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Beyond 50% Recycling: Toward a Zero Waste Economy. Institute for Local Self-Reliance www.ilsr.org. How to Get There. Reduce & Reuse Recycle Compost (food discards too!) Collect Process & Market Make New Products from the Old Buy Reused, Recycled, Green
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Beyond 50% Recycling:Toward a Zero Waste Economy Institute for Local Self-Reliance www.ilsr.org
How to Get There • Reduce & Reuse • Recycle • Compost (food discards too!) • Collect • Process & Market • Make New Products from the Old • Buy Reused, Recycled, Green • Implement Institutional Framework (policies, laws, incentives) • Residential & Commercial Sectors Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Community Record-Setters Community Pop. Waste Type Reduction Chatham, NJ 8,000 65% Res. Suburban Falls Church, VA9,800 65% Res. Suburban Bellevue, WA 104,000 60% Res. Suburban/Urban Leverett, MA 2,000 55% Res. Rural Loveland, CO 43,000 56% Res. Urban Worcester, MA 165,400 52% Res. Urban Crockett, TX 8,300 52% Res. Small Rural City Madison, WI 199,500 49% Res. Urban Visalia, CA91,300 48% Res. Urban San Jose, CA 819,400 44% MSW Urban Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Institutional/Commercial Waste Reduction Record-Setters Community ICW Waste Reduction Bergen County, NJ 62% Clifton, NJ 68% Portland, OR 47% San Jose, CA 42% Seattle, WA 52% ICW = institutional/commercial waste Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Keys to Record-Setters • Accept many materials • Compost • Mandate recycling • Institute pay-as-you-throw trash fees • Target all sectors • Augment curbside with drop-off • Educate, educate, educate • Market materials Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Institutional Framework • Landfill bans • Recycling goals and requirements • Bottle bills • Recycled-content laws • Creative funding mechanisms • Buy recycled programs • Pay-as-you-throw trash fees Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Food Discard Waste Reduction Record-Setters Organization, Location % of Food Discards Recovered Del Mar Fairgrounds, CA 75% Fletcher Allen Health Care, VT 90% Frost Valley YMCA, NY 100% Larry’s Markets, WA 90% Green Workplace, Govt. of Ontario 70% Middlebury College, VT 75% NY State Prisons, NY 90% Shop Rite Supermarkets, NJ 90% Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Reusable Items in the Waste Stream Reusable Items Percent of Discarded Municipal Solid Waste Durable Goods* 16.4% Textiles (MSW) 3.3% Wooden Pallets 3.6% *Appliances, furniture, furnishings, carpets, tires, electronics, luggage, sporting equipment, and the like Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Reusable Items Discarded and Recovered Reusable Items 1000s TPY 1000s TPY % Discarded Recovered Recovered Durable Goods* 37,630 6,590 17.5% Electronics 2,260 210 9.3% Textiles (MSW) 7,610 1,080 14.2% Wooden Pallets8,170 1,250 15.3% *Appliances, furniture, furnishings, carpets, tires, electronics, luggage, sporting equipment, and the like Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Strategies to Promote Reuse • Implement drop-off and curbside programs • Salvage at landfills & transfer stations • Educate • Disseminate reuse directories • Develop reuse enterprises • Target business community • Partner with local charities • Include reuse in solid waste plans/studies • Ban specific items from disposal • Be creative Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Select Reuse Programs Program Type Calaveres Co., CA* Salvation Army drop-off site at landfill Calvert Co., MD* Drop-offs, pick-up from charities Chatham Co., NC* Swap Shops at drop-offs St. Paul, MN* Curbside collection, Goodwill processing Montgomery Co., MD* Drop-off, pick-up programs, directory L.A. Shares, CA* Reuse showroom, pick-up service, Web Materials for the Arts Reuse showroom, pick-up service Surplus Exchange, MO Reuse showroom, pick-up service Recycletown, CA Retail store, drop-off at landfill ReStore, VT Retail store, pick-up, drop-off Urban Ore, CA Retail store, drop-off, pick-up, salvage *local charities served by program Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Job Creation: Reuse Vs. Recycling and Disposal Type of Operation Jobs/ 10,000 TPY Computer Reuse 296 Textile Reclamation 85 Misc. Durables Reuse 62 Wooden Pallet Repair 28 Recycling-Based Manufacturers 25 Conventional MRFs 10 Disposal Facilities 1 Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Building the Infrastructure • Build eco-industrial parks • Require product deposits • Establish landfill and incinerator surcharges • Expand buy recycled programs • Ban products and packaging that cannot be reused, recycled, or composted • Ban recyclable and reusable materials/products from landfills/incinerators • Retain control of materials