1. What is the Baltimore City Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP)?

   The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) requires each county to prepare and adopt a Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) that covers a ten-year planning period, pursuant to Environmental Article, Title 9, Subtitle 5 Annotated Code of MD and COMAR 26.03.03. The SWMP must be both approved by MDE and adopted by City Council.

   Baltimore City’s current SWMP was adopted by City Council on December 2013 and approved by MDE on March 2014. Since then, the City has updated the SWMP in accordance with new state waste management requirements.

2. Who is updating the SWMP?

   The Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Bureau of Solid Waste (BSW) is responsible for updating the Plan.

   The BSW is working with a variety of City stakeholders to inform changes to the SWMP, including the Department of Planning, DPW Administration, and the Mayor’s Office, to name a few.

   The BSW is also collecting community feedback through comment periods and community meetings for the 60%, 90%, 99%, and final draft stages of the SWMP.

   A consulting firm is facilitating the Plan’s update by gathering and analyzing data and tracking internal and external feedback.

3. What happens once the update is complete?

   Once the final draft is complete (May 2023) Baltimore City will submit the plan to MDE for approval. Once the plan receives MDE approval (by August 2023) the plan will be submitted to the Mayor and City Council for formal adoption by December of 2023.

4. When will the plan be implemented?

   The plan will be implemented for the ten-year planning period of January 1, 2024- December 31, 2033.

5. How will this plan impact residents?

   • The SWMP determines solid waste infrastructure, programs for the next ten years. It will therefore affect services available to residents such as residential convenience centers, trash and recycling pick up, and food scrap drop off. Additionally, the plan will include strategies to reduce waste, decrease illegal dumping and litter, manage landfills, and sustain solid waste operations, therefore affecting the cleanliness and sustainability of the City.

6. Where can I read the updated plan?

   • DPW will post updated drafts of the plan at the 60%, 90%, 99%, and final review benchmarks. You can access the drafts on this webpage.

7. How do I provide feedback on the plan?

   • There are several ways to provide feedback:
     • Visit the plan’s webpage and under Draft Comments click on the hyperlink that says You can review and add comments directly to the draft here. This link will take you to a copy of the plan in Konveio, a platform that allows you to add comments directly on the draft.
     • Email comments and feedback to SolidWastePlan@baltimorecity.gov.
     • Mail in comments to this address:

     Solid Waste Management Plan
     200 Holliday St. 10th Floor
     Baltimore, MD 21201

   • Attend a public meeting and submit your comment during the comment and question period.

1. How will my comments be used?

   • All comments will be thoughtfully reviewed. Common themes and priorities will be compiled and analyzed to update the contents of the Solid Waste Management Plan. The BSW will provide responses to common themes and priorities in the Comments section below. 

Frequent Comments

As of March 23, 2023 the Bureau of Solid Waste (BSW) has received 332 comments on the 10 Year Solid Waste Management Plan. Comments were made on multiple platforms, including: the Solid Waste Plan email, Konveio and testimony at Draft Public Review Meetings. All feedback is thoughtfully reviewed, compiled, and analyzed for common themes and priorities to update the Solid Waste Management Plan. The BSW will publish comments at the end of each draft period.

Comment Categories:

• Legislation/code: change or adoption of laws related to solid waste management
• Program: new or different solid waste management programs
• Environmental/equity concerns: concerns, changes or actions related to environmental or public health inequities
• Administrative: administrative changes, actions and improvements (i.e. data management, planning, budgeting, outreach and education)
• Organics: actions and improvements regarding organics diversion
• Plastic: suggestions for reducing, diverting, and recycling plastic waste
• Kudos: comments acknowledging effective solid waste management programs and strategies
• Language or content edits: suggestions for languages or content changes in the Solid Waste Management Plan
• Infrastructure: suggestions for new or improved solid waste management infrastructure



30% Draft Period:

Comments were collected between January 25th and February 2nd 2023.

Platform	#Comments
Konveio	27
Email	8
1/17/23 Department of Planning Comprehensive Plan Mini-Conference Breakout Session	11
Total	46


30% Draft Comments



60% Draft Period:

Comments were collected between February 3rd and March 1st 2023.

Platform	#Comments
Konveio	89
Email	14
2/22/23 Public Meeting (testimony & chat)	26
Total	129


60% Draft Comments

90% Draft Period:

Comments were collected between February 28 and March 23, 2023.