(a) The general assembly finds that the public health, safety and welfare require comprehensive planning for the disposal of solid waste on a local, regional and state level. The general assembly further finds that whenever economically and technically feasible, solid waste should be reduced at the source or recycled, consistent with market demand for recyclable materials, to decrease the volume of waste which must be disposed of by incineration or landfilling.

(b) The general assembly further finds that some areas of the state have inadequate and rapidly diminishing capacity for disposal of solid waste by landfilling. It is also becoming difficult for many local governments to site and pay for new landfills which comply with existing and proposed environmental regulations. Therefore, the removal of certain materials from the solid waste stream by mulching, composting, recycling, and waste-to-energy incineration (resource recovery) will substantially lessen our dependence on landfills as a means of disposing of solid waste, aid in the conservation and recovery of valuable resources, conserve energy in the process, increase the supply of reusable materials, and reduce substantially the required capacity of resource recovery facilities and contribute to their overall combustion efficiency, thereby resulting in significant cost savings in the planning, construction, and operation of these facilities.

(c) The general assembly therefore declares that to protect the public health, safety and welfare from the short-term and long-term dangers of transportation, processing, treatment, storage and disposal of solid waste, it is advisable to develop a regional planning process to facilitate the safe and responsible disposal of such waste. The general assembly further declares that such planning should promote the use of private enterprise, whenever feasible, to accomplish the objectives of an effective, comprehensive solid waste management plan which will facilitate economic and industrial development through the improvement of the solid waste infrastructure.