Waste Association Disagrees with Michigan Senate Committee on Waste Bills

Lynn Schenkman

Lansing, Mich. -- The Michigan Waste Industries Association (MWIA) is voicing disagreement with a package of bills approved Tuesday by a state Senate committee that would prohibit scrap tires, medical waste, yard clippings and beverage containers from being deposited in landfills, according to news sources. The MWIA is saying the bills are politically motivated, caused by recent controversy over imported trash from Canada and other U.S. states. If enacted, the MWIA warns, these bills would cause additional challenges for residents and landfill operators because haulers will no longer be able to dispose of items the bills prohibit, causing residents to shoulder the burden of locating and travelling to alternative disposal sites themselves. The MWIA also says the laws would threaten smaller hauling operations and exacerbate illegal dumping problems.