The SWAC shall serve in an advisory and technical capacity to the County Council and to the Department of Planning and Public Works on matters affecting solid waste handling in Pierce County. For the purposes of this Chapter, "solid waste handling" means the management, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, and final disposal of solid waste, including the recovery and recycling of materials from solid wastes, the recovery of energy resources from solid wastes or the conversion of the energy in solid wastes to more useful forms or combinations thereof.