Vermont governor signs bill banning recycables in landfills

June 8, 2012
By Jeremy Carroll

Under a new law in Vermont, various recycable materials will be banned from landfills including paper and cardboard.

File photo: Shawn Wright, Waste & Recycling News Under a new law in Vermont, various recycable materials will be banned from landfills including paper and cardboard.

A law banning plastic, glass, cardboard, paper and eventually organic waste from landfills in Vermont has been signed by Gov. Peter Shumlin.

House Bill 485 passed through both chambers of the Vermont Legislature and Shumlin signed the bill June 7, his office announced. In stages, the new law bans various recyclable materials from landfills.

"Moving towards universal recycling will advance Vermont into the next generation of solid waste management and keep more waste out of our landfills," Shumlin said in a statement.

House Bill 485 bans batteries from landfills immediately, recyclable materials including plastic and glass containers, cardboard, paper and other products by July 1, 2015, yard waste by July 1, 2016, and all organic materials by July 1, 2020.

According to the bill, private haulers would not be allowed to charge extra for handling recycling materials, but will be allowed to charge separately for the collection of yard waste and food waste.

State officials said currently the state has a 36% recycling rate while half of the materials taken to landfills could be recycled.

"Vermonters are currently throwing away up to $7.6 million worth of waste that could be recycled or composted," said Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner David Mears in a statement. "[The law] will help divert this material from the waste stream and away from our crowded landfills."

The state has two landfills, one in Coventry and one in Moretown. The Moretown landfill is nearing capacity and the landfill in Coventry, owned by Casella Waste Systems has approximately 20 years of space left, an official previously told Waste & Recycling News.

Items previously banned from landfills in Vermont include lead-acid batteries, waste oil, white goods, tires, paint, nickel-cadmium batteries, mercury-added products and electronic items. E-waste was added as a banned item in 2011.

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