Senoia City Council June 1 unanimously approved a state-required Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) designed to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste generated within the city. The plan includes a 10-year time frame.

A main facet of the plan calls for a reduction by 2019 to 2.42 pounds of solid waste per person/per day. Currently in the city, the per person/per day figure is 3.03 pounds.

City administrator Richard Ferry said local industries will be a significant help in the process, having agreed to begin recycling cardboard. That move will fulfill approximately one-half of the target requirement, Ferry said.

The city will also actively promote residential recycling, said Ferry. Currently about 10 percent of households are separating recyclable materials, he said. To accomplish the goal of the SWMP plan, the city will develop a strategy to increase recycling activities. The plan hinges on customer education, Ferry said.

As required by Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs, “the plan is organized according to five core-planning elements: waste reduction, collection, disposal, land limitation, and education and public involvement. These core elements are preceded by the ‘Waste Stream Analysis’ and followed by the ‘Implementation Schedule.’ Each element of the plan provides an inventory and assessment of the current status of solid waste management practices in the planning area, derives needs and goals from that assessment, and determines how an effective and comprehensive solid waste management program will be implemented within the jurisdiction.”

The SWMP is required to provide for the assurance of adequate solid waste collection capability and disposal capacity within the planning area for at least ten years from the date of plan completion; to identify solid waste handling facilities within the plan’s area as to size and type; and to identify land areas in the planning area unsuitable for solid waste handling facilities based on environmental and land use factors, according to the plan document.