Difficult-to-Manage Materials: Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials Issues Report

The Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (“ASTSWMO”) issued an April 2024 report titled:

Difficult-to-Manage Materials Survey Report (“Report”)

The Report was prepared by the ASTSWMO Sustainable Materials Management Task Force (“Task Force”) of the Materials Management Subcommittee.

ASTSWMO describes itself as a non-profit environmental trade association representing the waste management and remediation programs within the 50 U.S. states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. The Task Force mission is described as to:

. . . provide leadership and promote actions that reduce waste, conserve resources, prevent pollution, and foster sustainability through identifying recycling opportunities and partnerships through the development and implementation of education programs about recycling.

The Task Force is stated to have initiated a survey in June 2023 to:

• Identify products and materials that are of concern or causing issues in waste and recycling programs
• Identify associated trends among states

The survey defines “difficult-to-manage” as:

. . . an item that has reached the end of its useful life that presents difficulties to the public, State or local government, or the waste and recycling industry because of a lack of viable end markets, inherent difficulties in handling the material, a lack of collection or recovery infrastructure, or any combination thereof.

Thirty-nine states and territories provided input into the survey.

Key issues addressed in the survey included:

• Identification of top five difficult-to-manage materials
• How a state is currently addressing difficult-to-manage materials
• Challenges/problems as well as opportunities regarding identified materials
• What states would find helpful in managing the materials

Components of the Report include:

• Ranking of Difficult-to-Manage Materials
• Types of Plastics
• Other Difficult-to-Manage Materials Noted
• Mechanisms for Addressing the Top 5 Materials
• Top 3 Challenges/Problems in Managing Difficult-to-Manage Materials
• Existing Opportunities for Managing Difficult-to-Manage Materials
• Assistance Needs for Managing Materials
• Elaboration of Responses and/or Additional Comments
• Appendix A – Survey Questions

A copy of the Report can be downloaded here.