Ohio ranks fifth in the nation in terms of trash stored in landfills on a per-capita basis, according to an analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data released Thursday by a company based on Long Island, N.Y.
Michigan is No. 1, followed by Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, results show.
The analysis was done by IT Asset Management Group of Farmingdale, N.Y., a company associated with software disposal and the electronics recycling industry.
By pulling data from the U.S. EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program and population numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, it came up with a state-by-state breakdown for buried trash on a per capita basis. It did not drill down more specifically than that.
Ohio was found to have 53.8 tons of waste per capita and 632.2 million tons of waste in landfills overall. The state’s per capita value is 35.6 percent above the national average, which is 39.7 tons of waste in landfills per capita, according to the group’s generated numbers.
Michigan was found to have 68.3 tons of waste per capita and 685 tons of waste in landfills overall. That state’s per capita value is 72.1 percent above the national average.
While the numbers reflect some of the everyday habits and recycling efforts that Americans make to minimize their use of landfills, the data also takes into account large volumes of out-of-state waste that states like Michigan and Ohio accept.
The Interstate Commerce Clause forbids states from closing borders to out-of-state waste when haulers identify landfills with tipping fees low enough to justify long trips.
One site in northwest Ohio that has drawn a lot of controversy for out-of-state waste accepted in recent years is the one near Fostoria operated by WIN Waste Innovations of Seneca County, still often called by its former name, Sunny Farms Landfill.
Much of its waste comes from the East Coast.
It takes in virtually anything that meets the legal definition of being nontoxic, nonhazardous, and noninfectious. Most of it arrives in trains via the Fostoria-to-Columbus CSX Transportation railroad track that runs along the landfill’s eastern edge.
Its permit allows for up to 7,500 tons of trash daily from all sources.
Hundreds, many of them elected officials, have been at odds with the site’s owner-operator, New Hampshire-based WIN Waste Innovations, despite huge investments it has made in the site since acquiring it in 2021.
The site was developed as a landfill back in 1970.
"Not only does Ohio rank fifth in per capita landfill waste, but Seneca County houses one of the largest landfills in the state,” Erika Handru, Seneca County General Health District spokesman, said.
She added that the Seneca County Board of Health Meeting unanimously agreed at a special meeting Thursday morning to establish a Landfill Oversight and Compliance Division “to provide a more comprehensive approach to inspecting and monitoring our local landfill.”
“This will help ensure compliance with safety regulations to protect the residents and environment of Seneca County," Ms. Handru said.
Spokesmen for WIN Waste have said multiple times in the past they are in full compliance with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regulations
Valerie Wunder, a WIN Waste spokesman, said the company had no response to the Long Island group’s analysis because it “can’t respond to unverified surveys when we don't have a way to validate the data.”
Bryant Somerville, an Ohio EPA spokesman, said Ohio’s No. 5 ranking appears to speak “more to past waste disposal practices and Ohio’s history as a large industrial state.”
“Several decades ago, Ohio was one of the more populous states, and we had a lot of heavy industry, resulting in the use of landfills across the state,” he said. “Today, Ohio EPA supports and encourages alternatives to landfill disposal, including recycling, beneficial use, and composting. The agency partners with local solid waste management districts and provides grant funding that supports these sustainable materials management practices.”
He also questioned if the group was using the proper U.S. EPA data for its analysis, and said that reporting for the methane database “is voluntary, so it's hard to know if what's been submitted accurately reflects all landfills across the entire nation.”
“Ohio EPA ensures that the state's landfills are designed, constructed, and operated in compliance with laws and regulations that are protective of human health, safety, and the environment,” Mr. Somerville said.
Regardless, out-of-state waste is nothing new to Ohio.
It took in so much through the late 1990s that state legislators saw a crisis brewing, with 67 of Ohio's 88 counties having landfills with less than five years of disposal capacity.
A record 3.7 million tons of waste was hauled into Ohio in 1989. That 1989 spike came on rather suddenly, considering the out-of-state haul into Ohio had totaled 33,000 tons three years earlier, in 1986.
The situation improved because of legislation known as House Bill 592, which created recycling goals and required counties to establish solid waste management districts either individually or jointly with other counties.
Although some private Toledo-area landfills have taken out-of-state waste, the city’s Hoffman Road Landfill in North Toledo doesn’t.
It accepts only waste generated within the city limits and dumped by commercial haulers, or else from Lucas County residents who bring in assorted waste on their own and can show proof of residency, Toledo Solid Waste Commissioner Ryan Murphy said.
He said the city, through a new sustainability director, is doing its part to promote more recycling and, thus, extend the life of the Hoffman Road Landfill.
“The more we recycle, the less is landfilled,” Mr. Murphy said. “I think it's important we look for ways [to do more] waste diversion and beneficial reuse of waste materials.”
One way will be through a $27 million investment Lucas County is making in South Toledo to build what’s known as a a materials recovery facility, akin to a massive recycling warehouse.
Glass, aluminum, steel, plastic, cardboard, newspapers, and other recyclable products gathered throughout the county have for years been shipped to a recycling facility in Oberlin, Ohio.
“This type of study amplifies the need to keep waste out of our landfills,” Jim Shaw, Lucas County sanitary engineer, said. “A few factors that may contribute to the higher amount of trash per capita include concentrated areas of population, the Midwest's manufacturing history and generally a lower cost to dispose in landfills in the Midwest.”
He said the future materials recovery facility in Toledo, expected to come online in 2026, will serve as a regional hub that could help reduce the trash flow into several area landfills.
First Published March 7, 2024, 11:22 p.m.
