(A) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Over three million eight hundred thousand tons of solid waste are generated in South Carolina each year.

(2) On the average, each South Carolinian currently produces approximately four and one-half pounds of solid waste each day.

(3) Unless steps are taken to reduce or recycle the amount of waste produced in this State, over five million tons of solid waste will be generated annually in South Carolina by the year 2000.

(4) Approximately eighty percent of the solid waste generated in South Carolina is landfilled.

(5) There are currently some seventy-nine permitted sanitary landfills in this State.

(6) Most of the permitted landfill capacity will be used within the next ten years. Twenty-three of forty-six counties have ten years or less of landfill space remaining.

(7) Siting of solid waste facilities is becoming increasingly difficult due to the opposition of local residents.

(8) The costs of solid waste management will increase significantly due to decreased landfill capacity and more stringent federal requirements for solid waste management facilities. More stringent federal and state requirements may also force a number of existing solid waste landfills to close.

(9) Insufficient and improper methods of managing solid waste can create hazards to public health, cause pollution of air and water resources, constitute a waste of natural resources, and create public nuisances.

(10) The economic growth and population growth of our State have required increased industrial production which, together with related commercial and agricultural operations to meet our needs, have resulted in increased amounts of discarded materials.

(11) The continuing technological progress and improvements in methods of manufacturing, packaging, and marketing of consumer products have resulted in an increasing amount of material discarded by the purchasers of these products, necessitating a statewide approach to assist local governments in improving solid waste management practices and to promote more efficient methods of solid waste management.

(12) The failure or inability to economically recover material and energy resources from solid waste results in the unnecessary waste and depletion of our natural resources, such that maximum resource recovery from solid waste and maximum recycling and reuse of these resources must be considered goals of the State.

(13) A coordinated statewide solid waste management program is needed to protect public health and safety, protect and preserve the quality of the environment, and conserve and recycle natural resources.

(14) The statewide solid waste management program should be implemented through the preparation of a state solid waste management plan and through the preparation by local governments of solid waste management plans consistent with the state plan and with this chapter.

(B) It is the purpose of this article to:

(1) protect the public health and safety, protect and preserve the environment of this State, and recover resources which have the potential for further usefulness by providing for, in the most environmentally safe, economically feasible and cost-effective manner, the storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, processing, recycling, and disposal of solid waste;

(2) establish and maintain a cooperative state program for providing planning assistance, technical assistance, and financial assistance to local governments for solid waste management;

(3) require local governments to adequately plan for and provide efficient, environmentally acceptable solid waste management services and programs;

(4) promote the establishment of resource recovery systems that preserve and enhance the quality of air, water, and land resources;

(5) ensure that solid waste is transported, stored, treated, processed, and disposed of in a manner adequate to protect human health, safety, and welfare and the environment;

(6) promote the reduction, recycling, reuse, and treatment of solid waste, and the recycling of materials which would otherwise be disposed of as solid waste;

(7) encourage local governments to utilize all means reasonably available to promote efficient and proper methods of managing solid waste, which may include contracting with private entities to provide management services or operate management facilities on behalf of the local government, when it is cost effective to do so;

(8) promote the education of the general public and the training of solid waste professionals to reduce the generation of solid waste, to ensure proper disposal of solid waste, and to encourage recycling;

(9) encourage the development of waste reduction and recycling programs through planning assistance, technical assistance, grants, and other incentives;

(10) encourage the development of the state's recycling industries by promoting the successful development of markets for recycled items and by promoting the acceleration and advancement of the technology used in manufacturing processes that use recycled items;

(11) establish a leadership role for the State in recycling efforts by requiring the General Assembly, the Governor's Office, the Judiciary, and all state agencies to separate solid waste for recycling and by granting a preference in state procurement policies to products with recycled content;

(12) require counties to develop and implement source separation, resource recovery, or recycling programs, or all of the above, or enhance existing programs so that valuable materials may be returned to productive use, energy and natural resources conserved, and the useful life of solid waste management facilities extended;

(13) require local governments and state agencies to determine the full cost of providing storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, recycling, and disposal of solid waste in an environmentally safe manner; and

(14) encourage local governments to pursue a regional approach to solid waste management.

HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 63, Section 1.