[GreenYes] The Death of Recycling? & Role of Zero Waste Community Plans

[Gary Liss <gary@no.address>]

I wholeheartedly concur that Zero Waste policies and programs need to 
focus Upstream and work on industrial redesign to eliminate waste as 
its highest priority, and to redesign products and processes to 
reduce and reuse materials in products

However, Paul Palmer has overlooked a very valuable resource to make 
that happen.  The fact is that local governments in California have 
broad authority to help businesses move towards industrial redesign 
and Zero Waste.

Local Governments Play A Key Role in Moving Towards Zero Waste

Local governments define what is economic for businesses and service 
providers to do by how they structure their ordinances, rate 
structures, zoning, General Plans, garbage and recycling contracts, 
and permits.  Zero Waste Community Plans can articulate policies that 
will have profound impacts on achieving Zero Waste.  Samples of the 
policies included in the Palo Alto and Oakland Zero Waste Strategic 
Plans are included below.

The Zero Waste planning process is also as important as the 
end-product.  Through the review of current policies and practices, 
Zero Waste planning processes highlight how communities are actually 
subsidizing wasting, and working against their adopted waste 
reduction policies.  Through collaborative efforts, Zero Waste 
planning educates the entire community on options and opportunities, 
and gets the best ideas on how to move towards Zero Waste from 
them.  Through these processes, Zero Waste Plans communicate each 
community's values and priorities.  No two Zero Waste Plans are alike.

Progress is being made towards Zero Waste in California

Contrary to Palmer's critique, there ARE fundamental changes that are 
being pursued by communities that have adopted Zero Waste as a goal 
and that are planning for it.  Although these changes don't happen 
overnight, progress IS being made, and not just on more recycling as 
Palmer contends.  Communities that have adopted Zero Waste as a goal 
have led the way to Zero Waste in a number of significant ways:
    * San Francisco - led the way on banning fossil plastic bags most 
recently, tried to enact a fee on plastic bags last year, adopted 
requirements for use of compostable food ware by restaurants, adopted 
one of the first city resolutions on Extended Producer Responsibility 
last year, and has been a leader in the formation of regional Zero 
Waste groups.
    * Oakland - led the way with banning expanded polystyrene food 
packaging and requiring the use of biodegradable food ware by restaurants
    * Bay Area Zero Waste Communities (BAZWC)  - this was formed in 
December 2005 by all those communities in the San Francisco Bay Area 
that had adopted Zero Waste as a goal and were developing plans or 
implementing them.  Since its formation, BAZWC has helped lead the 
way to from the CA Product Stewardship Council, developed a model 
food ware ordinance requiring the use of reusable, recyclable or 
compostable food ware in restaurants, and advocated for the reuse of 
computers being a priority in proposed legislation that was 
considering adding computers to an advanced recycling fee system for 
computer and TV monitors that has led primarily to the recycling of 
those products and not reuse.
    * CA Product Stewardship Council (CPSC - see 
www.CAProductStewardship.org) - this was formed by a combination of 
efforts, including BAZWC, state and local staff working on household 
hazardous wastes and state and local staff working on pre-treatment 
for wastewater flowing into regional treatment facilities.  Since its 
formation last year, the CPSC has helped the CA Integrated Waste Mgt. 
Board adopt aggressive priorities for Extended Producer 
Responsibility and drafted legislation to require retailers to 
takeback pharmaceuticals and other hazardous wastes. Many communities 
around California are involved with these new initiatives.  These 
will change the rules (as Palmer advocates) and are doing so in part 
because they were empowered politically by the adoption of Zero Waste 
goals and plans. Zero Waste Plans that have been adopted detailed the 
need for these new rules and have coalesced these progressive 
communities to fight for the new systems together.  I encourage 
Palmer to actively contribute to drafting Zero Waste Plans to 
incorporate the best of his ideas, and many other messages about Zero 
Waste that are important.
I urge other communities to join in these efforts by adopting Zero 
Waste as a goal and developing Zero Waste Plans to implement those 
goals.  Sample documents to help in those efforts can be found at the 
URLs below.

And I hope you have a successful, effective Earth Day!

Gary Liss
www.garyliss.com

****************
Excerpts from Adopted Zero Waste Strategic Plans

Among other things, the Oakland Zero Waste Strategic Plan notes:
"The volume, complexity, and toxicity of waste are increasing each 
year, despite Oakland's  successful recycling efforts. Growing 
consumption of material and energy for consumer products is impacting 
global life support systems. Extraction, processing, production, 
transportation, use, and disposal of consumer goods are linked to 
most major environmental problems including habitat destruction, loss 
of biodiversity, global climate change, and the public health and 
social disruption associated with these problems. Local municipal 
waste management systems are not intended for or suited to managing 
complex and toxic waste. Decisions about wasteful product design and 
packaging are made by manufacturers and marketers. Local governments 
and rate payers are relegated to bearing the inappropriate burdens of 
increasing costs and risks to manage end-of-life products and 
materials. Zero Waste represents a fundamentally different approach 
that tackles the root causes of wasting and broadens responsibility 
for the solutions" (page 11)

"Advocate for Manufacturer Responsibility for Product Waste, Ban 
Problem Materials  Every year brings an increase in complex, toxic 
and non-recyclable products and packaging. This increase is outpacing 
local government's ability to safely and cost-effectively handle the 
associated wastes, as well as increasing Oakland's future 
environmental liability. Unless this cycle is corrected, not even a 
high-performing recycling region like ours can recycle our way to 
Zero Waste. Oakland needs to join regional, statewide, national, and 
international efforts to end the "waste subsidy" for manufacturers 
that is currently borne by local governments and ratepayers, and to 
insist that the costs and risks to manage end-of-life products and 
materials be the responsibility of manufacturers. Such measures can 
provide incentives for manufacturers to "design the waste out" so 
that products can be readily reused, repaired, reconditioned, or 
recycled. Local retailers can assist in collecting and returning 
selected products to manufacturers. Use or sale of problematic 
products can also be banned, as Oakland has recently done for 
expanded polystyrene food packaging and the European Union and China 
are doing for hazardous materials in electronic products." (page 6)

"Environmental Hierarchy to Guide Oakland's Zero Waste Strategies, 
Policies, and Actions  Oakland's pursuit of a Zero Waste Goal will be 
guided by an environmental hierarchy for 'highest and best use' of 
materials and pollution prevention in all phases of production, use, 
and disposition of products and materials (see Exhibit A). Zero Waste 
has been defined by the Zero Waste International Alliance as an 
economic and physical system that emulates natural cycles, where all 
outputs are simply an input for another process. This means designing 
and managing materials and products to place highest priority on 
conserving resources and retaining their form and function without 
burning, burying, or otherwise destroying their form and function. It 
means eliminating discharges to land, water or air that harm natural 
systems. It means preventing, rather than managing, waste and 
pollution, and recommitting to the priority ordering of the waste 
reduction hierarchy: first reduce consumption; next, reuse what is 
left; and finally, recycle anything that is no longer usable and 
landfill any residual." (page 13)
Among other things, the Palo Alto Zero Waste Strategic Plan notes:
"Unlike our current system of managing waste, Zero Waste seeks to 
eliminate waste wherever possible by encouraging a systems approach 
that avoids the creation of waste in the first place. A Zero Waste 
systems approach turns material outputs from one process into 
resources for other processes." (page 6)
"Although there have been great strides in expanding recycling over 
the last decade, recycling more materials is not enough to achieve a 
truly sustainable economy.  For every ton of waste buried in 
municipal solid waste landfills, about 71 tons of manufacturing, 
mining, oil and gas exploration, agricultural, coal combustion and 
other wastes are produced along the way.   If materials are buried in 
a landfill or burned in an incinerator, industry must extract and 
process new virgin materials to make new products.  It's as if there 
is a long shadow of depleted resources and wastes left over for every 
product and package used that is much larger than the product or 
package itself." (pages 6-7)
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also determined that 
"Source reduction and recycling can reduce greenhouse gas emissions 
at the manufacturing stage, increase forest carbon sequestration, and 
avoid landfill methane emissions."    EPA determined that energy use 
and greenhouse gas emissions were reduced the most by eliminating 
waste and the reuse of materials.  That is why Zero Waste emphasizes 
the reduction and reuse of materials first, then recycling and 
composting, so that resources are not unnecessarily wasted in the 
first place." (page 7)
"It has become increasingly apparent that recycling and composting 
alone, to the extent practiced, are not keeping up with the demands 
on the system.  Even though over the last twenty years the United 
States has recycled a greater portion of materials, nationally more 
materials are buried or incinerated than twenty years 
ago.  California is doing only slightly better than national 
trends.  From 1988 to 2002, California disposed of about 5.5 million 
tons less waste, or a decrease of about 12.5%.   During this period, 
population increased by 4.1 million people, and the economy grew 
significantly, so any decrease is truly significant.  But this 
highlights that the current level of recycling alone will not achieve 
Zero Waste. Although recycling and composting are improvements over 
landfilling or incineration, they also have their own environmental 
impacts that could be reduced by eliminating much of the waste in the 
first place." (page 7)
"Zero Waste focuses first on reducing the volume and toxicity of 
waste by eliminating them in the first place.  Zero Waste then 
focuses on reusing materials and products for their original intended 
uses, and then for alternative uses, before recycling.  Once 
materials have been reduced and reused as much as possible, then Zero 
Waste focuses on recycling and composting all remaining materials for 
their highest and best use.  Zero Waste encourages local and regional 
public-private partnerships to develop Resource Recovery Parks to 
provide the infrastructure and services needed to accomplish all of 
these functions.   In a Zero Waste system, any materials that cannot 
be easily and conveniently reduced, reused, recycled or composted are 
either returned to the manufacturer direct or through retail 
channels, or no longer used." (page 7)

"The Task Force envisions that policies formulated in the pursuit of 
Zero Waste should be within the context of a larger set of 
coordinated City economic and environmental sustainability 
policies.  As public policies harness and engage the forces of the 
marketplace, it is believed that business waste generators and 
service providers will be brought together to work out details of how 
to most efficiently reduce, reuse, and recycle or compost their 
materials without the traditional reliance on the City to arrange 
such services.  This is the essence of "Strategic Recycling," in 
which government plays the role as a catalyst, providing information, 
creating incentives and setting the rules, but not in directly 
providing services to all." (page 19)
"The most critical policy step for the City is to adopt both a 
long-range Zero Waste goal and intermediate target(s) and to mobilize 
all community stakeholders to participate in working to achieve them. 
The Task Force believes that stakeholders should be initially 
encouraged through rate-based incentives to pursue Zero Waste, rather 
than resorting to waste reduction mandates that invoke fines or 
assessments for non-performance. Policies and incentives need to be 
applied to restructure rates and fees to provide a clear price signal 
to reward those who waste less and recycle more.  In this way the 
City will help those who eliminate and recycle waste, and let those 
who choose to waste, pay higher fees for those services." (page 19)
"Work with State and Federal legislators and encourage other 
communities in the region to adopt similar Zero Waste goals and 
plans. Work with them where appropriate to remove and resolve mutual 
obstacles...Undertake a coordinated effort with regional cooperation, 
to support state and national efforts to adopt:
    * Extended producer responsibility;
    * Deposit programs;
    * Funding of zero waste initiatives through statewide or regional 
landfill surcharges and product charges;
    * Full cost accounting for waste disposal;
    * Packaging levies (e.g., on plastic bags);
    * Minimum recycled content standards for additional products;
    * Design for the environment programs;
    * Green procurement and green building guidelines for the public sector;
    * National measuring, monitoring and reporting in achieving zero 
waste goals; and
    * New mechanisms for financial assurance for post-post-closure 
liabilities for landfills.
Zero Waste Community Planning Resources
ZWIA ZW Communities List http://www.zwia.org/zwc.html

Oakland, CA Zero Waste Strategic Plan: 
http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/attachments/14983.pdf

Oakland, CA Zero Waste website:www.zerowasteoakland.com Palo Alto, CA 
Zero Waste Strategic Plan - 
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/zerowaste/graphics/Strategic_Plan_FInal_100405.pdf

Palo Alto, CA ZW Website:http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/zerowaste/ 
Urban Envt. Accords  (includes Zero Waste by 2040 as one of the 
Accords):http://www.wed2005.org/3.0.php?PHPSESSID=7d73899326d54dd704c4ece96f92f64b

CA Zero Waste Communities Strategy on how to create a Zero Waste 
Community:http://www.crra.com/grc/articles/zwc.html Zero Waste 
Communities [Slide Show] Presented to Palo Alto Zero Waste Task Force 
February 10, 
2005http://www.crra.com/grc/articles/zwcpaloalto/zwcpalotalto_files/frame.htm 
Eco-Cycle ZW page:http://www.eco-cycle.org/zero/index.cfm CAW ZW 
page:http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/zero_waste CIWMB ZW 
page:http://www.zerowaste.ca.gov/ Rick Anthony ZW 
docs:http://www.richardanthonyassociates.com/publishedwork.html
The CIWMB has some excellent Case Studies of Model Local Government 
Recycling Programs and Policies at: 
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGLibrary/Innovations/, including - Resource 
Recovery Parks - Organics Recycling - C&D Policies - Business 
Recycling Policies and Programs - Incentives for Maximizing Waste Diversion
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has some excellent documents in 
support of Zero Waste, including: Wasting and Recycling in the U.S., 
2000http://www.grrn.org/order/w2kinfo.html and 
http://www.ilsr.org/recycling/zerowaste/index.html

At 02:31 PM 4/5/2007, Paul Palmer wrote:
>...The recyclers went to a number of jurisdictions (several 
>California citiesespecially) and urged the cities to join them in 
>putting forward thefacade of a new resource management plan, which a 
>number of citiesdid. In actuality, the new plans concerned Zero 
>Waste in name only.They proposed only more recycling...

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