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There’s something big happening
out there and it’s moving quickly! Consider that in the past
12 months:
1)
Japan called out the riot police to quell a neighborhood uprising
against an extension of a local landfill.
2) 30 nations now have “Take-Back”
laws requiring industry to participate practically and financially
in keeping their products out of the landfill. The United States
is not one of those nations.
3)
The European Union is moving towards banning the landfilling
of all organic waste to prevent groundwater pollution and greenhouse
gases.
4)
The Philippines declared the world’s first national moratorium
on incinerators.
5) England established an $80 million grant
fund to support landfill diversion programs because they’ve
been unable to site any new landfills.
Do they know something Americans don’t? Of
course not. We all know landfills and incinerators cause toxic
groundwater and dirty air. We also know that these “bury
and burn” approaches to dealing with society’s discards
are destroying our planet’s natural resources instead of
capturing them for reuse and recycling. A more sustainable alternative
is “Zero Waste…or darn near,” which brings together
state-of-the-art recycling and composting infrastructure with
manufacturer re-use programs and better product design. When such
steps are taken, recovering 90% of society’s discards becomes
a very realistic goal. The US is falling behind in taking these
steps while other nations embrace them.
Toronto to Go Trash-less
By 2010 all of Toronto’s waste will be recycled, reused or
composted, according to a new plan by Mayor Mel Lastman. This
Zero Waste proclamation by the largest city in Canada spurred
Toronto to create “Task Force 2010” which will lay plans
to move beyond landfilling and create a new “material efficient”
discards system. Wouldn’t it be great if Boulder or Denver
had plans as ambitious as Toronto’s?
Holland’s Super Recyclers
– How Do They Do It?
Holland has created a recycling infrastructure so successful that
the country is close to becoming the most efficient nation in
the world at recycling. One of the most successful innovations
is a series of underground recycle bins throughout the country
that automatically radio collection trucks when full. Holland’s
residents are so devoted to recycling that 80% of all glass gets
reused and 75% of all paper sold has recycled content.
Ottawa’s Take-Back Program
in Full Swing
From flower pots to keyboards, residents of Ottawa-Carleton in
Canada are able to return over 60 household items in a voluntary
business “take-back” program involving 300 retailers,
including Home Depot. The retailers benefit from the increase
in customer traffic, and consumers like knowing their discards
are being reused, recycled or properly disposed. Since many of
these retailers also operate in the United States, there is no
reason they couldn’t implement the same practice here.
Poison-free Paper Treaty Supported
by Other Countries
A new ban on chemicals, signed by 210 nations in December, 2000,
will make paper production a lot more environmentally-friendly.
The treaty would outlaw dioxin-producing processes, including
bleaching paper with chlorine. Dioxin has been linked to cancer
and other diseases, and chlorine remains the most widely used
chemical to brighten paper in the U.S. despite the fact that less
toxic alternatives such as hydrogen peroxide exist. It is unknown
if the U.S. will join other countries in supporting the ban when
it is finalized later this year.
Nova Scotia Takes a Bold Move
Nova Scotia, Canada has BANNED newspaper, cans, bottles, food,
yard waste and other recyclable or compostable items from the
dump! Instead of investing in a technology that buries or burns
these resources, Nova Scotians have created Enviro-Depots. There,
people can recycle hard-to-recycle items such as batteries as
well as their traditional recyclables, such as bottles and cans.
Last year the Province reached 50% waste diversion and intends
to cut the number of disposal
sites from 40 to just 10 by 2005.
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