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In the 1980s, Ohio faced a combination of solid waste management problems, including declining landfill capacity, increasing generation of wastes to be disposed, environmental problems at many existing solid waste
disposal facilities, and an influx of Out-of-State waste.
Citizen, government, and private sector concerns over these pressing problems forged a legislative coalition to create a comprehensive solid waste management program for Ohio. The resulting legislation, House Bill 592, dramatically revised Ohio's solid waste regulatory program and set in motion a local and state planning process to ensure adequate and environmentally sound management capacity and to increase efforts to reduce and recycle solid wastes.
House Bill 592 required the Director of the OhioEPA, with the advice of the Solid Waste Management Advisory Council (SWAC), to prepare a State Solid Waste Management Plan (State Plan) to
meet specific requirements established in the statute. It also required all counties in Ohio to establish Solid Waste Management Districts (SWMDs), either independently or jointly with other counties. All SWMDs, in turn, were required to develop and implement their own solid waste management plans that comply with the goals established in the State Plan.
State Solid Waste Management Plan (State Plan)
The State Plan is prepared by Ohio EPA in conjunction with SWAC, which also approves the State Plan.
The overriding purpose behind the State Plan is to reduce the reliance on landfills for the disposal of solid waste, to ensure that solid waste is managed in the most appropriate manner at environmentally sound facilities, and to ensure that effective and practical solutions to reduce Ohio's generation and disposal of solid wastes are implemented.
Ohio's first State Plan was adopted in 1989 and included a goal to reduce or recycle 25 percent of the solid waste generated in the state by the year 1994.
Ohio met this goal in 1990. In 1995, a revised State Plan was adopted, and the reduction/recycling goal was increased to reduce or recycle 50 percent of the solid waste generated by the year 2000, with a 25 percent reduction/recycling objective for the residential/commercial sector and a 50 percent reduction/recycling objective for the industrial sector. As of 1999, the most recent year for which we have calculated a statewide recycling rate, Ohio recycled 38.9 percent of the waste generated in the state.
The reduction/recycling goal was only one of seven goals contained in the 1995 State Solid Waste Management Plan (1995 State Plan). There were also goals focused on: providing recycling opportunities;
providing information and technical assistance regarding source reduction, recycling, reuse, and composting; providing
strategies for managing scrap tires, household hazardous wastes, and lead-acid batteries (car batteries); and annual reporting. To read the 1995 State Solid Waste Management Plan, look for that document
title on the documents menu on the SWMD Clearinghouse page.
SWAC is required to review the State Plan every three years.
If that review leads SWAC to determine that the State Plan needs to be updated, then SWAC and Ohio EPA go through the process of preparing and adopting a new State Plan. Otherwise, SWAC and Ohio EPA publish the results of the review without revising the State Plan. A review of the 1995 State Plan was completed in 1998 and a report titled 1998
Review of the 1995 State Solid Waste Management Plan was published on June 10, 1998. In 2000, SWAC and Ohio EPA began the process of revising the 1995 State Plan, and that process was completed on November 15, 2001 with the adoption of the 2001
State Solid Waste Management Plan (2001 State Plan) by Ohio EPA.
The goals established by the 2001 State Plan are very similar to those from the 1995 State Plan. However, the 2001 State Plan does make three notable changes to the goals:
- it increases the industrial waste reduction and recycling goal from 50 percent
to 66 percent;
- it adds a goal that directs solid waste management districts to evaluate the
feasibility of incorporating economic incentives into their source reduction and
recycling programs; and
- it adds a requirement that solid waste management districts develop a strategy
for addressing electronic equipment
During the process of preparing the 2001 State Plan, Ohio EPA solicited comments from interested parties. These comments, along with Ohio EPA's responses, were compiled into a document titled Responsiveness
Summary for Comments Received on the Draft 2001 State Solid Waste Management Plan dated June 19, 2001.
You can read copies of the 2001 State Plan and the Responsiveness Summary by selecting the documents with those titles from the documents menu from the SWMD Clearinghouse page. or by calling the Division of Solid and Infectious Waste Management (DSIWM) at
(614) 644-2621 and requesting hard copies.
The 2001 State Plan is fairly lengthy, so if you want a brief summary of the document's contents, simply select Executive Summary from the documents menu or call DSIWM and request a copy of the Executive Summary to the 2001
State Plan.
Revisions to the State Solid Waste Management Plan are Currently Underway
Ohio EPA and SWAC are currently in the
process of reviewing and revising the 2001 State Solid Waste Management Plan. Once the revised Plan is complete, a formal public comment period will be established and public hearings will be held. In
the meantime, draft revisions to the individual chapters of the Plan will be made available as they are complete. These documents are working drafts and additional changes may be made periodically throughout
the process. Please contact Ernie Stall at ernest.stall@epa.state.oh.us or (614) 728-5355 if you have questions or comments.
Current State Solid Waste Management Plan
DRAFT Revised State Plan Chapters
- Chapter 1 – Introduction
- Chapter 2 – Implementing the 2001 State Solid Waste Management Plan
- Chapter 3 – Goals for Solid Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Reuse
- Chapter 4 – Restrictions on the Types of Waste Disposal in Landfills and Burned in Incinerators
- Chapter 5 – Revised General Criteria for the Location of Solid Waste Facilities
- Chapter 6 – Ash Management
- Chapter 7 – A Statewide Strategy for Managing Scrap Tires
- Chapter 8 – A Program for Managing Household Hazardous Waste
Solid Waste Management Advisory Council (SWAC)
SWAC was created pursuant to ORC 3734.51 and is charged with developing and approving the State Plan. SWAC consists of members representing various parties that play a role in solid waste management in Ohio. Most of these members are appointed to their positions by the Governor of Ohio. SWAC is required to meet, at a minimum, four times a year, once every quarter. SWAC meetings are open to the public. Individuals interested in attending SWAC meetings are encouraged to attend. Ohio EPA prepares formal meeting minutes for each SWAC meeting. These minutes are available to the public. Ohio EPA also prepares an Agenda for each SWAC meeting.
A list of SWAC members, the SWAC meeting schedule, and SWAC meeting minutes can be found on the documents menu. Upcoming SWAC meeting details and agendas can be found on the SWMD Clearinghouse page.
OhioEPA's Role in Solid Waste Management Planning
OhioEPA's primary role in the solid waste management planning process is to: Develop the State Plan in conjunction with SWAC; gather and distribute information related to solid waste
disposal and recycling in Ohio; provide technical assistance and outreach to SWMDs and others involved in the planning process; and administer the SWMD plan approval process. The activities related to the SWMD
plan approval process include:
- reviewing draft and ratified plans submitted by SWMDs (ORC 3734.55),
- approving or denying ratified plans (ORC 3734.55)
- writing plans for SWMDs that are unable to obtain a ratified, approved plan
on their own (ORC 3734.551), and
- monitoring each SWMD for compliance with its approved plan
(ORC 3734.55(D), OAC 3745-27-90).
As part of outreach efforts, Ohio EPA also publishes several reports that provide a statewide overview of solid waste management activities. One such report, titled Solid Waste Management District Fee Summary,
compiles individual SWMD fee revenue, expense, and account balance information into a master report (required by ORC 3734.575). Another report is the Facility Data Report.
This report documents how much waste each landfill in Ohio accepted for disposal, how much waste each SWMD generated and where that waste went for disposal, how much capacity each landfill in Ohio has remaining,
etc. Yet another report is the Summary of Solid Waste Management in Ohio. This report highlights existing solid waste programs and identifies disposal, waste reduction, and recycling trends. In
addition, this report provides recycling percentages for each SWMD and for the state as a whole.
All of the above mentioned reports can be found on the documents menu.
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