Construction on the new Green Line in Somerville generates debris
Construction on the new Green Line stations in Somerville generates tons of debris.
Kinga Borondy, wickedlocal.com
In the lists of proposed bills from this (192nd) legislative session, and from past sessions, there is not a single mention of the imminent closure of Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town, Maine, the facility that accepts 200,000 tons of Massachusetts construction and demolition debris for disposal every year.
For now.
There’s at least a dozen proposed bills relating to plastic waste; from proposals to reduce plastic packaging to banning single-use grocery bags. There are three bills related to mattress recycling, and at least one calling for the recycling of ionization smoke detectors. Seven are acts “to reduce solid waste, increase recycling and generate municipal cost savings.”
Rep. Michael Connolly: (H. 871 new draft H.4827) An Act to Reduce Packaging Waste; it targets food service single-use plastic dinnerware.
Rep. Dylan A. Fernandes: H. 907: An act to reduce single use plastics, targeting plastic bottles, food service plastic containers.
Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem: (S503): An act to reduce plastics packaging waste.
Sen. Jason M. Lewis: (S. 579; new draft S. 2896): Targets single use plastic grocery bags.
Rep. David M. Rogers: (H. 2391): Prohibit the use of polystyrene foam food containers.
But there’s still 200,000 tons of debris that will soon be barred from entering the Maine landfill as that state’s legislature closes the facility to out-of-state waste in an effort to save room for local garbage.
Where does it all go?
Where will that construction and demolition debris go?
The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, (which also addresses solid waste issues) is paying attention to what is happening at Juniper Ridge, said committee researcher Andrea Bolduc. But for now, the committee is focusing on plastics reduction and mattresses, she said.
Repeated calls to legislators on the committee including chairperson Sen. Rebecca Rausch (D-Norfolk/Bristol/Middlesex) and vice-chair Rep. Mindy Domb (D-3rd Hampshire) were not returned.
However, both Sen. Jaime Eldridge (D-Middlesex/Worcester) and Ryan C. Fattman (R-Worcester/Norfolk) spoke with Wicked Local, referring questions to the chairpersons leading the committee.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-1st Middlesex) said he believes the operator of Juniper Ridge, Casella Waste Systems of Vermont, has at least one contingency area north of Bangor in Maine as an alternative dumping ground for Massachusetts construction and demolition debris.
“That’s the short-term answer,” Kennedy said. “We need a long-range plan.”
To that end, the senator has requested the legislature authorize a comprehensive study (S. 568) of the existing and potential recycling programs and the efficiency of municipal waste management strategies. He has included the financial impact of recycling, statutory and regulatory barriers to recycling, and the existing laws and regulations that address solid waste management.
The study should also include, the senator says, searching for grant programs specifically addressing recycling issues, finding existing and new technologies to facilitate recycling and whether there is a need for new infrastructure for recycling programs.
Study to look for expanding recycling
Does the state need to expand public and urban recycling resources, is one question, and how can it support curbside, multi-family dwelling recycling and composting initiatives?
“These are important issues throughout the commonwealth,” Kennedy said. “It would be prudent to find a solution before we reach crisis mode. What do we do long-term?”
He expects the study to also address issues that are pre-consumer: notably over-packaging.
“How many times does a consumer open a box to find the item encased in plastic and more cardboard,” Kennedy asked rhetorically.
A factor that exacerbated the solid waste problem in Kennedy’s opinion, is China’s decision to stop accepting U.S. recyclable material in 2019. That, and learning China was dumping much of the material into the Pacific Ocean.
“We don’t want that,” Kennedy said.
Construction debris banned in 2006
Massachusetts banned asphalt pavement, brick and concrete (ABC), wood and metal from its own landfills in 2006, and banned clean gypsum wallboard in 2011. The logic behind the move was to encourage the removal of the material from the waste stream, and support either its reuse or recycling. In addition, the 2020 Solid Waste Master Plan, calls for reducing debris by 260,000 tons, more than double of what is currently being recycled.
Other materials also banned include brush and stumps and white goods which are often a by-product of demolition. Some materials are separated from the waste stream that ends up in Juniper Ridge, removed either at the source or at the Lewiston ReSource transfer station in Vermont. But much of it ends up in Juniper Ridge.
The Massachusetts Solid Waste Master Plan also encourages the reuse and recycling of materials generated by the construction industry.
But what to do about the construction and demolition debris, some 200,000 tons of it a year that finds its way to the Juniper Ridge Landfill has yet to be addressed.
