Subdivision 1.Prohibitions.

A person may not:

(1) place major appliances in mixed municipal solid waste; or

(2) dispose of major appliances in or on the land or in a solid waste processing or disposal facility. The agency may enforce this section pursuant to sections 115.071 and 116.072.

Subd. 2.Recycling required.

(a) Major appliances must be recycled or reused. Each county shall ensure that its households have the opportunity to recycle used major appliances. For the purposes of this section, recycling includes:

(1) the removal of capacitors that may contain PCBs;

(2) the removal of ballasts that may contain PCBs;

(3) the removal of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant gas; and

(4) the recycling or reuse of the metals, including mercury.

(b) To ensure that the materials removed from a major appliance are not introduced into the environment, an activity described in paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (3), must be conducted in a closed facility if the activity is conducted within 500 feet from the ordinary high-water level of a water basin that is a public water, as those terms are described in section 103G.005, or of a watercourse identified by the public waters inventory under section 103G.201.