JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The Jackson City Council held a Public Works Committee meeting to discuss the resolution to adopt the 2025 Solid Waste Management Plan.

The city is required to develop a new plan every 20 years. The last plan was approved by the city and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in 1996.

Twenty-nine years have passed, which means the capital city is nine years overdue. The goal of Wednesday’s meeting was to develop a comprehensive plan to ensure public health, environmental protection and service efficiency for the next 20 years.

Jackson’s Public Works representatives hope to secure state and federal grants in the process.

“That Solid Waste Management Plan helps us with garbage pickup. Understand not just picking it up from the residence, from commercial business, but what we’re going to do with that garbage after we take the garbage where it’s going to be located. All the things that has the management of that recycle material, as well as the rubbish, as well as the household garbage, how we’re going to handle it. And it’s very important because EPA and the state requires us to do that,” said Daniel Walker, senior environmental engineer with Cornerstone Engineering.

The 2025 plan includes improving residential garbage collection services, tackling the overflower hotspots of illegal dumping and address illegal tire dumping. The plan calls for enhanced enforcement, including surveillance, community reporting and higher fines and penalties for illegal dumping violators.

“So illegal dumping, it’s been one of those things that we’ve been fighting for quite some time, and we see it in all of our wards. In fact, I plan on bringing forward an ordinance to strengthen the penalties for illegal dumping. A lot of the perpetrators who dump illegally in our city don’t even live here. They don’t do business here,” said Councilman Brian Grizzell, Ward 4.

The City Council voted 4-0 for the updated Solid Waste Management Plan, which now needs approval from MDEQ.