Welcome…

To the South Carolina Palmetto Chapter of the 

Solid Waste Association of North America

As President of the Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our association.  My name is J Morgan, and I am the President of the SC Chapter of SWANA.  We are a professional trade association made up of nearly 200 public and private sector solid waste and recycling professionals from across SC.

The solid waste industry is going through many changes in the coming year that South Carolina counties need to be aware of.  New legislation, regulations, technology enhancements and trends in the industry can and will have a direct impact on a county’s finances and their ability to provide services.  By being a member of SWANA you can stay informed of these critical issues.  Some of these issues that are facing SC counties this year are:

 

 

Waste Tire Bill

Work is underway to introduce new legislation to allow counties to charge the necessary tipping fees to cover their costs to manage tires.  With reductions in the Waste Tire Fund, counties will have to pay more to have their tires disposed/recycled.  Currently the average price being charged to dispose of tires in SC is well over $200 per ton, yet counties can only charge $150 per ton.  SWANA and its partners at the SC Association of Counties, Department of Commerce and SC Department of Environmental Services are working to change this to help counties charge what they need to be whole when managing tires.

Collection Safety Legislation

Legislation has been drafted that will protect solid waste and recycling collectors while they are performing their duties each day.  Much like a typical construction zone on a roadway, provisions in the legislation call for stiffer fines and penalties for drivers who speed around these crews.  Fatalities were up this past year for these folks, and SWANA wants to support efforts to protect the health and safety of the men and women working in our industry.

OSHA Regulations on Working in Extreme Heat

OSHA has proposed new heat regulations that will impact everyone’s workplace that has employees working in high heat environments.  These changes will mean modifying work schedules to accommodate breaks, acclamation time and other work rules that will ultimately impact your cost to provide services.  SWANA national has drafted comments on the proposed heat regulation, and our local SC Palmetto Chapter will be keeping our members informed as well.

Lithium Ion Battery Safety

The proliferation of lithium ion batteries continues to be an issue for those of us who are handling them at their end of life.  Fires in collection vehicles as well as processing and disposal facilities were on the rise again this past year, with no signs of this trend changing.  SWANA has remained diligent in their efforts to promote safety when handling lithium ion batteries.  New partnerships have been formed, collection programs conducted and education materials have been made available to our members to help keep their work force and facilities safe.

Decreasing Disposal Capacity

Record breaking population growth across SC, and shrinking disposal capacity will make finding disposal options in the future more difficult to find and more expensive to pay for.  Supporting programs to reduce waste generation and recycling what we can will be critical as we move forward.  New technology for processing waste also needs to be considered as a means for extending the life of our disposal facilities.  SWANA is the resource you need to keep informed on this ever changing landscape.

Conferences/Workshops/Training

In addition to education and technical assistance, SWANA provides training opportunities at the national and local level.  This year SWANA will be rolling out its new RCon conference that will bring national waste and recycling leaders together to discuss the issues facing our industry.  On the local level, the SC Palmetto Chapter will be holding its annual conference in May that will focus more on local issues, with some national issues facing our industry mixed in.

Whether you manage collection systems, waste handling facilities or disposal facilities, you are the owner operator or you sub-contract the work, everyone will deal with waste management issues at one time or another.  SWANA is here to help guide you through some of those decision processes and to assist you in your decision making if we can.  We are a network of both public and private sector members in all parts of the waste industry.  SWANA wants to be your source for information regarding waste and recycling issues.  Consider a membership today for you or your staff to help keep your communities informed on the issues you will be facing today, and in the future.

Sincerely,

J Morgan

President

SC Chapter of SWANA