Moving Prince George’s Countytowards Zero Waste
Suchitra BalachandranGreg Smith
Community ResearchJanuary 23, 2013
Community Research is a Prince George’s County-based nonprofit that conducts public-interest research, education and advocacy on the environment, public health, sustainability, and other issues.
Community Research has helped to set up Zero Waste Prince George’s, a is group of about 60 activists in the County who are interested in resource recovery from waste.
We are working with Clean Water Action, the Energy Justice Network, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance to build Zero Waste Maryland, a statewide campaign and alliance for zero waste.
What is “Zero Waste”?"Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.
Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.
Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health."
-- Zero Waste International Alliance, November 2004.
Nuts and Bolts Definitionof Zero Waste
Zero waste means that: First, the amount of waste generated is systematically
reduced Nothing that can be recycled, reused or composted goes into
a landfill or an incinerator Green businesses are encouraged to mine resources from
what would otherwise be wasted and destroyed through landfilling or incineration
For many jurisdictions, the final goal is to reduce landfilling and incineration to less than 10% of the waste produced
Best Practices Study – Mecklenburg County
Residential Curbside (City and County)Residential Multi-familyCommercial/Industrial/InstitutionalConstruction and Demolition WasteSchoolsEvent RecyclingLocal Government In-house RecyclingWaste Prevention (Reduce, Reuse) Litter
Which companies are interested?
• Manufacture of rotary, in-vessel compost units in a range of sizes for commercial generators of organic wastes including animal manures – 30 jobs
• Mattress and carpet materials recovery – 30 jobs• Electronic Scrap, hand dismantling and processing of electronic discards – 20 jobs• Industrial Rubber Compounds – 50-65 jobs• Topsoil and compost – 8 jobs• Anaerobic digestion – 8 jobs• Storage and resale of recovered building materials – 20 jobs• Glass processing, industrial grade glass products, container glass – 3 jobs
Direct Jobs 200-300; Indirect Jobs 200-300Alachua County collects about 200,000 tons of waste annually
It has about 250,000 residents and covers roughly 970 sq. miles
Safeco Field – Seattle Mariners
Recycling rate increased from 17 to 80 percent
Stadium has 17 trash cans, 200 recycle bins and 300 compost bins
“All that’s left are potato chip bags, condiment containers and wrappers for licorice ropes.”
Saved over $100,000 annually in landfill fees.
Sustainability initiatives written up on ESPN website
Unwasted: The Future of Business on Earth (http://sagebug.com/zerowaste/)
Local Initiatives
Not everything innovative and inspirational is happening somewhere else
• Cheverly - household composting• University Park - food scrap collection• College Park - bulk waste pickup for reuse• Laurel – mandates residential recycling• University of Maryland - Sustainability Initiative• Community Forklift, Eco City Farms
CB-87-2012
• Sets 60 percent recycling goal by 2020• Mandates business recycling• Mandates pilot food waste composting
program• Revives and expands the Solid Waste
Commission and tasks it with resource management
• Requires periodic waste audits• Requires convenient recycling in apartments
U.S. municipal waste “disposed”
Source: US EPA, 2009 data (http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/msw99.htm)
160.9 million tons in 2009
Resources and Dollars Landfilled
Recyclable Paper + Metals + Plastics = 192,000 tons
At $6/ton MRF + $59/ton landfill cost = $12 million
Commodity Prices: $100/ton for paper $60-80/ton for metals $10-15/ton for plastics
Food Waste + Non-recyclable paper + yard waste = 145,000 tons
At $20/ton for compost assuming 2:1 ratio of waste to compost and $59/ton landfill cost saved = $10 million
Problems with Burning and Burying
• Both destroy valuable resources.
• Both pollute air, land, water, people and other living things…. upstream and downstream.
• Both destroy jobs and often export money from communities
• Both increase emissions of greenhouse gases.
• Both are subsidized at the expense of recycling, composting and clean renewable energy.
• Both tend to be sited in communities with lower incomes, higher percentages of minorities or rural areas.
Even More Problems with Burning
• Ton for ton, incineration is the most expensive waste “disposal” option.
• Watt for watt, incineration is the most expensive way to generate electricity.
• Watt for watt, burning trash emits more greenhouse gases and more of certain toxic air pollutants than burning coal.
Costs to Build, Operate and Maintain a 1500 Ton Per Day Trash Incinerator
• Construction costs can exceed $1 billion to build, including interest on 30-year capital debt.
• Gross operating and maintenance costs can approach $2 billion over 30 years.
• Retrofits to meet new standards or simply to deal with wear and tear can be very expensive.
Job Creation: Reclamation vs. Disposal
Type of Operation Jobs/10,000 TPY
Computer Reuse 296Textile Reclamation 85Misc. Durables Reuse 62Wooden Pallet Repair 28Recycling-Based Manufacturers 25Conventional MRFs 10Composting 4Landfills and Incinerators 1
MRF = materials recovery facilityTPY = tons per year
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Key Steps to Zero Waste
• Inform, Inspire, Habituate• Implement Pay As You Throw trash fees • Accept many materials for recycling• Compost• Mandate recycling• Target all sectors• Augment curbside with drop-off• Market materials• Create green jobs by welcoming business that
reuse, refurbish, upcycle, recycle and compost
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Policy Framework• Landfill bans of certain materials, e.g., yard waste
• Recycling goals and requirements
• Beverage container deposits
• Recycled-content laws
• Creative funding mechanisms
• Buy recycled programs
• Pay-as-you-throw trash fees
• Product bans
• Product fees
• Extended producer responsibility (EPR)
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Prince Georges County: Current Fee Structure Sends No Clear Signal
Charges the same rate to all “single-family” households:
Base Charge $33.52Recycling Charge $58.16Bulky Trash $20.94Garbage $234.33
Typical Total $346.96
Municipalities - solid waste charge is not broken out
Unit-based Pricing Sends a Clear Message Worcester, MA
Population 173,000San Francisco, CA
Population 775,000
Unit based pricing is just a different way of paying for waste
Source: Kristen Brown, Green Waste Solutions, www.thewastesolution.com
Composting & Recycling Collection System Designed for High Diversion
Recycled Paper21%
Glass and Plastic BottlesAluminum and Steel Cans
5%
Construction andDemolition Waste
25%
Other15%
Food Scraps20%
Yard Trimmings5%
Compostable Paper10%
Courtesy of City of San Francisco
Designed for Easy Participation
Kitchen Pail
Labeled Lids
Wheeled Cart
Courtesy of City of San Francisco
Integrate food scrap composting
Switch to PAYT
Study feasibility of Resource Recovery Park
Conduct and analyze waste audit
Post monthly reports on website:landfilled tonnagerecycled tonnagerevenues obtained
Re-evaluate MRF Contract
Commission Zero Waste Strategic Plan
Recommended Steps Towards Zero Waste