Dive Brief:Facility 

• Tri-County Recycling Inc. is seeking permission from the Massachusetts Board of Health to accept up to 750 tons per day of municipal solid waste at its ABC&D Solid Waste Handling Facility in Ware, MA. 
• The planning board had already determined that the 9-acre property was not zoned for that magnitude of operation, however Tri-County is hoping to amend their operating permit and modify the zoning. 
• The state DEP had "issued a report in which it determines that the [facility] is a suitable place for the proposed facility modification," according to the Board of Health. However, Tri-County will still need to attend a site assignment hearing tomorrow (Nov. 5) to testify and seek approval. 

Dive Insight:

By increasing the amount of waste that the ABC&D Solid Waste Handling Facility can accept, Tri-County Recycling would have the ability to handle more than 270,000 tons of waste per year —  almost 60,000 tons more than it is able to handle now. 

If the amendments were to be approved, Tri-County would use its facility as an industrial garbage center, allowing the facility to accept and transfer municipal solid waste. The garbage would be loaded onto railroad cars and shipped out of state, according to Mass Live. 

While the company says the operation would not negatively impact the community, there are a few concerns that residents may have following approval. The first would be the issue of odor, and how additional solid waste would increase odors coming from the facility. The second would be the issue of transporting trash out of state — a waste disposal method that has caused tension in many areas of the country.