c/EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
EPA530-N-97-007
Fall 1997
http://www.epa.gov
REUSABLE
NEWS
10 Great Ways to
Celebrate America
Recycles Day
1. Commit to "buy recycled" at
home and at work.
2. Think before you buy. Reduce.
Reuse. Recycle.
3. Start a paper recycling program in
your office, school, or community.
4. Ask your recycling coordinator
about adding steel, glass, or
plastic to your community's
recycling program.
5. Tell your local
retailers you
want them to
stock more
products made
from recycled materials.
6. Encourage the use of recycled-
content products in your business.
\g
7.
8
Leave grass clippings on the
lawn as a fertilizer.
Start a compost pile with yard
trimmings and food scraps.
9. Take children to visit a recycling
facility or a landfill in your
community.
10. Recycle your used motor oil and
oil filters at an approved collec-
tion center, and buy rerefined
oil for your next oil change.
Courtesy of the America Recycles Day
Web site, www.americarecyclesday.org.
it
States Ready to Make
"America Recycles Day
a Success
On November 15, 1997, thousands of events
will take place all over the country to cele-
brate the first-ever America Recycles Day.
The celebration was announced with a national
press conference on October 1, which was
held at the White House Conference Center
and included a model store that featured recy-
cled-content products. Vice President Al Gore
is the honorary chairman for the event, which
aims to increase consumer purchases of recy-
cled products and to generate nationwide
media attention and public support for recycling and the "buy recycled"
theme. Participants who sign a pledge card to
start or enhance recycling or to buy recy-
cled products have an opportunity to
win "The American Green Dream
House," a home built with recy-
cled-content and energy-efficient
products.
At least 40 states have
agreed to contribute time,
energy, and money to make
the first America Recycles
Day a success. To encourage
states' planning efforts, a con-
test was held among the partic-
ipating states to develop the
best public and private partner-
ships and the most creative use of
the national slogan "Keep Recycling
Working: Buy Recycled!" The five win-
ning states will receive cash prizes, as well
as assistance with advertising and public relations.
See page 4 for a sampling of states' planned festivities.
(Continued on page 4)
Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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Get in the Loop Boosts Sales
of Recycled Products
What would it take to get the average con-
sumer to buy recycled? The King County
Commission for Marketing Recyclable
Materials in Seattle, Washington, has found an
answer. The Get in the Loop project, an EPA-funded
initiative, has significantly increased the purchase
of recycled products during a series of month-long
intensive advertising campaigns. In 1996, nearly
1,300 retailers participated in the project, and wit-
nessed sales increases of 11 percent for products
with recycled content. In Washington State, grocery
stores saw sales of recycled-content products rise
more than 40 percent.
Consumer education was the key to this success.
Get in the Loop's advertising campaign shows con-
sumers why buying products made from recycled
materials is important, tells them which stores carry
these items, and illustrates their choices in recycled
products when they visit the stores. Once in the
stores, unique postings on store shelves clearly tell
GEE in HE
f
purchasers which
products have recy-
cled content. Special
posters, door stickers,
and end-aisle displays
reinforce the buy-
recycled message.
Selected markets in
Washington, Oregon,
Ohio, Texas, and
Washington, DC, have
all witnessed buy-
recycled successes
with Get in the Loop's
unique approach. The
project's plans for the future include helping many
other states "Get in the Loop." For more information
about the Get in the Loop project, contact John
Dumas of EPA's Region 10 office at 206 553-6522.
Recycling Measurement Guide Available
Have you ever had difficulty determining
how much municipal solid waste (MSW) is
recycled in your state or locality? Have you
ever wondered what steps are involved in calcu-
lating a reliable state or local recycling rate?
Would you like to see recycling rates measured in
a consistent way? If so, a new EPA guide can help.
Measuring Recycling: A Guide for State and Local
Governments is designed to promote consistency
in the way recycling data are collected, measured,
and reported by state and local governments. State
and local governments will find tips on how to
measure the amount of MSW recycled and disposed
of in their area, a standard equation for calculating
a recycling rate, and standard definitions of MSW
and recycling. The standard equation and definitions
are part of a voluntary method for measuring recy-
cling developed by EPA to help state and local
governments improve their recycling measurement
programs. EPA developed the guide in consulta-
tion with state and local government agencies
experienced in measuring recycling rates. Real-
world examples and tips from these agencies are
included throughout the guide.
EPA's guide will be useful to state and local gov-
ernments that have not attempted recycling mea-
surement, and state and local governments with a
measurement program already in place that are
interested in recalculating their recycling rate to
be consistent with a standard national approach.
In addition to explaining EPA's standard
method, the guide provides suggestions and rec-
ommendations for addressing common measure-
ment challenges, such as obtaining data from the
private sector and avoiding double counting of
data. The guide also contains several tools to aid
state and local governments in measuring recy-
cling, including case studies of successful mea-
surement techniques, tips on capturing high-
quality data, definitions of over 100 terms, work-
sheets for compiling data, and survey forms to dis-
tribute to the appropriate reporting entities.
EPA is currently developing additional recycling
measurement products designed to assist state and local
governments in implementing the standard measure-
ment method, including an Internet homepage, an
electronic version of the survey forms and worksheets,
and a fact sheet for states and localities recalculating
their recycling rate according to the standard approach.
To receive a free copy of the guide, contact the
RCRA Hotline at 800 424-9346 and ask for docu-
ment number EPA530-R-97-011. I
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Record-Setting Waste Reductions
In a community with a name like Loveland,
you'd expect the people to embrace their envi-
ronment. Loving the land might even be a pre-
requisite for living there. Perhaps that's why this
Colorado city has such an impressive waste
reduction program. Through the cocollection of
MSW with glass, plastic, ferrous and aluminum
containers, newspapers, corrugated cardboard,
aerosol cans, aluminum foil, kraft paper bags, and
yard trimmings, Loveland has reduced its residen-
tial waste by 55 percent. Contributing to this
waste reduction rate are a pay-as-you-throw pro-
gram and drop-off centers for paint, batteries,
motor oil, antifreeze, magazines, mixed office
paper, and phone books.
Loveland is just one of the many successful
waste reduction stories documented by the Insti-
tute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), under a grant
from EPA. ILSR is recording these success stories
as part of EPA's Waste Reduction Record-Setters
project, with a goal of encouraging businesses and
state and local governments to develop their own
innovative waste reduction programs.
Although the past decade has witnessed a rise
in waste generation levels, the national recycling
rate also has risen, surpassing the 25 percent
mark. Today, many communities, businesses, gov-
ernment offices, and institutions are reducing
their waste stream by more than 50 percent, and
in some cases by up to 90 percent. How exactly do
they do it? And what can others learn from them?
To answer these questions, ILSR identified 100
communities and nearly 200 businesses, institu-
tions, and other entities (including libraries, hos-
pitals, and military bases) with waste reduction
rates above 50 percent. ILSR also examined states
with high waste reduction goals in order to locate
innovative waste reduction strategies. A series of
case studies of communities and businesses iden-
tified through the Waste Reduction Record-Setters
project will be released by the end of this year.
The case studies will illustrate the lessons learned
and provide tips others can use to set up their
own waste reduction programs.
For more information about the Waste Reduc-
tion Record-Setters project, contact Brenda Platt
of ILSR at 202 232-4108. 1
New Tool to
Measure Source
Reduction Potential
Source reduction is an increas-
ingly popular waste manage-
ment method. Many commu-
nities and businesses find that
practices such as grasscycling,
backyard composting, and double-
sided copying can reduce waste
management costs, help meet di-
version goals, and extend landfill
life. Before implementing these
source reduction efforts, however,
many solid waste planners want to
know the potential waste reductions
their efforts could achieve. That's
where a new EPA tool comes in.
The Source Reduction Program
Potential Manual: A Planning
Tool helps solid waste planners
estimate in advance the potential
of various source reduction pro-
grams. EPA defines source reduc-
tion as any activity designed to
reduce the volume or toxicity of
waste generated, includ-
ing the design and man-
ufacture of products
with minimum toxic
content, minimum vol-
ume of material, and/or a
longer useful life. Pro-
gram potential is the
portion of a waste
stream that could
be reduced by a
specific source
reduction program. Knowing the
potential of source reduction pro-
grams before implementing them
can help planners develop cost-
effective programs, secure man-
agement support, identify
outreach needs, and estimate the
financial savings the programs
could achieve.
The manual shows planners
how to calculate the program
potential for six source reduction
options: three residential options
(grasscycling, home composting,
and clothing and footwear reuse)
and three commercial, industrial,
and institutional options (office
paper reduction, conversion to
multi-use pallets, and paper
towel reduction). The manual
also provides worksheets for
solid waste planners to use in
calculating the program potential
for other source reduction
programs.
To receive a copy of the Source
Reduction Program Potential
Manual, contact the RCRA Hot-
line at 703 412-9810, in the
Washington, DC, metropolitan
area, or 800 424-9346. I
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America Recycles Day
(Continued from page 1)
Alabama
Alabama sponsors are offering cash and weekend get
away prizes to those who sign the recycling pledge.
According to Alabama Recycles Day coordinator Cindy
Morehead, one of the most exciting give-aways will be
a set of Alabama Auburn football tickets, which are
"more precious than gold" to many Alabama residents.
Alabama Power placed inserts about America Recycles
Day in its October bills, and many communities in
the state have committed to planning local celebra-
tions. Events will include a wide variety of activities
including recycling fairs, compost demonstrations, and
household chemical collections.
California
Coordinators in California are tapping the resources of their local
Marine Corps base, Camp Pendelton, to spread the word about
America Recycles Day. The base will reach more than 100,000
people by printing an article and pledge card in its newsletter.
Camp Pendelton's on-base television station also will air public
service announcements to increase awareness. As event cochair,
Bank of America will provide pledge cards in its employee
newsletter, which goes out to more than 500,000 people
nationwide. Other activities in the state include a recycling
fair in Long Beach, a used computer "round-up" in Los
Angeles, and buy-recycled demonstrations at a Home
Depot Store in Ventura County. California's main goals
are to provide support materials, such as banners and
pledge cards, for local jurisdictions that need assis-
tance, and to plan media events in major regions.
Florida
In Florida, consumers in 67 counties will receive inserts in their
Florida Power and Light utility bills. The Florida Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection will place pledge cards in its 4,000 employee
paychecks, and 76 billboards—provided rent-free—will feature the theme
"Keep Recycling Working: Buy Recycled!" In addition to these activities, counties
throughout the state are planning a variety of special events. Sarasota County, for example,
is sponsoring "The Florida House Buy Recycled Expo." Like the American Green Dream
House, the Florida House is an energy-efficient home made with recycled-content products.
Its grounds will be the site of the "Recycling Olympic Games," which include the paper air-
plane throw, steel can golf, aluminum can toss, and plastic bottle bowling. Each game uses all
recycled materials and participants will be awarded a recycled-content prize at the end. Partici-
pants also will enjoy skits about recycling, music, buy-recycled exhibits, and can sign up for tours
of the Florida House. Scrappy the clown, named after the Sarasota County Recycling Awareness Pro-
gram, will be on hand to entertain visitors. During the week before America Recycles Day, professors at the
Ringling School of Art will celebrate an Environmental Awareness Day by requiring students to prepare
three-dimensional art sculptures out of materials recovered from trash.
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Massachusetts
America Recycles Day marks the first time
groups like MassRecycle, Massachusetts
Food Association, Solid Waste Associa-
tion of Massachusetts, and the Retailers
Association of Massachusetts are com-
bining their efforts. Partners are working
together at events, such as the "Buy-
Recycled" vendor fairs in Boxborough and Walpole, a 10th anniversary
party for Boston's curbside recycling program, and tours of environ-
mentally friendly companies. According to MassRecycle Director
Dorothy Suput, they are breaking new ground by "building partner-
ships that go beyond the recycling industry working by itself." Safety
Kleen will provide waste containers for used oil in at least six commu-
nities throughout the state, and several local companies are donating
prizes, such as a recycled-content kayak and a bench made from 80
percent recycled plastic. Massachusetts hopes to facilitate a grassroots
effort among its towns and counties, while generating media advisories
throughout the state.
Missouri
Solid waste districts and cities in Missouri are busy coordinating
community events highlighting recycling and buying recycled. In
August, a state fair exhibit featuring products made from post-
consumer materials provided buy-recycled information to
hundreds of people. Missouri is planning a media blitz with
public service announcements (PSAs) on television stations
in Saint Louis, Kansas City, Saint Joseph, Springfield, and
Columbia. The PSAs will include information about the
Missouri Recycles Day hotline (888 325-MORA) and Web
site www.mora.org, both of which allow residents to
pledge online. On October 29, 1997, the Missouri Recy-
cling Association hosted the state's kick- ^
off rally in Saint Louis.
Businesses in Kansas City and Missouri state
offices will participate in a "clean your files day,"
and teachers in Kansas City and Saint Joseph will
take part in workshops demonstrating recycling
activities for classrooms. True Value Hardware
Stores are placing information about America
Recycles Day in their sales flyers, and the Mis-
souri Lion Clubs are spreading the word by pro-
moting increased collection of used eyeglasses.
In addition, the household hazardous waste col-
lection facility in Columbia will host an open
house on November 15.
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Tips for Recycling Market
Development
EPA's Jobs Through Recycling (JTR) program merges recycling and
economic development through innovative approaches to business
recruitment, outreach, and financial and technical assistance for
recycling businesses. The program now supports recycling market
development efforts in more than 30 states and Native American tribes.
A new publication EPA is developing, MarketShare: Successful
Strategies Learned from the JTR Experience, goes straight to JTR grantees
working in the trenches and documents their market development tips
and strategies. Here are just some of the new guide's recommendations:
• Target a few key commodities. Select commodities that comprise a
major portion of the waste stream, that will add significant recycling
capacity and economic value, and that can be successfully collected.
Understand the types of businesses and industries in your area that uti-
lize the materials, and locate available research, financing, and techni-
cal resources.
• Develop your market through one-on-one communication.
Attend conferences, give presentations, and make on-
site visits to reach your target audience as often as
possible. Learn to quickly sift through candidate
companies and identify the potential "winners"
in which to invest time and effort.
• Learn about recycling and economic devel-
opment. Know the supply of commodities in
your service area and learn the right "lan-
guage" with which to talk to economic
developers. Sign up for economic
development training to better famil-
iarize yourself with the field.
• Target community development
banks for business financing.
Community development banks
may be more willing to spend
time with recycling business-
es than the "traditional"
lending institutions. They
also can afford to be more speculative since many are non-profit organi-
zations and can borrow at lower rates than traditional banks. Commercial
banks may be more willing to sponsor loans in conjunction with commu-
nity development banks because they lend credibility to the investment.
• Provide quantitative documentation to back up qualitative informa-
tion. Provide the financial community with concrete economic and
financial information. Consider conducting a study of the economic
impacts of recycling businesses in your state, such as value added
and job creation, and refer to studies conducted by the Northeast
Recycling Council, the Southern States Waste Management Coalition,
Massachusetts, Iowa, and North Carolina.
MarketShare will soon be available along with a market develop-
ment bibliography, a directory, and other information on recycling and
economic development. Visit the new JTR Web site at www.epa.gov/jtr
to download these and other documents regarding business develop-
ment, financing, and technical assistance. For more information on the
JTR program, contact John Leigh of EPA at 703 308-7896 or via e-mail
at leigh.john@epamail.epa.gov. B
Buy Recycled:
The Beat Goes On
F
BUY RECYCLED.
AND SAVE.
I or nearly
a decade,
the highly
successful Envi-
ronmental
Defense Fund's
(EDF's) con-
sumer-awareness
media campaign
has been on the
airwaves and
newsstands. The campaign,
sponsored by EPA, state agen-
cies, and the Ad Council, is con-
tinuing its theme of Buy
Recycled and Save. Since 1988,
the value of donated advertising
has exceeded $220 million.
According to Joel Plagenz,
EDF's Director of Public Affairs,
the donated advertising the cam-
paign generated in 1996 was
worth over $42 million, making
this a record year. This success
was principally attributed to
increased media interest in recy-
cling and the participation of
actress Joanne Woodward as the
campaign's spokesperson. This
year, Ms. Woodward will again
be urging consumers to close the
recycling loop by checking prod-
uct labels for the highest per-
centage of postconsumer
recycled content. In addition,
the buy-recycled ads will feature
a tag line promoting November
15, 1997, as America Recycles
Day.
You can support this effort in
your community by contacting
your local media outlets and ask-
ing them to use the Ad Council's
buy-recycled public service
announcements. The materials
were mailed in August, but if your
outlet cannot locate the packet,
it can call the Ad Council at 800
933-7727. You may also visit the
buy-recycled Web site located at
http://www.edf.org, or call 800
CALL-EDF to obtain a shopper's
brochure, ffl
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RESOURCES
Landfill Fact
Sheets Available
EPA recently developed two
fact sheets to educate land-
fill officials about new and
innovative technologies and
products that meet the perfor-
mance standards
of the Criteria
for Municipal
Solid Waste
Landfills
(40 CFR Part
258). Landfill
Reclamation
(EPA530-F-97-
001) describes
this rela-
tively new
approach to
expanding
MSW landfill
capacity,
recovering
valuable
resources, and
saving money.
Geosynthetic
Clay Liners Used in Municipal
Solid Waste Landfills (EPA530-F-
97-002) discusses this new tech-
nology currently gaining
acceptance as a barrier system in
MSW landfill applications.
Both fact sheets provide valu-
able information on these new
technologies and present case
studies of successful reclamation
projects and geosynthetic clay
liner applications. For a copy of
these fact sheets, call the RCRA
Hotline at 800 424-9346.
Just the Facts
Which states have house-
hold hazardous waste
collection programs?
What percentage of auto batteries
are recycled? How many millions
of tons of yard trimmings are
generated each year?
If you're curious about the
answers to these questions and
others like them, you'll want to
check out EPA's newly updated
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
Factbook, which is accessible on
the World Wide Web for Micro-
soft Windows users. The elec-
tronic reference contains hundreds
of useful facts and figures, in
over 250 formatted screens,
about the state of MSW in the
United States and throughout the
world. The new Web version
even provides links to state solid
waste Web sites and includes the
names, addresses, and e-mail
addresses for state solid waste
agency contacts. The Factbook is
available free from EPA, and
valuable information from it can
be reprinted or electronically cut
and pasted into reports, presenta-
tions, and other documents with-
out restriction.
To become a Factbook user,
download the Windows version
or access the Web version at:
http://www.epa.gov/
epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/
factbook.htm. For more informa-
tion, contact Steven J. Levy, Fact-
book Editor, by e-mail at
levy.steve@epamail.epa.gov.
EPA Participates at
NRC Congress
With the theme "It's a
Small World After All,"
the National Recycling
Coalition's 16th Annual Congress
and Exposition took full advan-
tage of its Lake Buena Vista,
Florida, locale. From September
22 through 24, 1997, industry
leaders and recyclers from across
the country had the opportunity
to share ideas and innovations, as
well as to explore the waste man-
agement facilities of Walt Disney
World.
As a sponsor of the conference,
EPA offered five informative
sessions focusing on source
reduction, reuse, and recycling
opportunities. Among these,
"EPA's Recycling Measurement
Guidance," an interactive session
held on September 23, gave par-
ticipants the opportunity to dis-
cuss EPA's new methodology for
calculating recycling rates (see
related article on page 2). Hope
Pillsbury of EPA described the
products and outreach initiatives
EPA has developed to assist state
and local governments in their
recycling measurement efforts.
Ellen Pratt from the Northeast
Recycling Council moderated the
session. Speakers included state
officials from Washington and
Kansas who shared their experi-
ences implementing EPA's
methodology.
For more information about
the session or EPA's recycling
measurement efforts, contact
Hope Pillsbury of EPA at
703 308-7258. 1
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Helping Purchasers Close
the Loop
If you've ever wondered how to modify a pur-
chasing specification to require the use of
recovered materials, or where you can find a
list of recycled-content office products, Richard
Keller can help. Director of Training for the
EPA-sponsored Buy Recycled Training Institute,
Keller knows the tricks of the buy-recycled trade
and helps government purchasers nationwide
find more efficient ways to close the recycling
loop. In fact, over the past 4 years Keller has
instructed more than 4,000 local and state pur-
chasers in over 90 workshops devoted to help-
ing buy-recycled programs get off the ground.
Sponsored by EPA and the U.S. Conference of
Mayors, the 1-day workshops show participants
how to identify, purchase, and find information
on products made from recovered materials as
well as provide an opportunity for participants
to network with each other on buy-recycled issues.
Topics discussed in the workshops include
writing specifications for recycled products;
assessing the price, availability, and quality of
recycled-content products; and locating govern-
ment and private-sector resources that can help
jump-start buy-recycled programs. "I tell (the
participants) a lot of products they're already
buying and paying less for are made from recy-
cled materials," Keller says. "Many of them
aren't aware of that."
Institute workshops have taken place in each
of EPA's 10 regions, and several are planned for late
1997. For more information, contact Richard Kochan,
Buy Recycled Institute Director, at 202 822-9058. I
WasteWi$e Honors Government
and Business Partners
In conjunction with the National Recycling Coali-
tion Congress in Orlando, Florida, EPA's
WasteWi$e program honored its charter govern-
ment partners and new business partners. The event,
held on September 21, 1997, was a celebration of the
WasteWi$e program's recent expansion to include
tribal, state, and local governments. Just like the 550
current WasteWi$e business partners, government
partners will set goals for waste prevention, recy-
cling, and buying recycled products; track their
progress toward meeting those goals; and update EPA
on their accomplishments. At the event, WasteWi$e
program manager Joanne Oxley welcomed and recog-
nized the new partners, and Bob Colburn of the Walt
Disney Company gave the keynote address. The event
also featured a panel discussion by three local gov-
ernment partners—Sarah Lynn Cunningham of the
Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer
Authority, Kentucky; Charles Reighart of Baltimore
County, Maryland; and Scott Cassel of the Common-
wealth of Massachusetts—on internal efforts to
reduce waste. Opportunities for informal networking
followed the discussion.
For more information about the event or the
WasteWi$e program, call 800 EPA-WISE. 1
This issue of Reusable News is also
available on the Internet. To access this
and other EPA publications through the
World Wide Web, type:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/
non-hw/recycle/reuse.htm
&EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW. (5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
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$300
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