[GreenYes] None, Nada, Zero

[Gary Liss <gary@garyliss.com>]

Apologies for Cross-Postings

This is the headline of the Refuse News article of December 15, 2001 on 
California's adoption of a Zero Waste goal.

Below is the full front-page article, reprinted with permission from Refuse 
News.

Gary
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None, Nada, Zero
Lead California waste agency adopts "Zero Waste" agenda

Of course there will still be landfills and no, waste producers are not now 
required to recycle 100% of their solid waste.  And no, zero waste does not 
mean hundreds of waste hauling companies will be shutting their doors in 
California.  What zero waste does mean, according to proponents of the 
practice, is that manufacturers of waste should start making reducing or 
eliminating waste at the source a goal.  By adopting zero waste language 
last month in its Strategic Plan, the California Integrated Waste 
Management Board hopes to bring the practice into the forefront.

The Board adopted its Strategic Plan on Nov. 13.  Final language is 
available on the agency's website at 
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/agendas/mtgdocs/2001/11/00006552.doc.

The Board is dovetailing zero waste into a set of mandates contained in 
AB939, California's waste recycling law which, when written in 1989, was 
based on a hierarchy that prioritized waste reduction and recycling over 
all other options.  Zero waste and producer responsibility will be placed 
high in the hierarchy.

Though zero waste is not currently written into AB939 law, the Board in its 
Strategic Plan has pledged to increase participation in resource 
conservation, integrated waste management, waste prevention, and product 
stewardship, and manufacturer responsibility to reduce waste and create a 
sustainable infrastructure.

The board is one of the first state-wide public entities to adopt zero 
waste language into policy, the CIWMB said.

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Caption Under picture of closed landfill:

The ramifications of the approval of zero waste language in the California 
Integrated Waste management Board's Strategic Plan will not be immediately 
felt, according to the Board.  One goal of zero waste is to severely 
curtail the state's dependence on landfills and perhaps one day make scenes 
like this one at the now-closed Spadra Landfill near Pomona more common 
throughout the state.

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For more information on Refuse News, contact John Waddell, Editor at: 
KJWBRefuseNews@aol.com, or 1-402-935-1989.  Refuse News is published 
monthly by KJWB Publications, Inc. 4140 So. 89th Street, Suite D, Omaha, 
NE  68127.


Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485

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