waste

Ford County, Kansas, filed suit against a host of manufacturers and a leading chemicals trade group last month, claiming the companies lied about the recyclability of plastic.

The signs released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warn of "low-level radioactive materials present" near Coldwater Creek in St. Louis.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has expired, but Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and other Congress members are still fighting to expand it. Plus: Precision agriculture is supposed to help growers be more efficient with what and how they farm, but it's still years away from fulfilling its promise.

Kansas City Council member Crispin Rea is sponsoring an ordinance to increase penalties for illegal dumping, which regularly affects vacant lots and the city's Land Bank properties.

The legislation requiring companies to build their meatpacking sludge storage lagoons away from nearby homes passed the Missouri Senate this week.

The law targets a plan by KC Recycle & Waste Solutions to build a landfill at Kansas City’s southern border. For more than a year, Raymore and other suburban municipalities have pushed legislation designed to block the landfill, arguing it would hurt the environment, property values and residents’ health.

With bigger trash carts, Kansas City is trying to put a lid on litter and dumping problems. But with more trash than ever going to landfills, the city has a long way to go in educating people about recycling and composting.

After a 270-acre landfill was proposed for a site just south of Missouri Highway 150 in Kansas City, communities rallied against it. The bill now awaiting Gov. Mike Parson’s signature would prohibit a landfill from being built in Kansas City within a mile of another municipality unless that adjoining city approves the project.

The Raymore City Council voted unanimously to approve a settlement over the controversial landfill, that would pay developers $3.73 million if they scrap the project. The proposed site is less than a mile from the Creekmoor golf course community, with homes priced as high as $1 million.

Starting last year when rumors of the proposed project in south Kansas City began circulating, Missouri state Rep. Mike Haffner has pushed legislation meant to give surrounding communities more sway over landfills.

The city of Raymore has been battling a proposed landfill on its northern border for more than a year now. Mayor Kris Turnbow, along with other leaders in the area, have been pushing for legislation in the Missouri General Assembly to stop the project before it begins.

Republic Services is back in the hot seat with Overland Park, Shawnee, Lenexa and Prairie Village residents, with some residents going without trash pickup for weeks. Two of the cities have fined the waste management company, but none so far have severed their contracts.