NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

Vol. 40, No. 333

Contact:  James Short, Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances, 302-739-9403; or Melanie Rapp, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

                 Public meeting scheduled in Dover on Oct. 6
on the yard waste disposal ban and options for Delawareans

(DOVER – Sept. 29, 2010)  A public meeting has been scheduled on the upcoming yard waste disposal ban at Kent and Sussex County landfills and the options available to homeowners and businesses for managing yard waste on their properties. The meeting will be held 6:30 – 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6 at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control auditorium, Richardson and Robbins Building, 89 Kings Hwy. in Dover. A second public meeting in Sussex County later in October will be announced soon.

Beginning January 1, 2011, Delaware’s ban on the disposal of yard waste at two landfills - the Central and Southern Solid Waste Management Centers near Sandtown and Georgetown - goes into effect as a way to conserve valuable landfill space and encourage recycling of a natural resource.

Operated by the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, the Kent and Sussex County landfills will continue to accept segregated yard waste after the ban goes into effect; however, yard waste may not be commingled with regular trash.
 
The meeting will include a presentation and discussion on the economic and environmental benefits of keeping yard waste out of landfills and the options available to manage yard waste, including composting, yard waste commercial services, and community management.

Yard waste makes up nearly one fourth of the residential waste that goes into landfills and includes all plant materials resulting from lawn maintenance and landscaping activities. These include grass clippings, leaves, prunings, brush, shrubs, garden materials, Christmas trees and tree limbs up to four inches in diameter.

The yard waste ban in Kent and Sussex Counties will divert an estimated 30,000 tons of waste from the Central and Southern landfills each year. New Castle County yard waste ban, which went into effect Jan. 24, 2008, has diverted an estimated 50,000 tons of waste from the county’s Cherry Island Landfill each year.

Diverting yard waste from disposal has multiple benefits – extending the life of landfill, protecting our environment, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change. Recycling yard waste into mulch and compost provides economic and environmental benefits as well – by creating jobs, increasing the local production of commercial landscape products, and producing healthier soils and plants.

For more information contact Jim Short, Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances, 302-739-9403, or visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste/Pages/Default.aspx.