Previous Plan Recommendations for Waste Disposal

Recommendations from Previous Plans

Solid Waste Management in Northeastern Illinois- NIPC, 1998:

Information in this document shows that although the population of the region increased by 13.4%, waste generation had increased by 118% between 1996 and 2006 when compared to the generation rates listed in the most recent IEPA report on Non-hazardous Solid Waste Management. Per capita generation rate went up from 6.7 pounds per day to 12.9. However, it is important to note that recycling and composting rates are also rising, so not all this waste made its way to landfills. While this document did not produce recommendations for solid waste management, it did allude to the advantages of intergovernmental involvement and the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors for effective solid waste management planning.

Regional Solid Waste Management Policy Plan- NIPC, 1986:

This plan developed 20 policy recommendations for the future of the six-county region (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will) summarized as follows:

  1. The Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) should require landfill operators to provide leachate collection systems during operation and post landfill closure.
  2. The state should require landfill operators to contain, collect and manage decomposition gases during landfill operation and post closure.
  3. The state should increase staff and funding for landfill inspection on a monthly basis.
  4. IPCB should require landfill operators to provide post closure monitoring for 15 years or longer.
  5. Solid waste facility operators should provide financial guarantees during operation and post closure to pay for injuries or damages incident to facility operation.
  6. The state should require landfill operators to report annually the quantities of waste disposed and remaining capacity of facilities.
  7. The state should prohibit the establishment or expansion of landfills on sites located in the 100-year floodplain; in wetlands; areas underlain by aquifers; within 300 feet of the high water mark of a lake, reservoir, river or stream; located within a natural area as defined by the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory or located above a major geologic fault zone.
  8. The state should continue to delegate landfill monitoring responsibility to local governments with state oversight.
  9. The General Assembly should repeal the provision that restricts the siting of transfer stations.
  10. Each sub-area of the region should make periodic assessments of its disposal needs, document its progress towards meeting integrated solid waste management goals and report it to the public.
  11. The region should support modifications to the buy-back rate (for energy produced from waste-to-energy systems when sold to public utilities) to account for long term avoided capacity cost savings through added cogeneration capacity.
  12. The region should support energy supply to public buildings from waste-to-energy facilities where it does not impose economic losses on utilities or customers.
  13. The state should fund a survey of the environmental and economic impacts of bottle bills (deposits being paid on beverage containers) and similar programs in other states and their applicability in Illinois.
  14. The state should provide funding to local recycling programs.
  15. State established tax incentives for recycling should not adversely affect tax revenues.
  16. The state should promote national restrictions on consumer packaging materials that are non-recyclable.
  17. Landfills and waste-to-energy facilities should be planned within the context of comprehensive solid waste management plans while promoting recycling where possible.
  18. Federal legislation should be passed to remove tax advantages and transportation cost advantages favoring virgin materials over recycled materials.
  19. Adopted local or intergovernmental solid waste management plans should be used as an additional criterion in the siting processes.
  20. State guidelines for grants to new solid waste planning efforts should give priority to planning by counties and intergovernmental entities and should require consultation with and review of plans by regional planning agencies.

DISCUSSION QUESTION: In your daily life, do you think about the amount of waste that you generate and how it might affect other aspects of your life?