xvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
REUSABLE
NEWS
EPA530-N-97-004
Summer 1997
Welcomes
Gowernment
Partners
I n its biggest
I expansion since the program
i began in 1994, EPA's
WasteWi$e program is seeking to
partner with tribal, state, and
local governments. For years,
these governments have actively
worked with their communities
to find ways to reduce, reuse,
and recycle. Now,
WasteWi$e is challenging
these organizations to
look for innovative ways
to reduce waste in their
own operations. Reducing waste
saves governments money by
lowering purchasing
and disposal costs, and
benefits the environ-
ment by conserving
our natural resources.
(Continued on page 2)
IN THIS ISSUE
MSW Generation Dropped in 1995
Extended Product Responsibility
Innovative Uses of Compost
Pay-As-You-Throw Success Stories
1997 Paper Summit Closing the
Circle Awards Greenhouse Gas
Study Published New WasteWi$e
Homepage
i PAs Jobs Through Recy-
; : cling (JTR) program has
I awarded $1.4 million in
grants to five states and two
multistate organizations. These
grants will support a variety of
initiatives aimed at expanding
economic development efforts and
creating jobs in recycling industries.
"This year's grants will further support successful state
efforts and spearhead projects with states who are just
establishing market development programs," says John Leigh, JTR's
program manager.
These grants will support numerous innovative recycling ventures,
Awardees include the states of Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Minnesota,
New Hampshire; the Pacific Northwest Economic Region; and the
Northeast Recycling Council (NERC). Some of the initiatives include:
New Hampshire will establish a revolving loan fund for recycling
businesses, a large-scale food composting facility, and an association
for recycling businesses.
« NERC will conduct a 2-year program designed to maximize the
impacts of recycling investment for urns, events that bring together
recycling businesses and investors. The program will assist firms in
preparing for the forums, refine efforts to market the forums, and
gain additional exposure for forum participants. Two investment
forums will be held.
« Minnesota will develop processing capacity and local recycle/reuse
market capacity for polyethylene terephthalate plastics, waste paint,
and glass,
(Continued on page 2)
Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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(Continued from page 1)
Just like the 500 current
WasteWi$e business partners, gov-
ernmental partners will set goals
for waste prevention, recycling,
and buying recycled products;
track their progress toward meeting
those goals; and update EPA on
their accomplishments.
Governments can join in entirety
or just sign up the individual
departments or facilities particu-
larly interested in expanding their
waste reduction activities.
Governments that join by
September 1, 1997, will be hon-
ored as charter partners at a special
WasteWi$e event, to be held on
September 21, 1997, in conjunction
with the National Recycling Coali-
tion Congress in Orlando, Florida.
Initially, WasteWi$e will focus
its efforts on information
exchange, technical assistance,
and recognition for its government
partners. Beginning in 1998,
WasteWi$e plans new outreach
efforts, including satellite telecon-
ferences, to help governments pro-
vide waste prevention information
to local businesses.
''Businesses who have partici-
pated in the WasteWi$e program
have seen firsthand the cost and
environmental benefits offered
through waste prevention. Now,
these same resources are available
to state and local governments to
help cut their own internal costs,"
says Ken Brown of Minnesota's
Office of Waste Management.
To join WasteWi$e, or for more
information about the program and
its services, call the WasteWi$e
Helpline at 800 EPA-WISE.-'
(Continued from page 1)
States welcome EPA's recogni-
tion and involvement in market
development and job creation.
"EPA's continuing support plays a
significant role in enhancing the
recycling market infrastructure.
Minnesota is pleased to be con-
tinuing its work at developing
recycling markets and enhancing
the state's economic growth,"
said Chris Cloutier of the Min-
nesota Office of Environmental
Assistance.
For more information about
the JTR program, contact John
Leigh of EPA at 703 308-7896.1
.- .' national media campaign, local special
events, and a contest with the grand prize of
"The American Green Dream Home" are all
part of the celebration for the first annual "Amer-
ica Recycles Day," to be held on November 15,
1997. The celebration's focus is
"Keep Recycling Working: Buy
Recycled."
More than 10 national organiza-
tions, including EPA, are helping .. .-.'.;.
organize the event. Fran ' - ' .
McPoland, Federal Environmental '- - ~"
Executive, and Bill Heenan, presi- - ;
dent of the Steel Recycling Insti- . -=
tute, are the national event
cochairs. Vice President Gore is
the honorary chair. Special
events on November 15 will range
from recycling fairs and school
plays to used motor oil and household hazardous
waste collection events. In addition, event partic-
ipants will have the opportunity to enter a contest
to win "The American Green Dream Home," a
house constructed of recycled-content and earth-
friendly products. The winner will
be chosen from a random drawing
'...'. of individuals who pledge to recy-
- . . . cle and shop for recycled products.
. ' More than 25 states have already
' \ signed up to participate in "Amer-
. :'. . ica Recycles Day" and its efforts to
' . ' increase media attention and public
support for recycling, buying recy-
cled products, and reducing waste.
For more information about the
event, contact Kevin Tuerff of
- . - -. Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia at 512
"- ' ' ' 476-4ENV.1
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MSW Generation Dropped
In 1995
'./. s a nation, we threw away less and recycled more in 1995 than
' ' .. in 1994, according to EPA's Characterization of Municipal Solid
Waste in the United States: 1996 Update. The amount of munici-
pal solid waste (MSW) generated fell from 209 to 208 million tons
between 1994 and 1995, and the nation's recycling rate rose from 25 to
27 percent. During that same period, per capita MSW generation (the
amount of MSW generated per person) also dropped from 4.4 to 4.3
pounds per day.
EPA's latest annual MSW characterization report takes a close look at
the practices at the top of the waste management hierarchy: source
reduction and recycling (including composting). The report includes
case studies that illustrate the impact of source reduction on several
product categories. It describes, for example, how newspaper publish-
ers reduced the weight of their newsprint. In 1985, a pound of
newsprint contained 93 pages; in 1995, a pound of newsprint con-
tained 118 pages. The report
also quantifies the number of
curbside recycling programs
in the United States-7,000
in 1995as well as the num-
ber of drop-off centers for
recyclables9,000 in 35
states. In addition, an esti-
mated 3,300 yard trimmings
composting programs (not
backyard composting) existed
in 1995, the majority of
which were in the Northeast
Did
: ; he official Chardonnay of the
! National Hockey League's
i 1997 All-Star Game was sold
in bottles reclaimed from the
\vaste stream. The bottles were
washed and sterilized by Ever-
Green Glass, Inc. of Stockton, Cali-
fornia, before being filled with
wine. Each bottle included
an apologetic note on the
back label: "Sorry for the
scratches
on our bot-
tle. We
really do
recycle." .'
and Midwest.
For a free copy of the report
and/or the executive sum-
mary, contact the RCRA Hot-
line at 800 424-9346. The full
report also is available on the
Internet at (http://wwiv.epa.
gov/epaoswer/non-hw/
recycle.htnrfdocs). II
' ou've probably heard terms
like "product life cycle" and
i "product responsibility"
bandied about lately. But what do
these terms mean exactly? And
what do they have to do with the
environment? A new EPA resource
can help explain.
EPA, in conjunction with the
President's Council on Sustainable
Development, recently published
the proceedings of a workshop on
extended product responsibility
(EPR), held at the White House Con-
ference Center in Washington, DC,
in October 1996. EPR holds that all
people involved in the design, man-
ufacture, distribution, use, and dis-
posal of a product (the product life
cycle) share responsibility for a
product's environmental effects. For
product manufacturers, sharing
responsibility for products can
mean making more efficient use of
resources; working with suppliers to
obtain more environmentally appro-
priate product inputs; making prod-
ucts more reusable, repairable, and
durable; and helping to ensure that
products are repaired, reused, or
recycled rather than disposed of.
For consumers, sharing responsibil-
ity means buying and using prod-
ucts responsibly and, where
possible, recycling rather than dis-
posing of them.
The workshop proceedings pre-
sent background information about
EPR, how the concept originated,
and how it's being implemented in
the United States and abroad. It also
summarizes the 11 case studies pre-
sented at the workshop by represen-
tatives of U.S. companies currently
implementing EPR. The proceedings
also describe workshop discussions
about future EPR implementation in
the United States.
For a copy of the 180-page pro-
ceedings, contact EPA's RCRA Hot-
line at 800 424-9346. 1
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n May 5, 1997, EPAs
I Municipal and
Industrial Solid
Waste Division (MISWD)
received a 1997 White
House Closing the Circle
Award for Environmental Innova-
tion. At the award ceremony, held
in Washington, DC, Federal Envi-
ronmental Executive Fran
McPoland recog-
nized MISWD
employees Dr.
Rosalie Green, Dr.
George Garland,
and Terry Grist
for projects
demonstrating the
innovative uses of
compost. During
the past 3 years,
MISWD has worked with other
federal agencies to show how com-
post can be used to enhance the
survival and growth of tree
seedlings, treat compacted and
eroded turf, restore wildlife habi-
tat, and prevent erosion on steep
embankments. MISWD also spon-
sored a federal agency workshop
that presented information on
using compost to bioremediate
contaminated soils, treat contami-
nated stormwater runoff, reduce
volatile organic compound emis-
sions, and reclaim mining sites.
See the box below for more infor-
mation about innovative uses of
compost. II
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'- ' -
-------
; ooking for more information
i about pay-as-you-throw
: : (PAYT)? If so, you're not
alone. MSW planners are finding
PAYT programs to be an increas-
ingly viable waste management
alternative. Under this option, res-
idents are asked to pay for trash
services based on the amount
thrown away.
But before stepping up to the
plate themselves, many planners
want to hear real-world ideas and
outcomes from peers who have
implemented programs of their
own. Fortunately, more and more
communities have switched to
PAYT over the past few years.
Along the way, they've identified
many different strategies for mak-
ing it work. And, as a new EPA
booklet of their stories shows, they
have some compelling results to
show for it.
Pay-As-You-Throw Success Sto-
ries includes program histories
from nine pioneering PAYT com-
munities. For example, before city
planners in San Jose, California,
adopted their program in 1993,
they conducted a 3-year planning
and research effort on a set of MSW
program changes (dubbed Recy-
cling Plus) that featured PAYT. The
work paid off. "The volume of
recyclables and. yard trimmings col-
lected more than doubled the levels
recorded before Recycling Plus,"
reported Jo Zientek, the city's
supervising environmental services
specialist. Waste prevention also
took hold: nearly 90 percent of San
Jose's households went from an
average set-out of three cans to a
single 32-gallon can.
This kind of waste reduction
translates into real environmental
benefits. Less waste means energy
is saved and landfill space is pre-
served. Moreover, residents in
PAYT communities like San Jose
tend to support these programs.
"Residents reported wide satisfac-
tion with the program and its
results," said Zientek, pointing to
80 percent approval in 1993 and
90 percent in 1996.
Why are residents so support-
ive? PAYT is considered by many
to be a fair way to pay for waste
collection and disposal services,
and it allows individuals to take
control of the amount they pay for
trash sendees. Recycling Coordina-
tor Gina Hawkins reported, that in
Gainesville, Florida, "The distribu-
tion of system costs is more equi-
table. Residents make the choice of
level of service delivery based on
their individual waste generation
habits." Most choose to reduce.
"The results from the first year of
our program were amazing. The
amount of solid waste collected.
decreased 18 percent, and the recy-
clables recovered increased 25 per-
cent," said. Hawkins.
But for many communities, the
real kicker is the economic benefits
of less waste. In 1990, with Dover,
New Hampshire, residents generat-
ing 11,000 tons of trash each year
and. the cost of waste collection and
disposal escalating rapidly, plan-
ners had to act decisively. "In Sep-
tember 1991, the city began
curbside collection of recyclables,
and a month later the bag-and-tag
program was implemented,"
explained Gary
Gilrnore, city coun-
cilor in Dover.
"Last year, we
produced, just
3,900 tons of
waste. In 1990,
our budget for
solid waste was
about $1.2 mil-
lion. Next year's
budget (including
trash and recy-
cling) is approximately $878,000."
Thanks to solid planning com-
bined with some important inno-
vations, these kinds of
environmental, equity, and eco-
nomic benefits are being achieved
by growing numbers of PAYT com-
munities.
In addition to Pay-As-You-
Throw Success Stories, EPA has
several other products, including
fact sheets and a comprehensive
tool kit for local solid, waste plan-
ners interested in bringing PAYT
to their communities. To learn
more about EPA's free PAYT prod-
ucts, call the Pay-As-You-Throw
Helpline toll free at 888 EPA-
PAYT (888 372-7298). 7
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Up
: - id you know that federal agencies purchased almost 19.4 billion
i ! ; sheets of recycled-content copier paper in fiscal year 1996? The
: - bad news is that these purchases represent only 20 percent of
the total copier paper purchased by government agencies from the U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Government Print-
ing Office (GPO). At the Second Paper Summit, held on May 13, 1997,
in Washington, DC, Federal Environmental Executive Fran McPoland
presented a federal agency "scorecard" in complying with Executive
Order 12873. The Order requires agencies to buy copier paper contain-
ing at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber. McPoland praised successes
but also challenged agencies to improve their performance.
Several important announcements at the meeting indicate that policy
is turning into practice. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), which
buys 2.2 million cartons of copier paper a I
year (more than half the paper used by -
the federal government), has
instructed that all orders be filled
with paper complying with Exec-
utive Order 12873 postconsumer
fiber levels, so long as the price is
equal to or less than virgin paper.
GSA, the primary copier paper sup-
plier to DOD, has been offering recy-
cled paper at 5 cents per carton less
than virgin since October 1996, and indicated
that it will continue to do so until September 30, 1997. Several other
agencies, including the Departments of Justice and Energy and the U.S.
Postal Service, have followed DOD's lead; and others are considering
doing so. In addition, many agencies' headquarters offices are placing
phone calls to noncompliant field offices to reinforce the buy recycled
requirement.
In addition to automatically filling copier paper orders with recycled
paper regardless of the type of paper specified, GSA will include a pro-
motional flyer with each carton to educate buyers and users about
Executive Order 12873 requirements. This new practice solves what
has been a major implementation barrierthe difficulty conveying and
enforcing the government's buy recycled policy to thousands of indi-
viduals who make paper purchasing decisions. The Federal Environ-
mental Executive, DOD, and several other agencies also called upon
GSA and GPO to discontinue stocking virgin paper altogether. GPO
announced that it will begin offering colored paper with recycled con-
tent in July 1997.
For more information about the Paper Summit and. federal agency com-
pliance with Executive Order 12873, contact the Office of the Federal
Environmental Executive at 202 260-1297 (mcpoland.fran@epamail.epa.
gov). For information about recycled paper requirements, contact the
RCRA Hotline at 800 424-9346 for a copy of the fact sheet 1996 Bug-Recy-
cled Series, Paper Products, document number EPA530-F-96-014. 1
new draft EPA study con-
. eludes that waste manage-
'. ment options at the top of
EPA's hierarchy can substantially
reduce the amount of greenhouse
gases (GHGs) emitted into the
atmosphere. The Greenhouse Gas
Emissions from Municipal Wasle
Management study calculates the
net GHG emissions over the life
span of 10 materials. These materi-
alsnewspaper, office paper, corru-
gated cardboard, aluminum, steel,
three plastic resins (high density
polyethylene, low density polyeth-
ylene, and polyethylene terephtha-
late), food scraps, and yard
trimmingscomprise over 50 per-
cent of the municipal solid waste
stream. The study calculates the
net GHG emissions associated with
the raw material acquisition, manu-
facturing, use, and disposal of each
material. It also compares the
emissions resulting from each ele-
ment on EPA's waste management
hierarchy: source reduction, recy-
cling, combustion, and landfilling.
The study concludes that source
reduction yields the greatest reduc-
tion in GHG emissions, followed by
recycling (including composting)
and disposal.
For additional information or to
obtain a copy of the draft report,
call the RCRA Hotline at 800 424-
9346 or send an e-mail to
.
; / "fj;"" j "",, "","-==-J>
-------
ust off that old computer mon-
jitor, record player, or VCR sit-
ting in the basement or the
back of a closet. EPA has just pub-
lished a directory to make it easier to
find a new home for old electronics.
The Electronics and Recycling
Directory lists numerous companies
and organizations that accept a vari-
ety of consumer electronics for reuse.
Available in print and via EPA's
Internet Public Server, the
directory lists more than 200 contacts,
including original equipment manu-
facturers, that electronic
products for reuse or recycling. These
contacts include scrap that uti-
lize certain or components;
that dismantle, repair, or
refurbish electronic items; community
and charitable organizations that
to in
and materials that link buy-
ers and sellers of electronic products.
For a copy of the Electronics
and Recycling Directory, call
the RCRA Hotline at 800 424-9346
and request document number
EPA530-B-97-001. The directory is
also available via the Internet at
(
.
In Why Do We Recycle?
Values, and Public Policy, Frank
Aekerman describes the environ-
mental, economic, and social forces
that motivate people to recycle. He
contends that the current tendency to
measure recycling's success solely in
terms of economic costs and benefits
is narrow and short-sighted. Acker-
man that recycling addresses
long-term environmental problems
and satisfies social and ecological val-
ues that cannot be translated into
dollars and cents.
Ackerman such as
the history of recycling; market incen-
tives; and and of munic-
ipal recycling programs, packaging
policies (including Germany's "Green
Dot" program), container leg-
islation, organic reduction, and
the relationship between material use
and sustainability.
To order a copy of Why Do We
Recycle?, contact Island Press at
800 828-1302 hardcover,
$16,95 paperback).
205 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT
06511-2106, or an e-mail to
Abstracts of the
papers are also available online at
.
two recent papers published by
Yale's Program on Solid
Policy provide an in-depth look
at plastics recycling and the effect of
Americans' time use on residential
solid programs. In to
Basics? The Viability of Plastics
Recycling by Tertiary Processes, T.
Randall Curlee Sujit Das of Oak
Ridge National Laboratory use a life-
cycle approach to evaluate the costs
and benefits of various alternatives
to plastics recycling, No Time to
Time the Genera-
tion of Residential Solid Waste, by
Geoffrey God bey of Pennsylvania
University, explores the rela-
tionship between a of
life and our "disposable" society.
The papers, funded with support
from EPA, are commissioned by
experts in various fields and then
edited by Yale, For more information
on ordering these and other papers,
write to; Working Papers/Program on
Solid Policy, Yale School of
Forestry and Environmental Studies,
ID help local governments imple-
ment source reduction programs,
the National Recycling Coalition's
(NRC's) Source Reduction Forum has
published Making Source Reduction
and Reuse Work in Your Community;
A Manual for Local Governments,
(Source reduction, also called waste
prevention, means reducing the
amount or toxicity of waste before it is
generated.) The 70-page manual
draws upon the experiences of more
than 90 communities to present
lessons learned and strategies for
implementing local source reduction
programs such as grasscycling, back-
yard composting, and materials
exchanges. It also includes 22
studies of innovative and cost-effective
local government source reduction
programs. The report was developed
with financial support from EPA.
Some key the report iden-
tifies include (1) developing an effec-
tive education and outreach program,
(2) forming with
companies, (3) integrating source
reduction with eiisting recycling pro-
grams, and (4) enlisting support from
governments.
To receive a free copy of the
report's executive summary, write to
the NRC at 1727 King Street, Suite
105, Alexandria, VA 22314-2720; or
call 703 683-9025. A full copy of the
report can be obtained by sending
$20 (nonmembers) or $10 (mem-
bers) to Source Reduction Forum,
National Recycling Coalition, P.O. Box
79453, Baltimore, MD 21279-0453.
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: he WasteWi$e homepage
i now sports a brand new
' look. As of mid-June 1997,
companies can sign up to partici-
pate in the program on line as
well as view copies of the latest
WasteWi$e publications. Since its
renovation, the improved
WasteWi$e Web site has received
over 1,000 visitors. It offers users
the following categories for learn-
ing more about the program:
« What is WasteWi$e? Includes a
description of both the partner
and endorser programs, high-
lights program results, lists cur-
rent members, and answers
frequently asked questions.
WasteWi$e Services. Provides a
description of the services and
benefits WasteWi$e offers to
partners, including the toll-free
WasteWi$e helpline (800 EPA-
WISE), customized technical
assistance, and recognition cer-
emonies.
« WasteWi$e Publications. Offers
PDF and ASCII versions of publi-
cations about the program and its
results. These publications include
fact sheets on reducing waste, set-
ting up recycling collection pro-
grams, and buying recycled
products; WasteWi$e progress
reports; and issues of
the WasteWi$e Update
newsletter.
Join Now. Allows
visitors to sign up
for the program by
filling out the Part-
ner or Endorser Reg-
istration Form on
line and submitting
it electronically.
The Partner Network. Exclu-
sively for partners, provides
program news and valuable
technical information.
WljE
The site also provides more
information about waste preven-
tion, recycling collection, and
purchase or manufacture of recy-
cled products, including sample
WasteWi$e goals and results in
these areas. Links to the EPA and
OSWER homepages are also pro-
vided. Visit the site at
(www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-
hw/reduce/wstewise/index.htm).
Tills issue of Reusable News is also available on the Internet. To
access this and other EPA publications through the World Wide Web,
type: http:ffwww.epa.gov/epa.oswer/non-liw/recycle/rease.httn
Through Gopher: direct access 919 558-0335
Address: gopher.epa.gov
Port: 70
Sector: 1/Qffices/Waste/QS WRCRA/non-hw/recycle/reuse
United States Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW. (5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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