[greenyes] data on municipalities which follow Zero Waste programs.

[RicAnthony@no.address]

    Thanks for posting your message asking for data on municipalities which
    follow Zero Waste programs.

    There is no one city that has fully implemented every aspect of a Zero 
Waste
    program, but there are many places which have taken significant steps
    towards Zero, especially on the recycling side. GAIA's full Zero Waste
    vision includes recycling, but also goes beyond recycling. We will never
    solve our "waste problem" only at the back end, so to fully implement Zero
    Waste, we need to combine recycling and waste diversion with upstream
    approaches to reduce the total volume and toxicity of materials used.

    However, here are some resources to learn about places which have
    implemented positive steps towards Zero. If others have additional
    resources, please post those and we can keep all these on the GAIA website
    so it is easier for people to link to them from one place.

    Institute for Local Self Reliance, www.ilsr.org has documented successful
    recycling programs in many US cities. They have a bunch of publications
    available on their website, such as "Cutting the Waste Stream in Half:
    Community Record Setters Show How."

    In California, there is a statewide goal to divert 50% of 1990 waste 
levels
    from landfills and incineration. Some counties have raised the goal to 75%
    and San Francisco has adopted a Zero Waste goal. In these places, there 
are
    a number of successful programs. San Francisco now has curbside collection
    of food waste so city residents separate their organic waste which is all
    sent to a huge composting facility. Alamdea county subsidez low cost back
    yard composting bins and has sold about 50,000 of them to residents. Even
    though it costs them money to subsidize the bins, they recover the costs 
by
    decreasing the amount of waste they have to collect (that is the Avoided
    Disposal Cost which is often left out of recycling/composting 
calculations).
    See www.stopwaste.org and www.sfenvironment.com. There is a huge amount of
    data on the diversion levels reached and costs in California, so this may 
be
    the best single source of the info you seek.

    Also see the Grassroots Recycling Network, www.GRRN.org, for great
    educational material on Zero Waste, examples of businesses which have
    reduced waste significantly and copies of Zero Waste resolutions and
    activities mostly in the U.S. but some international.

    The Toxics Use Reduction Institute in Massachusetts is also a great
    resource. Through the work of this institute and the State's fantastic
    Toxics Use Reduction Act there has been a 50% decrease in toxic chemicals
    used by industries in Massachusetts. Of course, less toxic chemicals used
    means less toxic waste and toxic-contaminated products that enter the
    discard stream. See www.turi.org. Also see Clean Production Action and the
    Lowell Center for Sustainable Production for more ideas on clean 
production.
    www.cleanproduction.org and www.uml.edu/centers/LCSP

    Health Care Without Harm has done tremendous work in promoting waste
    reduction in health care settings, and ensuring safe treatment of 
infectious
    waste without incineration, www.noharm.org

    Other resources:

    Zero Waste New Zealand Trust: www.zerowaste.co.nz

    "Creating Wealth from Waste" by Robin Murray, Demos publishing, UK

    Also, later this month GAIA members around the world will release a report
    which looks at the costs of intensive recycling and composting versus
    incineration focusing on cases in less-industrialized countries.

For California, the general website address is www.ciwmb.ca.gov for 
information on all aspects of the California programs.  We worked with the Institute 
for Local Self-Reliance and others on 24 case studies of model local government 
waste diversion programs in the year 2000.  Those case studies can be found 
at: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGLibrary/Innovations/

It's particularly important for local governments to get involved in the 
upstream side of advocating for extended producer responsibility (EPR), and 
designing wastes out of the system.  GRRN has some great producer responsibility 
campaigns on their website at: http://www.grrn.org/epr/index.html.  As a first 
step, local governments could endorse the Extended Producer Responsibility 
Principles developed by the EPR Working Group at 
http://www.eprworkinggroup.org/index.php.  Next, local governments could adopt resolutions on:
    a.. Beyond Recycling: Zero Waste... Or Darn Close
    b.. The Electronics Junkpile: Environmental Hazard, Unfunded Mandate
    c.. Not an Ounce of Responsibility: Coke, Pepsi and Plastic Bottle Waste
    d.. Burying Organics Stinks: The Compost Solution
    e.. Build Community Assets by Eliminating Waste
  Sample resolutions are all found at: http://www.grrn.org/localgov/index.html

  In addition, one of the best websites on EPR is Clean Production Action at: 
http://www.cleanproduction.org/AAbase/default.htm

  To design wastes out of the system, one of the best tools to engage people 
is organizing Zero Waste at special events (like conferences or community 
festivals).  As an example, Zero Waste was the goal at the Salt Lake Olympics.  
See info on their successes at: 
http://www.grrn.org/olympics/olympics_update_01-21-02.html

     I hope this is helpful.
     Ann Leonard /Gary Liss    

Ricanthony@no.address
RichardAnthonyAssociates.com
San Diego, California