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D R A F T <br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />INTRODUCTION <br />PRELIMINARY <br />Solid waste management in the Metropolitan Area is reaching a critical turning <br />point. By 1986, the sanitary landfills which now provide virtually all of the <br />region's management capcity will be full. This projected short -fall in capacity, <br />combined with the growing trend to avoid on -land disposal, were the primary <br />motivating factors behind the 1980 enactment of the Minnesota Waste Management <br />Act and this Landfill Abatement Proposal. By implementing the solid waste <br />management alternatives set forth in this proposal, Ramsey County can realis- <br />tically expect to reduce landfill use by 60 -65% by 1986, and possibly to a <br />greater extent in subsequent years. <br />The process by which this Landfill Abatement Proposal was developed may be as <br />important as the plan itself. To deal with the highly controversial and <br />sensitive nature of solid waste issues, the Ramsey County Board of Commis- <br />sioners appointed a 19 member Solid Waste Management Advisory Council to study <br />abatement alternatives. This group of Ramsey County citizens, industry <br />representatives, haulers and government officials, worked closely with the <br />Ramsey County Environmental Health Division staff and the Donohue consulting <br />team to identify an acceptable mix of technically feasible landfill abatement <br />alternatives. <br />GENERAL FACTS ABOUT lift EXISTING WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM <br />493,200 tons of solid waste are generated each year by residerces, <br />businesses and industries in Ramsey County. <br />Some 94% of the total waste volume is currently disposed in land- <br />fills in Anoka, Washington and Dakota Counties. <br />* 6% of the total waste volume is currently recycled or reused. <br />* 60% of all commercial and residential waste is recyclable glass, <br />paper, aluminum,_iron and organic waste. <br />* Organizationally, the existing system favors disposal over other <br />management alternatives. <br />* Refuse collection is not a mandatory requirement for over one -half <br />of the county's residents. <br />* In all but three Ramsey County communities, refuse collection firms <br />compete for individual residential, commercial and industrial <br />accounts. In the communities of White Bear Township, the City of <br />White Bear Lake, and the St. Paul neighborhood of Tangletown, there <br />are collection contracts between the local unit of government and <br />one waste hauler. <br />68 <br />