Maryland Recycling Rate Totals 41 Percent in 2010

Allan Gerlat, News Editor

May 23, 2012

1 Min Read
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Maryland reached a recycling rate of 41 percent in 2010 and a total diversion rate of 44.6 percent.

The state’s Department of the Environment said on its website that it exceeded its voluntary waste diversion goal of 40 percent for the sixth straight year. For the year 2010, the most recent year in which data is available, the state received a 3.6-percent source reduction credit in addition to the recycling rate.

Maryland recycled 2.73 million tons of waste in 2010 and reduced the amount of waste generated by more than 246,400 tons. State agencies had a recycling rate of 23.9 percent by recycling more than 19,000 tons.

Materials that Maryland counties focused on included mixed paper; glass, metal and plastic containers; white goods; yard trimmings; electronics; mercury; scrap tires; motor oil; antifreeze; construction and demolition materials; and household hazardous wastes.

Maryland’s General Assembly passed a law earlier this year increasing mandatory waste reduction through recycling to 35 percent for counties with more than 150,000 people and 20 percent for those under 150,000. The recycling rate for the state government increases to 30 percent.

 The bill also establishes a voluntary waste diversion goal of 60 percent and a recycling goal of 55 percent by 2020. The law takes effect in October.

 

About the Author

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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