United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA230-F-97-013
September 1998
www.epa.gov/globalwarming
WasteWise Partnership
Benefits Climate Change
WasteWise, a program that promotes waste prevention and recycling practices—-joint-
ly referred to as waste reduction—in offices and industry, diverts materials from the
municipal solid waste stream. In addition to cost savings and efficiencies, waste reduc-
tion has positive effects on climate change. The manufacture and distribution of products
and the subsequent management of solid waste can contribute to the formation of green-
house gases. To lower greenhouse gas emissions from these actions, as well as for other envi-
ronmental benefits, EPA is encouraging waste reduction efforts through its WasteWise
program.
EPA REGION 1 LIBRARY
JFK FEDERAL BLDG.
WHAT Is WASTEWISE?
$ince January 1994, EPA has been
working in partnership with
American businesses; state, local, and
tribal governments; and institutions to
reduce municipal solid waste. Presently, more
dian 800 organizations are WasteWise
partners. Partners are located all
across the country and represent
a variety of business, civic, and
industrial sectors, ranging from
small local governments to Fortune
1000 corporations. Through the
WasteWise program, partners make a
voluntary commitment to implement or
expand a solid waste reduction program with
three complementary components:
• Preventing waste. The cornerstone of
WasteWise is waste prevention, which
means using less material to do the same
job or produce the same product.
WasteWise partners commit to implement-
ing three significant waste prevention activ-
ities of their choice.
• Recycling. By recycling, WasteWise
partners divert materials from disposal.
They commit to initiate, expand, or improve
company programs to collect recyclables. For
to an
existing program or boost recycling rates by
educating employees or the community.
• Buying or manufacturing recycled
products. WasteWise partners can play a
key role in assimilating recycled materials
into consumer markets. They commit to
purchasing products with recycled
content. Manufacturers may also
raise the percentage of postcon-
sumer materials in the products
they make.
WasteWise partners design their own
solid waste reduction programs, tailored to
meet their needs and operations. Partners
monitor their progress during a 3-year peri-
od and report annually to EPA on their
accomplishments. The WasteWise program
helps participating organizations discover
waste reduction opportunities and set waste
reduction goals. Partners have access
(through a toll-free helpline) to WasteWise
representatives, who provide personalized
assistance, and to a wide range of waste
reduction publications and electronic sup-
port services. EPA also publicly recognizes
individual organizations and program suc-
cesses.
Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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How DOES WASTEWISE HELP
REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS?
The three cornerstones of WasteWise—
waste prevention, recycling, and buying recy-
cled—are among the most effective ways
to slash die greenhouse gases traceable
to municipal solid waste.
WasteWise partners divert millions of
tons of material from disposal each
year. They also attain higher levels
„ of efficiency by
using only ^
the materials *
they really need.
And as these organi-
zations prevent more
waste and
recycle more
materials, fewer
greenhouse gases
are emitted into the '
atmosphere.
For mo
information on WasteWise,
call the WasteWise helpline
at 1-800-EPA-WISE or go to
www.epa.gov/wastewise. For
more information on climate
change, including climate
change and waste reduction, you
can access EPA s Web site on
global warming at:
www.epa.gov/globalwarming.
Waste prevention, in
particular, can greatly
reduce the emission
of greenhouse gases
by conserving raw
materials and the
energy expended to
retrieve, process, and
manufacture them into
products. In addition, waste prevention keeps materials
out of landfills and incinerators. Certain materials gener-
ate greenhouse gases as they degrade in landfills or burn
in incinerators. Overall, waste prevention provides more
climate change benefits than any other waste manage-
ment option.
By boosting their recycling efforts, WasteWise partners
keep valuable materials out of landfills and incinerators. In
particular, many organizations have increased their recy-
cling of office paper and corrugated containers. Keeping
paper products out of landfills cuts methane emissions.
Recycling used paper saves energy and can leave more trees
standing in the forest. Trees take large amounts of carbon
dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it in wood.
WasteWise partners are also encouraged to manufacture
or buy products made from recyclable materials. This
helps ensure that recyclables, rather than raw materials, are
used in manufacturing processes. Typically, manufacturing
products from recycled rather dian virgin materials con-
sumes less energy.
How much of an impact is WasteWise having on climate
change? In 1997, Waste Wise partners documented some
816,000 tons of waste material reduced, including corru-
gated cardboard, wood, metal, and paper. They also recy-
cled over 6.8 million torts of waste, including steel, wood,
paper, cardboard, and other items. In climate change
terms, this is having a tremendous impact: The combined
recycling and waste prevention efforts of the WasteWise
partners in 1997 alone prevented nearly 5.2 million met-
ric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE, the basic unit of
measure for greenhouse gases) that would otherwise have
been released into the atmosphere. That's like preventing
the average annual emissions from electric power ton-
sumption of roughly 3.1 million households.
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