State lawmakers will hold hearing on landfill challenges, including dwindling capacity

State lawmakers will hold hearing on landfill challenges, including dwindling capacity Evan Bourtis News10NBC Seneca Meadows Landfill (WHEC file photo) ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State lawmakers will hold a hearing on Monday to discuss challenges with maintaining the state’s landfills, which could run out of capacity in the next two decades. The 2023 Solid Waste Management plan found that the state’s 25 landfills have a combined landfill capacity life of between 16 and 25 years, depending on different factors. State assembly members say dwindling landfill capacity has created new challenges to the push to close or limit the expansion of some landfills. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. at the Capital Building in Albany. If you’re interested in testifying, you can fill out this form . People will have up to 10 minutes to speak. In total, the state generated 42.2 million tons in 2018, the most recent data available. Out of that, only 43% was recycled. For the rest, 32% went to landfills within the state, 17% was sent out of state, and 8 was combusted. The report found that the waste sector accounts for around 12% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Pushback against two local landfills For years, News10NBC has covered the pushback against plans to expand the state’s largest landfill, Seneca Meadows. Community members and business owners have complained about the odors from the landfill. The Seneca Falls Town Board approved the landfill’s operating permit last year, but the Department of Environmental Conservation has the final say on whether to approve the expansion plan. News10NBC has also covered complaints over High Acres Landfill in Perinton. Around 200 people joined a lawsuit over the odors coming from the landfill. This week, a federal judge denied some claims in that lawsuit, while allowing others to move forward.  The group is suing both Waste Management of New York and New York City, which sends “hundreds of thousands of tons of” its solid waste to the landfill.