[GreenYes] Local and Municipal Zero-Waste Initiatives

[Gary Liss <gary@no.address>]

Apologies for Cross-Postings

From: David Jaber <djaber@no.address>

A team I am working with on behalf of the City of 
Palo Alto, CA is conducting a survey for concrete 
examples of local government initiatives to 
design-out and/or eliminate waste, beyond recycling.

Source reduction and waste prevention policies 
and programs qualify under this 
definition.  Recycling of materials would not.

We're particularly looking for policies and 
programs that would be considered part of 
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or Product 
Stewardship programs.  As examples, potential 
actions for local governments have taken that 
would make a difference at the local level might include:

?       Product bans (e.g., mercury thermometers, 
switches and thermostats; food packaging 
containers; products banned by DTSC in CA from 
landfills unless they have an 
industry-established takeback system in place by a set date)
?       Voluntary takeback programs (like 
Ottawa's program, see 
<http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/gc/takeitback/index_en.shtml>http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/gc/takeitback/index_en.shtml 
)
?       Mandatory manufacturer takeback programs 
(like NYC's proposed ewaste bill)
?       Mandatory retailer takeback programs for 
difficult to recycle materials
?       Environmentally preferable purchasing 
guidelines that specify source reduction and 
extended producer responsibility (EPR) issues
?       Precautionary Principle for local government purchasing
?       Garbage rate structures that give 
ADDITIONAL discounts for businesses meeting 
specified EPR goals (e.g., taking back products, 
achieving 90%+ reduction in waste, eliminating 
more than 10% of waste generation through redesign of products or processes)
?       Deconstruction Policies and Ordinances
?       Adaptive Reuse Policies and Ordinances 
for commercial and residential construction
?       Promoting and developing electronic material exchanges

For any community examples that come to mind, 
please provide what you have of the following:
- Name of locality
- Brief description of initiative
- Results of initiative (successes, barriers, etc)
- Specific laws, policies, regulations, and 
program write-ups that can be used as examples
- Contact for more information (e-mail and phone)

If you have any additional questions, please feel 
free to contact me at: 510-849-5467 x3 or 
djaber@no.address We will share our results 
with all those who participate in this survey.

Thank you for your participation.

David Jaber
Natural Logic
<djaber@no.address>