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Appendix I: Solid Waste Management System Description Overview Since 1980, Minnesota has taken a systems approach to waste management, built on the public health model of prevention. This approach intends to prevent pollution, conserve resources, protect health and the environment, and to not pass costs onto future generations. Minnesota law includes a hierarchy of preferred methods to manage waste, emphasizing prevention of environmental problems and protection of public health. The Waste Management Act of 1980 (Minn. Stat. Section 115A.02, as amended) identifies its (a) purpose and (b) the waste management hierarchy as: (a) It is the goal of this chapter to protect the state's land, air, water, and other natural resources and the public health by improving waste management in the state to serve the following purposes: (I) reduction in the amount and toxicity of waste generated; (2) separation and recovery of materials and energy from waste; (3) reduction in indiscriminate dependence on disposal of waste; (4) coordination of solid waste management among political subdivisions; and (5) orderly and deliberate development and financial security of waste facilities including disposal facilities. (b) The waste management goal of the state is to foster an integrated waste management system in a manner appropriate to the characteristics of the waste stream and thereby protect the state's land, air, water, and other natural resources and the public health. The following waste management practices are in order of preference: (I) waste reduction and reuse; (2) waste recycling; (3) composting of yard waste and food waste; (4) resource recovery through mixed municipal solid waste composting or incineration; (5) land disposal which produces no measurable methane gas or which involves the retrieval of methane gas as a fuel for the production of energy to be used on -site or for sale; and (6) land disposal which produces measurable methane and which does not involve the retrieval of methane gas as a fuel for the production of energy to be used on -site or forsale. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is responsible for establishing solid waste policy and planning in accordance with the Waste Management Act. The guiding document for the metropolitan area is the Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan 2010 -2030 (Policy Plan) developed jointly by the MPCA and the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board ( SWMCB). The Policy Plan has the effect of law and sets the standards against which local solid waste plans are reviewed and approved. The vision and goals in the Policy Plan provide the foundation for both regional and county- specific solid waste master plans. The Policy Plan, the SWMCB regional master plan and the county master plans work in concert to assure that the solid waste system addresses the environmental and health goals established in law. Waste management plans are written, reviewed and approved by the MPCA. Ramsey County uses the goals and policies set forth in the Policy Plan to update its plan. Waste is complex. Waste is much more than what most people think is garbage, refuse, or trash. Waste is anything that a household, business or institution no longer needs. Waste can be relatively harmless, or be toxic or potentially harmful. The State of Minnesota has crafted a variety of laws and rules that regulate trash so that risk to public health and the environment can be managed. For example, products that contain mercury are banned from the trash, and have to be managed separately. Wastes that are Ramsey County Solid Waste Master Plan 2011 -2030 Page 132 Approved by the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners on 3120112