Zero Waste Around the World:
Global South • Nantucket •
North America • United Kingdom
 
Global Recyclers Protest in Copenhagen — While developed countries gathered in Copenhagen in December 2009 to point fingers about who should do what to fight climate change, one group united for the first time to showcase its unconventional work on the frontlines of reducing greenhouse gas emissions: global wastepickers. These workers make their living scavenging paper, glass, plastics and metals for recycling. They often face deplorable conditions, such as living and working on top of open landfills, and are frequently outcast by society and their own governments. Wastepickers from Asia, Latin America and Africa marched and gave speeches in Copenhagen on behalf of the 15 million wastepickers in the Global South who are at risk of losing their jobs due to privatization of landfills and proposed incineration plants disguised as green energy. Wastepickers recover an average of 80% of materials, but they are being replaced by foreign companies who recycle only 20% or, worse, burn everything. Rather than continue to marginalize wastepickers, programs in Chile and India have organized workers into collectives and established door-to-door collection programs that are locally run, formally recognized by governments, and respected by fellow citizens. Resource recovery jobs are ground zero for a global green economy, and fighting climate change doesn’t always mean new technology. Support the rights of global wastepickers at www.inclusivecities.org.
 Nantucket Nearly Waste Free — There once was a place called Nantucket that grew tired of the old adage “chuck it.” All the residents joined in, sorting waste by the bin, and save resources now by the bucket! It wasn’t all fun and limericks along Nantucket’s journey to become the first Zero Waste community in the U.S. It all began in 1989 when this summer vacation hotspot 30 miles south of Cape Cod had a measly residential recycling rate of 7% and a leaky landfill that threatened the island’s only freshwater aquifer. Rather than choose to ship everything off the island at quadruple the existing price, residents and town officials took responsibility to manage their waste locally by mandating recycling, banning plastic and Styrofoam® packaging, and investing in construction and demolition recycling. Plus, the island invested in a facility to pre-treat all its leftover waste so any remaining materials that are landfilled will not produce greenhouse gas emissions or threaten the groundwater. Fast forward 20 years and Nantucket is on track to exceed 100% recovery thanks to efforts to mine the old landfill, pre-treat the old waste, and safely bury whatever still remains. Nantucket’s story is so much bigger than its 50 square miles—its efforts are proving Zero Waste is a real alternative to building a new landfill or incinerator and showing the world the new future of sustainable resource management.
 Amy’s, Columbia, RockResorts Reduce Packaging — Whether it comes from our volunteers, customers, or our own staff, Eco-Cycle® hears regular complaints about over-packaged goods — and now we have some good news to share about companies actually trying to reduce their packaging impact. (Remember, changes are driven by customer feedback, so don’t just tell us you don’t like the packaging — contact the company! See U.K. story below.)
Amy’s: In response to relentless feedback from residents of Boulder and other eco-conscious communities, Amy’s frozen entrée boxes have been redesigned, so they can now be recycled with paperboard. Almost all other frozen food boxes are not recyclable because they are treated with a plastic polymer spray that reduces freezer burn but also causes contamination problems in the recycling process.
Columbia: The outerwear company now offers shipping in gently-used boxes for customers ordering online. More than 60% of customers are choosing reused boxes, and Columbia has set up www.aboxlife.com to track the boxes as they continue to be reused across the country.
RockResorts: Convenience and quality are of utmost importance for hotel guests but no longer at the expense of wasting the planet. RockResorts properties from Vail to St. Lucia and Vail Resorts Hospitality properties in Vail, Keystone, Breckenridge and Beaver Creek are expecting to avoid an estimated 640,000 plastic water bottles thanks to the new “Water on the Rocks” program, which eliminates plastic water bottles from guests' rooms and offers hotel guests reusable water bottles with refilling stations.
 England Superstores Compete for Greenness — Two of Britain’s retail giants and major grocers aren’t embarking on the usual price war—they’re digging in for a battle to be the greenest. Sainsbury stores committed to landfilling no food waste by 2012 and will instead send leftover food to anaerobic digesters to be converted into fertilizer, and the resulting methane gas will be used to create electricity. While its 800+ stores currently fill an average of one landfill dumpster every week, Sainsbury’s goal is to fill only one trash dumpster per store every 4-6 weeks. The U.K.’s largest mega retailer, Tesco, is working with suppliers to reduce packaging weight 25% by 2010, and new packaging for chicken is a result of this initiative. The traditional tray and film pack has been replaced with a 68% lighter shrink-film pack that uses fewer resources and requires fewer trucks to transport, earning it environmental innovation awards in the U.K. Nearly all of Tesco’s organic produce has compostable packaging, and the 2200+ store chain is leaning on the government to deliver composting service to every home. According to Tesco, “Our customers tell us that food packaging is extremely important to them and can determine what they buy, so our packaging team has been looking at ways to address these concerns.”
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