Landfill tipping fee reintroduced in Whitmer’s budget
LANSING, Mich. (WILX) — Some Michigan landfills are reaching capacity.
So, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is putting a plan back on the table to address it.
Proposing a fee increase on waste being dumped or tipped by outside states and Michiganders too Whitmer included the tipping fee increase in her 2025 fiscal budget.
An increase in Michigan’s landfill tipping fees has been laid out in Governor Whitmer’s fiscal 2026 budget. Meeting average fees compared to other Midwest states and a goal of reducing out-of-state dumping.
“Great Lake states probably have about an average of $5.25 of a landfill tip fee surcharge it varies as high as $13.25,” said Kerrin O’Brien, director of the Michigan Recycling Coalition.
Michigan’s current tipping fee is 36¢ per ton. Whitmer wants anyone dumping in Michigan to pay $5 per ton with 19% of waste coming from outside states and Canada in 2024.
“It’s not clear if the landfill tip fee surcharge is going to eliminate out-of-state waste. A 100% of the waste disposed in Michigan that is covered by this law will have to pay the $5 fee,” said O’Brien.
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE, shared with News 10:
While the Michigan Waste and Recycling Association says:
“When you think about your average household the increase would maybe 5-$10 a year. But when you’re talking about waste contracts for an entire city that adds up quite quickly for those local municipalities,” said O’Brien.
As conversations continue, O’Brien says policy holding waste-producing industries accountable should be included in the proposal in a way that benefits local communities.
“We need to clean up contaminated sites and prevent waste in the first place and those things really need to go hand in hand,” said O’Brien. EGLE reports Michigan landfills have a total of roughly 21 years of remaining disposal capacity based on the capacity used during fiscal year 2024.
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