Delaware’s residents, visitors, businesses and industries generate a lot of trash each year. In fact, the state authority charged with handling solid waste estimates that Delaware produces nearly one million tons of trash annually.
That total reflects detritus from business, industry and agriculture along with聽residential sources. And household trash from a variety of homes, apartments, townhouses and condominiums constitutes the largest single source of waste in Delaware.
The total statewide waste figure also includes construction and demolition debris. In the overall scheme of things in Delaware, Sussex County is one of the leaders in waste generation statewide.
Where Does the Trash Go?
In Delaware, both solid and liquid wastes are regulated by myriad federal, state and local regulations.
Authority for those regulations “crosses many offices, programs, sections, divisions and departments,” said聽Michael Globetti, spokesman for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).
Indeed, while DNREC is responsible for regulating wastewater under the federal聽Clean Water Act聽and air quality under the Clean Air Act, it also oversees solid waste disposal; other state agencies also have a piece of the regulatory action.
For example, Globetti said the state Department of Health and Social Services is responsible for regulating medical, biological and infectious waste. In addition, the Department of Agriculture regulates some aspects of farm waste management.
And a state entity 鈥斅爐he Delaware Solid Waste Authority 鈥斅爄s responsible for much of the solid waste activity, including operating landfills, transfer stations and recycling centers statewide.
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