Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania

"If everyone sweeps before his own front door, then the street is clean."  German writer Johann Wolfgang van Goethe wrote those words 200 years ago.  Yet much of Pennsylvania still doesn’t know how to bring the words of wisdom to fruition.  Goethe's advice may be straightforward, but making it a reality has always been more complicated.  Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful (KPB) recently released the results of their study, "Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Discovery," reaffirming that we do not always keep our figurative porches as clean as we should.  Far too much of our waste still ends up in the wrong place and the report offers some suggestions to fix the problem.

KPB's illegal dump inventory confirmed that at least 6,000 illegal dumps existed in the Commonwealth.  Though the environmental costs of this problem are significant, KPB found that the economic impacts of illegal dumping were similarly alarming.  They concluded that cleaning up illegally dumped waste cost more than $600 per ton.  Think about what that means.  Collection and disposal costs for traditional waste pickup in Pennsylvania are generally estimated to be about $100-$120 per ton.  It costs five or six times more to clean it up from a dump.

Even if citizens and their local governments must invest money to make it happen, it would seem to make sense to do what we can to prevent the dumping.   Several studies show that convenient and affordable waste and recycling service greatly reduces the incidence of dumping and open burning.  When given the opportunity and resources, the overwhelming majority of people will do the right thing.  But these things do not happen magically.  Local government must provide or facilitate these services in cooperation and partnership with private sector companies.  KPB calls it universal access to service.  Everyone must have access to some sort of waste and recycling service. 

They are not necessarily calling for curbside service everywhere in Pennsylvania.  Rather, it has been proposed that municipalities determine what the best option is for their situation.  Some places may be best served by rural drop-offs.  Some may provide the service with municipal crews, while others may partner with local haulers.  Since the problems go beyond typical trash, the report also recommends addressing special wastes that often end up in illegal dumps.  Bulky wastes (especially appliances, furniture and electronics) and construction and demolition waste are common in many dumps because numerous communities ignore.

That means that convenient and affordable recycling opportunities for appliances and other bulky items are just as important as regular trash service.  To discourage dumping of construction and demolition waste, proof of disposal or recycling will be required as part of the permitting process.  And those that collect and transport even modest amounts of construction and demolition waste or tires will be required to meet certain operational and record keeping standards.  These common sense approaches will address a nagging set of problems.  A diverse group of advocates (including local government associations and the waste industry) have voiced their support.  It seems that nearly everyone agrees that it is the next logical step in better managing and reducing the waste we generate.