ZERO WASTE ECONOMICS Think Globally, Pay Locally

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ZERO WASTE ECONOMICS Think Globally, Pay Locally

• Sound Resource Management Seattle, Washington,
  USA jeff.morris_at_zerowaste.com

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I. In the MarketplaceRecyclingDances to the
TuneofVirgin Commodity Prices
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Aluminum Ingot vs. Recycled Cans
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Unbleached Softwood Kraft Pulp vs. Recycled
Cardboard
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Polyethylene Terephthalate Pellets vs. Recycled
PET Bottles
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II. Recyclings Societal Value Is Greater Than
Its Marketplace Value
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Calculating Recyclings Environmental Value

• Quantify Life-cycle Material, Energy and
  Pollutant Inputs and Outputs
• Estimate Environmental Impacts of Inputs and
  Outputs
• Estimate Economic Costs of Environmental Impacts,
  or Rank Impacts via Some Other Numerical or
  Qualitative Measure

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III. Virgin-Content Products Use More Energy
ThanRecycled-Content Products(Upstream Benefit
of Recycling)
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Energy Used for Resource Acquisition Product
Manufacturing
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IV. Curbside Recycling Saves More Energy Than It
Uses to Collect, Process and Market Recycled
Materials
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Recycling per Curbside Available Household in
Washington
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Curbside Recycling in Washington Energy Used vs.
Conserved
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V. Curbside Recycling Saves More Pollution Than
It Generates to Collect, Process and Market
Recycled Materials
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Pollution Reductions from Recycling

• Avoided Pollution from Virgin Resource Extraction
  Virgin-Content Manufacturing (upstream external
  benefits)
• Minus Pollution from Recycled-Content
  Manufacturing (upstream external costs)
• Avoided Pollution from Garbage Collection,
  Transfer Disposal (waste management external
  benefits)
• Minus Pollution from Curbside Collection,
  Processing Shipping (waste management external
  costs)

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WA Curbside Recycling vs.DisposalGreenhouse Gas
Reductions
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WA Curbside Recycling vs. DisposalAcidification
Potential Reductions
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WA Curbside Recycling vs. DisposalEutrophication
Potential Reductions
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VI. Waste Management External Environmental
Costs Avoided by RecyclinggtCosts Incurred
byCurbside Recycling
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Net Externalized Environmental Benefit of
Curbside Recycling

• Avoided External Costs from
• Virgin-Content Products (pollution from virgin
  resource extraction virgin-content
  manufacturing)
• Garbage Collection, Transfer Disposal
  (pollution from garbage management)
• Less Increased External Costs from
• Recycled-Content Products (pollution from
  recycled-content manufacturing)
• Curbside Collection, Processing Shipping
  (pollution from recyclables management)

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Net Cost of Curbside Recycling

• Curbside Recycling Collection, Hauling,
  Processing Shipping Costs
• Less Revenue Avoided Garbage Costs
• Revenue from recyclables
• Avoided Garbage Disposal Costs
• Avoided Garbage Collection Transfer Costs

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Australian Kerbside Study Recycling Costs Amount
to Just 38 of Dollar Value of Net Environmental
Benefits

• Environmental Benefits
• 75 from upstream air water pollution decreases
• 21 from upstream land use reductions future
  resource access improvements
• 4 from global warming credits
• 2 from reduced land use for landfills
• Environmental Costs
• 2 from increased truck traffic

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WA Curbside Recycling vs. Landfilling Net
Internalized Costs vs. Net Externalized Benefits
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WA Curbside Recycling vs. Waste-to-Energy Net
Internalized Costs vs. Net Externalized Benefits
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External Cost of Air Pollutants(US per pound)
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Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Allowance Trading
(average monthly prices)
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External Cost of Water Pollutants(US per pound)