How to Get to Zero Waste

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How to Get to Zero Waste

• Presented to
• CA Resource Recovery Association
• San Pedro, CA
• August 1, 2007
• By Gary Liss
• Gary Liss Associates
• 916-652-7850, gary_at_garyliss.com
• www.garyliss.com

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CA Zero Waste Communities

• CIWMB Strategic Plan
• San Luis Obispo County
• Del Norte County
• El Cajon
• Fresno
• Burbank (informally)
• San Bernardino County Zero Waste Communities
  (informally)

• SF Bay Area
• San Francisco
• Oakland
• Santa Cruz County and all cities in Co.
• Berkeley
• Palo Alto
• Marin County
• Novato
• Fairfax
• Sonoma County LTF

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ASK to Adopt ZW

• Environmental Group (e.g., GRC-CIWMB, Berkeley
  Ecology Center, ZWTFSoBay, Marin County, New
  Zealand ZW Trust)
• Elected or Appointed Official (Palo Alto, Marin
  County)
• Staff (San Francisco, Oakland, San Luis Obispo)

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Zero Waste Global Warming

• Landfills are one of the largest sources of
  Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
• Methane is 21 x more potent than CO2

• 71 Tons Upstream For Every Ton MSW
• Recycling composting all discards in CA
  eliminating all auto exhaust in CA

Wasteberg
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GHG Benefits of 25 Increase in
Recycling/Composting in CA
Source John Davis, Recyclers Global Warming
Council, 2007
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Solid WasteReductions in the SF Climate Action
Plan 302,000 tons

• Recycling and Composting
• Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling
• Source Reduction Waste Prevention

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ReduceReuse Recycle Zero Waste
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Pillars of Zero Waste

• Upstream
• Downstream
• Green Businesses and Jobs

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Upstream 71 x MSW Waste
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CA 20-Year History of EPR
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Downstream

• Ensure the highest and best use of products and
  packaging at the end of their useful lives
• Reuse products and packaging, retaining their
  original form and function
• Recycle materials that are not reduced or reused
• Compost materials that are not recycled

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Highest and Best Uses

• End Subsidies for Wasting
• Clean Production and EPR
• Reduce, Refuse Return
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Regulate
• Not OK Incineration and Subtitle D Landfills

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Green Businesses and Jobs

• Expand, attract, and support green businesses and
  job opportunities
• Reserve sufficient land for Zero Waste
  infrastructure

• Buy green goods and
• services

10,000 tons of SW Landfill - 1 job Composting
4 jobs Recycling 10 jobs Reuse 75 jobs
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Help Local Business Be Green

• Adopt Zero Waste goals
• Develop Zero Waste plans
• Adhere to Zero Waste Business Principles
• Meet waste reduction targets
• Source separate designated materials
• Recycle construction and demolition debris
• Deconstruct existing buildings
• Develop LEED-certified Green Buildings
• Buy green products and services

see www.grrn.org/zerowaste/business/
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Connect with Other Programs

• Climate Change Sustainability
• Urban Environmental Accords
• Waste Water Treatment
• Stormwater Runoff
• Energy
• Green Business
• Pollution Prevention
• Environmental Justice

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Know Your Discards

• Conduct Commodities Characterization Study
• Determine how and where materials are discarded
• Identify service opportunities

Master Categories 1. Reusables 2. Paper
3. Plant Debris 4. Food Scraps 5. Wood
6. Ceramics (CD) 7. Soils 8. Metals 9.
Glass 10. Polymers 11. Textiles 12.
Chemicals Urban Ore developed these.
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Know Your Discards Value
Richard Anthony, Resource Management in the New
Millennium, 2005, http//www.richardanthonyassocia
tes.com/presentations/rm_2005.ppt
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Know Your Discards Sources
(Ref. Bill Worrell, San Luis Obispo County
Integrated Waste Management Authority)
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9 Types of Generation at Businesses
To understand wasting, we must understand waste
generation. Generally, the twelve categories of
waste are generated in nine typical sources, any
of which can be found at a business or agency,
with consistent content.

• Warehousing Distribution Cardboard plastic
  packaging, metal, wood
• Offices Primarily wastepaper of all types,
  packaging electronics
• Food Services Food, packaging, plastics, paper,
  metals, and glass
• Grounds Grass clippings, debris, wood,
  trimmings, branches, soil

Presentation by Michael Huls to Western Regional
Pollution Prevention Network Conference,,
10/12/06, San Diego, CA
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9 Types of Generation (cont.)

• Construction Inert materials, paving, concrete,
  building products M
• Manufacturing. All manner of materials most
  complicated
• Vehicular Maintenance Lubricants, tires,
  metals, chemicals, batteries
• Retail Wastepaper, defective items, plastics,
  wood, bottles cans, packaging
• Housing Hospitality Food, plastics, paper,
  bottles cans, textiles

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Design It Out

• Redesign Products for
• Durability
• Reusability
• Recyclability
• Compostability
• Adopt incentives to eliminate wasting
• Suppliers and vendors take back products and
  packaging
• Take back products and packaging from your
  customers (Extended Producer Responsibility)

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P3 Procurement, Practices, Product Stewardship

• Working Upstream Downstream
• Require suppliers to meet Zero Waste
• Develop supply and demand profiles of
  commodities currently wasted
• Resource efficiency work groups in sales,
  production, management, distribution
• Plus () and Plus/Plus () feedback
• Highlight benefits of Zero Waste
• Lead by Example

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Downstream Programs

• Reuse Building materials, Furniture, Food,
  Clothing, Toys, Sports Equipment, Electronics
• Recycling - Multi-material, as convenient as
  trash, universally available to all generators
• Organics Collection - Yard trimmings, Food
  scraps, Compostable paper
• CD Deconstruction, Reuse Recycling
• New Rules - Disposal bans Require separation,
  plans, achieving goals EPR
• Incentives

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Downstream Programs

• Waste Franchise Contract
• Outreach and technical assistance
• (including Community Based Social Marketing)
• Zero Waste Infrastructure
• Reuse
• Recycling
• CD dismantling and processing
• Organics processing

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Clusters and Destination Points
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ZW Commercial Strategy

• Information and Technical Assistance
• Incentives
• Bans and Mandates
• Municipal Services

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Incentives

• Restructure Marketplace
• Revise To Encourage Waste Prevention, More Reuse,
  Recycling Composting
• RFPs Contracts, Rates, Ordinances, Land Use
  Permits, Facility Permits, General Plans, Zoning,
  Policies, Definitions
• Tax Bads, Not Goods

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Incentives

• Change Economics So What Was Marginal Is Now
  Economic
• Pay For What You Want Waste Prevention, Reuse,
  Recycling Composting
• Dont Pay For Wasting (Or Much Less)
• Recognize Waste As Symptom Of Inefficiency
• Harness Forces Of Marketplace To Achieve Goals 

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Incentives

• Contractor Payments
• Performance Incentives Penalties
• Variable Rates (PAYT)
• Franchise Fees
• Deposits
• Grants
• Lease Equipment
• Build On Existing Businesses

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California Product Stewardship Council

• MISSION
• To shift Californias product waste management
  system from one focused on government funded and
  ratepayer financed waste diversion to one that
  relies on producer responsibility in order to
  reduce public costs and drive improvements in
  product design.

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Plan for and Build Zero Waste Infrastructure

• Build on Existing Reuse, Recycling and Composting
  Businesses and Nonprofits
• Preserve Enough Industrial Land for Key Zero
  Waste Facilities
• Reusables, Food Scraps, CD Materials and
  Difficult to Recycle Materials
• Take-it-Back Infrastructure
• Offer incentives for services needed
• Resource Recovery (RR) Parks

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Purchasing for Zero Waste

• Precautionary Principle
• Return to Vendor
• Lease, Rent and Share Equipment
• Manage Surplus
• Reduce Packaging
• Reusable Shipping Containers
• Compostable Items
• Buy Recyclable and Recycled
• Buy Remanufactured Equipment
• Purchase Durables
• Buy Less Toxic Products

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Get Everyone Involved

• For communities, involve all facets of the
  community, not just solid waste industry
• For businesses, ask all levels of employees to ID
  wasting and give ideas to eliminate wasting
• Ask vendors and suppliers to adopt similar
  standards

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Update Everyone

• Let everybody know how they are doing
• Media
• Subjects -
• Successes and Savings
• What happens to the materials'
• Exemplary performances
• New ideas

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Palo Alto Zero Waste Strategic Plan
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Palo Alto Zero Waste Strategic Plan Continued
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Upcoming Zero Waste Events

• American Public Works Assn. Conf., 9/11/07, San
  Antonio, TX
• National Recycling Congress, Denver, CO, 9/16-19,
  2007, www.nrc-recycle.org
• Western Regional Pollution Prevention Conference,
  San Diego, CA, 10/23-25, 2007, www.wrppn.org

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If youre not for Zero Waste, how much waste are
you for?