A statewide solid waste management plan, issued by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, went into effect Tuesday. The result of about two years of planning and revisions, the 10-year plan provides recommendations and requirements for each ofthe state’s 18 waste management districts.
During the process of forming the plan, participants representing each of the 18 districts were assigned to five subcommittees, each of which concentrated on a different aspect of the ongoing management of the districts, including assessing needs, waste collection,disposal, recycling, dealing with special materials and education.
Administrators for each district are required to provide an updated and finalized “needs assessment” for their districts to the Environmental Quality Department every five years, outlining the origin, composition and character of the majority of waste being collectedthroughout the district, as well as how the waste is being either disposed of or recycled.
Ben Jones, chief of the Environmental Quality Department’s solid waste management division, said the needs assessment process allows districts to inform state regulators of their varying situations and influence policy decisions that will shapethe regulations under which they will have to operate.
“It just gives the department a specific look at that district, as to what they’re doing well, what they might need to improve upon,” Jones said. “We can take all that information in one report, and you have a general idea, statewide, as to what we’ve seen improvementin, and what’s working well in terms of managing solid waste.”
In Northwest Arkansas, the two geographically largest regional solid waste districts are the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District - which includes Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties - and the WestRiver Valley Regional Solid Waste Management District - which includes Conway, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Perry, Pope, Scott and Yell counties.
Melinda Caldwell, executive director of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, said her district will need to focus on diverting as much waste from landfills as possible over the next five years, especially food waste, electronic waste and plastics.
According to the district’s 2013 needs assessment document, nearly 16 tons of food scraps contributed to the more than 118,000 tons of solid waste collected in municipal areas, and second only to paper-based waste.
“I feel like food-waste diversion is the next frontier in waste diversion,” Caldwell said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the infrastructure in place yet where we live, but I really hope that in the next five to 10 years we have some viable outlets in our area to divert food waste.”
Caldwell said she would “love to” see solid waste districts implement the use of “biodigesters” - systems that use an anaerobic process to break down organic material that can then be used for compost and other products. But, she said, it is probably cost-prohibitive.
Baylor House, who serves as Perry County judge and chairman of the West River Valley Regional Solid Waste District, said the biggest challenge facing his district is illegal dumping. House said it was not feasible to police the district well enough to prevent dumping, and the costs of dealing with the cleanup can add up quickly.
“I found an area yesterday where someone had dropped off about 200 tires on the side of the road,” House said. “It’s up to me to keep the county clean, so I had to send out people to go retrieve those, then take them to a landfill.”
House said the sheer number of regulations and “unfunded mandates” imposed on solid waste districts by the Environmental Quality Department make it difficult for district staffs to function.
“I’m not picking sides, but I’m supposed to look out for the welfare and well-being of the constituents of my county,” House said.
Jones said the meeting and revision process that goes into a statewide management plan is intended to alleviate unnecessary burdens on the individual districts.
“Any time we really propose anything, we’d seek input from the districts if it’s going to affect them,” Jones said. “I think historically, and under my leadership, I would not try to get any legislation passed without discussing the issue with the districts first.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/02/2014