Virginia Waste Imports on the Rise

Date: June 14, 2007

Source: News Room

The state of Virginia reports rising waste imports, according to a recently released report by the DEQ. Nearly 7.3 million tons made its way into the state in 2006, with most of it from Maryland, New York and Washington, D.C. respectively. Most of the incoming waste stream is comprised of household wastes, but facilities also reported the acceptance of hundreds of tons of medical waste, sludge, scrap tires, asbestos, and incinerator ash.

 

Source of Virginia's Waste Imports in 2006
(in tons per year)

Maryland 3.1 million
New York 1.8 million
District of Columbia 1.2 million
North Carolina 499,820
New Jersey 377,058
Pennsylvania 139,505
Tennessee 44,916
Delaware 40,299
West Virginia 30,735
South Carolina 2,390

 

Two forces are driving this trend. Declining waste volumes into Pennsylvania, which leads the Nation in imports, is the result of more stringent regulatory enforcement and permitting troubles among some of its very large landfills. However, waste volumes in general are rising and diminishing capacity in the Northeast and Atlantic states means more waste must travel to find a home, crossing a state border or two in the process.

As is the industry trend, private landfills received more of those volumes. Waste Management's Atlantic Waste Disposal landfill in Sussex County led the pack by accepting more than 2.5 million tons of imported waste. According to state data and Waste Business Journal statistics, Virginia has about 17 years of remaining landfill capacity.

To get a copy of the report, visit: www.deq.virginia.gov/waste/aswrs.html.

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