Trying to “Put a Lid” on Canadian Trash

In October of 2004, Michigan successfully passed a law that prohibited the dumping of yard waste, tires, auto batteries and returnable cans and bottles into our landfills. Landfill disposal violations range from warning letters to daily fines of $25,000. However, no fines have yet to be issued under that law.

Macomb County thinks they have found a way to stem the flow of Canadian trash. In March of 2006, they have agreed to let Waste Management expand the landfill in exchange for a 25% reduction on Canadian trash intake. 80% of garbage landfilled at Pine Tree Acres in Lennox Township is from Canada. Instead of dealing with the formation of slow-paced legislation to deal with this issue, they came up with a private tentative agreement to reduce imported trash. This agreement has not been formally approved and many officials say this still may be a violation of NAFTA and the interstate commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution. Only time will tell if this may be a solution to curbing imported trash. (Detroit Free Press)

Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a bill on Canadian trash in March 2006. The law would ban the waste from Canada and other countries outside of the United States. Congress is unlikely to pass it however, due to business lobbyists and legislators who view this as the erosion of free interstate commerce. Even if passed by federal government, this may be considered illegal under international trade agreements. (Hugh McDiarmid, Jr., Detroit Free Press)

We may not see the ban on Canadian trash anytime soon. In the meantime, the U.S. Senate has passed a budget bill that ensures Canada will pay for any inspection fees for waste brought into the U.S. The United States may charge up to $45 million a year in inspection fees to Canada garbage truck companies. Inspections need to be done (as shown in the Inspector General’s report) and American taxpayers should not have to pay.

Michigan senators are also trying to increase the tipping fee for out-of-state trash from $0.21 to $7.50 to reduce garbage traffic within the state. Again, this is up to congress to approve. This would be a big win for the state of Michigan who has the lowest tipping fee in the United States.

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Last modified: 05/23/06