Legislative Report Details New Hampshire's Recycling Challenges

In an effort to examine the state of recycling in New Hampshire, legislators have compiled a new report that details underlying policy and infrastructure challenges in the state.

Waste Dive, which conducted a “top to bottom” review of the 27-page report, notes that an “overarching theme is that New Hampshire's waste management lags other states, especially its neighbors, and more should be done to help municipalities with their programs. Chronic underfunding for the state's Department of Environmental Services (DES) due to budget cuts is a recurring theme.”

The report recommends creating a dedicated funding source for DES based on a per ton disposal charge for all waste landfilled or incinerated in the state. Legislators also found DES doesn't have the capability to calculate if the state is meeting its 40 percent diversion goal.

Waste Dive has more information:

New Hampshire's waste and recycling infrastructure is in need of significant and long overdue attention, according to a new report from state legislators.

These findings come from a special committee, established by law in July, to study recycling and waste management in the state. The group held 14 meetings and met with more than 50 stakeholders in a little more than two months to examine the state's recycling programs in light of commodity market changes and ongoing industry challenges.

"[At first] I was pretty focused on the changing recycling markets because of the Chinese initiatives... We were thorough about how we broadened it out and got a lot of good input," Rep. Karen Ebel, who led the legislative committee, told Waste Dive. She said the report ended up containing a lot of waste-related information not pertaining directly to recycling because "things are so interconnected."

Read the full article here.