Recycling - Impacts on State, Changing Recycling in General: Arkansas Environmental Federation Convention Presentation

My law firm colleague Stuart Spencer undertook a presentation at the Arkansas Environmental Federation 52nd Annual Convention and Trade Show on October 17th in Hot Springs titled:

Recycling: Impacts on State, Changing Recycling in General (“Presentation”)

The Presentation developed by both Stuart and myself addressed a variety of federal and Arkansas issues directly or indirectly related to recycling solid or hazardous waste.

The topics addressed included:

• Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ Report Addressing the Economic Impact of Recycling on the Various States (including Arkansas)
  • Economic Impact Study, U.S. Based Scrap Recycling Industry
  • Arkansas jobs created include:
    • Direct - 1,252
    • Supplier - 1,198
    • Induced - 1,181
  • Economic impact for Arkansas:
    • Direct - $262,580,300
    • Supplier - $247,919,300
    • Induced - $197,532,300
• Scrap Import Ban/Chinese Government Policies
  • Description of import prohibition which began on December 31, 2018
  • List of various scrap materials whose import has been affected
  • Note reference to solid waste
  • Importance of traditional U.S. scrap exports to China noting 5.6 billion tons have been affected
  • Diversion of scrap materials to countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam is becoming more important. They are looking at additional restrictions.
• Contaminant Thresholds for Certain Scrap Materials in the Chinese Import Ban is Described
• Impact of Chinese Import Ban on Plastics and Paper
  • Noting 41 percent of paper recovered in North America was exported with about 25% going to Chinese mills
  • European Union exports over 95% of its plastic to China
• Evolving Nature of Types of Materials Recycled, Referencing Solar Panels
  • Concern has been expressed from a sustainability standpoint in regards to the end of the life cycle of photovoltaic solar panels
  • Four million tons of PV have been installed in Europe and 43,500 tons of PV waste were generated by 2017
  • Projected 60 million tons of PV waste will be generated by 2050
• Solid Waste Association of North America announced a Technical Policy Citing the Need for Entities to Measure Recycling Progress and Encourage the Development of a Consistent Methodology
  • Document is cited as T-6.4 SWANA Technical Policy
• Contamination Limit/Recyclables
  • Describing MRF Operator Lawsuit Alleging Connecticut Authority Violation of Sorting/Marketing Agreement
  • Complaint filed in Superior Court in Connecticut alleging that Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority violated a Recycling Facility Operations and Maintenance Agreement
  • Alleged violations included failure to prevent excessive levels of contamination in incoming recyclables
• Carroll County Solid Waste Authority Request to Become an Arkansas Regional Solid Waste District (Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Administrative Law Judge Recommended Decision
• Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission Regulation 16 – Arkansas Recycling Tax Credit Program
  • Noting Arkansas has for a number of years provided eligible facilities establishing or expanding processes that utilize recyclables a tax credit on certain capital cost
  • Eligibility is dependent upon certain criteria such as utilization of percentages of solid waste and post-consumer waste
  • Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality operates this program in conjunction with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration
  • Facilities establishing or expanding processes that utilize recyclables are potentially eligible for 30 percent tax credit on certain costs
  • The tax credit has been very beneficial to manufacturing and processing facilities that have substituted scrap materials or recyclables in lieu of virgin feedstocks
• D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions Addressing EPA Rule Revising the Definition of Solid Waste (see California Communities Against Toxics, et al., v. EPA, D.C. Circuit Case No. 18-1163)
• Continuing Importance of RCRA Guidance
  • July 19th memorandum addressing automotive airbag inflators
  • Solvent contaminated wipes exclusion
• Beneficial Reuse/Clean Soil – February 20th Order Addressing Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Solid Waste Fee Determination
  • Order considers the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works contention that a landfill facility underreported the amount of Solid Waste Management Fees that should have been collected because of classification of certain waste as beneficial reuse materials/clean soil
  • Penalty amounts based on an alleged failure to report $772,133 tons of clean soil
  • Landfill facility successfully argued that the beneficially reused material (i.e., clean soil) was inappropriately classified by the County and there was no obligation to pay the fee
• Ohio Supreme Court Addressed the Application of Ohio’s Use Tax to an Ohio Facility Processing Slag (See Lafarge North America, Inc., v. Testa, Tax Commissioner, 2018 WL 2440300.
• Discussion of Sentencing of Individuals for Alleged Wire Fraud Conspiracy Involving Electronics Recycling (two individuals sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 28 months in prison)
• Discussion of the Issues Relevant to the Solid/Hazardous Waste/Recycling Industry Associated with Arkansas’s Enactment of the Medical Marijuana Amendment
  • Employee issues associated with legal use of medical marijuana
  • Medical marijuana cultivation and dispensary waste generation issues

A copy of the slides can be downloaded here.