DES MOINES – Over the next 12 weeks, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will conduct waste sorts across the state to learn more about how Iowans recycle and use their local landfills.
Beginning May 12, SCS Engineers will begin the 2022 Statewide Waste Characterization Study for the DNR by collecting, hand-sorting and categorizing multiple samples of residential and commercial sector waste from 10 municipal solid waste landfills of varying sizes from across the state. SCS will also perform visual sorts of construction and demolition loads for the 2022 study.
“We’ll take the data from the 2022 study and compare it to previous studies to help us identify trends and see how we’re meeting state and local landfill diversion goals,” said Tom Anderson with the DNR’s Land Quality Bureau. “Overall, it will help us increase waste diversion program efficiencies and improve quality of life for Iowans.”
Data resulting from the study is also important in supporting the DNR’s sustainable materials management initiative, currently underway.