In 2014, Michigan’s solid waste law was amended to establish specific “beneficial use by-products.” When beneficial use by-products are managed to meet one or more of the five beneficial use option conditions, the materials are no longer considered a solid waste that has to be disposed in a solid waste landfill. The materials that may be used as beneficial use by-products include: cement kiln dust or lime kiln dust; coal or wood burning bottom ash; coal or wood burning ash recovered from air pollution control equipment or non-combusted residues from their combustion; dewatered concrete grinding sludge; flue gas desulfurization material; foundry sand; lime softening residuals; mixed wood ash; pulp and paper mill ash; pulp and paper mill material; and soils washed or removed from sugar beets; spent media from sandblasting; and stamp sands. The five use options for beneficial use by-products include:
Use as an aggregate, road material, or building material if it will be bonded or encapsulated by cement, limes, or asphalt.
Use as construction fill, road base, soil stabilizer, or road shoulder material.
Use as a fertilizer, soil conditioner under Part 85, or a liming material under 1955 PA 162.
Use as a stabilizer, neutralizer, or for the treatment of solid waste, wastewater, or hazardous substances; or a landfill construction material.
Use as a component of a manufactured soil.
See the Beneficial Use Website and Beneficial Use FAQs to learn more.