Recycling and Waste Management Strategies for Sustainability

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Recycling and Waste Management Strategies for
Sustainability

• Jill Holbert
• Solid Waste Bureau
• New Mexico Environment Department
• 827-0129
• jill.holbert_at_state.nm.us
• www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swb

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Solid Waste - National Challenge

• throw away society
• US 7 of world pop.
• US consumes 50 of worlds resources
• US generates 37 of worlds trash

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2005 US MSW Composition(before recycling)
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• Throwing Resources in the Trash
• US disposed of 246 million tons in 05
• New Mexico contribution 2 million tons

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US vs. NM
Recycled / Diverted 10
According to the EPA total materials recovery was
32 nationwide
New Mexico
MSW Landfilled 90
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Challenges in NM Rocky Mtns.

• Low population density / lots of land
• Distance to end markets
• Low landfill tipping fees
• Undercounting of diversion
• activities
• Limited recycling processing
• capacity

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Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)

• Uses a variety of waste management practices to
  safely effectively handle municipal solid waste
  with the least adverse impact on human health
  the environment - including

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ISWM (cont.)

• Source reduction (including reuse)
• Recycling
• Environmentally safe transformation (incineration
  with energy recovered)
• Environmentally safe landfilling

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Sustainable Communities

• Minimize waste maximize use of resources
• Recognize economic environmental benefits from
  waste
• diversion
• View waste as a resource
• Provide high quality services
• Live within the carrying capacity of communitys
  natural resourcesland, water air

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Waste Diversion
Source Reduction Recycling
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Benefits of Waste Diversion

• Saves energy
• Reduces GHG emissions
• Saves resources
• Reduces costs
• Provides jobs

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Waste Diversion Saves Energy

• source reduction is most effective at saving
  energy
• less energy is needed to extract, transport,
  process, (re)manufacture products
• NM recycling reduced energy consumption by 4
  million BTUs in 06
• equal to one years energy
• consumption of homes in
• Chaves County
• or 34 million gallons of gasoline
•  

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Energy Savings by Material
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Waste Diversion Reduces Emissions

• Decreased energy demand fewer fossil fuels
  burned less CO2 emitted to the atmosphere
• Trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere store it
  in wood
• Recycling reduces methane emissions from landfills

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Reduces Emissions (cont.)

• US recycling GHG equivalent to removing over
  39.6 million cars from the road per year
• New Mexico recycling GHG equivalent to removing
  101,657 cars from the road per year
• By recycling half of a households annual waste,
  a family prevents 2,400 pounds of CO2 emissions
• By recycling all of a households mixed plastic
  waste, 340 pounds of CO2 emissions could be
  reduced each year

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Waste Diversion Saves Resources

• According to Weyerhaeuser's Environmental
  Savings, recycling one ton of paper saves
• 17 trees
• 6,953 gallons of water
• 462.57 gallons of oil
• 586.5 pounds of air pollution
• 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space
• 4,077.45 KWhr of energy

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Recycling as a Resource--Steel

• Future Recycling Could Replace Mining for US
  Iron Supply
• 1900-2004, 3.2 billion metric tons in use
• Metal in use metal still in ground
• Demolition of buildings infrastructure, cars
• US iron ore declining in quality
• Recycling eliminates 75
• of energy reqd

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Waste Diversion Reduces Costs

• reduces transportation costs
• avoids disposal costs
• saves landfill space
• the more a community reduces
• waste, the less they will pay to manage
• end-of-life materials through traditional waste
  management systems
• savings can be applied to other priorities, such
  as housing or policing

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Waste Diversion Provides Jobs

• Job Creation Reuse Recycling vs. Disposal
• Type of Operation Jobs per 10,000 TPY
• Computer Reuse 296
• Textile Reclamation 85
• Misc. Durables Reuse 62
• Wooden Pallet Repair 28
• Paper Mills 18
• Glass Product Manufacturers 26
• Plastic Product Manufacturers 93
• Conventional Materials Recovery Facilities 10
• Composting 4
• Landfill 1

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How Do Communities Increase Recycling Rates?

• Make recycling convenient easy for residents
• Offer financial incentives for recycling (such as
  Pay As You Throw models where fees for recycling
  are less than garbage collection)
• Conduct Public Education Outreach
• I would also add
• Public-private partnerships
• Regionalization

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New garbage collection system will begin July 16
First Residential PAYT Program in New Mexico!
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Pay as You Throw - Silver City

• Residential solid waste service containers
• 35-gallon (12.79/hh/mo)
• 65-gallon (14.94/hh/mo)
• 95-gallon (17.04/hh/mo)
• Two containers twice the price
• Transition period (two months), extra garbage
  picked up
• End of the transition, only collect what is
  inside the container
• Recycling is collected at no cost to the resident

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Estimated Impacts of Program Design Options on
Recycling Diversion
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Education

• To improve recycling, behavior modification must
  happen--accomplished via on-going education
  presence
• Recycling is often cited as an entry-level action
  for individuals/businesses to become more
  environmentally responsible
• Message recycling saves energy, conserves the
  planets natural resources reduces greenhouse
  gases

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Master Composter Program

• Modeled after Master Gardener approach
• Uses trained volunteers to teach residents about
  backyard composting
• Successful programs across the US

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Public-Private Partnerships

• Collection services (recycling, organics,
  garbage)
• Processing services (build operate a MRF or
  composting facility)
• Transportation to a recycler
• or landfill
• Operation of a landfill

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Public-Private Partnership Trade-offs
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Regionalization

• With limited resources, communities can find it
  difficult to provide all the services for which
  they are responsible.
• Neighboring cities, towns, counties pool
  resources to address local challenges.
• Allows communities to accomplish together what is
  difficult to do individually.
• Hub spoke model reduces duplication of efforts.

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12 regional solid waste authorities
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Advantages of Regionalization

• greater economies of scale
• cooperative purchasing agreements
• increased flexibility
• environmental improvement

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Case Studies

• Top 5 NM Recyclers 06
• (by County)

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Lincoln County

• 59 recycling rate
• 31,642 tons MSW 18,671 tons recycled
• achieved due to 2 large scale private composting
  operations in the County
• 17,967 tons of green waste other waste were
  composted--saving landfill space, transportation
  cost tipping fees
• 710 tons of other recyclables were collected

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Los Alamos County

• 23 recycling rate
• 21,593 tons of MSW 4,952 tons recycled
• County provides weekly curbside recycling
• quarterly pick-up of large items brush
• require all self haulers segregate their
  recyclables
• County provides comprehensive recycling info on
  their web page promotes recycling by providing
  presentations at the local schools, community
  groups clubs during Novembers Recycling
  Awareness Month

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Torrance County

• 18 recycling rate
• 16,169 tons of MSW 2,858 tons recycled
• Estancia Valley Solid Waste Authority mulches
  green waste
• removes tires from the waste stream to be made
  into crumb rubber
• sends scrap metal to be recycled
• all convenience stations segregate metals before
  transfer to TCBC Landfill

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Chaves County

• 17 recycling rate
• 69,487 tons MSW 12,097 tons recycled
• the Roswell Municipal Landfill dedicates separate
  roll-offs for the collection of cardboard, tires
  metal
• City of Roswell operates a recycling center has
  9 recycling roll-off containers located
  throughout the city
• advertises on television radio to encourage
  recycling

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Bernalillo County

• 16 recycling rate
• 600,452 tons MSW 93,619 tons recycled
• There are a number of high volume private
  recycling facilities that accept source separated
  materials
• At least 2 large scale composting facilities in
  the county
• City of Albuquerque operates an Intermediate
  Processing Facility where recyclables are sorted,
  baled sent to recycling facilities
• City provides weekly curbside recycling
• 12 recycling drop off locations throughout the
  city
• County contracts for curbside recycling

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Additional Resources

• New Mexico Recycling Illegal Dumping (RAID)
  Grant
• Applications Due October 1, 2007

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Suggested Reading
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Questions?