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The federal government regulates solid waste in the United States under Title 40 of <br />the Code of Federal Regulations Subchapter 1 (40 CFR 239 to 2999). These <br />regulations are in 40 CRl258 (also known as Resource Conservation Recovery Act <br />~RCRAl Subtitle D), Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. Under authority of <br />--RA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) administers <br />Title <br />40 regulations and enforces solid waste regulations and policies through its <br />Office of Solid Waste /OBVVl' <br />Figure 1-1 shows U'S. EPA's hierarchy of integrated solid waste management which <br />|s illustrated in the form of pyramid ofranked <br />approaches. Source Reduction is at <br />the highest level (4) of the pyramid with |andfi||ing at the bottom. Recycling <br />comprises the middle blocks (B & Cl followed by combustion with energy recovery <br />(D) above combustion without energy recovery and |andfi||ing(E). <br />Figure 1-1_Solid Waste Management Hierarchy' <br />A \ | <br />\ i Source Reduction and Reuse <br />Composting <br />Materials Recovery <br />with Energy <br />Recovery <br />LandfilNng and incineration <br />without Energy Recovery <br />A+B+C+D+E=Capacity (Not to Scale) <br />As Orange County u its Solid Waste Management Plan en route toachieving <br />their goal of 61 ' waste reduction, the County should consider pursuing the <br />' <br />first two approaches: sou rce reduction/reuse and recycling. Such activities include <br />the County's support of local recycling and the encouragement of yard waste <br />composting. AS of 2006-07, a reported 47'7 percent waste reduction rate was <br />achieved bv the County, eliminating the need to landfill that portion of the waste <br />stream. The portion of waste generated that is not naoyo|ad or composted is hauled <br />'U.S. EFY\ <br />GBB/C08027-01 August 15, 2008 <br />