residents at the local level and ensure that fewer toxic materials and other banned materials end up in the waste stream.
Overall, the plan, which is called, “Pathway to Zero Waste,” is meant to cut greenhouse gas emissions from trash disposal and processing and ease pressure on the state’s landfills.
“As a whole, we’re reiterating our strong support for recycling and reuse,” said state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell. ...
