The state鈥檚 Solid Waste Advisory Task Force met for the first time to discuss what kind of landfills exist across Tennessee, opposition to creating new ones or expanding what鈥檚 already in place and the alternatives to them. The 15-member group is made up of state legislators and people involved in waste management. It was established to review waste issues across the state and come up with a way to improve the system.
Their waste management goal is 鈥渞eal simple,鈥� according to state Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro, who also serves as chair of the task force. 鈥淗ow can we be the best in the country by 2050?鈥� he said. The first meeting laid out the status of waste management in Tennessee. The crux of the issue: waste is increasing, but places to put that waste aren鈥檛 increasing with it.
About 13 million tons of waste are disposed of in different kinds of landfills across the state, according to Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Program Administrator of Solid Waste Management Jeremy Hooper, who presented information about state waste and landfills to the task force.