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This guide does not deal with hazardous waste management; except for hazardous <br />substances generated by households. The 1981 guide provided very 'imited <br />direction for managing hazardous wastes in the region. The Waste Management <br />Act has shifted hazardous waste planning, siting and regulating functions to <br />the Waste Management Board and the MPCA. <br />The guide retains the metropolitan counties as the primary implementation <br />authorities. However, cities and towns now are expected to implement parts of <br />the guide. The 1984 amendment to the Waste Management Act required the <br />Council's regional plan to set waste reduction and resource recovery objectives <br />for cities and townships in the region. With this change, the legislature <br />seems to have envisioned a more deliberate, responsible role for local <br />governments. <br />MAJOR POLICIES <br />The guide calls for establishing a regional system of coordinated processing <br />and recycling services. The system must be comprised of centralized processing <br />facilities, transfer stations and composting and recycling services. The <br />counties have the major responsibility to implement the system. <br />A major policy requires the termination of landfilling of mixed municipal solid <br />waste after 1990. Only the nonrecoverable residuals remaining from waste pro- <br />cessing could be landfilled after that date. To date, there has been little <br />effort to control the types of wastes going to land disposal facilities. The <br />technology is available to impose this ban, and it is possible to have such <br />services region -wide after 1990. Processing would include recovering the <br />recyclable, compostable and combustible wastes. <br />Another major policy requires Metropolitan Area generators of municipal solid <br />waste after 1987 to separate recyclables and compostable yard waste materials <br />from the remaining waste. Currently these materials include leaves, grass <br />clippings and other organic waste from lawn and garden maintenance and paper, <br />glass and metals. Counties, cities and towns will have to provide recycling <br />services for these materials within the next two to three years. <br />Lstablishing centrally coordinated programs for public education and parti- <br />cipation and resource recovery market development are required by 1986. The <br />Council will assume the major responsibility for establishing these programs, <br />but other groups, particularly the counties and state agencies, will be <br />involved as well. Both these programs are given immediate priority. <br />SYSTEM PLAN <br />The system plan in this guide is described in Part 4. The system plan identi- <br />fies projects and activities that are necessary to meet waste management needs <br />until the year 2000. The system plan consists of two development programs, one <br />for waste reduction and resource recovery and one for land disposal. The costs <br />and methods of financing the development programs are also described. <br />The development program for waste reduction and resource recovery specifies <br />levels of reduction/recovery that must be attained as well as the timing and <br />likely location of projects and activities. The program specifies that waste <br />reduction activities can reduce solid waste generated by about four percent in <br />1990. Source separation activities should reach a 16 percent recovery level by <br />