United States
Environmental Protection
Aaencv
Office of Solid Waste
September 1988
EPA/530-SW-88-051
Everybody has a Role
Everyone is responsible for creating —and solving
— the garbage problem. Working together is
the key to closing our national garbage gap.
Consumers need to be responsible for learning
about the products and packaging they buy and
the waste their households and offices con-
tribute. Consumers can buy products with
longer lives, that are recyclable or recycled, and
with less packaging. Citizens can participate in
local recycling of newspapers, cans and bottles,
and they can compost their backyard wastes.
Consumers need to understand the real costs
and be prepared to pay for their trash disposal.
And they need to recognize the need for local
garbage facilities.
Business and Industry are responsible for in-
cluding source reduction, reuse, and recyclability
in their product design and packaging.
Manufacturers need to use recycled materials
whenever possible. As large consumers,
businesses and industries need to buy recycled
and recyclable products. Moreover, corporations
can be important leaders in community waste
management programs.
Waste Management Companies are responsible
for working with their communities to plan and
carry out integrated waste management prac-
tices. Waste companies, including recyclers,
must make sure they operate with the public
safety and health in mind. They need to require
that their operators are well trained. Waste
companies can help develop markets for
recycled materials, also. And waste companies
can help educate the public about ways to
reduce the garbage problem.
State, Local, and Tribal Governments are
responsible for managing the trash of their
citizens. Governments should plan for the best
combination of integrated waste management
components to prevent or solve their own
garbage dilemma. Recycling should play a key
part in reducing dependence on landfills.
Educating consumers is their responsibility, too.
The Federal Government is taking responsibility
for leading the charge to solve the garbage prob-
lem through regulations, guidance, education,
technical assistance, and by using its purchas-
ing power.
A Challenge for Our Throw-Away Society
This brochure briefly describes EPA's recently
issued draft report "The Solid Waste Dilemma:
An Agenda for Action." All citizens are
encouraged to get a free copy of the report by
calling EPA's RCRA Hotline at 1-800-424-9346
or, in Washington, DC, 382-3000. See if you
think it will work and find out what you can
do. Then write to EPA or express your views at
one of the following public hearings:
September 27, 1988 - The Landmark Center;
St. Paul, Minnesota
October 12, 1988 - Sheraton National Hotel;
Washington, DC
October 12, 1988 - Hotel Queen Mary;
Long Beach, California
October 17, 1988 - Sheraton Century Center
Hotel; Atlanta, Georgia
To present oral comments at one of the
hearings, notify in writing:
Municipal Solid Waste Task Force
P.O. Box 7219
Silver Spring, MD 20910
If time allows, people may register at the
hearings to speak. Written comments are due
by the end of November. Send to:
EPA RCRA Docket (WH-562)
401 M Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Please identify comments with reference
number F-88-SWDA-FFFFF.
Office of Solid Waste
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The Garbage
Problem:
A Proposed
Action Agenda
Printed on recycled paper.
Ink is free of lead and cadmium.
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The Garbage Problem Defined
An Agenda for Action
Each of us throws away over 1,300 pounds of
garbage annually. Last year we Americans pro-
duced 158 million tons of waste — enough to fill
a convoy of 10-ton garbage trucks reaching half
way to the moon. And the convoy is getting
longer!
At the same time, we are running out of places
to dispose of our trash. The gap between what
is produced and where to safely dispose of it
has become a national garbage problem.
What's in our garbage? Mostly it's ordinary
paper — from our homes, offices, and
industries — and yard wastes — leaves and grass,
brush, and tree clippings. Glass, metal, plastic,
food, and organic wastes comprise the
remainder.
Currently almost all — 80% — of this garbage is
landfilled. By 1993, however, one-third of our
landfills will be full. Very few new landfills are
being built because people are alarmed about
health and environmental threats landfills may
cause. The same fears have limited the con-
struction of new incinerators and recycling
facilities.
To add to the problem, only 10% of our waste
is recycled, even though recycling can greatly
reduce the amount of trash needing disposal.
And efforts by product manufacturers to design
products with built-in waste efficiency,including
less packaging, have been minimal.
Shoppers — all of us — continue to buy for
convenience, giving little thought to what
happens to the part we throw away. As a
result, our trash problem is mounting.
As we continue to produce more and more
trash and find fewer and fewer disposal sites,
the cost of disposal is soaring. Unable to find
local sites, some cities are even shipping their
garbage elsewhere. Some communities are pay-
ing over $100 a ton to dispose of their garbage.
Closing the growing gap between the increas-
ing amount of garbage that we produce and
the dwindling number of places to discard it is
a national challenge. To meet that challenge,
EPA has proposed an action agenda to help
form a national consensus on how we, as a
nation, can deal with our growing garbage
problem. The draft agenda, briefly summarized
below, emphasizes that each of us has a key
role in solving the problem. The agenda's
success will require a partnership among
consumers, manufacturers, waste managers,
and all levels of government. EPA encourages
everyone to review the draft agenda with
a critical eye and to provide the Agency
with comments. The centerpiece of the
proposed Agenda for Action is "integrated
waste management."
What is Integrated Waste Management?
Integrated waste management is a tool local
communities can use to reduce the garbage
gap. Its components are
• Reduce the toxicity and amount of waste.
• Recycle, including composting.
• Incinerate, with or without energy recovery.
• Landfill the remainder.
In integrated waste management, each of the
four parts complements the other. Using the
combination that best addresses its own unique
needs, each local community custom designs
its own waste management system.
Guiding Principles
The action agenda also stems from strongly
held EPA views that
• Planning and implementation of integrated
waste management is best conducted at the
state and local level.
• A safe and permanent way must be found
to eliminate the gap between the amount of
waste and the handling capacity in landfills,
incinerators, and recycled material markets.
• Reduction, reuse, and recycling are preferred
methods for reducing the amount and tox-
icity of waste to be landfilled or burned.
EPA even set a 25% goal for reducing and
recycling trash by 1992.
• All waste management practices need to
be safe.
Key Objectives
EPA has proposed six key objectives to deal
with the garbage problem.
1. Encourage participation in solving the waste
problem through increased informational and
educational efforts, technical assistance, and
research. "How-to" guides for waste
managers, educational materials for citizens,
peer exchanges, and a national information
clearinghouse are among the proposed ac-
tivities to improve decision making.
2. Step up state and local integrated waste
management planning. Cooperative planning
among industry, individuals, EPA, and state
and local agencies can help close the gap.
3. Increase "source reduction" activities.
Minimizing the volume of waste and toxicity
of products and extending products' useful
lives is what EPA means by "source
reduction." Proposed are actions promoting
waste audits, reduced packaging, and the
use of less toxic materials in products. A
study of federal procurement practices is
also proposed.
4. Increase recycling. Recycling can divert
huge volumes of waste from landfills and in-
cinerators. To boost recycling, the Agenda
for Action proposes to stimulate stable
markets for recyclables and compost,
explore incentives, and promote buying
recycled goods.
5. Improve incinerator safety. Safe incineration
of trash can be a useful technique for
reducing waste volume and producing
energy. EPA proposes making incineration
safer through operator training, plans for
ash disposal, upgraded performance stan-
dards, and studying the effects of banning
certain materials from burning.
6. Reduce health and environmental risks from
landfills. To increase landfill safety, EPA in-
tends to require that landfill design and
operating standards be met and the Agency
encourages operator training. Technical
assistance is proposed to help waste
managers upgrade landfills. Of course, we
will all need to reduce the amount of waste
that needs to be landfilled.
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