(A) Not later than twelve months after the date on which the department submits the state solid waste management plan to the Governor and to the General Assembly, the General Assembly, the Office of the Governor, the Judiciary, each state agency, and each state-supported institution of higher education shall:

(1) establish a source separation and recycling program in cooperation with the department and the Division of General Services of the Department of Administration for the collection of selected recyclable materials generated in state offices throughout the State including, but not limited to, high-grade office paper, corrugated paper, aluminum, glass, tires, composting materials, plastics, batteries, and used oil;

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-96-140

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Collection: means the act of picking up solid waste materials from homes, businesses, governmental agencies, institutions, or industrial sites. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Compost: means the humus-like product of the process of composting waste. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Office: means the Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling established within the Department of Health and Environmental Control pursuant to § 44-96-110. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Recycling: means any process by which materials which would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products (including composting). See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, or sludge from a waste treatment facility, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations and from community activities. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Source separation: means the act or process of removing a particular type of recyclable material from other waste at the point of generation or under control of the generator for the purposes of collection, disposition, and recycling. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Used oil: means oil that has been refined from crude oil or synthetic oil and that has been used and, as a result of that use, is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40

(2) provide procedures for collecting and storing recyclable materials, containers for storing materials, and contractual or other arrangements with collectors or buyers of the recyclable materials, or both;

(3) evaluate the amount of waste paper material recycled and make all necessary modifications to the recycling program to ensure that all waste paper materials are recycled to the maximum extent feasible; and

(4) establish and implement, in cooperation with the department and the Division of General Services of the Department of Administration, a solid waste reduction program for materials used in the course of agency operations. The program shall be designed and implemented to achieve the maximum feasible reduction of solid waste generated as a result of agency operations.

(B) Not later than September fifteen of each year, each state agency and each state-supported institution of higher learning shall submit to the department a report detailing its source separation and recycling program and a review of all goods and products purchased during the previous fiscal year by those agencies and institutions containing recycled materials using the content specifications established by the Division of General Services, Department of Administration.

(C) By November first of each year, the department shall submit a report to the Governor and to the General Assembly reviewing all goods and products purchased by the State and determining what percentage of state purchases contain recycled materials using content specifications established by the Division of General Services, Department of Administration. The report also must review existing procurement regulations for the purchase of products and materials and must identify any portions of such regulations that discriminate against products and materials with recycled content and products and materials which are recyclable.

(D) Not later than one year after this chapter is effective, the Division of General Services, Department of Administration shall amend the procurement regulations to eliminate the portions of the regulations identified in its report as discriminating against products and materials with recycled content and products and materials which are recyclable.

(E) Not later than one year after the effective date of the amendments to the procurement regulations, the General Assembly, the Office of the Governor, the Judiciary, all state agencies, all political subdivisions using state funds to procure items, and all persons contracting with such agency or political subdivision where such persons procure items with state funds shall procure products and materials with recycled content and products and materials which are recyclable where practicable, as determined by the Division of General Services, Department of Administration. The list of recycled content specifications must be updated annually. It is the goal of the General Assembly for state and local governmental agencies to reflect a twenty-five percent goal in their procurement policies. The decision not to procure such items shall be based on a determination that such procurement items:

(1) are not available within a reasonable period of time;

(2) fail to meet the performance standards set forth in the applicable specifications; or

(3) are only available at a price that exceeds by more than seven and one-half percent the price of alternative items.

(F) Not later than six months after this chapter is effective, and annually thereafter, the Department of Transportation shall submit a report to the Governor and to the General Assembly on the use of:

(1) compost as a substitute for regular soil amendment products in all highway projects;

(2) solid waste including, but not limited to, ground rubber from tires and fly ash or mixtures of them from coal-fired electrical facilities in road surfacing of subbase materials;

(3) solid waste including, but not limited to, glass aggregate, plastic, and fly ash in asphalt or concrete; and

(4) recycled mixed-plastic materials for guardrail posts, right-of-way fence posts, and sign supports.