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Home > Programs > Ombudsman > Outreach > Solid Waste Management Plan Working Group


 

Solid Waste Management Plan Working Group

DEM announced a meeting to discuss an integrated solid waste plan at the October 9th Environmental Roundtable meeting. Two meetings were held in November and December of 2002. The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation subsequently agreed to lead the process that will revise the Rhode Island Comprehensive Solid Management Plan. DEM has suspended discussions on this topic.

The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program have formed a Working Group to update the existing Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan, which was promulgated in November 1996 by the State Planning Council.

The Working Group, which represents all major stakeholders in the field of solid waste management, will advise the three state agencies concerning the revision of the plan, which serves as the solid waste planning blueprint for Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation and DEM. This document is also an element of the State Guide Plan, Rhode Island's master plan. The plan is based on an integrated approach to solid waste management and examines strategies to increase recycling rates, to reduce the toxicity of waste generated, to promote waste minimization, and to improve landfilling methodologies.

The Working Group has met at the Resource Recovery Corporation's headquarters located at 65 Shun Pike, Johnston, at the Central Landfill. Directions to the headquarters can be found at the Corporation's web site at www.rirrc.org or by calling 942-1430.

For questions concerning the process, contact Dante Ionata at (401) 942-1430, extension 128. The meeting dates, minutes and other pertinent information are posted on this website. The meetings were open to the public.

As a result of these meetings the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation has prepared a draft update to the Rhode Island Comprehensive Solid Waste Plan (Plan). The purpose of the plan is to:
  • Guide the environmentally sound management and disposal of solid waste in Rhode Island based in an integrated, statewide, comprehensive management plan.


  • Protect those natural resources affected by solid waste management activities, and;


  • Identify the needs caused by specific wastes and recommend waste-specific management programs, on a waste-by-waste basis to address those needs.
The objectives of the Plan are to:
  • Develop economically feasible strategies to reduce the generation of solid waste and to maximize the diversion of material from ultimate disposal by recycling or re-use of recovered resources;


  • Develop policies, programs, and facilities to meet identified needs for the management of specific wastes according to the hierarchy of solid waste management methods adopted by the RI Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that protect and preserve the environment and public resources and promote the convenience, health, comfort, safety and welfare of the people of the state.


  • Make the most effective and efficient utilization of licensed landfill capacity with minimal adverse impacts on the public health and safety and the environment and to extend the life of Rhode Island's Central Landfill (the Landfill) for as long as practicable and feasible;


  • Guide the siting of future landfill capacity;


  • Monitor the effectiveness of all management programs;


  • Guide the fee-setting process.


  • Provide a framework to identify the type and project the need for additional solid waste management facilities going forward.


  • Site solid waste management facilities according to State laws and regulations
The Plan is the long-range policy and program guidance document of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) and the DEM. The Plan describes existing practices in all major areas of solid waste management together with findings for each management area. Recommendations are developed from the findings.

The Plan is also the solid waste management element of the State Guide Plan, developed in cooperation with the Statewide Planning Program (SPP), whose staff served on the Working Group created by the RIRRC and the DEM to guide its development. The State Guide Plan is the basic guide for long-term physical, economic, and social development of the State and serves as a means for centralizing and integrating long-range goals, policies, plans, and facilities. The draft Plan will be forwarded to the SPP for review/approval.

The Plan also updates the Solid Waste Management Plan prepared in 1981 by the DEM in accordance with Section 4002(b) of the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). RCRA establishes programs for federal and state regulation of the management of solid and hazardous waste. Therefore, the Plan is also intended to guide activities of DEM and to meet the need for a State solid waste management plan as required by the RCRA.

This revised Plan updates the Plan adopted in 1996.

February 5, 2005 Draft Solid Waste Management Plan
May 24, 2005 Draft Solid Waste Management Plan
Matrix of Objectives and Targets

Meeting Dates Agendas Minutes
November 6, 2002
December 13, 2002
 
January 27, 2003
March 14, 2003
April 11, 2003
May 9, 2003
June 13, 2003
July 11, 2003
August 6, 2003
September 3, 2003
October 1, 2003
November 5, 2003
 
December 3, 2003
 
January 25, 2005
February 15, 2005
March 1, 2005
March 15, 2005
March 29, 2005
April 11, 2005
April 26, 2005
June 8, 2005
 
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rev. 1/17/06