Dive Brief:
- The eight Northeast states that are members of the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association reported disposing of an estimated 33.56 million tons of waste in 2024. About 23% went to landfills that could close within less than five years.
- An additional 12 millions tons of waste was exported out of the region, accounting for 26% of the overall disposal-bound waste managed in the Northeast. Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio were the primary destinations for MSW; Ohio was the main one for C&D.
- “Massachusetts and Connecticut are increasingly relying on exports,” said John Fay, program manager for solid waste at NEWMOA on April 28 while debuting the report. Fay added there are also “some red lights blinking in New York and Maine” depending on outcomes for certain facilities.
Dive Insight:
NEWMOA’s warning of potential “significant disposal capacity loss in the region within the next five years” helped spur an updated conversation at a recent Environmental Business Council event in Massachusetts.
The group’s report covers MSW and C&D in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
While the region manages about 32% of its solid waste via various types of waste-to-energy facilities, it is still primarily using landfills. Four incinerators have also closed in states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts in recent years, along with other landfills reaching capacity…