Improving Military Solid Waste Management

Economic and Environmental Benefits Gao ID: LCD-76-345 June 2, 1977

The Department of Defense (DOD) can save money and protect the environment by improving its solid waste management.

DOD and other Federal agencies are responsible for the annual disposal of 32 million tons of solid waste. Low priority has been given solid waste management, and the absence of DOD deadlines for complying with the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines contribute to the problem. There has been only minimal recovery of recyclable materials to date. As of June 1975, military installations recycled 4.2% of their waste material in FY 75, compared with the national average of 6%. There are both economic and environmental benefits related to energy recovery from solid waste. However, military management has been slow in recovery programs because most bases have sufficient landfill areas.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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