Wisconsin's Waste Imports and Exports

One of the most common questions about Wisconsin's landfills has been how much waste they receive from other states each year. This amount changes from year to year due to a variety of factors, including the overall cost of landfilling in neighboring states versus Wisconsin, fuel prices, general economic conditions, competition for contracts among private waste haulers and ongoing consolidation in the waste management industry.

Waste Materials in the Global Marketplace

Many "waste" materials are valuable resources that can be reused or turned into new products. Recyclables such as paper and plastic are bought and sold on a global scale. The DNR does not track data on imports and exports of these materials.

Materials that cannot be reused or recycled are also part of the national and global economies, and are frequently transported across state and national boundaries to be disposed of at appropriate solid waste facilities.

How Much Waste Does Wisconsin Import and Export?

Most states import as well as export solid waste for disposal. Wisconsin imports and exports significant amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial solid waste and hazardous waste each year. The tables below provide a snapshot of municipal and industrial solid waste imports and exports in 2007.

Notes: Illinois figures reported in gate cubic yards, converted to tons using the Illinois EPA conversion factor of 3.3 gate cubic yards per ton. Michigan figures reported in cubic yards, converted to tons using the Michigan DEQ conversion factor of 3 cubic yards per ton. Michigan reports its figures in a fiscal year of 10/1 to 9/30. The 2007 figures are a weighted average consisting of .75 * (10/1/06-9/30/07 figures) + .25 * (10/1/07-9/30/08 figures). Data on exports to Minnesota not available.

Where Does the Waste Imported Into Wisconsin Come From?

Most of Wisconsin's waste imports come from Illinois and Minnesota, with smaller amounts coming from Michigan and Iowa.

The graph below shows trends in Wisconsin's waste imports from 1997 through 2007. The graph shows a generally upward trend in waste imports, with most waste coming from Illinois (about two-thirds of the total) and Minnesota (about one-third of the total) in 2007, when the overall total was about 1.9 million tons. Imports from Michigan, Iowa and other states combine have consistently made up about 1 percent of the total. There was a significant jump in imports from 2003 to 2004, and a slight decline from 2005 to 2007.

Full-size version: Total out-of-state solid waste (municipal and industrial) disposed of in WI landfills [PDF 14KB]

Are Waste Imports Into Wisconsin Increasing?

In general, the amount of municipal and industrial solid waste entering Wisconsin each year has increased over the past decade, although annual fluctuations do occur and the volume of imports has declined since 2004. MSW makes up the majority of waste imports (around four-fifths).

Since 2000, out-of-state waste has made up between 14 and 19 percent of the total waste landfilled in Wisconsin each year. MSW imports have ranged from 17 to 26 percent of the total MSW landfilled, while non-MSW (industrial) imports have ranged from 7 to 10 percent of the total non-MSW landfilled.

The graph below shows the overall trends in the tons of MSW and non-MSW landfilled in Wisconsin from 1994 through 2007. The total amount of waste landfilled has remained fairly steady over the past decade, with a noticeable increase in 2004 followed by a slight annual decline since then. In 2007, waste imports made up about 18 percent of the 10.4 million tons landfilled in Wisconsin.

Full-size version: Origin of Municipal and Non-municipal Solid Waste in WI Landfills [PDF 12KB]

The graph below is similar to the previous one but shows only MSW totals. In general, the amount of MSW disposed of annually in Wisconsin landfills has increased significantly since 1994, from 4.3 to 6.5 million tons. A large part of this increase has been due to increased MSW imports, which have risen from approximately 500,000 to 1.6 million tons over the same time period and made up 24 percent of the total in 2007. The amount of out-of-state MSW remained relatively steady between 2004 and 2007.

Full-size version: Origin of Municipal Solid Waste in WI Landfills [PDF 12KB]

You can view all data on tons of waste landfilled each year in Wisconsin by visiting our landfill tonnage reports page.

Which Wisconsin Landfills Receive the Most Waste From Out of State?

Most of the waste imported into Wisconsin goes to six landfills near our borders with Illinois and Minnesota. Tonnages change from year to year due to local factors, including competition, capacity management and contract changes.

Does the Waste From Other States Contain a Lot of Recyclables?

Wisconsin has a strong recycling ethic and has been a recycling leader for many years. Many communities in neighboring states also have strong recycling programs. For example, MSW coming from Minnesota and Illinois is similar in composition to MSW from Wisconsin. Municipalities in Minnesota and Illinois operate successful recycling programs that divert most of the same materials from MSW that Wisconsin's programs do. DNR staff that inspect Wisconsin landfills have not observed significant differences between the amounts of recyclables in Wisconsin MSW and MSW from other states. Wisconsin's absolute bans on landfilling certain materials (yard waste, lead-acid batteries, major appliances and waste oil) apply equally regardless of where waste comes from.

What Does it Cost to Landfill Waste in Wisconsin Compared to Surrounding States?

Most waste coming into Wisconsin from other states goes to privately owned landfills. It is difficult to compare disposal ("tipping") prices at these landfills because most waste haulers are either part of the company owning the landfill or do business under a private contract that includes volume discount pricing. Based on published price lists, Wisconsin landfill tipping prices on average are similar to those in surrounding states. However, in comparisons of average tipping prices for landfills located near our borders, Wisconsin prices tend to be slightly lower.

Wisconsin and other states also impose per-ton fees on landfilled waste, typically to support recycling and other environmental programs. Wisconsin's per-ton tipping fee is currently higher than in surrounding states.

In 2007,Wisconsin generated about $5.3 million in recycling tipping fee revenues from waste imports, or about 23 percent of the total $22.9 million generated from all recycling tipping fees.

Why Can't We Just Ban Waste Imports From Other States?

Federal courts have made it clear that state laws that ban or limit the landfilling of garbage from other states in order to preserve landfill space for in-state garbage violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Courts have also rejected state laws that impose higher fees on garbage from other states than on in-state garbage. States do have some ability to limit waste imports if the imported waste does not meet certain environmental standards, as long as environmental requirements are applied to both in-state and out-of-state waste.

Contact Information

For more information, please contact:

Cynthia Moore
(608) 267-7550