Michigan governor proposes raising tipping fees to curb out-of-state waste

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed raising Michigan’s landfill tipping fees to curb the slow of imported waste entering the state. 

The governor’s fiscal 2026 budget proposes increasing the state fee levied on waste disposal from 36 cents to an even $5 per ton, phased in over five years. 

Although state lawmakers didn’t adopt a similar budget proposal last year, according to MLive.com, the new budget proposal changes how increased revenues would be spent. This time, 45 percent of the estimated $80 million in annual revenues from the hike would be directed back to communities that would likely face increased waste disposal costs if the plan is adopted.

The proposed increase would bring Michigan’s fee more in line with other Midwestern states, say state officials, with the ultimate goals of deterring Canadian and out-of-state trash and increasing state funding for legacy pollution cleanup.

Michigan is “No. 1 per capita in the country in terms of landfill waste, so not necessarily something to be proud of,” Phil Roos, director of the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, tells MLive.com. “We want to try to reduce or eliminate that disproportionate impact of trash coming into the state.”

In 2024, about 19 percent of waste landfilled in Michigan came from out of state. Of that total, 14 percent came from Canada, MLive.com reports. Canada landfilled 3.64 million tons of waste in Michigan last year. The next largest importer was Ohio, which sent more than 658,000 tons in 2024. 

Records show an overall increase of more than 5 percent in solid waste sent to Michigan landfills last year compared to 2023 figures. Waste from Michigan residents increased by 1.3 million tons, while imported waste decreased last year by more than 52,000 tons.

Under Whitmer’s latest budget proposal, 30 percent of tipping fee revenues would reimburse local communities expected to incur higher costs for trash and recycling services. Another 15 percent would go into a state grant fund for communities that host landfills and coal ash impoundments.

Roos said most of the revenues would be spent to continue EGLE’s work cleaning up legacy contamination sites. 

Organizations such as the Michigan Waste and Recycling Association oppose the fee hike, arguing it would raise the cost of essential services statewide. “An increase of this magnitude would add costs to virtually every resident in the state as well as local governments, hospitals, public safety organizations and school districts,” says the industry group in a statement provided to MLive.com.

Michael Csapo, general manager at Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County, says there are legitimate reasons to increase landfill tipping fees to make up for costs on surrounding communities, but that the latest proposed increase likely will not close the gap between the availability and cost of landfilling in Canada versus trucking it to Michigan.

“Saying you want to cut down on waste imports is a politically expedient sound bite, but it doesn’t comport with the reality of it. Raising the tip fee [to] $5 isn’t going to cut down on Canadian waste,” Csapo tells MLive.com.

He does, however, believe the plan would be successful at raising revenues available for the state.