RE: [greenyes] Watching the U.K.

["Eric Lombardi" <eric@no.address>]

Richard,

I agree, Alameda County is a role-model in the USA.  In fact, I would
like to share a "one-pager" about it with my City Council ... do you
know if they have developed something along those lines?  I think it's
important to share these success stories around the country so that
others may learn, gain hope and work locally to duplicate the
appropriate elements.

Eric


Eric Lombardi
Executive Director
Eco-Cycle, Inc
Boulder, CO
303-444-6634
www.ecocycle.org

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Valle [mailto:rvalle@no.address] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 7:45 PM
To: Eric Lombardi
Cc: greenyes@no.address
Subject: Re: [greenyes] Watching the U.K.

Eric,

FYI, in Alameda County, California in addition to the state wide
diversion
requirement of 50% diversion for all California cities by 2000 we have a
county requirement of 75% diversion by 2010.

A large part of our efforts locally include organics at the residential
and
commercial level.

Maybe not perfect but certainly among the leaders in the USA.

Richard Valle
TRI-CED Community Recycling

Eric Lombardi wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> If you didn't catch this in the recent Waste News (10/11/04, p.19) an
> official from the U.K. presented the following information:  (1) that
by
> 2020, according to EU law, they will need to be diverting 80% of their
> biodegradable waste from landfills; and (2) the current U.K. landfill
> tax is $24 per ton, and will rise to $50 per ton by 2010.
>
> Now that's what I call a well-funded rates and dates target.  In the
USA
> we don't have anything even close to these numbers, and why not?  So,
> with numbers like these, the decline of the European landfill industry
> is well underway. which begs the question, where are they going?  The
> choices are really down to two:  Maximum diversion through the 3R's
> (inc. composting under recycling), or, incineration.  My read on the
> situation is that they are now talking about a 70/30 future . 70%
> recovery and 30% burn.  That burn part is a real problem, and it's the
> roots of new incineration proposals and "black box" technology
solutions
> in the USA and around the world.  So, the good news is that global
> momentum is building against landfills, and the bad news is that this
> will feed the growth of the burn industry . unless .
>
> Eric
>
>
> Eric Lombardi
> Executive Director
> Eco-Cycle, Inc
> Boulder, CO
> 303-444-6634
> www.ecocycle.org
>