(A) It is the policy of this State to promote appropriate methods of solid waste management prior to utilizing the options of disposal in landfills, treatment or disposal by incineration or other treatment, storage, or disposal methods, and to assist local government with solid waste management functions. In furtherance of this state policy, it shall be preferable to reduce the production and generation of waste at the source and to promote the reuse and recycling of materials rather than the treatment, storage, or disposal of wastes by landfill disposal, incineration, or other management methods designed to handle waste after it enters the waste stream.

It is the policy of this State that the methods of management of solid waste shall protect public health, safety, and the environment by employing the best available technology which is economically feasible for the control of pollution and the release of hazardous constituents into the environment. Such methods shall be implemented in a manner to maximize the reduction of solid waste through source reduction, reuse, and recycling.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-96-50

  • Construction and demolition debris: means discarded solid wastes resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition of structures, road building, and land clearing. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Disposal: means the discharge, deposition, injection, dumping, spilling or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water, so that the substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Generation: means the act or process of producing solid waste. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Incineration: means the use of controlled flame combustion to thermally break down solid, liquid, or gaseous combustible wastes, producing residue that contains little or no combustible materials. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Landfill: means a disposal facility or part of a facility where solid waste is placed in or on land, and which is not a land treatment facility, a surface impoundment, or an injection well. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Local government: means a county, any municipality located wholly or partly within the county, and any other political subdivision located wholly or partly within the county when such political subdivision provides solid waste management services. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • 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
  • Region: means a group of counties in South Carolina which is planning to or has prepared, approved, and submitted a regional solid waste management plan to the department pursuant to § 44-96-80. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Reuse: means the return of a commodity into the economic stream for use in the same kind of application as before without change in its identity. 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
  • Solid waste management: means the systematic control of the generation, collection, source separation, storage, transportation, treatment, recovery, and disposal of solid waste. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Source reduction: means the reduction of solid waste before it enters the solid waste stream by methods such as product redesign or reduced packaging. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Storage: means the containment of solid waste, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such manner as not to constitute disposal of such solid waste; provided, however, that storage in containers by persons of solid waste resulting from their own activities on their property, leased or rented property, if the solid waste in such containers is collected at least once a week, shall not constitute "storage" for purposes of this chapter. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40
  • Treatment: means any technique designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any solid waste so as to render it safe for transport, amenable to storage, recovery, or recycling, safe for disposal, or reduced in volume or concentration. See South Carolina Code 44-96-40

(B) It is the policy of this State to encourage research by private entities, by state agencies, and by state-supported educational institutions into the reduction of solid waste production and generation.

(C) It is the policy of this State to encourage a regional approach to solid waste management.

(D) It is the goal of this State to reduce, on a statewide per capita basis, the amount of municipal solid waste being generated to 3.5 pounds per day not later than June 30, 2005.

(E) It is the goal of this State to recycle, on a statewide basis, at least thirty-five percent, calculated by weight, of the municipal solid waste stream generated in this State no later than June 30, 2005.

(F) It is the goal of this State to continue setting new and revised solid waste recycling and waste reduction goals after June 30, 2005. These goals must be established in a manner so as to attempt to further reduce the flow of solid waste being disposed of in municipal solid waste landfills and solid waste incinerators.

(G) It is the policy of this State that each county or region make every effort to meet, on an individual basis, the state solid waste recycling and reduction goals and that each county or region, and municipalities located therein, which meet this goal be financially rewarded by the State.

(H) For the purposes of §§ 44-96-50 and 44-96-60, "municipal solid waste" includes, but is not limited to, wastes that are durable goods, nondurable goods, containers and packaging, food scraps, yard trimmings, and miscellaneous inorganic wastes from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources including, but not limited to, appliances, automobile tires, old newspapers, clothing, disposable tableware, office and classroom paper, wood pallets, and cafeteria wastes. "Municipal solid waste" does not include solid wastes from other sources including, but not limited to, construction and demolition debris, auto bodies, municipal sludges, combustion ash, and industrial process wastes that also might be disposed of in municipal waste landfills or incinerators.

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