Michigan Considers Changing Waste Laws to Promote Recycling

New bills have been introduced to the Michigan State House with the goal of revising the state’s waste law to emphasize recycling and composting material. The state spends over $1 billion to landfill nearly $600 million worth of materials every year. 

It turns out that having an abundance of landfill space is hurting the recycling market. Michigan’s 1995 solid waste law – Part 115 – has a lot to do with the state’s waste going into landfills. The law requires local governments to have landfill capacity for five and a half years. This keeps the waste cost falsely low and makes recycling seem more expensive, which means less recyclable material makes its way to the market. New fees for landfill operation and waste processing would have a huge impact, but that’s challenging during a pandemic.

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