DETROIT, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Michigan Democrats back legislation to put a $7.50-per-ton surcharge on out-of-state waste dumped at landfills to raise $130 million for recycling programs.
The amount of trash trucked to Michigan's landfills from Canada jumped 23 percent last year, the fifth straight yearly increase, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said.
Michigan communities accounted for 72 percent of waste dumped inside the state but Canadian waste grew to 18 percent of all garbage in the landfills.
Garbage from all out-of-state sources increased 17 percent in 2004, the state agency said. Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports the surcharge.
"It should make Michigan a less attractive place to ship waste. And we ought to at least be generating some money off it recycling," James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, told the Detroit Free Press.
New laws requiring out-of-state waste to meet Michigan's recycling and disposal standards took effect Dec. 1 -- but five Canadian provinces and Toronto continue dumping solid waste.
