‘Staring down a legitimate crisis’: TN lawmakers say it’s time to update state waste, recycling laws
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WRKN) — The years-long fight over trash disposal in Tennessee is heading for the statehouse, and lawmakers are being warned they must act quickly.
“Everybody in the industry agrees that there are improvements need to be made in the system and the processes. What we don’t agree with is the landfill operators’ recommendations,” said Central Tennessee Regional Solid Waste Board member, Donna Barrett.
Barrett spoke at the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources committee hearing on Thursday and the chairman of the committee was receptive to making changes to state law.
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“The goal is to come together with a major comprehensive bill to try and solve the state of Tennessee’s problem,” said Chairman Sen. Steve Southerland (R-Morristown).
In her presentation, Barrett warned committee members about the damage to the state’s environment if the state’s 1991 “Solid Waste Management Act” is not updated to reflect Tennessee’s growth, modern needs, and new technologies.
“I’m asking for some hard timelines, I’m asking for a task force and a firm deadline, tell us you want something by the end of the session or before the session ends,” she said.
This comes as Middle Point Landfill general manager Mike Classen continues to warn that the landfill will be at capacity in five years or less.
Middle Point is located in Rutherford County and takes in the majority of Davidson and Rutherford County’s waste.
“If we don’t update our laws, we’re we’re staring down a legitimate crisis as it relates to solid waste disposal capacity in our state,” Classen said.
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Middle Point’s parent company, Republic Services, has been in a battle with leaders in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County over the Solid Waste Board’s 2021 decision to deny their request to expand their facility to accommodate more trash.
That decision has been upheld by a judge and Republic Services has filed an appeal.
But in the meantime, Classen is advocating for changes to who decides if a landfill in Tennessee can expand.
“The local approval process has multiple layers of competing regulation. And all of those have basic veto power. So you have a very small group of people that’s making decisions for the broader state of Tennessee and the broader region,” he said.
Barrett told lawmakers she disagrees with what Classen has told them in the past and their solutions for Tennessee’s trash problem.
“We are there to make sure our communities are well taken care of, not just for our generation, but generations going forward,” she said, “Let’s not do away with the oversight and the input from the locals, I ask that of you, it is the best thing to do, is to keep that there for our communities.”
Classen was watching the committee meeting and told News 2 he doesn’t want to completely do away with local approval of landfill expansion.
“We definitely need local approval, it’s important that people who live closest to the landfill facility have more of a say, but they can’t have all of the say on a decision that impacts all of us in the state of Tennessee more broadly,” he said.
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Where Classen and Barrett do agree is a need to update how Tennessee recycles.
A recent study found Tennessee has the nation’s third-lowest recycling rate.
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