Agenda - 09-02-2008 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1.0 Introduction and Background The federal government regulates solid waste in the United States under Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Subchapter 1 (40 CFR 239 to 2999). These regulations are in 40 CFR 258 (also known as Resource Conservation Recovery Act [RCRA] Subtitle D), Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. Under authority of RCRA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) administers Title 40 regulations and enforces solid waste regulations and policies through its Office of Solid Waste (OSW). Figure 1 -1 shows U.S. EPA's hierarchy of integrated solid waste management which is illustrated in the form of a pyramid of ranked approaches. Source Reduction is at the highest level (A) of the pyramid with landfilling at the bottom. Recycling comprises the middle blocks (B & C) followed by combustion with energy recovery (D) above combustion without energy recovery and landfilling (E). Figure 1 -1 — Solid Waste Management Hierarchy' A \ I Source Reduction and Reuse Composting B c U U m Materials Recovery C D1 Processing /Combustion with Energy Recovery E Landfilling and Incineration without Energy Recovery A +B +C +D +E= Capacity (Not to Scale) As Orange County updates its Solid Waste Management Plan en route to achieving their goal of 61 percent waste reduction, the County should consider pursuing the first two approaches: source reduction /reuse and recycling. Such activities include the County's support of local recycling and the encouragement of yard waste composting. As of 2006 -07, a reported 47.7 percent waste reduction rate was achieved by the County, eliminating the need to landfill that portion of the waste stream. The portion of waste generated that is not recycled or composted is hauled ' U.S. EPA. GBB/C08027 -01 1 August 15, 2008