Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons: Environmental Engineering: Solid Waste Management

Internet Resources on Solid Waste Regulations

MA DEP: Waste & Recycling Laws & Rules
A linked list of waste management laws, DEP regulations and standards, and policies and guidance for Massachusetts.
U.S. EPA: Links to Hazardous Waste Programs and U.S. State Environmental Agencies
A directory to state environmental agencies across the country.
U.S. EPA: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Laws and Regulations
RCRA is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste.

Green Economy: Waste To Energy (Video)
This 2014 film looks at curbside collection, sorting, and waste incineration which in turn generates electricity (25 min).
IPCC: Waste Management
Chapter 10 from 'Waste Management, In Climate Change 2007' discusses the greenhouse gas emissions of various waste disposal systems. Courtesy of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
MA DEP: 2016 Solid Waste Data Update
This annual report shows that waste-to-energy facilities receive the largest amount of solid waste in the Commonwealth, while landfills continue to decline in number.
MA DEP: Solid Waste Master Plan
A guide to solid waste management through the coming decade, from 2020 to 2030.
MGL: Solid Waste Facility (310 CMR 19.000)
Mass. regulations governing the operation of solid waste facilities.
U.S. EIA: Energy from Municipal Solid Waste
Statistics on waste-to-energy production in the United States.
U.S. EPA: Energy Recovery from the Combustion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
An introductory overview of the waste-to-energy process.

Eco-Cycle Solutions Hub
This non-profit organization offers guidance on creating zero-waste communities,
Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership
This organization monitors developments of e-waste over time, and to help countries to produce e-waste statistics.
Practical Recycling Economics: Making the Numbers Work for Your Program
A useful guide on the economic realities of the recycling market from the New Jersey DEP.
U.S. EPA: Facts and Figures about Materials, Wastes and Recycling
Looks at generation, recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery, and landfilling for a variety of materials and products.
U.S. EPA: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
How to recycle common household waste safely.
Your Recycling Gets Recycled, Right? Maybe, or Maybe Not
How China's rejection of American solid waste has created a crisis for recycling programs across the United States.

Municipal Solid Waste Fact Sheet
This fact sheet from the U of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems provides statistics on the number of sanitary lanfills in the U.S., as well as information on the tonnage and types of waste committed to landfills.
U.S. EPA: Landfills
Information on municipal solid waste, bioreactor, industrial non-hazardous, and hazardous waste landfills.