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June 15, 2003Rethinking trash critically importantThis much is certain: We throw a lot of stuff in the trash.How we plan to deal with that trash is a more ambiguous matter. We throw it in big holes. We burn it. In recent years we even figured how we can reuse some of the stuff beyond yard-bound artistic expression. But as the volume of trash increases, so too do our concerns about what we are going to do with it. Our Canadian neighbors have heightened the anxiety; the beer and hockey is fine, but 100 truckloads of Toronto trash daily? Oh my. What to do? Residents and policymakers need to rethink how we manage our garbage. At the government level, lawmakers need to change the way the waste industry is regulated. Great strides have been made over the years to ensure the public's welfare. About 25 years ago more than 12,000 landfills littered the nation's landscape. Now there are about 2,500. They are larger, better monitored and far more environmentally sound. They also are costly. But along with that better monitoring came more regulation, regulation antiquated by today's market forces. In Michigan, for instance, a patchwork of agreements between counties dictates who can dump trash where, while federal trade regulations allow trash from Canada or other states to roll right on in. A county can shun trash from a neighboring county but garbage from New York is a matter of free trade. The Michigan regulation is intended to empower counties to keep unwanted trash out of the community - we produce enough of our own garbage, thank you. But federal free trade laws compounded by a disparity between what it costs to dump in Michigan compared to elsewhere has made the Great Lakes State the Great Garbage Can State. Michigan landfill owners, fettered by constraints within the state but still facing the cost of operation, welcome business from elsewhere. Toronto is dumping in Michigan because the city can and because it's cheap. Federal lawmakers may be able to slow the importation of Canadian waste on Homeland Security grounds (such as border inspections), but the dollar is almighty. One option is to remove that incentive to trash Michigan. Increase the "tipping" fees to dump in Michigan landfills. Wisconsin increased its tipping fee from 30 cents to $3 per ton last year and trash imports decreased, though admittedly not markedly. True, the higher fees may get passed on to consumers on their monthly trash bills, but the added cost in itself would sway consumers to recycle more and throw away less, and the additional revenue could pay for programs to promote recycling statewide. Ultimately, less trash would mean lower fees. To make Michigan less of a trash hole requires a three-pronged approach: Federal lawmakers need to take steps to stem the rising tide of Canadian trash imports. Michigan needs to rethink the way it regulates trash within its borders. Residents need to be willing to recycle more and pay a little more to get rid of their trash.
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