United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste
and Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA530-F-99-038
September 1999
www.epa.gov/osw
x>EPA
Environmental Fact Sheet
Source Reduction of Municipal Solid Waste
What Is Source
Reduction?
Source reduction,
often called'waste
prevention,'is any
change in the design, man-
ufacturing, purchase, or use
of materials or products
(including packaging) to
reduce their amount or tox-
icity before they become
municipal solid waste.
Prevention also refers to the
reuse of products or
materials.
The Pollution Prevention Act
of 1990 established source
reduction as a national policy.
EPA's Solid Waste
Management
Hierarchy ,v|
In managing solid waste,
communities should con-
sider expanding source
reduction programs first,
then recycling programs,
and, finally, determine a
proper waste disposal
method (i.e., waste com-
bustion or landfilling) for
what remains.
\ SOURCE REDUCTION
Source reduction is the key to solv-
ing Americas growing solid waste
problem. Reducing waste before it
is generated is a commonsense way to save
financial and natural resources, and it
makes good business sense. If the entire
country adopted source reduction princi-
ples, the strain on our limited natural
resources would be dramatically reduced.
As many organizations have already real-
ized, source reduction also can cut costs
and improve productivity by targeting
wasteful processes and products. This fact
sheet outlines the significant growth in
U.S. solid waste generation and the impact
of source reduction on the national waste
stream. It also profiles some key source
reduction strategies and lists resources for
further information.
The Problem:
Too Much Waste
During the past 4 decades, America has
witnessed an extraordinary growth in its
waste stream. In 1960, 180 million
Americans produced 88 million tons of
waste (or 2.68 pounds per person per
day). In 1997, 266 million Americans pro-
duced nearly 217 million tons of waste
(4.4 pounds per person per day). As our
consumer spending has increased and we
have improved our material well-being, we
have also become more wasteful. Americans
are buying more and more products, many
of which are designed to be thrown away
after one use.
Building, operating, and maintaining waste
disposal infrastructure costs billions of
dollars. Americans also pay for the trans-
portation and disposal of waste, often
throwing away valuable resources in the
process. The domestic supply of many of
these resources is limited.
The Solution: Source
Reduction and Recycling
By reducing the amount of waste generat-
ed in the first place, source reduction con-
trols municipal solid waste (MSW) and
helps promote the efficient use of our
natural resources. It also decreases the
pollution generated when unnecessary
packaging and product materials are
manufactured.
According to available data, current source
reduction activities across the country
already reduce the volume of our waste
stream by 11 percent. In addition, approx-
imately 28 percent of our waste is recov-
ered for recycling or composting. Together,
source reduction and recycling divert
more than 80 million tons of waste from
landfills and combustors each year.
Reduce 38 then recycle
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Source Reduction
Versus Recycling
Source Reduction
_+ Recycling
Waste Diversion
Recycling is a beneficial way to
manage materials that would
otherwise become waste. It uses
reclaimed material in lieu of virgin
material in the manufacture of
products. Recycling includes
collecting, processing, and reman-
ufacturing recyclable material and
buying recycled-content products.
Source reduction helps create less
waste in the first place. It includes
reducing the amount of material
used to accomplish a particular
task; reusing a product in its origi-
nal form; or using repairable,
refillable, and durable products
with the capacity for a longer use-
ful life. All things being equal,
source reduction is preferable to
recycling. For waste that cannot be
prevented, however, recycling is
the next best choice.
A Note About
Terminology
. includes wastes such as
Durable goods, nondurable
goods, containers and packag-
ng, food scrags, yard trimmings,
^ miscellaneous inorganic
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turces. MSW does not
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jud^sewage, najardoijs_;
Illt^nonhazardous industrial '
jai^/con'slructiqrf arid" "de'mbli-
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MSW perspective.
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MSW Source
Reduction in Action
Source reduction includes a wide
range of activities. Individuals and
organizations can practice source
reduction for a variety of materials
in different settings, from the home
to the office to the factory floor.
Backyard composting and grass-
cycling. Yard trimmings are one of
the single largest components of
the U.S. waste stream. Although
the percentage has decreased
since 1992, yard trimmings still
accounted for 12.8 percent of the
total waste generated in the
United States in 1997. Home-
owners can reduce the amount of
yard trimmings in the waste
stream through backyard com-
posting and grasscycling. Back-
yard composting and grasscycling
are considered source reduction
because they prevent yard waste
from entering the municipal waste
collection system.
Backyard composting is the con-
trolled decomposition of food
scraps and yard trimmings in
open piles, pits, or bins. Spread-
ing finished compost on lawns
and gardens conditions the soil
and replenishes vital nutrients.
Grasscycling means leaving short
grass clippings on lawns, rather
than collecting and bagging them.
As the clippings filter to the
ground and naturally decompose,
nutrients return to the soil and
support further turf growth.
Donating textiles. Textiles
accounted for 3.8 percent of the
U.S. waste stream in 1997. Over
the past 35 years, the amount of
textiles in the waste stream has
steadily climbed from nearly 1.8
million tons in 1960 to more than
8.2 million tons in 1997.
Americans recover textiles for
reuse through donations to local
thrift stores, charities, churches,
and consignment stores. Donated
textiles include clothing, drapes
and curtains, towels, sheets and
blankets, clean rags, and table
cloths. Although some donated
textiles are recycled into new fab-
ric, most of them are" reclaimed as
secondhand clothing or converted
into wiping and polishing cloths.
Reducing unwanted mail. Third-
class mail made up 2.2 percent of
the U.S. waste stream in 1997.
One way Americans can reduce
paper consumption at home is by
removing their names from bulk
mailing lists. Entering a contest,
making a donation, purchasing
something, ordering a product by
mail, or sending in a subscription
often results in a new entry on
someone's mailing list. Americans
can reduce unwanted mail by
avoiding unnecessary warranty
cards; returning unwanted mail;
and by notifying mail-order cata-
log companies and mailing list
brokers that they want their
names removed from mailing
databases.
Reducing paper consumption at
the office. Office paper, includ-
ing copier paper, computer
printouts, and stationery,
accounted for 3.2 percent of the
U.S. waste stream in 1997. A
wide variety of source reduction
activities at the office can help
reduce paper consumption:
Printing and copying
double-sided.
Printing drafts on blank
sides of used paper.
Keeping files on diskettes.
-------
Reviewing, editing, and
finalizing reports or letters
on the computer screen
before printing.
Communicating through.
voice or electronic mail.
Circulating memos, docu-
ments, periodicals, and
reports rather than distrib-
uting individual copies.
Replacing disposable corrugated
shipping containers with
reusable containers. Like yard
trimmings, corrugated (card-
board) boxes represent a rela-
tively large component of the
U.S. waste streamalmost
14 percent in 1997. Although
an impressive 67 percent of cor-
rugated waste is recycled, orga-
nizations can generate less of
this material in the first place by
switching from single-use corru-
gated boxes to reusable contain-
ers. Organizations either buy or
lease the containers and estab-
lish a system for returning emp-
tied containers after shipment.
In addition to preventing waste,
returnable containers are often
less expensive than disposable
containers over the long term.
Repairing and reusing wood
pallets. In 1997, 7 million tons
of wood pallets entered the
waste stream, accounting for 3.1
percent of total MSW generated.
Organizations can reduce this
waste by repairing used wooden
pallets and reusing them. Some
businesses repair their own pal-
lets in-house, while others con-
tract with local pallet repair
operations. Organizations refur-
bished and reused an estimated
2.6 million tons of wood pallets
in 1997.
How Does Source ."Reduction Affect Glrnhate
Change? < --' Y- -."Y. -\^:\:-^.-\-^-^-^
Human activities that thicken the gaseous'greenhouse'around the
planet threaten to disrupt the natural atmospheric balance that
supports our earth's diverse ecosystems. Source reduction can
greatly reduce the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by:
Reducing emissions from energy consumption. When consumers reuse
products and manufacturers use less material in their factories, they
reduce the amount of energy needed to retrieve, process, and transport
raw materials and to manufacture products. When energy demand
decreases, fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted
to the atmosphere.
Reducing emissions from waste combustors. Diverting certain materials
from combustors reduces greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.
Reducing methane emissions from landfills. Source reduction (includ-
ing backyard composting) diverts organic wastes from landfills, reducing
the amount of methane emitted when these materials decompose.
Increasing storage of carbon in trees. Source reduction of paper prod-
ucts preserves forests that remove large amounts of carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere.
EPA MSW
Source Reduction
Programs
EPA promotes source reduction
through a variety of programs,
including the following:
Pay-As-You-Throw Programs.
EPA provides technical and out-
reach assistance to encourage
communities to implement pay-
as-you-throw programs for solid
waste. Under pay-as-you-throw,
residents are charged for MSW
services based on the amount
of trash they discard, creating
an incentive to generate less
trash and increase recycling. On
average, communities with pay-
as-you-throw achieve waste
reductions of 14 to 27 percent.
For more information about
these programs, access EPA's
Pay-As-You-Throw Web site at
or call
888 EPA-PAYT (372-7298).
WasteWise. WasteWise is a vol-
untary partnership between EPA
and U.S. businesses, institu-
tions, nonprofit organizations,
and government agencies to
prevent waste, recycle, and buy
and manufacture recycled-
content products. By eliminat-
ing more than 1.8 million tons
of waste through source reduc-
tion in the first 4 years of the
program, WasteWise partners
prevented the emission of 1.1
million metric tons of carbon
equivalent (the basic unit of
measure for greenhouse gases)
into the atmosphere. More than
750 organizations participated
in the WasteWise program in
1998. For more information
about the program, access EPAs
WasteWise Web site at
or
call 800 EPA-WISE (372-9473).
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How Do I Get More Information on Source Reduction?
Information Available
From EPA
The following publications are avail-
able on EPAs Public Access Server at
. They
also are available through the RCRA
Hotline. To order a document, call
800 424-9346 (or 800 553-7672 for
the hearing impaired). In
Washington, DC, the number is
703 412-9810 or TDD 703 412-
3323. The RCRA Hotline is open
from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.
to 6 p.m., e.s.t.
V
EPA's Climate Change and Waste
Web Site
w%v\v.epa.gov/globalwarming/
actions/national/ccap/waste/
index.html
v
EPA's Office of Solid Waste
www.epa.gov/osw/
www.epa.gov/compost
T
The Consumer's Handbook for
Reducing Solid Waste
(EPA530-K-92-003)
T
Business Guide for Reducing Solid
Waste (EPA530-K-92-004)
T
Environmental Fact Sheet: Recycling
Grass dippings (EPA530-F-92-012)
v
Environmental Fact Sheet: Yard
Waste Composting
(EPA530-SW-91-009)
V
Enviro$en$e
www.epa.gov/envirosense/
₯
Pay-As-You-Throw: Throw Away
Less and Save (EPA530-F-96-028)
₯
Waste Prevention, Recycling, and
Composting Options: Lessons from
30 Communities
(EPA530-R-92-015)
Other Selected Sources of
Information
Some of the publications listed
below might require an ordering fee.
T
Reuse it, Repair It, Rent It, Donate
ItBut Don't Throw It Away!
To order, contact:
New York City Department of
Sanitation
P.O. Box 156
Bowling Green Station
New York, NY 10274-0156
Phone: 212 837-8089
T
Making Source Reduction and Reuse
Work in Your Community
To order, contact:
National Recycling Coalition, Inc.
1727 King Street-
Suite 105
Alexandria, VA 22314-2720
Phone: 703 683-9025, Ext. 405
T
Making Less Garbage: A Planning
Guide for Communities
Making Less Garbage on Campus: A
Hands-On Guide
Reducing Office Paper Waste
To order, contact:
Inform, Inc.
120 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005-4001
Phone: 212 361-2400
T
Source Reduction Now
How to implement a source reduc-
tion program at an organization.
To order, contact:
Minnesota Office of
Waste Management
1350 Energy Lane
St. Paul, MN 55108
Phone: 800 657-3843
pr
Weaving Textile Reuse into
Waste Reduction
To order, contact:
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
2425 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-2096
Phone: 202 232-4108
Selected Internet Resources
₯
California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB)
www.ciwmb.ca.gov/
w
Indiana Institute on Recycling (IIR)
web.indstate.edu:80/recycle/
v
INFORM
www.informinc.org/
V
National Pollution Prevention
Roundtable
www.p2.org/
W
National Waste Prevention Coalition
(NWPC)
www.metrokc.gov/nwpc/
W
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's
Reducing Junk Mail Fact Sheet
www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm
T
The Solid Waste Association of
North America (SWANA)
www. swana. org/
National Reuse Organizations
Reuse organizations are points of
contact for organizations interested
in buying, selling, or donating excess
material that would otherwise go to
waste. Contact your state recycling
agency for information about local
and regional reuse organizations.
y
Reuse Development Organization,
Inc.
Indianapolis, IN 46244
Phone: 317 631-5396
E-mail: info@redo.org
Internet: www.redo.org/
V
Chicago Board of Trade Recyclables
Exchange
141 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-2994
Phone: 312 435-7223
Internet: cbot-recycle.com
V
National Association for the
Exchange of Industrial Resources
560 McClure Street
Galesburg, IL 61401
Phone:800562-0955 : " :
E-mail: donor.naier@misslink.net
Internet: www.freegoods.com/
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