During the past decade, the national recycling rate (including
composting) has climbed to 32%. 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 and composting.
Some of these strategies include:
- targeting a wide range of materials for recovery (beverage containers, 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
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. The report shows the environmental
advantages of recycling containers.
Composting may be one of the most vital strategies for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. It is an age-old process whose success has been well demonstrated in the U.S. and elsewhere. Composting facilities are far cheaper than landfills and incinerators. Adopting this approach would provide a rapid and cost-effective means to reduce methane and other greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon storage in soils, and could have a substantial short-term impact on global warming.
Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Recycling
EPA estimates that in 2003, an estimated 170 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.
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 has a mandatory 50 percent recycling rate for C&D as of 2007.
Electronic Waste Recycling - e-Waste
The proper handling and disposal of computer related equipment is critical to environmental protection. According to the Electronics Take Back Coalition,
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 April 2010, twenty one states have taken action to encourage e-Waste recycling. [click for a quick comparison of the 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." The
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."
Other Groups:
On December 15th, 2004 the City of Chicago approved a new construction
and demolition recycling requirement. The new rules will take effect in
March 2006. The initial requirement for recycling will be 25 percent of
all recyclable materials measured by weight for projects permitted
after March 1, 2006. This will be increased to 50 percent after January
1, 2007.
More
Oakland, California (pop. 400,000) passed a zero waste resolution on
March 7, 2006. The city directed its public works department to come up
with a strategic plan to meet the zero waste goal by 2020.
More
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a growing approach to recycling and waste reduction. In May 1997, the state of Maine started considering actions to control
mercury emissions and discharges in response to increasing evidence of
unhealthy levels of mercury in the Maine environment. After a series of
detailed reports which identified sources and recommended specific
actions, the state enacted a law in April 2002 titled "
An Act to Prevent Mercury Emissions when Recycling and Disposing of Motor Vehicles." [
click for full text]
. More
In February 2006 the City of Oakland, California passed ordinance
12727, which enacts a fee on fast-food restaurants, gas stations, and
convenience markets to cover litter and trash clean up. The fee is
expected to raise $237,000 a year, which will be used solely to fund
the clean up program. The ordinance is intended to discourage the use
of disposable products such as candy wrappers, food containers, and
paper napkins. "A city is judged by how clean it is, and Oakland
definitely has a major litter problem. It's time to clean up", said
Councilwoman Brunner, who proposed the ordinance.
More
This is a five year pilot program (expires 2010). Producers pay a $5000
registration fee per year to the state's recycling fund (or $500 in yrs
2-5 if they have instituted a takeback program. If counties set up
computer collection/recycling programs, they can apply to the state
recycling fund for grants to offset some costs.
More
Maine's e-Waste law passed in 2003 represents a partnership between the
private sector, the public sector and consumers. The legislature wrote
in the law that "the purpose of this section is to establish a
comprehensive electronics recycling system that ensures the safe and
environmentally sound handling, recycling and disposal of electronic
products and components and encourages the design of electronic
products and components that are less toxic and more recyclable."
More
The
California Electronic Waste and Recycling Act of 2003
places an advanced recycling fee on the sale of new computer monitors,
TVs, and laptop computers to fund a statewide recovery and end-of-life
processing system for obsolete electronics. These products contain
hazardous substances that can be dangerous if not disposed of properly.
For example, computer monitors contain lead that can leach into
groundwater if they are dumped in an ordinary landfill.
More
In March 2006, the state of Washington passed an electronics recycling
bill that requires manufacturers to finance the collection,
transportation and recycling of old computers, monitors and
televisions. With the implementation of this new "producer takeback"
rule, Washington will become the fourth state to enact electronics
recycling legislation (
see more states here).
More
In 1999, Atherton, California passed an ordinance that requires all
construction, renovation and demolition projects to divert fifty
percent of waste from landfills (
Section 15.52.040). Within the city, all buildings slated for demolition are made available for deconstruction (
Section 15.52.030). Also, permits for construction or demolition require a deposit of $50 per ton of waste to be generated (
Section 15.52.060), to be returned once the job and related resource recovery are complete.
More
These case studies- Fitchburg, WI, Portland OR, and Seattle, WA, were conducted by ILSR for the US Environmental Protection Agency, and are part of a larger study called Cutting the Waste Stream in Half: Community Record-Setters Show How (download full report or fact sheet packet). Each case study presents that city's recycling strategies as well as the laws and policies from which the strategies derive.
More
The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (pop. 136,000), pursuant
to the Litter Control Regulations under the Environment Protection Act,
all flavoured carbonated beverages must be sold in refillable bottles.
banned non-refillable soft drink bottles in 1977, and soft drink cans
in 1984. The island's government decided that in addition to preventing
litter on the beautiful resort island and avoiding the use of plastics,
the ban would preserve a local bottling business and the associated
jobs. The island also had a local glass recycling plant but no local
aluminum recycling plant.
More
Refillable beverage containers are generally considered environmentally
preferable to one-way containers - containers designed for a single
use. Yet, for decades, their use has dwindled in the United States, to
the point where refillables make up 5 to 7% of beer and soft drink
containers. At the same time, American drink producers have maintained
or re- introduced refillable containers in Europe and elsewhere. Many
Canadian provinces promote refillables too. All beer and soft drinks
produced in Prince Edward Island, for instance, are in refillable glass
bottles.
More
A 2002 report on beverage container recycling suggests that we can
double recovery of beverage containers - and save money at the same
time. These are the findings of Understanding Beverage Container Recycling: A Value Chain Assessment, a study carried out under the watchful eyes of both beverage industry and environmental representatives.
This
ground-breaking study is the first accomplishment of the
Multi-Stakeholder Recovery Project (MSRP), a project of Businesses and
Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR). BEAR works under Global
Green USA to pursue a 'fact-based approach to public policy making' in
order to break through the traditional impasse between supporters and
opponents of so-called 'bottle bills.'
More
A hazardous waste tax is assessed on generators when the waste is
shipped, or when facilities recycle, treat, store, or dispose of
hazardous waste. The tax is based on the quantity of of the hazardous
waste and its ultimate destination (e.g., whether it is destined for
recycling, treatment, or land-disposal.)
Vermont has
by far the highest tax rates on hazardous waste. As of 1995, waste
generators pay a $.44/gal liquid or $112/ton solid waste disposal fee
for land disposal, a $.33/gal liquid or $84/ton solid waste disposal
fee for long term storage, a $.22/gal liquid or $56/ton solid waste
disposal fee on waste blended, treated, or chemically treated, and a
$.11/gal liquid or $28/ton fee solid waste disposal fee on reclaimed or
recycled waste.
More
Comments
Post new comment