The morning of March 7, 2006, I attended a half-day workshop at Michigan State University on “Canadian Trash in Michigan.” My purpose was to become better informed about a hot political topic that will undoubtedly be debated in this election year. The event was organized and chaired by Michael Unsworth, who is the Assistant Director of the Canadian Studies Centre at MSU. The presentation was very informative and free from political spin. I was happy that I went, and would like to share with you the information that was presented by the speakers. About 25 people attended the conference; I do not believe any of the attendees were candidates for political office. The info is presented here in a question-and-answer format. A list of the speakers is at the end of the article.

Why is trash coming into Michigan landfills a problem?
According to environmentalist Dr. Bradley Van Guilder of Ann Arbor, The two biggest environmental problems from landfill trash are contamination of ground-water and contamination of the atmosphere. Sometimes the effects of a landfill are not detected in the groundwater for decades afterwards, but this type of contamination is a serious threat. Some trash is burned off at a landfill, releasing methane gas into the atmosphere. This gas has a strong effect on the global warming process, since methane has over twenty times the warming effect as an equal amount of carbon dioxide.
How much of Michigan’s trash comes from Canada and neighboring states?
Currently, about 28 percent of trash disposed of in Michigan landfills comes from outside of Michigan. This is divided into ten percent from neighboring states and 18 percent from Ontario (the only Canadian province that sends trash to Michigan). A third of Ontario’s trash goes to the USA, of which nearly all goes to Michigan (a small amount goes to New York).
How much trash does Ontario send here?
The trash comes in at an average rate of 400 trucks a day, which translates into 4 million tons per year.
Why doesn’t Canada dump its trash in its own country instead of over here?
When Ontario started trucking its trash to Michigan about 25 years ago, it was for economic reasons. Nowadays, it sends trash here because the province’s landfill capacity will not adequately service the huge amount of trash generated.
Why doesn’t Ontario have enough landfill capacity to service its population?
Ontario’s population increases at a high rate because Canada allows a lot of people to immigrate each year. It also has a strict, lengthy, and complicated process of allowing landfills to become operational. Ontario takes an average of 11 years to get a new landfill up and operating, as opposed to 3 years here.
Does Ontario have plans on the drawing board that will reduce the amount of trash coming to Michigan?
Ontario is continually increasing the amount of trash that is pre-sorted and then recycled, where it can be disposed of without having to put it in landfills. On the other hand, Ontario landfills are rapidly filling up, plus the total quantity of trash produced keeps rising. Projections show that the net effect is that Ontario will be trying to export more trash to the USA, not less, for the foreseeable future.
What are some of the proposals to stop Ontario from dumping so much of its trash in Michigan?
Republicans have said they want to place a ban on Canadian trash coming into Michigan. Democrats have touted the idea of greatly raising the dumping charge to discourage Canadian and out-of-state trash from being brought here.
Is there any legal way for Michigan to stop the importation of Canadian trash?
According to Dr. Julia Ya Qin of Wayne State University, who specializes in international trade law, the short answer is “No.” Trash has been considered an “item of trade” since 2002, and is subject to our trade agreements with other countries. The relevant international agreements are through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A signer to the agreements cannot treat a product from another country differently from a homegrown product once it enters their country, as that would be discriminating against another country by treating its product in a different manner. A ban is a “quantitative restriction” and is not allowed under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which is our treaty agreement under the WTO. It is true that the USA has the right to exclude something if it is detrimental to health, conservation, or the environment, but Canadian trash does not detrimentally differ from Michigan trash in any of these areas. All Ontario waste trucked here complies with EPA regulations. In fact, Ontario trash has undergone more sorting and processing than Michigan trash. Only Ontario’s municipal and commercial trash comes here; hazardous waste is not allowed. The attempt to prohibit Canadian trash from entering the USA in pending legislation such as HR 2491, presently in the US Congress, is in violation of both our NAFTA and WTO treaties with other countries. The portion of the bill HR 2491 that asks the Environmental Protection Agency to put a restraining order on Canadian trash complies with NAFTA (being “grandfathered in” by our Trans-boundary Agreement with Canada), but is a violation of our GATT agreement. It is legally possible to put a tariff on Canadian trash, which is Dr. Qin’s suggestion. Here is a link to the article she wrote in the Detroit News in January 2006. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060103/OPINION02/601030332 Congress can do this by amending the tariff schedule. (According to Robert Cook, Director of the Ontario Waste Management Association, a tariff would not have a large effect on the trash influx because the influx is not economically driven, although it could be part of a broad-based approach to the problem.)
Will making Michigan the most expensive state for dumping trash instead of the least expensive state stop the inflow of Canadian trash?
Unfortunately, no. Even a giant increase of a state dumping charge being raised to make Michigan the most expensive place to take trash to instead of the cheapest will not stem the tidal wave of Canadian trash. There is no place to take it to in Ontario. According to Robert Cook of the Ontario Waste Management Association, if Michigan closed its border to Canadian trash, within two days the trash would start piling up at curbside in Toronto. However, a big dumping charge increase would undoubtedly discourage other states from sending so much trash here. Opponents of such a rate hike such as US Congressman Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, say it would also discourage Michigan residents to dispose of certain trash by putting it in a landfill, and it would begin to accumulate in undesirable places such as unattended property.
So what is the solution to the Canadian trash problem?
Any “solution” will take a long time to implement. A necessary ingredient is the political will in Ontario to devote a great amount of speed and resources to curing the problem. About 70 percent of Ontario residents say that Ontario should build the capacity to handle its own trash. However, they all want to do this by putting landfills someplace in Ontario other than the area near where they live. This sentiment is called “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY), and is definitely a well-known sentiment here as well. My personal opinion (not echoed anywhere else that I know of) is it would be a good idea to have a week or so of stopping Canadian trash at the border, which would not be legal (as “blue flu’ for police officers is used to get around a no-strike contract) but would make the point in a noticeable manner. There is nothing like a large pile of trash in front of your house that is not being picked up to make you contact your political representatives and want action to be taken about the problem.
What can we do in the meantime to improve the Michigan trash situation?
Plenty! Michigan has done little on the home front. Here are some of the things that need to be accomplished:
(1) Raise the state charge on landfill dumping. While this will not do much to stem the tide of Ontario trash, it will clearly reduce the amount of trash trucked here from other states, which is being brought here for economic reasons.
(2) Encourage the sorting of trash at curbside. This enables us to divert trash from landfills and dispose of it in a more environmentally friendly manner such as recycling. At the end of this year, Detroit will be the only one of the thirty biggest cities in the country to not sort trash at curbside pickup.
(3) Use state funds to promote recycling. Last year, Pennsylvania budgeted 66 million dollars for recycling, Wisconsin 29 million, Ohio 12 million, Illinois over 6 million. Michigan allocated only a measly $200,000 for this purpose.
For further information on the trash problem, you can go to workshop organizer Michael Unsworth’s website:
http://mcsrt.org/resources/trash/index.htm

Trash Workshop Speakers

Shelley Carrroll, Toronto Councilwoman who has been trying to prod Canadians into expanding their landfill capacity and dispose of municipal waste in an environmentally friendly manner.
Robert Cook, Executive Director of the Ontario Waste Management Association.
Rod Muir, campaigner for the Sierra Club of Canada, an environmental organization.
Julia Ya Qin, Assistant Professor of Law at Wayne State University, where she teaches international trade law.
Kathrine Razdolsky, Professor Qin’s assistant, who helped with her presentation.
Mike Rogers, US Congressman from the Lansing area who serves on the House Commerce and Energy Committee. He is a co-sponsor of a House bill (HR 2491) to stop Canadian trash from coming in to Michigan.
Bradley Van Guilder, who is a community organizer for the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, providing technical assistance to environmental advocacy groups.