Vermont agency says universal recycling law has hiked diversion rate

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued a report crediting the state’s Universal Recycling Law for having helped Vermont send 5 percent less material to landfills in 2015 compared to 2014.

In the 16-page report, issued in early December 2016, the DEC says recycling and composting volumes in the state also increased in 2015 by nearly 11,800 tons, or 2 percent, over the 2014 figure.

Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law, also known as Act 148, was unanimously approved by the state’s legislature in 2012 “in response to the state’s stagnant recycling rates that had hovered around 30 to 36 percent for nearly two decades,” according to the report’s authors.

A 2013 waste characterization study in the state identified that paper at 22 percent and organics at 28 percent of the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream were easily collected and diverted.

The Universal Recycling Law includes disposal bans on several items, including yard trimmings, wood, food scraps, paper, cardboard, aluminum and steel cans, glass bottles and jars and Nos. 1 and 2 plastic bottles, that took effect in 2015,.

Other aspects include a “pay as you throw” fee on MSW disposal and a requirement that transfer stations and landfill sites accept and collect the materials targeted for recycling.

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The organic materials—yard trimmings and food scraps—will be key in boosting the state’s landfill diversion rate, the report’s authors say. “While recycling is well-established, it is estimated that organic materials—food scraps, leaf and yard debris, clean wood and compostable dirty paper—make up almost a third of our waste,” the report says.