Recycling and Solid Waste
During the past decade, the national recycling rate (including composting) has climbed to 27%. Hundreds of communities have surpassed this level. Dozens report waste reduction levels above 50%. What features are common to these successful programs? It is usually a combination of good rules that together help to achieve a high rate of recycling. Some of these strategies include:
- targeting a wide range of materials for recovery (yard trimmings, multiple paper grades, construction and demolition waste),
- encouraging or requiring participation (by using such strategies as making programs convenient, enacting madates, and instituting pay-as-you-throw trash programs),
- ofering service to multi-family dwellings
- augmenting curbside collection with drop-off collection.
This section features cities and states whose combination of regulations have created a successful recycling program, as well as model rules that can be used to improve one's overall recycling program.
Beverage Container Recycling
A unique coalition of industry, governmental agencies and environmental organizations released a study in January 2002 that, for the first time, provides baseline statistics on the costs, benefits and effectiveness of programs to recover discarded beverage containers for recycling. Understanding Beverage Container Recycling: A Value Chain Assessment is the final report of the Multi-Stakeholder Recovery Project, Stage One. Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR), a project of Global Green USA, launched the initiative in 2001 as an effort to bring together long-standing opponents in the battle over different approaches to recycling in a fact-based approach to public policy making.
Project participants included The Coca-Cola Company, Waste Management, Inc., Beaulieu of America, Tomra North America, Southeastern Container, the GrassRoots Recycling Network and the Container Recycling Institute. The report was prepared by a research consulting team comprising R.W. Beck, Inc., Franklin Associates, Ltd., the Tellus Institute and Sound Resource Management Group. Research was coordinated by the project manager, Boisson & Associates.
The report is a snapshot of U.S. programs as they operated in 1999. The report contrasts the effectiveness of different programs in detail, and verifies that deposit systems recover the highest percentage of discarded containers, followed by municipal curbside programs and residential drop-off programs. The report does not attempt to address important implementation questions regarding new or expanded recycling systems. The report also shows the environmental advantages of recycling containers. "We documented several key benefits in this collaborative process, for example, beverage container recycling saved about 147 trillion BTU in 1999, that's equivalent to over 32 million barrels of oil," said Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA.
Project participants agreed that there is a need to continue fact-based, collaborative discussions and will invite additional stakeholders to participate. Future efforts are likely to concentrate on addressing stakeholder concerns about different policies. One key issue is the need for aggressive market development initiatives to minimize potential market volatility associated with increasing recovery.
Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling
In 1996 an estimated 136 million tons of debris was generated from building, renovation and demolition projects across the United States. Construction and demolition (C&D) debris includes bricks, concrete, masonry, soil, lumber, paving materials, shingles, glass, plastics, aluminum, steel, drywall, insulation, roofing materials, plumbing fixtures, electrical materials, siding, packaging and tree stumps. Through deconstruction and recovery, much of this material can be diverted from landfills and reused.
Recovery and deconstruction support community development with environmental, economic, and social benefits, including:
- Reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and the need for landfilling and incineration
- Conserving energy and natural resources
- Creating job training and employment opportunities, including self-employment and small business development
- Providing materials to used building materials stores and value-adding manufacturing enterprises
- Retaining the historical significance of buildings.
Communities can encourage the recycling of materials by making recovery part of the permitting process. A number of communities have passed local ordinances requiring recovery of C&D materials. In 1996, Portland Oregon passed an ordinance requiring job-site recycling on all construction projects with a value exceeding $25,000. In 1999, Atherton, California passed an ordinance that requires all construction, renovation and demolition projects to divert fifty percent of waste from landfills. Within the city, all buildings slated for demolition are made available for deconstruction. The city of Chicago will also have a mandatory 50 percent recycling rate for C&D by 2007.
Initiatives on the state level are also underway. in early 2001, Massachusetts included a ban on recylcable C&D debris from landfills in its proposed Solid Waste Management Plan.
Electronic Waste Recycling - e-Waste
The proper handling and disposal of computer related equipment is critical to environmental protection. According to the Computer Take Back Campaign, hundreds of millions of computers will soon become obselete. These devices contain a selection of hazardous materials including lead, mercury and cadmium that must be handled with care to protect people and the environment. At this point, less than 10% of discarded computers are currently recycled.
As of March 2006, four states have taken action to encourage e-Waste recycling. Of the four laws, it appears that Washington will have the most far reaching and comprehensive rules. [click for a quick comparison of the four state rules]
Zero Waste
The national recycling rate (including composting) is hovering around 30 percent. Hundreds of communities have surpassed this level and dozens report waste reduction levels above 50 percent. More can and will be done to decrease the amount of materials in our waste streams. Increasing numbers of cities, counties, states and private businesses are making commitments and goals towards "zero waste."
Ther Zero Waste International Alliance provides a definition of the term, "Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health."
More Information:
- Recycling Coalition Calls for Moratorium on PLA Bottles - ILSR Press Release, October 20, 2006
- More information about community development through reuse and recycling is available through ILSR's Waste to Wealth program.
- Grassroots Recycling Network's Zero Waste Campaign web site.
- Irvine, CA - Zero Waste Initiative
- Zero Waste Alliance
- Zero Waste California
- Zero Waste International Alliance
- Recycling Coalition Calls for Moratorium on PLA Bottles - ILSR Press Release, October 20, 2006
- Building a Deconstruction Company: A Training Manual for Facilitators and Entrepreneurs
This May 2001 report provides an excellent resource for anyone interested in starting a deconstruction company. From setup and funding, planning, deconstruction, and material resale, this book is for you!Building a Deconstruction Company The report is $25 (plus S&H) and is available by contacting ILSR - Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling, a project of Global Green USA, is a coalition dedicated to increasing the national recycling rate for used beverage containers to 80%.
- GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN)


List of popular RSS feeds
Comments
Post new comment