Waste Management in the US : USA: The Game Changer?
The hopes pinned on Joe Biden are high. With the United States having rejoined the Paris climate agreement, environmental organisations, many Democratic voters and, not least, the international community have been expecting the Biden administration to step on the gas when it comes to other environmental issues as well: more recycling, legislation for better waste treatment and incentives for waste reduction.
“The new president has a very aggressive environmental agenda. But in the coming months, his top priorities will be to fight the Covid pandemic and stabilise the US economy. That’s what he was elected to do,” says David Biderman, CEO of SWANA, the Solid Waste Association of North America.
On top of that, to get tougher environmental legislation through the Senate, Biden probably needs Republican support. And their willingness to cooperate with the Democratic president is probably low. When the latest Covid Relief Bill was passed, just one Republican voted for Biden’s proposal. All the others voted against it for partisan political reasons.
This does not mean, however, that Biden is completely incapable of acting on environmental issues. In particular, the Clean Future Act, which is currently being discussed in Congress, could bring about considerable improvements, for example in the direction of a National Bottle Bill, which would ensure that there is mandatory bottle recycling throughout the USA and not just in ten of the 50 states, as is currently the case.
The other lever Biden could use is infrastructure legislation. After more than ten years of gridlock, Republicans also see the need to bring this issue back into focus. According to Democratic ideas, much- needed infrastructure improvements should be tied to green energy concepts and also to environmental justice. “Some landfills and other waste processing facilities operate near where disadvantaged people live. It is possible that a focus on environmental justice would be tied to increased support for recycling and waste prevention,” says Biderman.
And there is something else that gives cause for optimism. The EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, has, in part at SWANA’s suggestion, recently proclaimed the ambitious goal of increasing the recycling and composting rate from the current 32.1% to 50% by 2030. With EPA’s very ambitious new chief, Michael Regan, the effort could now pick up steam. “It’s a goal and not a law, so there are no penalties if the goal is not met, but I see right now a great willingness to push the issue,” Biderman says. “The same is true for efforts to define maximum contaminant levels for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, another issue SWANA is involved with.” It appears Biderman and SWANA will be very busy over the next few years.