First United States
Conference on
Municipal Solid
Waste Management
Solutions for
>
Proceedings
Volume III
Office of Solid Waste
June 13 - 16, 1990
(Wednesday p.m. - Saturday p.m.)
Ramada Renaissance Tech World
Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
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PUBLIC EDUCATION
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the Aluminum Association fAi
Incorporated
900 19th St.. N.W. Phone (202) 862-5100
Washington, D.C. 20006 Telex 710 822 1129
FAX (202) 862-6164
ALUMINUM RECYCLING: AMERICA'S ENVIRONMENTAL SUCCESS STORY
Key Facts About Aluminum Recycling
* Americans recycled 49.4 billion all-aluminum beverage cans in
1989, a record nationwide recovery rate of 60.8 percent.
* Aluminum can recycling diverted 12 billion pounds of
aluminum from the solid waste stream during the 1980s.
* Aluminum cans represent less than one percent of all U.S.
municipal solid waste.
* Recycling aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy needed to
produce new metal from bauxite, the primary ore of aluminum.
* The all-aluminum can is a model of source reduction. Today's
aluminum beverage requires 30 percent less metal than its 1972
counterpart.
* All-aluminum cans are 100 percent recyclable. There are no
labels, caps or tops that must be removed before an aluminum
can is recycled.
* The U.S. aluminum industry operates a coast-to-coast
recycling network of an estimated 10,000 aluminum buy-back
locations.
* Aluminum recycling is based on sound economic principles and
functions on a free-market basis without government subsidies.
* The inherent value of used aluminum is the driving force
behind the on-going success of aluminum recycling.
* Recycled aluminum is an indispensable supply source for
aluminum producers and fabricators.
* Aluminum is recycled and reused over and over again in a
never-ending process of resource and energy conservation.
* Aluminum can recycling is a closed-loop process: used
aluminum cans are often recycled and back on the store shelf
in the form of new beverage containers in as little as 90
days,
* American consumers earn $2 to $3 million a day recycling
aluminum cans. The aluminum industry also pays cash for other,
used aluminum products such as obsolete automobile parts;
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2
U.S. Aluminum Can Recycling, 1972 - 1989
Year
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Millions
of Pounds
Collected
53
68
103
180
212
280
340
360
609
1,017
1,124
1,144
1,226
1,245
1,233
1,335
1,505
1,688
Billions
of Cans
Collected
1.2
1.5
2.3
*4.1
4.9
6. 6
8.0
8.5
14.8
24.9
28.3
29.4
31.9
33. 1
33.3
36.6
42.5
49.4
Percentage
of Cans
Recycled
15.4
15.2
17.5
26.9
24.9
26.4
27.4
25.7
37.3
53.2
55.5
52.9
52.8
51.0
48.7
50.5
54.6
60.8
America's Environmental Success Story
The U.S. aluminum industry recognized the advantages of
recycling long before the environmental and political pressures
of the landfill crisis made resource recovery front-page news.
Aluminum companies used the 1970s and '80s to create a stable
market for used aluminum cans and to develop and expand a
nationwide network to recycle this valuable resource.
As a result of these efforts, the aluminum industry is
recycling and reusing more than two billion pounds of aluminum
every year, about 60 percent of which is metal from used beverage
cans. The benefits are enormous. Aluminum recycling:
* Reduces solid waste, which means less waste that must be
dumped in landfills.
* Saves about 95 percent of the energy needed to make new
aluminum from ore.
* Provides major cash rewards to individuals, businesses,
schools, charitable organizations, social clubs and
countless others.
* Reduces litter, resulting in cleaner parks, beaches,
highways and neighborhoods.
* Focuses public attention on the need to recycle other
Materials.
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3
While all of these benefits are important, the financial
rewards associated with aluminum recycling are the driving force
behind its continued growth and success. The aluminum industry
concluded years ago that people would recycle more cans if they
were paid for their efforts. They were right. More than 320
billion aluminum cans were recycled during the 1980s. That's 12
billion pounds of aluminum that have been diverted from our waste
stream and landfills -- and that figure doesn't even include
non-can recycling.
Aluminum can recycling is so important that most soft drink
bottlers and brewers remind consumers to recycle on every single
aluminum can they sell. These recycling messages show that
beverage producers and distributors are concerned, not only about
the quality of their products, but also about the quality of the
environment.
Recycling and Municipal Solid Waste
The United States faces an increasingly complex problem:
what to do with the mountains of trash Americans discard every
day. According to one source, Americans generate more than 300
billion pounds of municipal solid waste every year. That's more
than 800 million pounds daily, or about 3.5 pounds of trash for
every American, every day.
Fortunately, a lot of this trash isn't trash at all. It's a
valuable resource that can be recycled and used again and again.
Today, an estimated 5 to 10 percent of our municipal solid waste
stream is being recycled. Environmentalists, public officials
and others are hoping to see this figure jump to 20 or 30 percent
by the year 2000 -- or even sooner.
Aluminum can recycling surpassed those goals more than 20
years ago. All told, the aluminum industry recycled over half
the aluminum beverage cans produced in the 1980s. More than 320
billion all-aluminum cans were recycled nationwide during the
decade. That represents 12 billion pounds of aluminum that was
not buried in landfills. And that's just cans. Millions of
pounds of other aluminum products are also being recycled every
year.
Aluminum beverage cans represent less than one percent of
the total U.S. solid waste stream; the remaining 99 percent of
this waste would remain even if every single aluminum can were
recycled. Nonetheless, with 60 percent of all aluminum cans
being recycled, another 40 percent is being lost. That's
millions of pounds of valuable metal the aluminum industry would
like to put back to work — and a lot of money consumers are
throwing away!
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4
Energy Conservation and Source Reduction
To the aluminum industry, energy conservation is much more
than a social responsibility. It makes good economic sense. The
process that turns bauxite, the ore from which most aluminum is
made, into metal requires electricity — about 7.5 kilowatt hours
of electricity for each pound of metal produced. However, 95
percent of that energy is saved when new metal is made from
recycled aluminum instead of from raw materials.
In 1989 alone, aluminum can recycling saved more than 12
billion kilowatt hours of electricity. That's the energy
equivalent of some 20 million barrels of oil!
The aluminum industry's quest to conserve energy has
provided another environmental bonus: source reduction.
The aluminum industry conserves energy by reducing the
amount of aluminum required to make each can. The most obvious
change has been the on-going effort to reduce the diameter of the
lid by narrowing the upper part of the can body. Additional
metal has been saved by reducing the thickness of the aluminum
along the sides of the can.
The result is an aluminum can that uses one-third less metal
than its 1972 ancestor. Less metal means a more energy-efficient
product. It also means less fuel is consumed transporting
light-weight all-aluminum cans from the plant to the consumer.
These source reduction and energy conservation efforts are
critically important to the aluminum industry in general and to
the all-aluminum beverage can in particular. They will continue.
Aluminum Can Weight and Source Reduction
No. of Cans Per Pound of Aluminum
(12-0unce Equivalent)
1972 21.75 1981 24.45
1973 22.25 1982 25.21
1974 22.70 1983 25.70
1975 23.00 1984 26.00
1976 23.30 1985 26.60
1977 23;47 1986 27.00
1978 23.65 1987 27.40
1979 23.69 1988 28.25
1980 24.23 1989 29.30
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5
How Aluminum Recycling Saves Energy
The production of aluminum from raw materials is summarized
below. When aluminum is recycled, steps 1, 2 and 3 are
unnecessary. Most of the energy is saved by avoiding step 3.
1. Bauxite, a reddish, clay-like ore rich in aluminum
compounds, is surface-mined. Virtually all of the bauxite used
by U.S. aluminum companies is mined in Australia, South America,
Africa and the Caribbean.
2. The bauxite is refined to remove impurities such as iron
oxide. This multi-stage refining process produces a fine, white
powder called alumina. Alumina is a compound composed of
aluminum and oxygen.
3. The alumina is shipped to a reduction plant, or smelter,
where it is deposited into cells called pots that are generally
about 20 feet long, six feet wide and three feet deep. A typical
reduction plant operates several hundred pots. Once the alumina
is in the pots, a powerful and continuous electrical current is
used to separate the aluminum and oxygen. As this current is
applied, the now-moIten aluminum settles to the bottom of each
pot.
4. The molten aluminum is taken from the pot to a furnace,
where small amounts of other metals are added to the aluminum to
produce desired characteristics in the final metallic product.
For example, copper adds strength and magnesium adds corrosion
resistance.
5. The now-alloyed molten metal is cast into varipus solid
shapes, their sizes and configurations determined by final
fabrication requirements. One rolling ingot, a rectangular slab
of aluminum, can weigh as much as 60,000 pounds and can provide
enough metal to produce more than 1.5 million beverage cans.
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6
It Pays to Recycle Aluminum
Americans earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by
recycling aluminum cans, an estimated $900 million in 1989 alone
— or $2.5 million every day! With that kind of financial
incentive, it's no wonder that thousands of school groups,
churches, community associations, youth groups and other
organizations are using aluminum can recycling as a fund-raising
activity.
The success of aluminum can recycling is also the result of
convenience. Consumers now recycle their aluminum cans at an
estimated 10,000 recycling locations nationwide. The nature of
the aluminum can itself makes collection, storage, and recovery
more convenient. Light-weight aluminum cans are easily crushed,
making storage more efficient and transportation to the recycling
center less troublesome than heavier materials.
These benefits, coupled with high scrap value, have made
aluminum can recycling campaigns a fund-raising mainstay for
million of Americans. •
Aluminum recycling drives sire used to raise money for
thousands of causes. To cite just a few examples: Firefighters
in many cities recycle aluminum cans and donate the money to
centers for burned children. Church groups use can recycling to
help needy families. School students use aluminum collection
drives to raise money for computers, band uniforms and field
trips. Volunteer and social service organizations use aluminum
recycling to raise funds for literally thousands of charitable
C&U868•
Sometimes the revenues gained from aluminum recycling are
side benefits to the greater good of cleaning up the
environment. Sierra Clubs, Garden Clubs and Keep America
Beautiful affiliates recycle aluminum cans as part of community
clean-up projects. Even when the primary motivation is a cleaner
environment, aluminum recycling can pay big dividends.
For some, recycling means extra spending money. For others,
it provides basic needs. Some people use recycling to finance
vacations or meet college tuition costs. Many families recycle
aluminum just to help make ends meet. For some, aluminum
recycling is the major source of income.
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7
Launching an Aluminum Recycling Program
Identify aluminum recycling centers in your area. Check in
the Yellow Pages under recycling, aluminum, resource recovery or
scrap metals. Or, contact an appropriate state or local
government agency; it might be called the Department of
Environmental Protection, the Department of Natural Resources or
the Department of Public Works.
Determine rates, hours of operation and procedures for
cashing in your cans at each center you contact. Many recycling
centers will pay a higher price per pound for large volumes.
Make sure your cans are clean and dry.
Find out which recycling centers will provide assistance to
groups that undertake aluminum can recycling as a fund-raising
project. Ask your local government agencies if they will provide
any help. Local businesses — including retailers, soft drink
bottlers, beer distributors and others — may also be willing to
help. In many areas, resources such as posters, bumper stickers,
fliers and audiovisual materials can be yours for the asking.
Explain to the members of your group the multiple benefits
of aluminum recycling -- fund-raising, litter abatement, solid
waste reduction, energy savings, etc. Start with an upbeat
meeting to introduce the program. Ask for volunteers to set
goals, plot strategies, produce materials, collect cans and keep
records. Challenge them to attain an overall goal, defined in
terms of the number of cans collected or the amount of money
raised. Consider a contest among members to keep interest high.
Weigh the pros and cons of a contest between your group and
another, between your school and another. Friendly competition
can be a great motivator. Remember, however, that a contest
between two large groups in the same area could reduce the number
of used aluminum cans your group is able to collect and recycle.
This shouldn't matter if both groups are recycling for the same
cause.
Recruit the aid of local businesses that sell beverages in
aluminum cans. Many supermarkets, convenience stores, bars,
restaurants and fraternal halls would welcome the opportunity to
pitch in for a worthy cause. They can make your job a lot easier
by keeping aluminum cans in separate receptacles. Consider a
neighborhood recycling drive, asking residents to set empty
aluminum cans aside until your group can pick them up; your
neighbors will probably be happy to save their used beverage cans
for 6 to 8 weeks. Civic events such as county and street faiirB;
major sports events, school dances and neighborhood block pafct$*i
can also provide a large bounty of aluminum cans.
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8
Use the media. Newspapers, television and radio stations
may help you promote your program. To draw the best coverage,
try to develop an interesting angle. You could use recycling
proceeds to support a charity, fund a school field trip, buy team
uniforms, help a fellow classmate or group member -- the list
could go on and on. The publicity gained by your initial
fund-raising effort could pave the way for even more successful
recycling programs in the future. Always help reporters and
editors by sharing with them the background information you have
accumulated about aluminum recycling.
Recycle wisely. Before initiating your collection effort,
make sure you have a safe and convenient location in which to
store the cans. A garage is ideal. Remember, too, that you can
save space by crushing your cans; most recycling centers will
accept crushed cans, but always check first. Wait until you have
a large quantity of cans before you return them to the center.
This will save time and gas. Load your cans in boxes or large
plastic bags which can be used over and over again.
Make sure all of the cans and other products you have
collected are made of aluminum. Most aluminum cans are noted as
such with words and/or the Aluminum Association recycling symbol
printed on the side of the can. When in doubt, check with a
magnet. Unlike steel cans, aluminum cans are not magnetic. Be
sure to do the magnet test against the sides of the cans because
all beverage cans have aluminum tops.
One last point. Many aluminum products in addition to
beverage cans can be recycled. They include used lawn chairs,
pie plates, frozen food dinner trays, discarded window and screen
door frames, aluminum siding and aluminum food cans. Before
launching your recycling drive, always find out what items your
recycling centers will accept and how much they will pay for them.
Good luck!
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9
U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Stream*
(Percent of Total Discarded Waste, by Weight)
Durable Goods
Major Appliances 1.8%
Furniture and Furnishings 4.5%
Rubber Tires 1.2%
Miscellaneous 6.0%
TOTAL: 13.6%
Non-durable Goods
Newspapers 6.3%
Books and Magazines 3.1%
Office Papers 3.6%
Other Paper Products 0.2%
Clothing and Footwear 2 .1%
Miscellaneous 2.0%
TOTAL: 25.1%
Glass Containers and Packaging
Beer and Soft Drink Bottles 3.2%
Wine and Liquor Bottles 1.5%
Food and Other Bottles/Jars 2.9%
TOTAL: 7.6%
Steel Containers and Packaging
Beer and Soft Drink Cans 0.1%
Food and Miscellaneous Cans 1.7%
Other Steel Packaging 0.1%
TOTAL: 1.9%
Aluminum Containers and Packaging
Beer and Soft Drink Cans 0.5%
Container Closures and Foil 0.2%
TOTAL: 0.7%
Paper and Paperboard Packaging
Corrugated Boxes 8.1%
Other Paperboard 3.6%
Paper Packaging 2.8%
TOTAL: 14.5%
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Plastic Containers and Packaging
Containers and Bottles 2.0%
Other Packaging 2.0%
TOTAL: 4.0%
Other Packaging
Wood 1 * 5%
Miscellaneous P•1%
TOTAL: 1.6%
Other Wastes
Food 8*9%
Yard
Miscellaneous 1-8%
TOTAL: 30.8%
Totals may not be exact due to rounding.
* From "Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the
States, 1960-2000 (1988 Update)," March 30, 1988, Franklin
Associates, Prairie Village, Kan.
# # #
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THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL AND FEEDBACK INTERVENTIONS
AND RECYCLING ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS: THE FUTURE GENERATION
Linda M. Goldenhar
University of Michigan
School of Public Health
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Raymond DeYoung
University of Michigan
School of Natural Resources
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL AND FEEDBACK INTERVENTIONS
AND RECYCLING ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS: THE FUTURE GENERATION
INTRODUCTION
As evidenced by findings reported in the 1988 EPA report;
The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action (EPA, September,
1988), current public opinion polls (USA Today, April 13,
1990), and the focus of many of the topics being covered in
this conference, most of us seem to agree that there is a
current solid waste crisis facing our nation and that it
probably requires immediate attention before the negative
public health and environmental consequences resulting from it
become irreversible. Not only must we rely on technological
and economical solutions provided by manufacturing, packaging
and waste management industries and governmental policies,
consumers must also become involved by altering their buying
and waste management practices. Educational efforts focusing
on these types of behavioral solutions are one of the primary
means by which individuals can become aware of ways to change
environmentally-unsound behaviors to more environmentally-
sound ones (PollocK, 1987).
In the last two decades, beginning with Earth Day 1970, a
number of studies have examined individual's environmentally-
related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. For
example, behavior modification principals such as prompts,
feedback, and incentives were applied to littering, waste
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reduction and resource recovery by Geller and associates
(Geller, Winett, & Everett (1982), and group commitment plus
incentives were used to investigate newsprint recycling among
homeowners, retirement-home dwellers, and students (Katzev &
Pardini 1987-88; Wang & Katzev, unpublished manuscript).
DeYoung (1985-86), looked at whether homeowners were more
intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to recycle while
Dunlap,(1975) and Arbuthnot,(1977) investigated whether
environmentally-concerned students considered themselves to
have a more liberal or conservative political ideology. In a
recent study, Vining and Ebreo (1989), evaluated the
effectiveness of a recycling education program by surveying
residents before and after its implementation to determine
changes in knowledge, motives for recycling behavior, and
actual recycling behavior.
In an effort to contribute to the developing literature in
this area, a study was conducted looking specifically at
university students' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and
behaviors relating specifically to recycling. The two, primary
goals of this quasi-experimental longitudinal study were:
1. to test a behavioral model (The Theory of Reasoned
Action - Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), using recycling
behavior.
2. to evaluate the effects of two interventions on new
university students' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes
and behaviors regarding recycling.
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This paper and presentation focuses exclusively on issues
related to intervention implementation and evaluation (second
goal), and describes findings from analyses of data collected
only during the follow up survey.
The outline of the paper is as follows. First, is a brief
description of the methods involved in conducting the larger
study including subject selection, the overall design and the
interventions used. Next, the measures used and the analyses
performed for the specific purposes of this paper are
presented. Finally, the findings from these analyses as well
as their significance are discussed.
methods
SUBJECTS
First year university students are a prime target
population for a recycling-education evaluation study for at
least three reasons. First, they are at an important juncture
in their lives when they are beginning to assume¦greater
responsibility for their behavioral choices including waste
reduction and recycling practices. Secondly, until quite
recently this particular cohort probably has had very little
exposure to information related to environmental issues. It
is arguable that they are too young to have been involved in
the events of the late 1960's/early 1970's and too old to have
received any serious environmental education during their
elementary and high school years. Finally, very little
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research has looked at this population's current knowledge,
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding recycling and the
types of interventions which might be most effective in
creating more environmentally conscious and therefore more
behaviorally active individuals.
RESEARCH DESIGN « PROCEDURES
In September, 1989, a comprehensive newspaper and
cardboard recycling program was instituted in the residence
halls at a large midwestern university. A longitudinal,
quasi-experimental design with random assignment to each of
the experimental conditions was employed. Eight residence
halls were matched on size and randomly assigned to one of
four groups (two halls per group): 1) educational posters
alone; 2) feedback posters alone; 3) education plus feedback;
or 4) no posters (control group).
Baseline data were gathered from 3700 incoming students
(80% response rate) at summer orientation before they were
exposed to any of the interventions. Intervention
implementation took place over a 5 month period, after which
students were asked to respond to a self-administered follow-
up questionnaire (n ¦ 2010/4600; 43% response rate).
INTERVENTIONS
The interventions were of two types. One provided
educational information about the advantages and importance of
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recycling and the other provided behavioral feedback
(individual and aggregate levels).
A. EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION - A series of five, "Recycling
Myth of the Month" educational posters were developed. Most
were based on one of the knowledge questions asked in the
baseline and follow-up surveys thereby providing an additional
assessment of a knowledge change due to intervention exposure.
The poster topics included: l) the garbage crisis in general;
2) the environmental impact of paper recycling; 3) product
packaging; 4) energy savings from using recycled materials
rather than raw materials; and 5) decreased air and water
pollution resulting from using recycled materials rather than
raw materials.
Feedback intervention - The feedback intervention, also a
poster, provided information to the students in two ways.
First, using a bar graph, the students could see how much
newspaper and cardboard, on a pounds per student basis, had
been recycled in their residence hall during the previous
month. An additional bar was added to the poster each month.
Information was also provided to students about the amount of
cardboard recycled but due to the difficulty in separating
student cardboard recycling from that of food services, the
focus here is specifically on newspaper recycling behavior.
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Also, students could see where their residence hall ranked
among the other seven residence halls in terms of recycling
(competitive aspect).
The posters were displayed on the inside of the
waste/recycling closet doors. These closets contained large
common containers into which students would put their general
trash, newspapers, and cardboard boxes. This allowed for high
levels of exposure to the poster(s). Random spot checks
conducted during the month showed that overall, the posters
were not being vandalized or removed from the closets.
QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT
A telephone survey was conducted with the 1988-89
freshman class to obtain exploratory data regarding first year
students' beliefs, attitudes, knowledge about the solid waste
crisis in general and about recycling specifically. These
data were then used to develop the population-specific,
theoretically grounded measures used in the study. As
suggested in the attitude-behavior literature, all questions
were specifically worded to focus on paper and paper-product
recycling in the residence hall (the behavior of interest)
rather than on recycling in general. The initial instrument
was pilot tested and necessary changes were made to the final
questionnaire.
The principal dependent variable used to test the
association between the interventions and behavioir was
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student's self-reported newspaper recycling behavior.
Additionally, several other constructs outlined in the Theory
of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), as well as some
other variables believed to be affected by the interventions,
were measured. Results presented in this paper focus only on
the measures listed below. Table 1 specifies the number of
items and the type of scale used to measure each concept or
variable plus the Chronbachs alpha (measure of reliability)
for the scale, when applicable.
MEASURES
TABLE 1
Study Concepts/Variables
Chronbachs
Measures i-
Items
Scale Used
alDha
A. Behavior Beliefs
12
7
Point Likert
.83
i. Affect
4
7
Point Likert
.85
ii. Pragmatic
4
7
Point Likert
.74
iii. Effort
2
7
Point Likert
.52
B. Normative Beliefs
3
7
Point Likert
.73
C. Attitudes
5
7
Point Semantic
.90
Differential
D. Intentions
2
7
Point Likert
.80
E. Importance
1
7
Point Likert
F. Knowledge
5
Multiple Choice
G. Self-report beh.
2
7
Point Likert
A. Behavioral Beliefs - Does the respondent believe that
certain specified behavioral outcomes will occur if s/he
participates in the residence hall recycling program?
Example: How likely is it that your participating in
the residence hall paper recycling program will lead to a
decrease in waste? (l-Very Unlikely; 7-Very Unlikely)
It was concluded from a factor analysis procedure
conducted with data from both the inital and follow-up
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questionnaires that this was a three-dimensional measure
and was therefore broken down into separate components
(Affective, Pragmatic, Effort).
1. Affective Scale - Sharing responsibility, doing
something for society, feeling good, feeling less
guilty. Example: How likely is it that your
participating in the residence hall paper recycling
program will lead to your feeling like you are doing
something positive for society?
2. Pragmatic Scale- Decreasing waste, preserving the
ehvironment, enhancing the quality of the environment,
saving natural resources. Example: How likely is it
that your participating in the residence hall paper
recycling program will lead to preserving natural
resources?
3 * Effort Scale - Takes too much time, takes too much
effort. Example: How likely is it that your
participating in the residence hall paper recycling
program will take too much time?
3. Normative Belief Scale - Does the respondent believe
that subjectively important people (e.g. parents,friends,
roommates) think s/he should recycle paper and paper
products in their residence hall? Example: To what
extent do you agree with the statement .... My friends
think that you should recycle paper and paper products in
the residence halls? (l=Strongly Disagree; 7-Strongly
Agree)
C. Attitude Scale - Does the respondent feel that
participating in the residence hall recycling program is
good/bad; important/unimportant; wise/foolish;
beneficial/harmful; right/wrong? Example: My
participating in the paper recycling program in the
residence hall is good.......bad.(7-more pro-environment)
D. Intention Scale - How certain is the respondent that
s/he will participate in recycling once leaving the
residence hall? How involved does s/he plan to become?
Example: How certain are you that you will participate
in recycling once you leave the residence hall? (l*Very
Uncertain/Very Uninvolved; 7=Very Certain/Very Involved)
E. Beliefs about the importance of recycling. How
important does the respondent believe recycling is
compared to other social issues (i.e., drugs, crime)?
(l»Much Less Important; 7"Much More Important)
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F. Knowledge Scale - What is the respondent's degree of
knowledge regarding issues surrounding the current
garbage crisis and the environmental and economic impact
of recycling? Example: Recycling the total print run
of the Sunday New York Times saves about _ trees?
(one point for each correct answer, 5 possible)
G. Self-reported behavior. How often did the student
place newspapers in the designated places? Example:
How often did you place your already-read newspapers in
the designated recycling area? (l=Never; 4=0ften;
7=Always)
In addition to the self-reported behavioral data, an
actual objective measure, (pounds) of monthly amounts (October
to March) of recycled newspaper collected from each of the
residence halls was obtained from the university grounds
department.
ANALYSES
Again, the analyses reported here are based on data
collected from the follow-up survey and therefore describe
cross-sectional differences of the experimental groups in
terms of recycling behavior and other psychological variables
related to recycling.
First, monthly pounds of newspapers from each of the
halls were normalized across residence halls by dividing by
the number of students per hall (pounds/student). Data were
then analyzed using ANOVA and an a priori Scheffe multiple
comparison procedure to see if there were any observable
differences across experimental groups in terms of objective
newspaper recycling behavior.
1182
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Next, also using ANOVA and the Scheffe multiple
comparison technique, self-reported behavioral data as well as
data on the student's attitudes, beliefs (behavioral and
normative), intentions, rated importance of, and knowledge
about recycling were analyzed to determine if any experimental
group differences existed.
RESULTS
The average monthly amounts of newspaper recycled, per
student, per experimental group, are presented in Table 2.
There are no statistically significant difference across
experimental groups (F(4,7)=.3338 (n.s)) with respect to this
objective behavioral measure. Group l (feedback + education)
however does have a higher mean than the other groups, which
is consistent with the second finding discussed below.
Mean Pounds/Student of Newspaper by Group
Fdback
+ Ed Feedback
GROUP
Education
Control
MEAN LBS/STUD. 4.1 3.7
3.1
3.7
% .
Table 3 includes information on the subjective dependent
variables of interest, the harmonic mean sample size used, the
means and standard deviations (in parentheses below the
means), of the variables for each of the experimental groups
and the significance of the findings.
2183
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Table 3
Subjective Dependent Variables: Multiple
comparisons of experimental groups
GROUP
Fdback
+ Ed Fdback
Ed Ctrl
-------
This analysis indicates that there are no statistically
significant differences across experimental groups in terms of
student's attitudes, beliefs (affect, practical, effort),
intentions, rated importance of and knowledge about recycling,
but, that there does appear to be a statistically significant
difference between both the feedback group and the feedback
plus education group compared to the control and education
only groups in terms of their self-reported newspaper
recycling behavior.
DI8CU8SI0N
Although there were no statistically significant
differences across the experimental groups in the objective
measures of recycling, the pattern is similar to that noted in
with self-reported behavior, where'the feedback + education
group has the highest mean and the education alone group has
the lowest mean. There are at least two possible explanations
for the negative results of the first analysis. First, there
is concern about a lack of statistical power. There are only
two residence halls per group and each hall only has 4
observations. This differs from the second analysis where,
although it is true that again there are only two residence
halls per group, the student constitutes the unit of analysis.
The other concern with the objective measure is that it
is a gross measure of behavior and it may not reflect actual
student recycling behavior. It could be that many of the
1185
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students are participating in recycling, but that the
containers become contaminated with other types of trash or
the custodians in a particular residence hall are not
interested in separating the papers properly. This could
create a discrepancy between the student's self-reported
performance and what is picked-up at the dock. Therefore,
because an objective measure of actual individual behavior was
impossible (due to sample size), it may be that in this
instance, self-reported behavior is a better indicator of
actual behavior than the objective outcome measure.
The results of the second analysis, reported in Table 3,
seem to support previous findings from many behavior-related
studies, where peoples' attitudes, beliefs and knowledge
about a behavior do not necessarily translate into action.
That is, it appears that perhaps due to the current salience
of the issue, students across all of the experimental groups
generally feel that recycling is a good thing but that only in
the feedback + education and feedback alone groups were these
beliefs and attitudes reflected in their self-reported
behavior. This finding is in agreement with the behavior
modification literature and prior studies on recycling
behavior suggesting that providing a person with feedback on
their behavior will increase the desired behavior. Of course,
the concern is that the behavior will cease once the feedback
and incentives are removed. This issue will be addressed in a
11B6
-------
follow up study looking at the students' stated intentions to
participate in paper recycling once leaving the residence hall
and their actual behaviors once they are living out in the
community.
The association between feedback and behavior is further
substantiated by the results of a number of random phone calls
made to students (N=65), in the experimental groups' residence
halls. Students were asked: 1) if they had observed the
educational and/or feedback posters; 2) where had they seen it
(them); 3) could they describe anything about it (them). It
became quite evident that students in residence halls with the
feedback-alone and feedback-plus-education posters remembered
seeing them to a much greater degree than students in the
education-only residence halls. Also, in the feedback plus
education groups, students recalled the feedback poster more
readily than the education poster. With respect to the
feedback poster, most students cited the competitive aspect
rather than the colorful bar graph when asked to describe the
poster.
Some might suggest that the lack of correspondence
between the psychological and behavioral measures is due them
being measured at different levels of specificity so that
students might have been asked to respond to the general idea
of recycling but then were asked to report on specific
behavior in the residence halls. As stated above, all
*187
-------
questions (except the Importance question), were worded to ask
specifically about paper and paper product recycling in the
residence halls rather than about recycling in general.
In addition, higher self-reported behavior may simply be
a function of the amount of newspaper going into particular
residence halls. In other words, if more students in one
residence hall are receiving newspapers, they also have more
of an opportunity to participate in newspaper recycling.
This issue was addressed by counting the number of newspaper
subscriptions in each of the halls. It was found that the
group with the largest number of subscriptions was the
education only group (351) followed by the control group
(338). The education plus feedback and the feedback alone had
267 and 212 subscription rates respectively, of course, it is
impossible to determine how many newspapers were being brought
into the residence halls from other sources.
LIMITATIONS
This study has a number of limitations. First, the unit
of assignment to the experimental group was the residence hall
while the unit of analysis was the student. This presents a
problem because it is very difficult to tease out the
particular treatment effects from what could be called the
residence hall effect (Fitzgibbons & Morris, 1978). Attempts
were made to control for additional recycling-education
efforts and to make them consistent across the halls, which
3188
-------
would decrease the possiblity of a resident hall effect,
however this was not always possible. Unfortunately, this is
a typical problem in quasi-experimental studies.
Also, the generalizability of the findings is a concern.
Not only is this a relatively homogeneous group of individuals
but they are a relatively captive audience. It would be
beneficial to use the same interventions with another group to
provide cross-validation of the findings.
SIGNIFICANCE
The results from these initial findings suggest that when
attempting to elicit recycling behavior from this particular
population, the biggest "bang for the buck" may not be in
developing elaborate, colorful, factual posters and other
written products. Students entering college are inundated
with "educational materials". In addition, typically the only
tangible feedback they receive during the year is from grades.
Perhaps the combination of these two issues make behavioral
feedback an even more powerful intervention with this
population. Furthermore, the competitive nature of students
(at least at some universities) can perhaps be used as a way
to increase recycling behavior.
7UTUR2 DIRECTIONS
The initial findings reported in this paper represent a
very small piece of a larger study. Future analyses using the
data collected from the inital 3700 students will look at ths
1108
-------
relationships between the variables described here and
demographic information, political ideology, Previous
experience with recycling and where they lived just prior to
coming to the university.
In addition, students' social security numbers were
obtained when they completed the questionnaire so that
information from the two surveys could be matched (over 98% of
the students complied with this request) • Having the social
security number will not only allow for analyses looking at
changes from the initial to the follow-up surveys but students
can be followed throughout their college career. it can be
determined whether or not students' intentions to participate
in recycling predict their future recycling behavior, whether
changes in attitudes and beliefs occur over time, and whether
they plan to participate in recycling once they are done with
their college career. Findings from these studies have
potential future policy implications related to recycling
efforts.
1190
-------
REFERENCES
Ajzen I and Fishbein, M., (1980). Understanding Attitudes
and Predicting Social Behavior. Prentice Hall, Engelwood New
Jersey.
Arbuthnot, J. (1977). The roles of attitudinal &
personality variables in the prediction of environmental
behavior and knowledge. Env. & Beh Vol 9 (2) pg. 217-232.
DeYoung, Raymond, (1985-86). Encouraging environmentally
appropriate behavior: The role of intrinsic motivation. J.
of Environmental Systems. Vol. 15 (4), pg. 281-290.
Dunlap, R.E., (1975). The impact of political orientation
on environmental attitudes and actions. Env & Beh Vol 7
(4) pg. 428-454
Fitzgibbons, C.T., and Morris, L.L., (1978). How to Design
a Program Evaluation. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Geller, E.S., Winette, R.A., and Everett, P.B., (1982).
Preserving the Environment: New Strategies for Behavior
Change. Pergamon General Psych. Series.
Katzev, R.D. and Pardini, A.U., (1987-88). The comparative
effectiveness of reward and commitment approaches in
motivating community recycling. J. of Environmental
Systems. Vol 17(2) pg. 93-113.
The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action. (September,
1988) The United States Environmental Protection Agency,
Office of Solid Waste Management.
Mishima, H.R. and Katzev, R.D., (unpublished manuscript)
Effects of feedback on paper recycling.
Pollock, C., (1987). WorldWatch Paper 76. Mining Urban
Waste: The Potential for Recycling. WorldWatch Institute.
Vining, J. and Ebreo A., (1989). An evaluation of the
public response to a community recycling education program.
Society and Natural Resources. Vol 2 pp.23-36.
Wang, T.H. & Katzev, R.D., (unpublished manuscript). Group
commitment and resource conservation: two field experiments
on promoting recycling.
3191
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A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
Patrick Walsh, Philip O'Leary, and Robert Han
University of Wisconsin
Presented at the
First United States Conference on
Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1193
-------
Abstract
This paper will describe a comprehensive solid waste
management education program which has been developed and
implemented by the University of Wisconsin. Through the
efforts of University faculty, state of the art technical,
legal, and economic information is generated and taught to
students and experienced technical professionals in waste
related fields. Using a network comprised of research and
teaching faculty at University of Wisconsin campuses, state
solid waste specialists in the University of
Wisconsin-Extension, and agricultural, community resource
development, family living, and 4H youth development agents ir
each county Extension office of the state, educational
programs reflecting the unique needs and characteristics of
each Wisconsin community are also being developed and offered.
The paper will discuss the use of various educational
approaches, including classroom teaching, statewide seminars,
newsletters, fact sheets, and videotapes, as vehicles to-
improve knowledge and understanding. The ability to bring
state of the art technical information to each affected
citizen group through the Programmatic efforts of the
university and county Extension offices will be emphasized.
The general applicability of this program to waste management
educational needs nationwide win be highlighted.
1194
-------
University Research
The cornerstone of the educational effort at the
University of Wisconsin is the research program. Research
data generated by university faculty is integrated with
information developed throughout the United States and the
world and transferred throughout the state through classroom
teaching, professional education, and community outreach.
Outreach efforts in turn raise significant questions that
generate new directions for research initiatives. The
research/outreach connection forms the basis for a broad and
exciting educational program of new technical progress and
inquiry.
University research on waste processing began in 1967
with the construction, development, and monitoring of the city
of Madison refuse, shredding, or milling plant. The plant
went through many modifications dealing with moving refuse
into and through the plant, improvements in the processing
equipment, addition of a magnetic separator, and eventually
conversion to a refuse derived fuel (RDF) plant in the late
1970s. This conversion involved the use of multiple
shredders, magnetic separation, air classification, and
sieving. The plant continues in operation producing a fluff
RDF product which is burned in the local utility boilers to
produce electricity. The plant also produces a magnetic
fraction for recycling and a residue for landfill disposal.
1195
-------
Present research deals with the flow through and partitioning
of specific elements by the various processes in the RDF
plant. Other recent research efforts deal with combustion
kinetics, fluidized bed combustion, and incinerator costs.
Composting research is centered at UW-Stevens Point and
in Door County where projects are underway dealing with drum
composting of municipal solid waste and fish waste composting
in windrows. A recent project evaluated composting and
compost utilization from a windrow municipal solid waste (MSW)
composting plant.
Additional waste treatment research relates to chemical
treatment, carbon adsorption, and biological treatment of
waste components such as metals, PCBs, and various other
organic compounds.
Waste separation, reduction or minimization, and
recycling research is interrelated so a project directed to
one of these areas will, in fact, relate to the other areas as
well. For example, a recent project involved multiple
sampling and mass balances on solid wastes from similar
socio-economic residential areas in Madison, Wisconsin, and
Sapporo, Japan. The objective was to better understand
differences and similarities in refuse composition and
recycling in the U.S. and Japan, so that technology and
methods could be better transferred from one area to the
other.
1196
-------
Another project has set up source separation recycling at
five state of Wisconsin facilities (a prison, a hospital, a
park, a roadside rest stop, and a university campus), which
are to become pilot models for other state facilities to
develop similar recycling programs. A past project dealt with
glass recycling, one project underway is examining the
recycling of plastics, and another one is investigating the
fate of degradable plastics.
Finally, a multiple year project has involved testing,
selecting, and monitoring the quality of selected foundry
wastes for highway construction. Test piles were constructed
and have been monitored for properties for actual and
potential groundwater impacts prior to being included in
highway embankments. It is hoped that this will become a
model for waste utilization of other selected foundry wastes
for highway construction.
Much of the above research involves sampling of wastes
prior to testing specific to the various projects.
Accordingly, many projects have dealt with some aspect of
waste sampling and analysis, and some projects have dealt only
with sampling and analytical methods and waste variability of
municipal and certain industrial solid wastes. Perhaps the
best example of a coordinated long-term effort regarding the
waste of a particular industry is work which began in the
early 1970s for the foundry industry and is currently
1197
-------
underway. This work began with waste characterization and
waste surveys for different foundries and waste sources within
each foundry. Included in the work was the development of a
leaching test to characterize wastes with regard to leaching
potential and, therefore, the potential for groundwater
contamination in a landfill.
Similar work was done to develop a leaching test to
characterize waste in general (not just foundry wastes) for
the EPA. Small test lysimeters were set up with foundry
wastes and subjected to controlled climate conditions as the
intermediate step between laboratory testing and full-scale
monitoring of foundry waste landfills, which was to follow.
This latter work looked first at the inorganic and later the
organic components of foundry wastes, comparing the presence
of various components and leaching characteristics of the
waste to the results from full-scale monitoring of landfills
containing only the characterized wastes. This work led in
part to the testing of selected foundry wastes for highway
construction as mentioned previously. Another effort dealing
with selected foundry wastes was concerned with the prevalence
of EP-toxic foundry waste streams as classified according to
federal EPA procedures. The results were used in part to
avoid having these wastes listed as hazardous wastes.
The research focus at the university has resulted in
strong student interest in solid and hazardous waste
1198
-------
education. Academic programs at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in solid and hazardous waste management are
centered in the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. Significant programs related to some aspects of
the field are to be found in geology, where a large program of
study in hydrogeology is available; in water chemistry; and in
the Institute for Environmental Studies, where programs on
land resources and environmental policy, for example, are
available. At the undergraduate level, students are limited
primarily by how soon they develop an interest in solid waste
issues as far more courses are available to them than they
typically have room for in their degree programs. A typical
undergraduate student will be able to take both solid and
hazardous waste courses, a course on air pollution (which
includes incinerator and combustion technology), and a course
in industrial wastes. This is in addition to courses in water
treatment, environmental engineering, and geotechnical
engineering. Ten to fifteen students per year graduate with a
B.S.C.E. degree with significant course work in solid and
hazardous wastes.
Students with the intent and ability to pursue graduate
study are encouraged to obtain a master's degree with an
emphasis on solid and hazardous wastes. They will take both
core courses, one to three courses in hydrogeology, a course
in air pollution, an applied statistics course, a course in
1199
-------
geotechnical engineering emphasizing landfill liners, water
chemistry, and at least one course in waste treatment.
Additional courses in environmental policy, toxicology, remote
sensing, and risk assessment are recommended on an individual
basis. All graduate students complete a research project such
as given above on some aspect of solid and hazardous waste
engineering and management. Approximately five M.S. students
and one Ph.D. student complete their programs each year.
Professional Training
The Department of Engineering Professional Development at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison further spreads the
results of solid waste research by providing education for
experienced technical professionals practicing in the waste
management field. The department conducts solid waste
oriented training courses whose primary audience is regulatory
agency staff, municipal officials, consulting firm
specialists, and people involved in solid waste disposal.
Typical course titles have included Sanitary Landfill Design,
Sanitary Landfill Leachate and Gas Management, Sanitary
Landfill Operation and Management, Implementing a Solid Waste
Recycling Program, Composting and Recycling of Solid Waste,
and Utilizing Municipal Solid Waste as a Fuel. Courses are
offered at least once a year and usually have attendance in
excess of sixty participants.
1200
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Occasionally, specialty courses have been developed which
are directed toward a more narrow audience. Examples include
Cryogenic Processing for Recycling Tires, Using Foundry Sand
in Highway Construction, and Managing Your Infectious and
Hazardous Wastes. One objective of these latter courses is to
draw from a broader audience which then helps acquaint solid
waste professionals with the technical problems faced Ipy waste
generators. In addition to these courses where all the
speakers are invited, an annual conference is conducted in
which the presentations are derived from abstracts submitted
in response to a call for papers.
The Department of Engineering Professional Development
also conducts courses in related environmental subject areas
including waste management, safety training, groundwater
quality protection, groundwater modeling, site remediation,
wastewater treatment, and underground storage tank management.
A strong course faculty is the major contributing factor
to the success of each course. Experts of national and
international reputation are sought out to provide students
with state of the art information. The typical course faculty
is recruited from the University of Wisconsin, other
universities, state agencies, and national consulting firms.
Recognizing the interrelationships between Wisconsin's solid
waste needs and developments nationally in solid waste
%
management, the courses first focus on Wisconsin regulatory
1201
-------
requirements and then describe federal and other state
programs. In this way, the needs of our national audience are
satisfied along with the specific need to educate the
Wisconsin solid waste professionals. This has a clear benefit
to our Wisconsin audience by exposing them to a wide variety
of ideas.
In addition to offering courses in Madison, and
occasionally other locations throughout the United States, the
Department of Engineering Professional Development offers
correspondence courses in association with Waste Acre magazine.
A lesson is published in each issue of the magazine for eight
or ten months. People interested in receiving continuing
education (CEU) credit may register for the correspondence
course. Enrollees receive a reference list, fact sheets
providing additional information, answers to the homework
assignments, and a midterm and final exam. Students
completing the course receive a grade and a certificate. To
date, courses on landfilling, waste to energy, recycling, and
composting have been offered, it is contemplated that the
landfill course will be updated and republished in 1991.
The Department of Engineering Professional Development is
also developing the capability to deliver technical training
with both satellite hookups and computer-based
telecommunication equipment. These approaches are
particularly attractive for state agency training. Several
1202
-------
experiments with both technologies have already been
completed, and it is anticipated that municipal solid waste
programming will begin shortly.
Community Education
Performing quality research and training technical
professionals alone will not totally address solid waste
management problems in the United States. Effective and
efficient management of solid waste will only occur if each
citizen knows his or her proper role in helping to develop an
effective community program. Local government officials,
business leaders, and families must all understand the
technical options available for managing community waste and
the procedures for implementation of alternative strategies.
Each group must receive the information that it needs at the
technical level at which it needs it. Information must be
reliable and up-to-date if it is to be useful.
The University of Wisconsin-Extension's program for
providing solid waste management education is geared to
meeting these community needs. Through coordination provided
by solid waste and environmental specialists on campuses
throughout the UW System, the research base and technical
expertise in each university is brought to bear on local
problems through county Extension offices. Each county
Extension office has agents with a variety of skills needed by
1203
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today's communities, including agriculture, family living, 4H
and youth, and community natural resource and economic
development. County agents understand the local needs of each
client group in the area of solid waste management education.
Through the cooperative efforts of county agents and campus
faculty, educational programs are devised to help communities
establish efficient, well operated, and publicly supported
systems for managing waste.
The waste management topics addressed by University of
Wisconsin-Extension cover all aspects of community waste
management problems. Increasingly, Wisconsin communities are
closing small local landfills and adopting more integrated
waste management strategies, including recycling, composting,
and incineration. Local Extension offices work with local
officials to explore the technical options for managing waste
and the procedures and decision making process for choosing
among options. Extension offices have the capability of
providing information on all aspects of waste management,
including environmental, regulatory, economic, and legal
issues. Agents are able to coordinate community approaches
from initial exploration of options to development of
publicity and education programs to assist with program
implementation*
The family an^ youth focus of University of
Wisconsin-Extension will become increasingly important in
1204
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solid waste management education in the future. If waste
management strategies are to become effective, each citizen
must accept personal responsibility for helping to properly
manage the waste stream. Educational programs developed by
UW-Extension agents and specialists are already helping
families make better consumer choices regarding purchasing and
developing educational programs to teach children ways to
support community waste management efforts.
To facilitate its educational programs, UW-Extension
utilizes a variety of educational methods and approaches.
State campus-based specialists provide individual counseling
to Wisconsin communities based on feguests from county agents.
To provide direct technical and regulatory education regarding
available options, statewide workshops and conferences,
jointly sponsored with state environmental agencies and state
local government associations, are routinely held in various
locations around the state. A monthly solid waste newsletter
is sent to local officials to keep them up-to-date regarding
technical and regulatory developments. On topics of special
interest, such as the federal Subtitle D landfill regulations,
more detailed fact sheets and other educational materials have
been produced and widely disseminated. A wide variety of
videotapes, slides, and overlays have also been developed for
use in solid waste programming, to better spread the word and
generate discussion.
1205
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In summary, the approach of the University of Wisconsin
is to provide up—to—date, reliable information to every
citizen of the state at the level of technical sophistication
desired and needed by the educational audience. Whether the
student be a future engineer, a practicing technical
professional, a state or local official, a farmer or other
business person, or member of a family, the program has been
geared to provide effective solid waste management education
grounded on a strong base of competent research, with
constant diligence and effort, the existing University of
Wisconsin educational approach will help place Wisconsin
communities and citizens in the best position to develop the
programs which will be needed in order to best manage the
solid waste problems that communities will face in the coming
years.
/educatn/5-90
1206
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CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOR
OF
ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS
Jacquelyn A. Ottman
J. Ottman Consulting
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management.
June 13-16, I990
1207
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Consumer Purchasing Behavior of Environmentally Responsible Products
The $64,000 question in the world of marketing these days is whether consumers are
willing to put their money where their mouths are when it comes to the environment. In
other words, do consumer attitudes towards environmental ills translate into more
environmentally responsible puchasing behavior?
It is still early in the "environmental consumerism" movement, of course. Consumers
still need to be educated about the types of products and packaging they can buy to- help
reduce environmental ills. And there needs to be a greater availability of more environ-
mentally responsible products overall. (Some of the more innovative "green" products,
like the Downy fabric softener refill, are still in test market.) Nevertheless, the answer
appears to be yes, consumers are fast becoming "environmental shoppers", but ...under
certain circumstances.
Awareness and concern for environmental ills like air and water pollution, solid waste
and acid rain are at an all time high, and up dramatically in the last two years atone. Polls
indicate consumers are concerned for the environment In general, and, increasingly,
about how environmental ills impact their personal health. Thanks to the media and
environmental groups, they are beginning to understand the interconnectedness of
manufacturing and consumption with various environmental Ills.
1208
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A recent Gallup poll tells us that consumers are beginning to internalize this aware-
ness. 76% of consumers call themselves "Environmentalists"; 50% say they would
buy foods sold in recycled or recyclable containers.
Spurred in part by government regulations, these attitudes are manifesting themselves
in certain types of consumer behavior. According to a Roper poll conducted in June of
1989, 60% of consumers claim to recycle bottles and cans on a regular or occasional
basis; 35% claim to recycle newspapers. Gallup finds that 76% of Americans are trying
to conserve energy, while 65% claim to conserve water.
When it comes to buying supermarket products, however, consumers are proving to
be pretty tough customers. They are looking lo reduce risks to themselves and the environ-
ment, and want to alleviate the guilt associated with using products that they know are
harmful to the planet. At the same time, however they don't want to give up the
conveniences their busy lifestyles have come to require.
So they're getting information on the products they buy. They're buying from manu-
facturers and retailers they trust, and demanding new types products that fit with their
lifestyle. This last point Is critical. All available data suggest that consumers are
willing to buy "green" products, but only ones that deliver within their established
thresholds for performance, convenience, safety and price.
1209
-------
In other words, when it comes to buying " green" products, the large majority of
consumers are looking for "off the shelf", readily acceptable alternatives to current
products. That's why products such as "degradable" trash bags and diapers experienced
astronomical growth last year, and why cruelty free cosmetics such as those offered
by the Body Shop are growing. The same is true in Europe, where"mercury-free"
batteries, all natural/biodegradable laundry powders, and household paper products
made from recycled content -- all requiring no trade-off in performance or convenience
- are enjoying astronomical growth.
When it comes to price, consumers claim to be willing to pay more. Polls have shown
that some consumers even claim to be willing to pay as much as 50% more for products
made of recycled content or are recyclable, but the large majority is showing us they
are only willing to pay 5-15% more. This is the general price premium generally
associated with the products above.
However, when it comes to products coming to be known as "body friendly" --
products that by virtue of their ingredients, processing, or in-use properties, are
perceived as helping to reduce risk to health -- consumers are using the same purcha-
sing criteria as products deemed to be "environmentally friendly", but, not surprisingly,
are demonstrating a willingness to pay a higher premium tor them. Products such as
bottled water, organic foods, "new age"/ all natural soft drinks and unbleached coffee
1210
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filters can cost several times more than the alternatives.
The implications for consumer products manufacturers are clear.
Opportunities abound for marketers that are able to help consumers address
environmental concerns while enabling them to maintain their lifestyles. To capitalize
on the trend:
Offer interchangeable alternatives to current products.
Better yet, explore opportunities, like the Downy fabric softener refill
now in test here in DC, to combine environmentally responsible product
features with a price incentive.
Promote your more" environmentally or "bodily friendly" product
with a responsible appeal to consumers emotions.
1911
-------
Presentation to:
First United States Conference
on
Municipal Solid Waste Management
"Solutions for the 90's"
By: Jacquelyn A. Ottman, President
J. Ottman Consulting/Environmental Marketing
315 East 69 Street New York, NY 10021
(212) 570-6633
-------
Objective
Attitudes Behavior?
If yes, under what circumstances?
-------
Awareness At An All Time High
Consumer awareness of specific environmental issues at
an all time high
Growing awareness of link between environmental ills and
impact on personal health
Growing awareness of interconnectedness of production
and consumption with environmental ills
-------
Great Concern About Impact on Health
% Pop. Viewing as Large Threat*
to Personal Health and Safety
Q3/37
Q3/Q9
%
Chg.
Hazardous Waste Disposal
&
W
+
n
Air Pollution caused by Business & Industry
37
58
+
57
Pollution of Rivers, Lakes, Oceans
46
60
.+
30
Contamination of Underground Water
47
65
+
38
Ozone Layer Depletion
39
58
+
49
Additives and Pesticides in Food Production
49
60
+
22
Acid Rain
33
43
+
30
Greenhouse Effect
20
48
+140
• 6 or 7 rating on scale of 1 to 7.
Source:
Cambridge Trends and Forecasts 10/89
-------
Great Concern About the Environment
% Pop. Viewing as Large Threat'to
Overall Environmental Quality
Q3/87
Q3/89
%Cha.
Hazardous Waste Disposal
65
71
+ 9
Air Pollution
47
67
+ 43
Pollution of Rivers, Lakes. Oceans
54
67
+ 24
Contamination of Underground Water
52
67
+ 29
Ozone Layer Depletion
42
61
+ 45
Additives and Pesticides in Food Production
49
55
+ 12
Acid Rain
38
53
+ 39
Greenhouse Effect
35
52
+ 49
* 6 or 7 rating on scale of 1 to 7
Source:
Cambridge Trends and Forecasts 10/89
-------
Consumers Claim To Be Willing To Make Changes
76% of consumers call themselves "Environmentalists" t
s
50% of Americans say they would buy foods sold in recycled or
recyclable containers
Source:
Gallup 1988.89
-------
Consumers Are Recycling
How often do you...
Recycle bottles and cans
Recycle newspapers
Source:
Roper 6/89
Regularly/Occasionally
60%
35%
-------
Consumers Are Trying to Conserve Resources
% of Americans who:
Conserve energy 76
Conserve water 65
Source:
Gallup 1989
-------
Consumer Strategies
Control What I Can: Prevention/Risk Reduction
Alleviate Guilt/Contribute
Get Information
Buy From Manufacturers and Retailers that I Trust
Demand New Products that Fit with Lifestyle
-------
Behavior: Consumer Thresholds
Performance
Convenience
Safety
Price
d
s
-------
The New Buzzwords
Bow Materials Mfta./Prodn
"Natural" "Hormone-free"
"Petroleum-free* "Unbleached"
"Plant-based" "Cruelty-free"
Packaging
"Biodegradable"
"Non-aerosol"
"Recycled"
Distribution
"Energy Efficient"
"Resource
Efficient"
9
Marketing
"Ethical"
"Informative"
"Recycled"
JOiUSfi
"Low-Fume"
"Hypo-allergenic
"Non-Corrosive"
After Use
"Refutable"
"Recyclable"
"Repairable"
Manufacturer
"Socially
Responsible"
Chart:
J. Ottman Consulting
-------
"Green" Consumer Behavior
"Environmentally-friendly" Products
"Degradable" trash bags
"Degradable" diapers
Cruelty-free cosmetics
Biodegradable laundry powders (U.K.)
Paper with recycled content (U.K.)
Mercury-free batteries (West Germany)
«
N
a
-------
"Green" Consumer Behavior
'Bodv-friendlv* Products
Bottled Water
Organic Foods
"New Age" Soft Drinks
Unbleached Coffee Filters
CM
3
-------
Implications for Solid Waste Initiatives
Offer interchangeable alternatives to current products
Explore opportunities to combine more environmentally
responsible products with price incentive
Appeal to consumer's emotional "hot buttons"
-------
COUNTY RECYCLING INFORMATION AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS
James J. Hogan
Westchester County Department of Public Works
Solid Waste Management
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13 - 16, 1990
1227
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COUNTY RECYCLING INFORMATION AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS
The need to inform and educate the public, municipal officials
and the business community on the merits, methods and materials of
recycling is great. Without effective information and education
programs, an otherwise well devised program will achieve substantially
less than its potential in solid waste diversion, from your landfill
or bum facility.
Westchester County, New York has initiated a comprehensive
information and education program, geared to accomplishing the mindset
modification needed for recycling programs to be all they can be. We
already see progress in our program, with a two percent reduction in
residential solid waste being delivered to our resource recovery
facility. Compared to the previous several years, increases of about
nine percent, progress appears good. The components of our program
are as follows:
FOR THE PUBLIC»
1. Creation of a recycling superhero for elementary school
presentations.
2. A poster contest for school aged children Grades 2 thru 12.
1228
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3. A speakers bureau to visit the schools to educate and get them
started on school recycling programs.
4. Trinket giveaways: pencils, keychains, etc. for use at schools,
£airs and speaking engagements.
5. A school recycling brochure for all children in the county, once
per year.
6. A speakers bureau for community groups, church groups, business
associations, etc.
7. Radio PSA's and advertising with a recycling jingle
8. Newspaper advertising
9. Special newspaper advertising supplement: an 8 page mini
newspaper with information about recycling which carries ads by
various recycling markets and entrepreneurs.
10. Video taped recycling shows for distribution to the public upon
request and for use by cable TV stations as a filler.
11. Compost end product giveaway days.
12. Frequent press releases and articles on recycling to keep it in
the news.
13. Direct mailers to all homes.
FOR THE MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS:
1. Training seminars on composting, curbside collection, etc.
2. Technical assistance.
3. Promotional programs, including grant money, as seed money for
new recycling initiatives.
1229
-------
4. A composting demonstration site, illustrating proper site design,
management techniques and specialized equipment.
5. Publications on how to organize a recycling program, publicize a
program and a book on proper compost site management.
FOR THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY:
1. A booklet on how to begin recycling office paper and corrugated
cardboard.
2. Notices on state grant programs for business recycling
initiatives.
3. A speakers bureau
4. A demonstration project, at our County Office buildings, on
office paper, corrugated cardboard, newspaper and soda can
recycling.
FOR ALL - The Public, Business Community and Municipal Official:
The "Recycling Exposition and Conference," & two-day recycling show
with 50 floor exhibits both commercial and educational, 25 educational
sessions targeting all recycling interest groups and numerous special
events.
Submitted byt James J. Hogan
Director of Resource Management
Westchester County
Department of Public Works
Solid Waste Management'
522 County Office Building
White Plains, New York 10601
914 - 285-2532
1230
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THE DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM*
FOR STUDYING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Albert P. Nous, Ed. D.
University of Pittsburgh
Regional Computer Resource Center**
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16,1990
* Underwritten by Westinghouse Resource Energy Systems Division
© Westinghouse Electric Corporation 1989
** Funded by the PA General Assembly and administered by
the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency
1231
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A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM* FOR
STUDYING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT
Albert P. Nous, Ed. D.
Introduction
April 22, 1970 is the date on the birth certificate for Earth Day, who this year attended a
coming-out celebration. Society threw the party and relatives from all over the globe mended.
Earth Day may be twenty years old but the question of importance is..."Has it matured?" For
sure it is the child of two parents; the rebellious spirit of the 1960s and the confrontation
attitude of the 1970s. With its home environment degrading daily and the life styles of today, it
is easy to explain why it is the "troubled child" of the 1990s. We are the invited specialists
with the credentials to prescribe treatments to set Earth Day on the path to a wholesome and
healthy life. One perspective and recommended treatment.is municipal solid waste (MSW)
management education and the infusion technique is "curriculum splicing."
The rebellious spirit and the confrontation attitude were well intended but
establishments were considered elitist and profit motive was viewed as being the single driving
force for industry's involvement with the environment. Added to these perceptions was the
disassembling of science education and subsequent recombination of science knowledge and
the development of thinking process skills with a strong concern for social relevancy. Science
and social science mated to produce the science-technology-society curricula of today for not
only the science-bound student but also the average citizen.
The 1980s were the years of intense bipolar recommendations and resolutions. It was
one versus the other and the scorecard of bipolarization could only show winners and losers.
But in environmental issues, especially municipal solid waste management, there may not be a
right-wrong, black-white, or easy answer. It is easy to see why Earth Day is troubled. The
1232
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prognosis is that if society can assimilate greater conceptual understanding and awareness of
environmental impact, a new schema of personal beliefs, abilities and actions will manifest
itself in up-and-coming birthday glimpses of Earth Day.
Development of the Curriculum Modules
In the summer of 1988, Professional Consultants for Educational Development
(PCED), Ltd. contracted with Westinghouse's Resource Energy Systems Division in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to produce a junior-high and middle school curriculum on municipal
solid waste management. The Westinghouse project manager, Ms. Patricia Shields, initiated
the request and provided the interest and insight for its development. The author served as
curriculum writer and developer of the learning resources which were reviewed by a twenty-
member panel of business, legal, marketing and engineering representatives. The primary
concerns were to insure that the focus was on higher level thinking skills, cooperative learning,
communication and writing and the use of microcomputers as a learning tool to facilitate
learning. The second concern was to insure that no hidden corporate message, bias or product
advertisement was presented to the students. The materials were judged to be of "sound
educational values, serving clear educational purposes, and unambiguously promoting the
welfare of the students. (ASCD, 1989) The curriculum was composed of (1) a module on
assessing environmental impact, (2) three computer simulations with accompanying record
sheets, (3) a scripted slide show, (4) a notational dictionary of terminology used in municipal
solid waste management, (5) a field test component, and (6) a compiled set of references and
resources for teachers and students to use for additional review and enrichment. This paper
presents the major rationale and educational considerations for each of the above components in
the design process.along with a synopsis of relevant field test findings.
1233
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(1) Assessing Environmental Impact: Rationale and Educational considerations
When any construction project is proposed, it is necessary to consider needs, costs,
risks and benefits. These considerations are presented mainly in engineering and economic
terms. However most people today realize that the effects of any project on public health and
the environment are also important concerns. In addition to engineering and cost analyses,
there should be a detailed account of possible effects of the proposed construction project on
the environment. Some questions might be..."How will we pay and benefit from the money
we put into the project?"..."What effects will construction or the completed project have on me,
my family and the environment?"..."What are the long term implications of my doing, OR
NOT DOING, something about the problems I live with every day?"..."Am I willing to accept
the risks and consequences?" Speaking simply, when you put together the answers to these
and other questions, along with a detailed account of the costs, you have an Environmental
Impact Statement.
In such statements, you can identify different viewpoints that people have about
perceived effects that the project may have on the environment. In our society we enjoy
Constitutional support for life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, free enterprise and free expression
of speech according to one's beliefs and convictions. We uphold and defend these rights!
While free enterprise gives individuals and special interest groups the right to initiate projects, it
also guarantees our right to get involved or give reactions and viewpoints right from the start.
We live in a participatory democracy. Willful failure on one's part to react or initiate
does not mean that everybody must stop what was started and wait for someone once he or she
has decided to participate. As a citizen each of us has the right to contribute, as well as the
obligation to make reparation for past injustices, to people and the environment. As schooled
citizens we assume die responsibility to critically analyze issues, viewpoints, actions,
omissions to recognize potential problems and seek successful solutions to these problems. To
1234
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these ends embedding instruction within contemporary and real-world problem-solving, as
well as decision-making, situations engages students in higher-order thinking as they assess
the importance, relevancy and validity of collected information for testing hypotheses and
comparing alternatives (IRT, 1988).
This master classroom simulation module (Nous, 1989a) is the "backbone" or
foundation for the unit of study. Students attend to the proactive assessment and discussion of
environmental impact of solutions associated with waste disposal. Each student participating
joins or is assigned to either a{n) Community Initiative group, Environmental Advisory
Council, Engineer, Media, or Citizen group. In this total classroom simulation module,
students discuss the environmental impacts of solutions associated with waste disposal. All
too often, people think that they must have a special degree or professional background to get
involved with writing an environmental impact statement. While that may have been the case in
the past, it does not appear to be the trend, now or the future. More citizens are becoming
involved with environmental advisory councils, community agencies, or are serving on
committees alongside professionally trained physical and social scientists and engineers to
build our society. Discussing or reviewing environmental impact statements involves many
people with different viewpoints working on a team.
At the time when college teach-ins on environmental problems were suggested by
Senator Gaylord Nelson (Feder, 1989), the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 directed all
agencies of the Federal Government to "....identify and develop methods and procedures
which will insure that presently unqualified environmental amenities and values are given
appropriate consideration in decision making along with economic and technical considerations
(Council on Environmental Quality, 1971)." The Council on Environmental Quality set
guidelines for preparing environmental impact statements. The language of the act does not
read like a novel. However, complex guidelines were translated by the United States
1235
-------
Geological Survey Department into a somewhat simple yet comprehensive procedure for
evaluating or assessing environmental impact (Leopold, et. al. 1971). That procedure served a
timely and appropriate function and was the design basis for the instructional activities in this
classroom simulation module. A variety of impact identification techniques, in addition to that
proposed by Leopold are available (Westman, 1985). The use of matrices, suggested by this
author, parallels the development of multiplicative classification skills by the middle-school-age
student.. Students working through this module analyze proposed solid waste mana^^f
actions and assign values to their probable impacts. It is obvious that this type of analysis does
not produce an overall and absolute quantitative rating or score but allows individual value
judgements to emerge and be examined by students for their relevancy, appropriateness and
worth. This is important especially in a society where "zero risk" does not exist! The main
goal is to insure that the impact of alternative actions is considered and evaluated in
construction and project planning. To develop an impact statement regarding the effect of
construction or project on the environment, participants follow a sequence of events referred to
as Stages of assessment:
1. SYSTEM QUANTIFICATION - project objectives are outlined and accurate data
about important variables in these objectives are obtained.
2. TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT - technological alternatives of achieving the objectives
are examined.
3. PROPOSED ACTIONS - practical action plans for achieving each stated objective
are proposed. Monetary benefits, profits and costs are detailed.
4. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ANALYSIS - before any action is taken,
characteristics and conditions of the existing environment are listed.
5. MAGNITUDE DETERMINATION - relationships between proposed actions and
actual environmental conditions are explored and those most important in regulating the system
1236
-------
are determined. Based on a strict evaluation of the facts, the degree, extensiveness, or scale of
the impact for each action plan (refer stage 3) on the environment is translated into a numerical
value. This determination is based on a strict evaluation of the facts! Although in some details,
this determination is subjective it must nevertheless be factual and unbiased in orientation.
6. IMPORTANCE DETERMINATION - the significance for each plan (again refer to
3 above) on the environment is translated into a numerical value. This determination considers
consequences of changing the particular condition on other factors in the environment. The
importance of impact will be based on value judgements of each evaluator.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS - concluding statements, summaries, and
recommendations are prepared. This recommendation discusses the (a) relative merits of
various proposed action plans, (b) rationale behind the final choice of action, and (c) plan for
achieving the objective identified in stage one above.
8. VOTE ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS - all individuals in class, as citizens and
irrespective of the group in which they played roles, vote to accept one and reject all other
recommendations.
All students are citizens. They learn that each one participates in one or more small
decision-making groups as an individual having certain values, biases and roles. Activities are
designed for use with the total class where each member is involved with a group in one or
more of the stages of assessment outlined previously and in figure one below. Given a plan
for a proposed project, the student engages in one or more of the first four stages of
assessment, determines the magnitude(M) god importance(I) of each plan, and votes on the
recommendation proposed by the impact statement committee. The behavior of the student
should demonstrate knowledge and ethical behavior as a citizen in a participatory democracy.
The exercises or activities are designed as a seven (10) to ten (IS) lesson sequence of
approximately 45 minutes each, involving class discussion, small group meetings, library
1237
-------
research, homework, oral presentations, and voting on the recommendations. It is expected
that the teacher will use her or his judgement as to the activity time required in and out of class
as well as the total length of time that can be spent on the module. The following activities are
based on the stages of assessment.
Activity Overview
Activity 1. "The Community Initiative"
Students interested in finance, environmental law, business, politics, community
affairs, and technical advising join this group and identify the "waste disposal community
initiative" project they want to finance. The projects to select from are: (1) Landfill only, (2)
Landfill with recycling, (3) Landfill with Waste-to-Energy technology, and (4) Landfill with
recycling and Waste-to-Energy. At the time composting was treated as a form of recycling.
The objective of a project is outlined and a realistic cost figure is identified. A one page
proposed project report is written. Although activity 1 focuses on the community as initiator of
the proposed project, other interest groups mav initiate projects. Likewise, the intent is not to
create a big-business versus environmentalist situation!
Activity 2. "Call Out the Engineers"
The engineer group takes the prepared project report from the community initiative
group and identifies any (1) modification of the environment, (2) land transformation, (3)
resource extraction, (4) industrial processing, (5) resource renewal, (6) changes in traffic, (7)
waste emplacements and treatment, or (8) possible sources of accidents associated with the
project. A proposed action checklist (SM 2.1) is used to "scope-out" the project.
1238
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PROPOSED ACTION CHECKLIST SM 2.1
Check only those boxes [ ] that show actions required to complete the project. Underline the
specific action to help you remember why you checked the box.
T IModification of
Environment bv
introducing or changing:
exotic plants or animals,
biological controls,
habitat, ground cover or
water, drainage, river or
canal control and £low,
irrigation,
weather, burning, surface
or paving, or noise and
vibration
f ILand Transformation
and construction bv:
urbanization, industrial
sites, buildings, airports,
highways, bridges, roads,
trails, railroads,
cables, lifts, transmission
lines, pipelines, corridors,
fencing,
channel dredging,
straightening and
revetments, canals, dams,
impoundments, piers,
seawalls, marinas, sea
terminals, offshore
structures, recreational
structures, blasting,
drilling, cut and fill,
tunnels, and underground
structures
f IGettinc Resources bv:
blasting, drilling, surface,
subsurface excavation,
retorting, well drilling.
fluid removal, dredging,
clear cutting, lumbering,
commercial fishing,
hunting
f Processing materials in:
farming, ranching,
grazing, feed lots,
dairying, energy
generation, mineral
processing, metallurgical,
chemical, or textile
industries, automobiles,
aircraft, oil refining, food,
lumbering, pulp and paper
mills, product storage
f ILand Alteration bv:
erosion control, terracing,
mine sealing, waste
control, strip mining
rehabilitation,
landscaping, harbor
dredging, marsh fill or
drainage, landfill
excavation
f IResouice Renewal bv:
reforestation, wildlife
stocking or management,
ground water recharge,
fertilizer application,
waste recycling
f IChangine Traffic of:
railways, automobiles,
trucking, shipping,
aircraft, river or canal
traffic, pleasure boating,
trails, cables, lifts,
communications, pipelines
F 7Waste Disposal and
Treatment using:
ocean dumping, landfill
sites, burial or spreading
of tailings, spoil and
overburden, underground
storage, oil well flooding,
deep well burial, cooling
water discharge,
municipal waste discharge
including spray irrigation,
liquid effluent discharge,
stabilization or oxidation
ponds, septic tanks, stack
and exhaust emission,
spent lubricants
r lUsing Chemicals in:
fertilization, deicing of
highways, stabilization of
soil, weed control, insect
control with pesticides,
control of leaching
f IPossible Accidents bv:
explosions, spills leaks,
operational failure
f Management thfough;
laws, regulations,
financing, fees, energy
sales, bonds
Approximately 125 possible proposed actions were likewise categorized under 11 main
headings: modification of environment, land transformation and construction, getting
1239
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resources, processing materials, land alteration, resource renewal, changing traffic, waste
disposal and treatment, using chemicals, possible accidents, and management. At this point a
number of events may occur. The community initiative and engineering groups may lobby for
media, citizen, and council support. Media groups may align with, or attack, the proposed
project. Factions may emerge either supporting or opposing the project. Discussion in and out
of the classroom may be high. Students in other classrooms in school could be polled as to
their preferences. Other class reactions might be compared with your own class' orientation.
In all of this, style of teaching is important. What is required is a teacher who serves as
resource person using a balance of directive and non-directive approaches as students decide on
the how, what, when , where, and why of the project. In terms of management however, it
would be appropriateto be quite direct in maintaining order and promoting self-discipline.
Activity 3. "The Business Meeting"
This activity requires that students in the engineering and community initiative group,
meet to discuss the feasibility of the proposed project and prepare a final draft of the proposed
project report which includes a cost breakdown of the items on the proposed action checklist
(student module 2.1) as they relate to the project. In addition, "homework" to identify realistic
cost figures could involve such activities as conversations with parents and representatives of
local businesses that might contract or bid on such a job. This is an excellent opportunity for
the teacher to establish home-school-community relationships. While enhancing the teacher's
image it minimizes any problems students might encounter in seeking out such information.
Activity 4. "What is the Environment?"
Students in die Environmental Advisory Council Group identify those features that best
characterize die actual environment in which they live. It should be noted that the Leopold
(1971) model created an interaction matrix with over 1200 "cells", each of which would
noimally be address in an environmental impact statement For students at this level of mental
1240
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development that is too complicated and the 96, or so, environmental conditions in the
Leopold model were categorized, vertically, under three main headings: physical and chemical
characteristics, biological conditions, and cultural use factors.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS CHECKLIST
Check only those boxes [ ] showing the actual condition in
specific condition to help you remember why you checked
Physical and Chemical
Characteristics
minerals, soils, land form, force
fields and background radiation,
unique features, salinization
[Mmsi
surface, ocean, underground
quality, temperature, recharge,
snow, ice, and permafrost,
salinization, eutrophication
T lAtmosphere
quality, gases, particulates,
climate (micro, macro),
temperature
f Interactions
floods, erosion, deposition,
sedimentation, precipitation,
solutions, ion exchange, ion
complexing, compaction and
settling, stability (slides,
slumps), stress-strain
(earthquake), air movements
Biological Conditions
LKflia
trees, shrubs, grass, crops,
microflora, aquatic plants,
endangered species, barriers,
corridors, diseases
rlFauna
birds, land animals, reptiles,
fish and shellfish, benthic
SM 4.1
your environment. Underline the
die box.
organisms, insects, microfauna,
endangered species, barriers,
corridors, disease vectors, food
chains
Cultural Use Factors
f lUse of environment for:
wilderness and open spaces,
wetlands, forestry, grazing,
agriculture, residential living,
commerce, industry, mining,
quarrying
f IHuman Aesthetic Interest in:
scenic views, wilderness, open
space, landscape design, unique
physical features, parks and
reserves, monuments, rare and
unique species or ecosystems,
historical or archeological sites
and objects, presence of misfits,
hunting, fishing, boating,
swimming, camping, hiking,
picnicking, resorts
f ICtftotfal Status
cultural patterns, life style,
health and safety, employment,
population density
f IMan-made Facilities and
Activities
structures, transportation
network, movement, utility
networks, waste disposal,
barriers, corridors
1241
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Preparing for Activity 5.
To generate discussion it is necessary to prepare a "reduced matrix" template for use by
the entire class. This is done either as a homework or lesson planning assignment which is
done by the student or teacher, respectively. A transparency or large poster is recommended.
A "reduced matrix" template is nothing more than a listing of the Environmental Conditions
Checklist items from SM 4.1 that apply to the project, and are written on the horizontal axis (or
columns) of a matrix, and a listing of the Proposed Action Checklist items from SM 2.1 written
on the vertical axis (or rows). Boxes are constructed so that a particular action can be
considered in light of an environmental condition. At this point a diagonal .line is drawn in the
box representing the intersect of rows and columns to show potential impact.
Activity 5. "How Great Is It?"
In this activity all students in class determine the extent or magnitude (M) of impact
each proposed action will have on each of the characteristics and conditions of the
environment. Judgements should be based on facts. An average figure from one (least
magnitude) to ten (greatest magnitude), for the entire class is roughly and quickly calculated
and entered in the upper half of the "reduced matrix" box. Using a scale of 1,4,7, and 1C
requires the class to establish corresponding statements such as " A 1 represents very little
impact, a 4 represents some impact, a 7 represents considerable impact, and a 10 represents
most significant impact!" The numerical value set of 1,4,7, and 10 is used for two reasons; to
"force" a value judgement away from a neutral position, and to simplify computation of an
average value. As a homework and lesson planning assignment the student or teacher
respectively, prepares the "reduced matrix" (refer figure 1) for use in class. Be prepared for a
great deal of open student discussion during class! To facilitate a large-class frequency count
from a show of hands and to determine an "average value" of the degree of impact the
following chart format is recommended for use with die class. The average value is used to
1242
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rank, relatively, the issues and prompt class discussion. Determine an average numerical value
to be placed in the upper part of the box split by a diagonal line. This is done by multiplying
each value (v) by the number of hands (h) to obtain (v) x (h). Adding these values and
dividing by the total number of hands yields the average numerical value. For example, if in
your class of 30 students, 3 hands show for a value of 1; 6 show for a value of 4; 12 hands
show for a value of 7; and 9 hands show for a value of 10, the chart would be completed as
follows.
Activity 6. "How important Is It?"
In this activity, all students determine the significance or importance (1) of the plan
on the environment. Judgements should be based on the value or importance each individual
holds regarding the proposed project. An average figure from one (least importance) to ten
(most important), for the entire class, is roughly and quickly calculated. Media and citizen
activities can be self initiated by students or established by the teacher at or during any of the
numbered activities. Again be prepared for a great deal of open student discussion during
class! As an example, "figure 4" from the teacher's guide, shows a completed matrix
designating the degree of impact for a proposed landfill site project.
The proposed actions "modifying the environment," "construction," "processing
materials," "altering the land," "waste disposal and treatment," "using chemicals," and
"possible accidents" impact all three environmental conditions "earth, water, atmosphere and
their interactions," "plants and animals,",and "use of environment human interests, etc."
The proposed actions "changing traffic" and "management" only impact "earth, water,
atmosphere,etc." and "use of environment, human interests, etc." And finally, "getting
resources" and "renewing resources" only impact "use of the environment, etc."
1243
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Environmental Conditions
<
I
o
e
t.
a
Earth, Water,
Afmnsphprp
and Their
intpracflons
Management
9 7
/ 10
Plants
and
Animals
Modifying the
fnvtrnnmpnr
4 /
Xe
>5
Construction
X
8 7
X4.5
Getting Resources
Processing
Material
X
«7
/7
Altering the Land
4X
/ 4
A /
7.5
Renewing Resources
Changing Traffic
_ /
J 7
X"
waste Disposal
and Treatment
B X
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9 X
Xs
I King rhprnirai1?
8 7
/ 7
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Possible Accidents
9 X
710
4 X
X '
Ucc of Environment,
Human interests.
Cultural Status,
Man-made Facilities
and Activities
V
/to
v71
9 /
Zj_
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/I0
5 X
/=
10,;
/ I
5 /
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/10
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key
X
Figure 4. A, reduced matrix template for a hypothetical landfill
project showing magnltudcfli) and Importance (I) of potential Interaction
hefween certain proposed act tops and environmental conditions.
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Activity 7. "One Voice....One Vote!"
In this culminating activity, students prepare a written report of the (a) relative merits of
the proposed action plan or project, (b) rationale behind the final best choice of action plans,
and (c) best plan for the environment and people in the area. A typed, double-spaced statement
of the recommendation is presented on a sheet with a tear-off ballot slip placed at the bottom of
the page. Each student votes to accept or reject the recommendations. The recommendation
can be either landfill only; landfill and recycling; landfill and a waste-to-energy plant; landfill,
recycling, and a waste-to-energy plant; or a reasonable alternative. The student checks the
recommendation of her or his choice, and deposit this slip into the ballot box. The balloting
follows a format used in some local, state, and national elections with 50% plus 1 of the voters
required for passage. Abstentions are counted as "no" votes. Results of balloting are posted
or printed in the school newsletter.
(2) Microcomputer Simulation Programs
Ecological systems in environments are characteristically dynamic and complex, usually
involving interaction between many variables, and often displaying delayed effects, cumulative
effects, thresholds, and graphic non-linear causal relationships. Such complex phenomena
cannot always be studied by traditional techniques of individual research and scholarship.
Computer analysis of ecosystems and team research are now efficient and effective vehicles for
dealing with the complex problems in the environment. Computer simulation, rather than
computer assisted instruction would be the primary vehicle to engage students with situations
asking them to solve problems and decide on paths of action. From this the simulations had to
imitate reality as close as possible or, in other words, maintain fidelity. The three simulations
were entitled: Waste Disposal: Avoiding A Crisis (Nous, 1989b); Waste Management: Making
It Law (Nous, 1989c); and Ash Disposal: Choices & Consequences (Nous, 1989d). The
characteristics for the three simulations were that die number and accuracy of variables could be
1245
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delineated based upon judges validity; and that there was a critical time factor for action,
especially within the first simulation. Students are placed in the role as Director of WASTE
(Waste Abatement Scientists for a Trouble-free Environment). The director sets initial
variables such as size of population, legal elements, and waste management alternatives.
Feedback is text oriented and included "real" responses that government officials might give
such a director under the same "real" circumstances. As a result of balancing environmental,
popularity and economic concerns, a hired director is either rehired, fired, or in simulation #2,
successful as a legislative consultant. With these characteristics in mind the design of the
simulations provided a number of possible solution paths that were complex and required
consideration of multiple variables, a situation deemed similar to what waste managers
encounter in daily operations. Given that the students are not expert, or even experienced, in
solid waste management, the instructional design stressed "initial student learning" rather than
"transfer" and low-fidelity design parameters were selected (Alessi, 1988). The chances of
increasing fidelity by computer simulations was considered greater than by having students
only read about solid waste management.
A major design consideration was the intent to have students continue learning about
solid waste management throughout the year, even after this unit of study was completed.
Many simulation packages use esoteric and specific languages. That makes them next to
impossible to incorporate into the classroom for use by students. In addition "run-time"
versions are expensive. Was it possible to use a simple "authoring" package that students
could learn to use and have available for the Apple II series computer, the predominant
computer used at the middle-school level? The microcomputer simulations were "authored"
using Hartley's Simulation Construction Kit © (Roessler, 1986), a utility program for the
Appli® lie and GS microcomputers. This construction kit is available from Josten's Learning
Corporation in a classroom package for approximately $100 with documentation written simply
1246
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allowing a middle-school student the oportunity to write her or his own microcomputer
simulation. The Regional Computer Resource Cetner is spearheading development of middle-
school training materials to start "computer simulation clubs" in schools. Each microcomputer
simulation is designed to further orient and instruct the student in particular aspects of the waste
disposal problem. Students report individual results to the large group from their individual
record sheets. The sheets minimize reliance on memory only in the reporting of results and
group statistics are compiled easily.
Notational Dictionary
A compiled list of terms with definitions (Nous, 1989e) is provided to assist students in
"making sense" of the plethora of concepts, facts, abbreviations, symbols, sequences,
procedures, etc., that one encounters in the field of municipal solid waste management. The
compiled list was constructed from a variety of industry sources (Fisher, et. al., 1989; NLC,
1986; Tchobanoglous, et. al., 1977;WRESD, 1988,1989). Referred to as a "Notational
Dictionary," the intent was to provide each student with a "concentrated" resource where now
they are "spread far and wide" and not "couched1' in terms easily understood by the general
public, let alone the middle-school-age student. The presentation format is standardized for
student and teacher use and used icons to represent instructional management activity. Each
term to be defined is presented with qualifying words or abbreviations shown in parentheses.
Definitions are restricted to one to two lines maximum. A "hand held note card" icon indicates
additional information. A "pencil-info" icon indicates to die student that he or she can obtain
more information or write more about the topic for possible reports and presentations, A
"book" icon indicates to the teacher that information on the term is available in the teacher
resource packet for her or his benefit. Over 300 teems are provided.
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Scripted Slide Show
Municipal solid waste management provides a rich topic area for the viewing and use
photographic slides, as well as other references, to gain information and insights about the
problems and possible solutions. In addition to viewing the slides in a passive manner,
following along with the script, students are encouraged to use the images and create their own
scripts and recordings. This activity complements the role of media and citizen as they
mutually interact with the information provided in TV or motion video formats. While on the
surface the preparation of slides and script may appear easy, there are important safeguards that
must be built in unobtrusively. The slides were examined to eliminate marketing, services and
points of view for this middle-school captive audience (Molnar, 1989). Reviewers of the entire
program ensured that the "educational product" remained a corporate "good-will effort" and not
a sophisticated marketing tool altering the purpose of public education. As a responsible
parties, Westinghouse and PCED, Ltd. sought, the cultivation of critical awareness,
independent thinking, identification of elements in a position or argument, seeing hidden
messages, validating claims and seeing the multiplicity of viewpoints (Olson, 1989; Harty,
1989). A direct benefit of the curriculum in the field test was the shared cooperation evident
between student researchers and vendors. Local evidence indicates that waste management
corporations are eager interface with die community and interested parties.
SftKkm Stalls
To assist the teacher in assessing the skills students learn, die following list of student
skills is provided (Bloom, 1971). In science and social studies you ask questions and search
for answers. This is called sciencing; action-oriented inquiry encompassing science and social
science. Sciencing stresses content and process skills while studying issues of social
relevancy. Each teacher using this classroom module is encouraged to incorporate all or
1248
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portions of the skill list (refer table 1) in her or his grading scheme and student progress report
for this ten to fifteen class period unit on waste management.
Table 1. Dimensions of Content, Process Skills and Social Relevancy Related to Sciencing
Content area 1 (C.l): Knowledge and understanding of course content
Process Skill Area 1 (P.I.): Observing, Measuring and Classifying
Process Skill Area 2 (P.2.): Recognizing Problems and Implementing Experiments
Process Skill Area 3 (P.3.): Interpreting Data and Formulating Generalizations
Process Skill Area 4. (P.4.):Constructing and Validating Models
Relevancy Area 1. (R.I.): Applying Content and Process Skills
Relevancy Area 2. (R.2.): Manipulative Skills
Relevancy Area 3. (R.3.): Attitudes, interests and Appreciation
Relevancy Area 4. (R.4.): Orientation, Problem Solving and Ethics
Compiled Teacher and Student Resources
In general, these "fee or free" resources center on basic ecology, incomplete
ecosystems, orientation to solid waste management, and risk assessment. These resources are
important because current information readily available through the curriculum or school library
on solid waste management is very scarce! Studying the environmental impacts of solid waste
management is overwhelming. To this end a number of resources for the students and teachers
in the pilot study were purchased or obtained from the following organizations and placed in a
resource packet to complement the curriculum: Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (1989); National
League of Cities (1986,1988); National solid Wastes Management Association (1989a,
1989b, 1989c); Renew America (1989); Westinghouse Resource Energy Systems Division
(1989); R. W. Beck and Associates (1989); Sierra Club (1989); and United States
Environmental Protection Agency (1988). As of this writing, future organizational additions to
the resource list will include the World Resources Institute (Elkington & Shopley, 1989),
1249
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fileholdings from the Coalition on Resource Recovery and the Environment (Shaub, 1989),
and the National League of Cities' monthly periodical, Environmental Decisions (formerly
Resource Recovery)..
So extensive is the study of ecology and environments, there appear to be no limits as
to what one would study in environmental education. By adding the dimensions of "urban"
and "man-made" you increase the number of different interactions and force the development of
different life habits. Fortunately for the student and teacher, aspects of ecology and
descriptions of the environment can be condensed into a few relatively basic terms and
concepts. What has happened over the years is that ecology terms have found their way into
magazines, newspapers, television specials, community and corporate reports and every-day
conversation. All too often ecology terms conjure up the image of a perfectly balanced,
complete, peaceful and non-competitive environment. Students learn that while complex
environmental interactions exist, some systems are not perfectly balanced, complete, peaceful
and non-competitive! The central core of a city or inner city is without producers, at least from
the human standpoint, and is considered an incomplete ecosystem. For these inhabitants, the
inner city requires extrinsic production and imported food. The only other alternative is for the
inhabitants to leave the inner city and feed in peripheral areas. The lack of production in an
inner city is not due to a lack of light, but to a lack of soil and suitable substrate. Cities import
food, fresh conditioned air, and water, at the same time they export waste products such as
sewage, solid wastes, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, other pollutants, and so forth. If cities
were cut off from their surrounding environment they would have inhabitants perishing from
thirst, starvation, asphyxiation or the toxic accumulation of waste products. However, in
exchange for this life support, cities provide many cultural and economic benefits such as
employment, housing, transportation, manufacturing, health care, education, and stores.
1250
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Students also learn we rely on producing or importing basic foodstuffs and resources
from other environments. After we have used or consumed these resources they become
wastes that can threaten our environment. Landfills sometimes can be difficult to control,
posing the threat of groundwater and air pollution. As communities grow and available land
becomes more scarce in populated areas, garbage disposal will be an even more critical, more
expensive concern. This leaves us with the problem of finding proven, progressive and
relatively safe methods and technology for dealing with MSW.
Students are introduced to the concept that Americans are referred to as the "throw-
away society." Europeans and Japanese, because of food packaging, proximity to each other,
availability of land, and style of living have a 20 year "jump" on Americans in dealing with the
problem of waste disposal. Most Americans display an out of sight out of mind attitude toward
waste disposal. Site selection, permits, and building of landfills is a multimillion-dollar
proposition. New landfills must be equipped with plastic liners that prevent leaks,
sophisticated ground-water monitoring systems and other strict environmental safeguards
required by state rules. Residents fear damage to surface and underground water supplies,
excessive truck traffic and disruption of lifestyle.
Waste-to-energy (WTE) is the technology of burning waste to produce steam from heat
to generate electricity. WTE technology provides communities with another method of
disposal. A WTE power generating plant location is dependent primarily on site availability
and the trucking distance for supply of waste as well as location relative to the in-place electric
power grid currently serving the people. Right now many WTE plants have extra capacity or
capability to bum waste from two or more communities. There is a tendency in the energy
marketplace to view waste-to-energy and recycling as mutually exclusive; either bum all trash
or recycle all of it. Students ask questions such as: If there are not enough dumps available,
why not bury trash and junked automobiles at sea? Why not transport garbage to other states
1251
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with acres of unused land? When people do not want wastes in their communities but think it
is appropriate to dump waste elsewhere, it is popularly called the "Not-In-My-Back-Yard" or
"NIMBY" attitude. Are there people who should have less rights than others when it comes to
deciding where to put a waste disposal site? What if one state does not allow garbage
transporters from your community to cross their border? To these questions add concerns of
illegal waste dumping, lack of enforcement of laws and prosecution of violations, problems of
contracted disposal services, illegal incineration, lack of understanding of waste-to-energy
technology, and general ignorance of how technology positively influences the U.S. economy.
The solution tendered generally in this unit is that a responsible approach to solid waste
management requires use of waste reduction techniques, re-use and recycling technologies,
waste-to-energy, and land disposal of those parts of the "American waste stream" and its by-
products that are not recoverable. These are issues that students discuss and research in
exploring the waste crisis. In any project, involvement requires, to a certain degree,
assessment of environmental impact, a response to legislation and getting people to vote.
Risk assessment is an elusive topic to teach to the middle-school-age student. Such
assessment requires abstract or formal operational thinking where probabilistic thinking and
"all possible combinations" of variables and factors are considered. Many adults do not
operate at formal operational reasoning levels in certain situations.. To obtain public response
to legislation and get people to vote we need to better educate them in examining environmental
risks and allow participation in the decision-making process. Students learn that Americans are
risk conscious but popular reaction to unacceptable risk is hard to define (Barthauer, 1986).
The public's perception and acceptance of risk depends on:
1) possible consequences of exposure rather than probability of occurrence; Possible
consequences of a lower risk may be Jess palatable than those of a higher risk.
1252
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2) the number and viewed status of people affected negatively by the risk versus those
individuals benefitting; This is the equity issue. In many cases, risk exposure falls upon one
subgroup disproportionately while benefits are distributed to a larger group. The larger group
and subgroup may see the risk as acceptable but usually do not believe the subgroup, alone,
should bear the full risk.
3) who controls the risk; People feel less vulnerable in situations where they have
control (contributing to and creating the risk of pollution through waste production) rather than
in situations where they have no control (feeling more vulnerable to the risk of death by a
drunk driver).
4) the perceived necessity of accepting the risk; The necessity of accepting risk is
highly individualistic and is tempered with a sense of social concern.
5) how the risk is communicated; Many special interest groups use "fear"
communications and statistics to promote their position. Risk assessment is a necessary
activity in the political and free decision-making process but the goal of communication should
be to help the public put risk in perspective. Strict reliance on statistics ignores values and
ethical consideration in risk assessment. Statistics is also the reason why many public policy
decisions fail to receive public approval.
6) its nature as voluntary or involuntary; People want industry and government to
provide the best available protection from risks. The public demands safety and is unwilling to
trade off concern for health for increased economic benefits. This mandate in American public
policy means safety in the environment will come with a high price tag.
FfcldTwt Findings
The curriculum just described was field tested by 12 teachers in various Western
Pennsylvania school settings involving 718 students. Implementation took place during
November 1989 to January 1990. Factors considered in the evaluation included room and
1253
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atmosphere, hardware, software, student, teacher and instruction, instructional management,
and administrative and district.
Room and Atmosphere Factors:
Additional room space was required by students to place phone calls, do library
readings and research and conduct meetings above and beyond classroom meeting times.
Additional sites for student research were requested, i.e. hospital, mayoral interviews, and
school plant settings, as well as landfill and waste management sites managed by industry.
No down time was necessary or suggested while the unit was implemented. This was a
positive indicator of student interest and motivation.
Hardware Factors:
Some teachers expressed apprehensiveness at using the computer. This provided an
opportunity for those most "fearful" of the technology to use services of the resident computer
teacher in the school. Others found that this fear was minimized by the independence displayed
by students using the software.
Software Factors:
Backup and student copies for distribution were easily made by the teachers and distributed in
some cases for homework or use at home. Following software use, additional information
was requested on topics such as hazardous waste, ash cultures, landfill tours, water analyses,
composting, source reduction, floating a bond, taxes, making a bill a law, interpreting
statistics, and the use of outer space for waste disposal.
Stufcm Faflgrc;
Students wanted to do research on their own. They began to see that thev must deal
with the problems and, in fact, were in a position to change things.. One student on in-school
suspension, because of cutting classes, did not want to miss a single class while the unit was
being implemented. Students generated additional activities throughout the unit Student
1254
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correspondence was initiated and interviews took place with five mayors. Parents became
involved in searching for information at the local public library. Cost factors were obtained
from inquiries placed with Chambers Development Company, Inc. and BFI. Upper level
students in 8th grade, prior to voting on the issue, visited 6th graders and presented their
viewpoints. Studentsreported that the unit was better than just sitting around and reading the
textbook and it gave them the feeling of being able to help the community. Students became so
engaged in the subject matter that they became eager to read information and watch TV reports
on the subject. There was an increase in questioning frequencies by students engaged in the
unit. Cooperative learning was seen and encouraged by the teacher in the facilitating role. A
strong sense of frustration was experienced by a "fair" number of students who wanted to do
something about the problems using laws but that the law actually was not being enforced in
some local situations. This is seen as natural in the development of students' views of laws
and authority.
Teacher and Instruction Factors:
Teachers expressed a strong need to work with other teachers from other disciplines to
"extend" activity throughout the curriculum. Mathematics, English, additional science,
additional social science and language aits components were urged strongly in future
development efforts. The unit fostered a sense of reality in the community and politics and
students values voicing concern came out of the unit. A supply of phone books was seen as
crucial. Awareness of costs was the most difficult concept to understand and about which to
obtain information. In addition, the multicultural aspect of WME within the U. S. and globally
was requested. A history of waste management was suggested It would be helpful to include
a local listing of names and contacts for landfills, recycling, composting and WTE, etc .facilities
and speakers for teachers and students to draw upon. Westinghouse representatives felt that
the predominance of any company's technology might antagonize teachers but this was not the
1255
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case; in fact technology that is current was demanded. Instruction in the unit was seen to be
"never ending" in that many more ideas could be nurtured.
Instructional Management Factors:
The unit "ran" for 15 days (50 min daily with 7th graders) in one district to 10 days in
most (45-50 min for 9-10th graders); this provides much variability which is under total control
of the teacher. For older students it was recommended that the idea of a matrix be kept but
figural representations of magnitude and importance be used with younger students. We were
urged to keep expectations of students high. More terms were suggested for the Notational
Dictionary. A better representation of the local environment is needed to create the "big
picture."
Administrative and District Factors:
Support among principals, coordinators and teachers for the unit as a vehicle to implement the
environmental education mandate for the schools was positive. The skills being developed in
the unit were seen complementary to the higher order thinking skills (HOTS). The unit
provides technology-enhanced assistance in teaching content and how knowledge is used.
Community contacts are seen as necessary.
It is clear we do not live in a risk-free society. This message must be repeated in every
activity where public interest and progress meet. This meeting takes place in discussions
around the dinner table, the community meeting room, the science and social science
laboratories, the corporate board room, Federal and state environmental agencies, the courts,
and the "sciencing" classroom. The curriculum described herein represents one, in a number
of, growing efforts to recycle social relevancy and educational impact back into die
curriculum.
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REFERENCES
Alessi, S. M. (1988). Fidelity in the design of instructional simulations. Journal of
Computer-Based Instruction. 11(2), 40-47.
Barthauer, L. (1986, Issue 3). [Interview with Mark M. McClellan, founding partner
Associated Resource Consultants and ARC Energy Group, Harrisburg, PA]
Environmental risks: The public and policy. Pittsburgh Engineer, pp 14-15, 30-31.
Bloom, B., Hastings, J. T., Madaus, G. F. (1971). Handbook on Formative and
Summative Evaluation of Student Learning, pp. 559-641.
Council on Environmental Quality (1971) Statements on proposed Federal actions affecting
the environment (Federal Register, Vol. 36, No. 19, pp.1398-1402; No. 79, pp.
7724- 7729). Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.
Elkington, J. and Shopley, J. (1989). Cleaning up: U.S. Waste management technology and
third world development. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute.
Feder, B. J. (1989, November 12). The business of earth day. The New York Times, p. 4.
Fisher, D. M., Greenwood, J. C., Musto, R. J., O'Donnell, R. W., George, C. and
Hasay, G. C. (1989). Report of the committee of conference on senate bill no. 528,
the municipal waste planning, recycling and waste reduction act (printer's no. 2303).
Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Harty, S. (1989). U.S. corporations: still pitching after all these years. Educational
leadership. 47(4), 77-78.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (1989). Overview: solid waste disposal alternatives.
Stamford, CT: Author.
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Leopold, L. B., Clarke, F. E., Hanshaw, B. B., & Balsley, J. R. (1971). A procedure for
evaluating environmental impact (Geological Survey Circular 645). Washington,
D,C.: U. S. Department of the Interior.
National League of Cities. (1986). Waste-to-energv facilities: a decision-maker's guide.
Washington, D.C.: Author, pp. 7,9.
National League of Cities. (1988). Municipal incinerators: 50 questions every local
government should ask. Washington, D.C.: Author.
National Solid Wastes Management Association. (1989). Resource recovery: an essential
tool for effective waste management. Washington, D.C.: Author.
National Solid Wastes Management Association. (1989). Landfill capacity in the year 2000
(special report). Washington, D.C.: Author.
National Solid Wastes Management Association. (1989). Public attitudes toward garbage
disposal (special report). Washington, D.C.: Author.
Nous, A. (1989a). Impact: is the name of the game? Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric
Corporation.
Nous, A. (1989b). Waste disposal: avoiding a crisis [Computer program]. Pittsburgh, PA:
Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Nous, A. (1989c). Waste managyrTTTnt; 1* 1?w [Computer program]. Pittsburgh, PA:
Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Nous, A. (1989d). Ash disposal: choices & consequences [Computer program]. Pittsburgh,
PA: Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Nous, A. (1989e). A notational dictionary of solid waste management tcnninologv
[compilation], Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric Coiporation.
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Olson, J. (1989). Do not use as directed: corporate materials in the schools. Educational
Leadership. 47(4), 79-80.
R. W. Beck and Associates. (1989). Solid waste: issues and answers (special issue no. 1).
Seattle, WA: Author.
Renew America. (1989). State of the states (main report). Washington, D.C.: Author.
Resource Energy Systems Division (Producer). (1989). Waste-to-energv slide file
[slides]. Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Roessler, M. (1986). Simulation Construction Kit f Computer program!. Dimondale, WI:
Hartley Courseware, Inc.
Shaub, W. M. (1989, April 19). Implementation of incineration technologies. Paper
presented at the National Science Foundation, Washington D. C.
Sierra Club. (1989). Solid waste management (policy code 8.3). San Francisco, CA: Author.
Staff. (1988, 11(1) Fall). Teaching higher order thinking in social studies. Communication
Quarterly, p. 1.
Task Force on Business Involvement in the Schools. (1989). Guidelines for business
involvement in the schools. Educational Leadership. 47(4), 84-86.
Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H., & Eliassen, R. (1977). Solid wastes: engineering principles
and management issues. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (1988). Environmental education materials
for teachers and young people (grades K-12). Washington, D.C. Government Printing
Office.
Westinghouse Resource Energy Systems Division. (1988). Glossary of terms used in solid
waste management and resource recovery. Pittsburgh. PA: Author.
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Westinghouse Resource Energy Systems Division. (1989). Glossary of resource recovery t
erms. Pittsburgh, PA: Author.
Westman, W. E. Ecology, impact assessment, and environmental planning (1985).
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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DEVELOPING A TAXONOMY OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE TECHNIQUES
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
E. Scott Geller, Lawrence D. Needleman, & Kim Randall
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management:
June 13-16,1990
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Developing a Taxonomy of Behavior Change Techniques
for Environmental Protection
For more than two decades behavioral scientists have targeted a number of
environmental problems (e.g., litter control, resource recovery, energy
conservation, lawn trampling). As a result, an arsenal of behavior change
techniques is available for motivating public participation in environmental
programs (Cone & Hayes, 1980; Geller, 1980a, 1980b, 1981,1983, 1986, 1987, 1989;
Geller, Winett, & Everett, 1982). However, there has been little attempt to
categorize these techniques in terms of their relative effectiveness. Thus, the
community programmer is faced with the formidable task of choosing an
intervention program from an incomplete and disorganized list of potential
behavior change procedures. This paper offers a framework for studying the
social validity and large-scale significance of behavior change interventions, and
for predicting the relative behavioral impact of particular intervention
programs. Two theoretical models are offered: (a) a multiple intervention level
(MIL) hierarchy to categorize behavior change approaches and evaluate the cost-
effectiveness of successive interventions for large-scale environmental
protection, and (b) an intervention impact model to guide the development of
more effective community-based interventions. A research plan is presented for
testing the validity of these models to evaluate corporate-based programs
designed to motivate behaviors supportive of resource recovery and recycling.
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A Multiple Intervention Level Hierarchy
The multiple intervention level (MIL) hierarchy depicted in Figure 1 on the
next page is characterized by dividing interventions into multiple tiers or levels,
each defined by its ability to influence the targeted population. At the top of the
hierarchy (i.e., Level 1), the interventions are least intrusive and target the
maximum number of people for the least cost per person. At this level,
interventions are designed to have maximum large-scale impact, while allowing
only minimal contact between individuals and intervention agents. Those
showing the desired behavior change at a particular intervention level may
continue to benefit from repeated exposure to similar interventions; but we
assume that those individuals uninfluenced by the first exposure to an
intervention program at a particular intervention level will "fall through the
cracks" and be uninfluenced by repeated exposure to interventions at the same
level. These individuals require a more influential (higher level) intervention.
Compared to signs, lectures, and public service announcements, for example,
an incentive/reward or disincentive/penalty program will change the behaviors
of more individuals. However, it is much more costly to implement these more
intrusive and effective intervention programs, in terms of personnel, materials,
and effort. Such programs are wasted on individuals who already emit the target
behavior, but are necessary for more resistant individuals who are not
influenced by less intensive (and less costly) behavior change tactics.
The MIL model in Figure 1 indicates that individuals who are influenced at a
particular level of the intervention hierarchy may become intervention agents
for the next level of intervention effectiveness (cf. Katz & Lazarfeld, 1955). After
individuals have adopted a particular target behavior, it is not cost-effective to
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Figure 1. A multiple Intervention level hierarchy differentiating repeated Interventions at
the same effectiveness level from Interventions that are progressively more influential
at changing behavior. The height and width of each intervention level increases
progressively from levels 1 to 4 In order to denote successively increasing amounts of
Intervention effectiveness and cost per program participant.
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 4
Individual* influenced at
One Level Become
Intervention Agent* (or
Subsequent Levels
Repeated Applications
of Same Intervention
Level
Probability that
Individuals are
Influenced
Program Cost
per Individual
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include these persons among the targets of another program to motivate the
occurrence of that behavior. Instead, these persons ideally should be enrolled as
agents for more effective intervention programs. In other words, "preaching to
the choir" is not as beneficial as enlisting the "choir" to preach to others.
Research is needed to explore ways to involve indigenous personnel in the
implementation of successful intervention strategies. At the same time, it is
necessary to identify ways of maximizing the effectiveness of the behavior
change interventions that these individuals could implement. Actually,
strategies that successfully increase the occurrence of environmental protection
behaviors (or any other pro-social behavior) might also be applicable for
motivating additional individuals to assist in intervention implementation.
We turn now to a description of various behavior change techniques that can be
used in an intervention program, and to the consideration of factors that
determine the relative behavior-change effectiveness of an intervention
program.
A Preliminary Model for Evaluating Intervention Impact
Behavior Change Strategies
Table 1 on the following two pages gives brief definitions of 24 different
approaches to change behavior. These definitions were distilled from a
comprehensive review of the behavioral science literature that researched
techniques for changing behaviors at individual and group levels {representative
sources include Cone & Hayes, 1980; Geller, Winett, & Everett, 1982; Glenwick &
Jason, 1980; and many research articles published in the Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis from 1968 until the present). The first 18 behavior change
techniques occur before the target behavior(s), and these are considered
1265
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Tabic 1.
Brief definitions of 24 different techniques to motivate
behavior change.
Communication/Education
Passive:
1. Lecture: Unidirectional oral communication by an agent concerning the rationale and
purpose for behavior change and subsequent intervention. Target subjects are told what
behaviors are in their best interest.
2. Demonstration: Modeling or acting out appropriate performance or behavior for target
subject(s).
3. Policy: A written document communicating the standards, norms, or rules for appropriate
performance or behavior within a given context.
Active;
4. Commitment: A written or oral pledge or promise by a subject to perform or behave in a
specific way or to attain a certain goal.
5. Discussion/Consensus: Bidirectional oral communication between agents or facilitators of
an intervention program and the subjects targeted by the intervention. Communication
focuses on generating consensus regarding the particular behavior change technique(s) or
program.
6 Intervention Agent: When a person promotes the desired behavior among other
individuals.
A<;tiv
-------
Table 1 (con't)
Activatiors (con't.)
GiOttp;
14. Assigned Group Goal: An agent decides for a group the level of desired performance the
participants should accomplish by a certain time.
15. Team Goal: An agent encourages group members to decide for themselves ((i.e., come to a
consensus) that level of desired performance (i.e., the goal) which the group should
accomplish by a specific time.
16. Competition: An intervention, which promotes competition between specific groups to see
which group will accomplish the desired performance level first (or best).
17. Incentive: An oral or written announcement to a group, specifying the availability of a
group reward that is dependent upon the occurrence of desired group performance,
according to a contingency defined by the agent(s) of the intervention.
18. Disincentive: An oral or written announcement to a group that specifies the possibility of
receiving a penalty contingent upon the occurrence of undesired group behavior. The
contingency is defined by the agent(s) of the intervention.
Consequences
Individual:
19. Feedback: Presentation of either oral or written information to an individual concerning
his or her level of performance regarding desired or undesired behavior.
20. Reward:* The presentation of a "pleasant" item or event to an individual emitting a desired
behavior, or the withdrawal of an "Unpleasant" iiem or event from an individual for
emitting a desired behavior.
21. Penalty:* The presentation of an "unpleasant" item or event to an individual emitting an
undesired behavior^ or the withdrawal of a "pleasant" item or event from an individual for
emitting an undesired behavior.
Group;
22. Feedback: Presentation of either oral or written information to a specific group concerning
the participants' level of performance regarding desired or undesired behavior.
23. Reward: The presentation of a "pleasant" item or event to a group or team emitting
collectively a desired level of performance, or the withdrawal of an "unpleasant" item or
event from a group or team for emitting collectively a desired level of performance.
24. Penalty: The presentation of an "unpleasant" item or event to a group or team emitting
collectively an undesired level of performance, or the withdrawal of a "pleasant" item or
event from a group or team for emitting collectively an undesired level of performance.
•Note: The terms "reward" and "penalty" are substituted for "reinforcement" and "punishment"
because reinforcement and punishment require empirical verification of their effects.
1287
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antecedent procedures or activators (from the antecedent-behavior-consequence
model of applied behavior analysis, cf. Geller et al., 1982). All of these activators
represent attempts to persuade individuals to emit a desired response, and are
classified as passive versus active communication/education techniques. They
may be directed at either individuals or groups.
Feedback, reward, and penalty are consequences that can be given to an
individual or to a group, and therefore six different consequence procedures are
defined in Table 1. Rewards include pleasing items or events as well as
opportunities to escape or avoid unpleasant items or events; whereas a penalty
can be the presentation of an unpleasant item or event (e.g., a jail term or
requirement to do community service) or the removal of a pleasant item or
privilege (e.g., money or a driver's license). [Our definitions for reward and
penalty consequences are analogous to positive versus negative reinforcement
and positive versus negative punishment (cf. Geller et al., 1982), except that these
latter technical terms from applied behavior analysis are linked directly fo
behavioral outcome. That is, reinforcement occurs only if the target behavior
increases in frequency. If the target response decreases in frequency following the
consequence, then the behavior change procedure was positive or negative
punishment.]
Intervention Impact
We hypothesize that five factors determine the impact or effectiveness of an
intervention program. Intervention effectiveness can be measured by the
proportion of a target population showing desired behavior change over the
short and long term, of by the degree to which an individual initiates and
maintains the behavior that is targeted by an intervention procedure. Based on
1268
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our literature review and empirical studies of safety belt promotion, we theorize
that the immediate impact of an intervention is a direct function of: 1) the
amount of participant involvement elicited by the intervention, 2) the degree of
group or social support promoted by the intervention procedures, 3) the amount
of specific response information transmitted by the intervention, 4) the degree of
extrinsic control exerted by the intervention, and 5) the target individual's
perception of intrinsic control or autonomy regarding the behavior change
procedures.
Based on our field research and related literature, we made certain
assumptions regarding each impact factor. Specifically, we presume that:
(1) program involvement is a direct function of the amount of behavioral
activity resulting from the intervention, and this is generally a direct function of
the number of agents per targeted individuals; (2) social support is influenced by
the degree of interactive peer, family or friend advocacy facilitated by the
intervention; (3) response information varies directly with the amount of new
behavioral knowledge given by the intervention, and can be facilitated by
increasing the salience of the information presentation and the proximity
between the behavioral request and the individual's opportunity or ability to
emit the desired response (cf. Geller et al., 1982); (4) extrinsic control is
determined by the implementation of certain response contingencies (i.e.,
rewards vs. penalties); and (5) intrinsic control is increased by augmenting
individuals' perceptions of autonomy or freedom of choice.
Table 2 on the next page depicts our derivation of an initial taxonomy of
behavior change techniques for evaluating intervention impact and for guiding
the development of more effective intervention programs. Hopefully, this
1268
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Tqfrle 3i
A taxonomy of behavior change strategies to guide intervention
development and evaluation.
Behavior Change
Techniques
INVOLVEMENT
SOCIAL
SUPPORT
RESPONSE
INFORMATION
EXTRINSIC
CONTROL
IMMEDIATE
EFFECTS
INTRINSIC
CONTROL
j
5 J
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is
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PASSIVE
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c
1. Lecture
0
0
t
0
0
1 I
2. Demonstration
0
1
1
0
2
0
2 |
3. Policy
0
0
1
0
1
0
11
3
E
p
:*epv£iif^ iim
4. Commitment
i
0
1
0
2
0
2 1
O
O
5. Discussion / Consensus
1
1
1
0
3
0
3 I
6. Intervention Agent
1
1
1
0
3
0
3 1
INDIVIDUAL
|
7. Written Activator
0
0
1
0
1
0
1 I
8. Oral Activator
0
1
1
0
2
0
2 |
9. Assigned Individual Goal
0
0
1
1
2
-1
1 J
10. Personal Goal
1
0
1
1
3
0
3 |
E
o
11. Competition
t
0
1
1
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-1
2 1
i
12. Incentive
1
0
1
1
3
-1
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13. Disincentive
1
0
1
1
3
-1
2 I
GROUP
Kr
1
14. Assigned Group Goal
0
0
1
1
2
-1
1 1
15. Tt im Goal
1
1
1
4
0
4 1
16. Competition
1
1
1
1
4
-1
3 1
17. Incentive
1
1
1
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4
-1
3 1
18. Disincentive
1
1
1
1
4
-1
3 1
M
INDIVIDUAL ]
o
o
19. Feedback
0
0
1
0
1
0
1 1
c
20. Reward
0
0
1
1
2
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1 |
w
, D i
21. Punisher
0
0
1
1
2
-1
1 1
V
o
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-7.
v>
,c
22. Feedback
0
1
1
0
2
0
2 |
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23. Reward
0
1
1
1
3
-1
2 1
u
24. Punisher
0
1
1
1
3
-1
2 1
1270
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heuristic will also prompt needed behavior change research. For example,
empirical evidence is needed to verify our classifications of behavior change
procedures and to develop a weighting system to account for the relative
influence of the five factors presumed to determine intervention effectiveness.
[Improvement of our taxonomy is likely to influence more focused research for
large-scale behavior change and lead to the development of more effective
interventions in the domain of environmental protection.]
To derive the preliminary factor scores for each behavior change technique,
we first defined each behavior change procedure according to applications of
behavioral science for promoting health, safety, and environmental protection
(see Table 1). Then we judged whether the procedures and operations inherent
in a given behavior change technique included aspects of the five evaluation
factors (as discussed above). A simple all-or-none (a priori) scoring system was
applied as described below. Research is needed to provide behavioral evidence
for these judgments and to develop a more sensitive scoring scheme. For
example, differential observations of involvement and social support across
different intervention programs (e.g., discussion/consensus vs. intervention
agent) would suggest ratings of "degree" rather than "all-or-none". [Degree could
be created by calculating a regression coefficient or factor loading.]
The factor scores given in Table 2 for each of the intervention techniques
defined in Table 1 were determined by scoring "1" if any of the following
questions for a factor were answered affirmatively:
1. Involvement — Does the behavior change technique increase the
likelihood of overt participant action relevant to the target behavior?
1271
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2. Social Support — Does the behavior change procedure include
opportunities for continual program-relevant support from program participants
or other individuals or groups (e.g., family, friends, work groups)?
3. Response Information — Does the behavior change procedure offer new
and specific information relevant to the behavior(s) targeted? This was a
difficult factor to judge because not only does the amount of response
information transmitted depend on the particular message presented, but it is
also a function of the program recipient's prior knowledge of the target behavior.
For example, the initial exposure to a written activator (e.g., a sign or memo that
specifies a desired behavior) is often informative for the viewers. After
individuals become aware of the appropriate response, however, the same
activator essentially becomes a reminder (with less response information
transmitted). While lectures, discussions and demonstrations often provide new
response information to an individual; verbal activators (e.g., response
suggestions in everyday conversation) are often only reminders. Intervention
research is needed to develop a plan for scoring the information value of a
particular behavior change strategy as it relates to effectiveness at increasing
environmental protection behaviors. For instance, self-report measures of
knowledge relevant to a particular intervention could be developed and
administered to program participants before and after they receive an
intervention program.
4. Extrinsic Control - Does the behavior change procedure manipulate a
response consequence (i.e., a reward or penalty) in order to influence a target
behavior? [Before program planners implement response consequences, they
1272
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should assess (via field observations) the target individuals' preference and
aversions for various feasible consequences.]
5. Intrinsic Control - Does the behavior change procedure offer an
opportunity for personal choice or control? While this was the most difficult
factor to score reliably, it may be the single most crucial factor when considering
long-term response maintenance in the absence of the intervention
contingencies. Note that we only used this factor when totalling the points for
the "Long Term Effects" column. The literature on psychological reactance and
intrinsic motivation (e.g., Brehm, 1966; Deci, 1975) persuaded us to assign a score
of "-1" to procedures which offer rewards or threaten penalties. Further research
is needed to develop a more valid and sensitive scoring system for this factor,
including the weighting of negative scores according to the particular target
behavior. For example, certain conservation behaviors (e.g., using a coffee mug
instead of a cup, turning off lights when not needed) require relatively little
inconvenience and can readily become habitual. Therefore when a successful
extrinsic control contingency is removed, behaviors such as these may not
decrease as substantially as other behaviors (e.g., picking up litter, collecting and
delivering recyclables, riding in a carpool, bringing reusable bags to the grocery
store or fast food restaurant) which are less automatic and are influenced by
other interacting environmental, social and individual factors.
Whereas some behaviors require repeated occurrences to affect significant
environmental protection (e.g., those given in the above paragraph)^ other
environment preserving strategies require only one occurrence of a particular
behavior (e.g., installing a thermostat that automatically changes room
temperature settings at preprogrammed levels, purchasing an energy efficient
1273
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vehicle, inserting a shower flow limiter In a shower head, constructing a high
technology waste separation system, and installing a solar heating system). For
these "one-shot" behaviors, "the user often pays an initial high cost in time
and/or money for the convenience of not having to make continued response
input" (Geller et alv 1982, p. 18). Differential scoring procedures may be necessary
for "repeated, low-cost behaviors" versus "one-shot, costly behaviors." The
literature used to develop our initial system (Table 2) was based on research that
attempted to motivate repeated occurrence of low-cost and low technology
behaviors.
Most interventions consist of a variety of behavior change techniques listed
in Table 3. Therefore a particular intervention program would' receive a
composite score by adding the relevant numbers from Table 2. For example, the
campus paper recycling program evaluated by Geller, Chaffee, and Ingram (1975)
included signs (a written activator) to encourage the collection of recyclable paper
and announce the availability of $15 for the dorm that collected the most paper
each week (group competition and group incentive) or a raffle coupon for each
delivery of recyclable paper to a collection room (individual competition and
incentive). Winners received $15 (group reward) or prizes donated by local
businesses (individual reward).
According to our preliminary scoring system, the Raffle program receives a
composite, relative effectiveness score of "9" for immediate effects (i.e., 1 point
for the signs or written activator, 3 points for individual competition, 3 points
for the individual incentive announced on the signs, and 2 points for the
individual rewards> and a score of "4" for long-term impact (3 points were
subtracted for the extrinsic control of the individual incentive, competition, and
1274
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reward components, see Table 2). The Contest intervention in this study
receives a substantially higher effectiveness score because of the group (rather
than individual) contingencies. Specifically, the composite score for this
intervention is "12" for immediate effects (1 point for the announcement signs
or written activator, 4 points for the group incentive, 4 points for the
competition, and 3 points for the group reward), and "9" for long term effects (3
points subtracted for the extrinsic control of the group incentive, competition,
and reward).
Geller et al. (1975) actually found greater immediate impact for the raffle
program (i.e., 7.3% participation and 253 lbs. of paper per week) than the contest
intervention (i.e., 3.9% participation and 237 lbs. of paper per week). Similar
differences were obtained in a follow-up comparison of dorm raffles versus
contests (Witmer & Geller, 1976), with the raffle motivating 12.2% participation
and 820 lbs. of recyclable paper per week and the contest influencing 5.9%
participation and 544 lbs. of paper per week. These findings do not support our
scoring system (which predicts greater impact of group than individual
contingencies) unless the differential amounts of participation are taken into
account. That is, for the Geller et al. study, the weekly average of paper collected
per program participant was 34.7 lbs. for the raffle and 60.8 lbs. for the contest.
Likewise, for Witmer and Geller, the raffle motivated a weekly average of 67.2
lbs. per participant whereas the contest influenced 92.2 lbs. of paper per
participant. It is noteworthy that for both of these studies the absolute amount
of participation (as defined by different individuals bringing paper to the paper-
collection room) was quite low, suggesting that the rewards were not valuable
enough for most students (or that the written activators were not sufficient to
1275
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make students aware of the program). When the raffle and contest rewards were
withdrawn (after three weeks in both studies), program participation was
practically nonexistent (as it had been during the pre-intervention program
baseline conditions). This indicated the need for some extrinsic
incentive/reward contingency to obtain any substantial amount of recyclable
paper collection among dormitory residents of a large university.
Obviously, we are a long way from having a valid taxonomy of behavior
change procedures from which to choose optimal behavior change techniques
for particular environmental protection programs. The 24 behavior change
strategies listed in Tables 1 and 2 have been used successfully to change various
community-based behaviors (e,g., Cone & Hayes, 1980; Geller et al., 1982;
Glenwick & Jason, 1980). However, studies comparing intervention
effectiveness across two or more techniques are rare. Our attempts to compare
intervention impact across studies in the behavior change literature have
revealed several compromising problems, including the fact that it is extremely
difficult to make comparisons across different target behaviors, settings, and
intervention agents. Even with the same target behavior (e.g., collecting
recyclables) and environment (e.g., neighborhood or college dormitory),
procedural details across studies were usually difficult to match up.
Furthermore, studies with different baseline levels of program participation are
likely to exhibit markedly different levels of responsiveness, even if the
interventions and environmental contexts are similar (cf. Geller, Rudd, Kalsher,
Streff, & Lehman, 1987). We believe that research is needed to address
specifically the relative impact of various techniques for increasing environment
preserving behaviors. The next section reviews one possible research plan for
1276
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developing this behavior change taxonomy further through studying ways to
increase participation in a large-scale recycling program.
Evaluating a taxonomy of behavior change techniques and assessing
a promising approach to resource recovery
The system we have presented for designing intervention programs and
predicting their impact may be innovative, but it is obviously only a preliminary
heuristic that represents a starting point for critically needed prevention
research. In the domain of solid waste management, for example, research is
needed to compare various intervention approaches (e.g., extrinsic vs. intrinsic
control, rewards vs. penalties) to motivate participation in local resource
recovery programs. Furthermore, our MIL (multiple intervention level) model
could be tested by repeating the same intervention or different interventions
with the same composite effectiveness score (from the taxonomy) and measuring
whether repetitions influence the participation of a significant number of
additional individuals who had been exposed to the initial intervention
program. Recall that our MIL model predicts few new program participants
following their exposure to another intervention program with the same (or
lower) effectiveness score. In other words, we hypothesize that a more effective
intervention program is required to enroll more program participants from the
population of individuals exposed to a previous, less effective intervention
program. From our scoring system (see Table 2), we also predict that group
discussion will result in more participation than the typical lecture or film
approach to education, that an intrinsic-control program will affect more long-
term impact than an extrinsic-control intervention, and that program
participation per employee will vary inversely with size of work force.
1277
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A corporate-based approach to resource recovery offers several advantages for
field-testing our models, as well as demonstrating a potentially cost-effective
approach to resource recovery in certain areas (especially rural communities
where curb-side recycling is often infeasible or inefficient). The basic idea is to
place receptacles for recyclables at corporate sites (e.g., entrances/exits of
employee parking lots) that are easily accessible to the employees' vehicles.
Then, the industry could implement various approaches for motivating
employees to bring their recyclables from home and deposit them in the
appropriate receptacles. Program participation could be evaluated by
maintaining systematic records of the amounts of recyclables collected and the
number of different individuals depositing recyclables. From both an applied
and research perspective, this general research plan for studying corporate-based
recycling has several advantages, including:
• Employees bring recyclables to work, thus avoiding an extra> inconvenient
and energy wasteful trip to another dropoff site.
• Workers are a "captive" audience for various behavior change techniques.
• Corporations can reap public relations benefits by sponsoring a recycling
program, thereby increasing the likelihood that: (a) they will continue the
program, and (b) other companies follow their examples.
• Public relations media campaigns would disseminate environmental
values to the community.
• The corporate culture could change in favor of recycling and lead to
innovative recycling or source reduction strategies for the industry itself.
• Questionnaires could be completed by the employees before and after a
particular intervention program in order to explore individual factors
(e.g., demographics, lifestyles, attitudes, and personalities) as moderators of
1278
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intervention impact and to study changes in beliefs, attitudes, and values
as a result of participation in a recycling program.
• Changing behaviors and attitudes among workers is the beginning of
culture change.
Concluding Remarks
Clearly these conceptualizations represent only a first approximation toward
developing a reliable and valid taxonomy of behavior change techniques from
which to choose a particular intervention program for promoting
environmental protection. Our scoring system for evaluating intervention
impact is preliminary, and raises more questions than it answers. Indeed,
several directions for empirical research were suggested, as well as a basic plan
for field research to address these questions. Empirical evidence is needed, for
example, to verify the classifications of the behavior change techniques according
to the five impact factors, and to develop a more sensitive scoring system than
the "all or none" scheme used in Table 2. Moreover, intervention research is
needed to develop a plan for operationally scoring the involvement, social
support, response information, and intrinsic vs. extrinsic control of a particular
behavior change technique. This research might also indicate a need to include
additional impact factors to the scoring system. The benefits from such
investigation will be numerous, including the refinement and enhancement of
behavior change theory and methodology with regard to its applicability to
address environmental problems.
Behavior change theory was first applied to environmental problems in the
early 70's, following the first Earth Day. Numerous behavior change studies
from 1970 to 1980 focused on the development and evaluation of interventions
to reduce such environment-destructive behaviors as littering, lawn trampling,
1279
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vehicle miles of travel, and the purchase of beverages in throwaway containers.
Other behavioral studies showed how to increase such environment-preserving
behaviors as picking up litter, collecting and delivering recyclables, composting,
car pooling, and practicing a number of low cost conservation techniques (e.g.,
installing insulation and shower flow limiters, adjusting thermostat settings and
wearing appropriate clothing, reducing the use of air conditioners, adjusting for
peak-load demands, and increasing the use of mass transit). Several innovative
behavior change techniques emerged from this research, many proving to be
cost-effective for communitywide application. Although the results from this
domain of behavior change research were encouraging, large-scale applications
of the practical intervention programs were not to be. The textbooks (Cone &
Hayes, 1989; Geller et al., 1982) that reviewed this work were read by very few
individuals besides students at the relatively few colleges or universities that
offered courses in environmental psychology. The failure to apply this
knowledge is unfortunate, especially in light of the profound intensification of
environmental destruction that has occurred since the first Earth Day.
There are many possible reasons for the lack of governmental, corporate, and
societal interest in the behavioral environmental research of the 1970's,
including: ineffective dissemination of the practical research findings to agencies
and audiences who were more intrigued with high technology and quick-fix
approaches to solving environmental problems. Indeed, the theme of this
behavior change research - conservation through low technology community
prevention — has been typically viewed as incompatible with big business and
consumer convenience (cf. Geller, in press). This viewpoint was summarized
succinctly by Clive Seligman, one of the behavior change researchers of the 70's:
1280
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Unless business can make money from environmental products or
politicians can get elected on environmental issues, or individuals
can get personal satisfaction from experiencing environmental
concern, then individuals and organizations will simply do what
ever competes with environmentalism if they see the pay off as
greater (C. Seligman, personal communication, March 8, 1990 cited
in Geller, in press).
National, state, and local governments have seemed content to pass
environmental control legislation and then penalize individual, group, or
corporate infractions of such policy. This is partly because laws, policies, and
ordinances are relatively quick and easy to implement and monitor; they
represent the traditional governmental approach to behavior control/change,
and the monetary fines from infractions provide funds for the organization or
community (R. Foxx, personal communication, March 22,1990 cited in Geller, in
press).
This paper has summarized a number of behavior change approaches that do
not incorporate policy, disincentives, or penalties - techniques which should
actually be used only as a last resort if public acceptance and positive attitude
change are desired. Hopefully, Earth Day 1990 has begun an era of corporate and
government concern and community empowerment for addressing
environmental issues in sharp contrast to the corporate and individual greed of
the 1980's that occurred at the expense of community and environmental
enhancement.
Unlike 20 years ago, it is now fashionable and profitable for companies to
promote their products as being environmentally protective. However, since the
1231
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U.S. has no standards concerning what may be advertised as "environmentally
safe," many opportunistic companies are grossly misleading the public about
their products. For instance, a certain producer of plastic trash bags promoted
them as being biodegradable. While it is true that the bags decompose in the
presence of sunlight and moisture, under typical landfill conditions (dark and
anaerobic) the bags do not degrade (Dadd, 1990). An important step would be for
the government to establish regulations for what may and may not be considered
environmentally friendly. In addition, the behavioral science literature suggests
that the government should provide incentives and rewards (e.g., tax breaks) for
companies that demonstrate environment preserving practices. Since
economics dictate much of corporate decision making, tax incentives are likely to
be extremely effective. When this positive approach is not effective, then the
more traditional approaches (i.e., disincentives and penalties) could be used.
Behavioral and social scientists can play an important role in increasing
corporations' environmentally protective behavior by helping them develop
more effective environmental programs with the low-technology behavior
change reviewed in this paper. However, there is the risk that producing low-
cost corporate interventions might give companies an opportunity to use these
programs to promote themselves as being environmentally friendly while not
addressing other more environmentally destructive practices that would be
more costly to change.
If "letting companies off the hook" becomes a problem, behavioral and social
scientists should look for other settings, such as universities, to implement
behavior change interventions. Along these same lines, the government should
provide funding for promoting environment preserving behaviors so that
1262
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researchers interested in studying the human element of environmental issues
are not required to rely on private enterprises for support or do not abandon the
field as many did in the early 1980's (Geller, in press).
We find the enormous amount of media attention and the overwhelming
expression of environmental concern by the American people to be promising
signs that the culture is beginning to change toward environmental protection.
Further, we see the arrangement of this conference and other recent activities of
the Environmental Protection Agency as important signs that the Zeitgiest is ripe
for governments, scientists, corporations, environmental groups, and citizens to
work together for environment preservation.
References
Brehm, J.W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. New York: Academic
Press.
Cone, J.D., & Hayes, S.C. (1980). Environmental problems/Behavioral solutions.
Monterey, CA Brooks/Cole.
Deri, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.
Dadd, D.L. (1980). A bill of goods: Green consuming in perspective. Greenpeace,
15,8-12.
Geller, E.S. (1980a). Applications of behavioral analysis for litter control. In D.
Glenwick & L. Jason (Eds.), Behavioral community psychology: Progress and
prospects (pp. 254-283). New York: Praeger.
Geller, E.S. (1980b). Saving environmental resources through waste reduction
and recycling: How the behavioral community psychologist can help. In
G.L. Martin & J.G. Osborne (Eds.), Helping in the community: Behavioral
applications (pp. 55-102). New York: Plenum Press.
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Geller, E.S. (1981). Waste reduction and resource recovery: Strategies for energy
conservation. In A. Baum & J. E. Singer (Eds.), Advances in environmental
psychology, Vol. Ill: Energy conservation: Psychological perspectives (pp.
115-154). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Geller, E.S. (1983). The energy crisis and behavioral science: A conceptual
framework for large-scale intervention. In A.W. Childs & G.B. Melton (Eds.),
Rural psychology (pp. 381-426). New York: Plenum Press.
Geller, E.S. (1986). Prevention of environmental problems. In L. Michelson & B.
Edelstein (Eds.), Handbook of prevention (pp. 361-383). New York: Plenum
Press.
Geller, E.S. (1987). Environmental psychology and applied behavior analysis:
From strange bedfellows to a productive marriage. In D. Stokols & I. Altman
(Eds.), Handbook on environmental psychology• New York: Wiley.
Geller, E.S. (1989). Applied behavior analysis and social marketing: An
integration to preserve the environment. Journal of Social Issues, 45(1), 17-
36.
Geller, E.S. (in press). Behavior analysis and environmental protection: Where
have all the flowers gone? Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Geller, E.S., Chaffee, J.L., & Ingram, R.E. (1975). Promoting paper recycling on a
university campus. Journal of Environmental Systems, 5, 39-57.
Geller, E.S., Rudd, J.R., Kalsher, M.J., Streff, F.M., & Lehman, G.R. (1987).
Employer-based programs to motivate safety belt use: A review of short and
long-term effects. Journal of Safety Research, 18, 1-17.
Geller, E. S„ Winett, R. A., & Everett, P. B. (1982). Preserving the environment:
New strategies for behavior change. Elmsford, New York: Pergamon Press.
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Glenwick, D., & Jason, L. (Eds.) (1980). Behavioral community psychology:
Progress and prospects. New York: Praeger.
Katz, E., & Lazarfeld, P.E. (1955). Personal influence: The part played by people in
the flow of mass communication. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Witmer, J.F., jk Geller, E.S. (1976). Facilitating paper recycling: Effects of prompts,
raffles, and contests. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9, 315-322.
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EDUCATING STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON SOLID
WASTE: A MODEL FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
INVOLVING UNIVERSITY CENTERS
Michael William Mullen
Center for Environmental Research and Service
Troy State University
Troy/ Alabama
Presented at the
rst U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16/ 1990
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EDUCATING STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON SOLID
WASTE: A MODEL FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
INVOLVING UNIVERSITY CENTERS
BACKGROUND
The Center for Environmental Research and Service at
Troy State University was created in 1985. It was created at
least partially in response to the vision of a former
director of Alabama's Department of Environmental Management.
That individual sensed that successful responses to emerging
environmental problems and conflicts requires informed
citizens and decision-makers. The Center's three-fold mission
was and remains; environmental education/ environmental
research and planning, and public service. The Center offers
programs and services statewide on a variety of subjects as
its resources allow. The Center is funded primarily
through Troy State University's research and public
service appropriations. However/ without contract income/
grants and donations/ the Center would be unable to
continue many of its services. The remainder of this
presentation examines the operating philosophy of the
Center. It also covers products and services/ and cooperative
efforts for their delivery.
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PHILOSOPHY
The Center's staff decided early in its development not
to duplicate existing services offered by other programs.
Thus it has avoided turf battles with other programs or
agencies. Given this philosophy, networking with other
programs and projects has always been a consideration
in developing Center projects and services. The Center has
attempted to develop products and projects which meet
previously unsatisfied needs in Alabama. In the solid waste
area it has been relatively easy to hold to that philosophy
since little was available from state agencies concerning
solid waste and recycling. Since most pre-existing
environmental programs were local or limited in scope, similar
needs existed for other topics.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The Center has developed a variety of products and
services in the solid waste area. Many of these have been
developed at the request or suggestion of other organizations.
On some occasions funding has been available from cooperating
organizations/ but on many occasions the Center utilized
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its own resources. This section lists these products and
services and suggests aspects of these which are pertinent
to the theme of public-private cooperation.
Publications
Newsletter: The Center provides information to its various
audiences via a quarterly newsletter. The newsletter has had
feature articles on solid waste. Topics have included;
rural solid waste collection, the EPA solid waste
management hierarchy, incineration/ Alabama's solid
waste management planning process/ recycling and plastics
biodegradability. The newsletter circulation is currently
about 2200 and includes mayors of Alabama municipalities/
county commission chairmen and other decision-makers.
Public Education Booklets and Curriculum Guides: The
Center has produced several public education booklets and
curriculum materials on solid waste. Common Elements in
Successful Rural Solid Waste Collection Programs:
Defining/ Refining/ and Implementing More Effective Programs
in Alabama was produced at the suggestion of the
Association of County Commissions of Alabama. It was designed
as a tool for education of county commissioners and
legislators. It focuses on the need for mandatory county solid
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waste collection program participation and models for such
systems. It also addresses other actions needed to reduce
roadside solid waste dumps and litter. Funds for printing
the booklet were provided by Waste Away* Inc. a Waste
Management Inc. Partner headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.
Another booklet, A Briefing Book on Litter and Solid
Waste/ was developed and produced in limited numbers for
Alabama PALS (People Against A Littered State) for delivery
to the governor as part of that organization's annual awards
program. The most successful publication produced by the
Center has been the Alabama PALS Litter Education
Activity Guide. The guide was developed by Center personnel
for the Alabama PALS organization. The guide will soon be
reprinted for the fifth time. The initial printing was
funded by Waste Away, Inc. and subsequent printings have been
funded by the Center, a state agency/ and most recently
in part by a grocery store chain contribution. The guide
borrowed and adapted materials developed by the Washington
State Department of Ecology and the National Center for
Appropriate Technology.
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The Center also has developed a collection of materials which
it has used for three years in its Educator's Environmental
Seminar. Curriculum materials on topics covered at the
seminar/ related background information and copies of the EPA
Journal and other items are given to participants.
Services
Toll-free Information Line: The Center operates a
toll-free information line (Citizen's Environmental and
Conservation Information Line; CECIL). The line was conceived
by the staff of the Center which sensed the need for such a
service. The service was started despite predictions by
the public information officer of the state
environmental agency that the number of calls which the line
would receive would not justify its cost. After two years
of operation with only minimal publicity# CECIL is handling an
average of about 120 calls per month. Recycling and other
solid waste related questions make up around 20 percent of
all calls. Educators requesting materials or loan of
materials make 50% of all calls to CECIL. Individuals make
up the next largest group of callers at around 19% and
local governments are responsible for 11% of the calls. The
line has been publicized via the newsletter* and handouts
of bumper stickers/ information cards and magnets. A river
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otter is used as the CECIL character. Monthly phone charges
for the information line and initial installation and
publicity materials costs have been funded by a grant from
Waste Away/ Inc.
Annual Educator's Environmental Seminar: For the past
three years the Center has coordinated a three-day expenses
paid seminar for junior and senior high school teachers on
environmental issues. Housing/ meals and local tours are
provided. Seminar session topics have included solid waste/
hazardous waste/ water quality/ air quality/ risk assessment/
global environmental issues and others. Participants are given
a notebook containing curriculum materials and background
information on the topics covered. The only expense to
participants is a token fee. It is levied primarily to avoid
having "no-shows" at the seminar. The number of
participants is established by the funds available. The
first seminar was funded largely by the waste management
industry (Waste Management/ Inc./ Chemical Waste Management/
Inc. and Waste Away/ Inc.). Funding for later seminars has
come from more diverse sources including host universities/
Alabama Power Company and other firms. The seminar is moved to
a different host university or college each year.
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Information Services and Technical Assistance on
Recycling and Solid Waste Management: The Center has provided
a variety of services to individuals/ citizen organizations
and local governments. The Center maintains a limited/
computerized file of papers and reports on solid waste and
recycling. It draws information from the file to respond
to requests received via the CECIL line or other means. Also/
due to numerous requests/ packets of materials have been
developed on school recycling project organization.
Cooperation with private firms and associations involved in
glass/ aluminum/ and paper recycling has provided the Center
with some of the materials utilized to honor such
requests. Such materials supplement copies of EPA
publications (usually reprinted via inexpensive
on-campus resources) and articles from publications such as
Waste Age/ and BioCycle. Recently/ the Center has started
reprinting and distributing copies of a recycling reference
guide developed in Arkansas. The staff is revising that
publication to make it Alabama specific. The Center has
cooperated with regional planning councils/ private
companies and the Alabama Department of Environmental
Management to deliver solid waste seminars on subtitle
D regulations/ the state planning process and
recycling. Finally/ the Center has consulted with communities
to provide guidance fof the development of recycling
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programs. Sometimes this has been via meetings with local
officials. More often it has involved an analysis of the
local situation and vritten recommendation of recycling
program alternatives and planning steps. A Center staff
member serves as a member of the City of Troy's solid waste
advisory committee. The Center will coordinate the in-school
part of Troy's local public education campaign.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE MODEL
The Center's development as an environmental information
and service organization represents a different model from
that found in many states. It differs in that it is not part
of a state agency. It also differs from programs in some
states as it is limited in its scope only by the abilities of
its staff and its financial resources. It is also different
from many university programs as it places an emphasis on
information and technical assistance at least equal or
greater than that given to research.
The differences in the model result in some inherent
strengths and weaknesses. Certainly some individuals and some
organizations contact the Center to request information which
"light be reluctant to contact a similar program within a state
egulatory agency. Some of this may be attributable to a
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concern in the regulated community about having a regulatory-
agency involved. In some instances it is activists who don't
trust the state agency. Also/ the Center has more freedom in
the unattached/ university center model to network with a
variety of parties. It can avoid getting entangled in turf
battles which can arise between agencies which have
overlapping responsibilites and differing philosophies. A key
advantage is that it can seek funding from the private sector
which being an agency program would limit. Also, university
funding in Alabama is more stable than agency funding
because education is funded by earmarked revenues which are
increasing. Finally/ a center independent from the State
environmental agency is less influenced by state politics
and is free to criticize the agency's policies or actions.
There are disadvantages to the model. Separation from the
state regulatory agencies requires referral of numerous
information requests to the appropriate agency. It also means
that needs for public information must be judged by a staff
which is not in regular contact with the regulated community.
Therefore/ the priorities established may not always mirror
the needs of small businesses. Finally/ the need to raise
outside funds for programs leaves the Center open to
criticism about the source of funding for its programs.
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SUGGESTIONS
Centers which operate within a model similar to that of
the Center for Environmental Research and Service can maximize
the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of the model. To
insure that private funding for cooperative projects does not
result in a bias or a perception of bias; written agreements
which spell out the Center's independent control should be
executed whenever any question of influence might arise. The
Center has used such an agreement for its educators
environmental seminar which details its control and its right
to review materials distributed at the seminar. Centers which
accept private funding and work cooperatively with industry
must recognize possible ramifications. Despite their
objectivity and the quality of their programs, some
individuals and groups will critize them for accepting funds
from industry. Centers which receive industry funding should
attempt to diversify the funding sources.
Environmental education and service centers can also err
on the other extreme. If the leadership of a center is
pre-occupied with public opinion and political considerations
a bias can be created against particular industries or
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technologies. This bias is particularly dangerous because it
is typically the environmental fringe groups which capture the
attention of the media and therefore the politicians.
Fear of these extremes can also create a leadership
paralysis in a center. The information and messages coming
from such a center can be altered where that they have no
value to anyone. A proper course is to present factual,
technical information and to include different viewpoints when
there is not a concensus on an issue. The leadership of any
environmental center must recognize that when it deals with
issues that it is open to critcism if its message has any
value. Environmental information and service centers must
present the quality technical and economic information and
make solid recommendations to individuals and communities.
They must accept criticism; using valid criticism as
feedback for improving services and ignoring fringe group
criticism. Avoiding this responsibility to dispense the
best available information and recommendations will lead to
poor decisions which can impact both environmental quality
and solid waste management costs.
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CONCLUSIONS
A university-based environmental information and service
center can use advantages which that model creates to forge
partnerships with both the private and public sectors for
dissemination of its products and services. However/ there
are tradeoffs. The advantages can be maximized by assuring
that the center's programs are controlled by the center and
not by funding sources. Likewise/ the center needs to be
free from political control and operate in an atmosphere of
academic freedom and integrity. Private-public partnerships
can stretch scarce financial resources and provide additional
technical resources to such centers.
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Gloss
Packaging
Institute
1801 K STREET, N.W., SUITE 1105-L
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006
(202) 887-4850
FAX (202) 785-5377
Glass Container Industry Overview
for
First U.S. Municipal Solid Waste Management Conference
WHAT IS THE GLASS CONTAINER INDUSTRY?
The glass container industry manufacturers containers for food, beer, soft
drinks, wine, liquor, cosmetics and medicines. There is significant new product
development in the areas of microwaveable containers, single-serve containers and
lighterweight containers.
The United States glass container industry maintains plants in 25 states and
employs more than 42,500 men and women.
Major U.S. glass container producers include: Anchor Glass Container Corp.;
Ball-InCon Glass Packaging Corp.; Foster-Forbes Glass Division; Gallo Glass
Company; Kerr; Latchford Glass Company; Liberty Glass Company, and Owens-
Brockway Glass Containers.
WHY RECYCLE GLASS?
The solid waste crisis in the United States is escalating. Ninety percent of U.S.
garbage is buried in landfills. A full third of landfills will be capped and closed in five
years and fewer new ones are being opened.
Disposal costs in some parts of the country have skyrocketed to well over $100
per ton. A few years ago costs in these same areas were under $10 per ton. As waste
disposal options decrease, .disposal costs will continue to rise.
The good news is that 30-35 percent of the total amount of trash generated
doesn't have to be disposed of; it can be recycled instead.
The glass container industry defines recycling as "the remanufacturing or
reprocessing of discarded materials into the same product - again and again and
again."
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Glass
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Glass is therefore 100 percent recyclable, because an old glass container can be
made into a new one over and over again. Some materials, such as plastic, are not
truly recyclable because they ultimately end up in a landfill. While some plastic
containers can be remanufactured into products such as yo-yo's or flower pots, yo-yo's
and flower pots cannot be remanufactured into new items so they are landfilled.
IS THERE A MARKET FOR RECYCLED GLASS?
The market for recycled glass, or cullet, is strong. Currently recycled glass
comprises approximately 30 percent of eveiy glass container produced int he United
States. The glass container industry needs more cullet to raise that percentage.
Last year, the glass container industiy recycled more than 7 billion containers.
The industiy benefits from recycling in several ways. For example, cullet use helps
reduce maintenance and energy costs.
A secondary market for mixed colored cullet, used as glasphalt is emerging.
Glasphalt can be seen in New York City on Fifth Avenue in front of the famous Trump
Tower.
HOW IS RECYCLED GLASS COLLECTED?
There are a variety of methods to collect glass for recycling. The glass container
industry believes curbside recycling is the most effective manner in which to collect
and process recyclables.
Comprehensive curbside recycling programs ask residents to sort recyclables
from other trash items. The separated recyclables are then collected at curbside by
municipalities and transported to recycling facilities.
Comprehensive curbside recycling programs can reduce the waste stream by as
much as 35 percent There are currently 1,200 curbside programs nationwide.
Curbside programs where residents or recycling truck operators sort recyclables
into separate containers (i.e., separate containers for glass, newspaper and aluminum)
ofTer the biggest advantage because materials are sorted more effectively than when
they are sorted at a recycling facility.
With source-separated programs, residents can also be alerted when they are
sorting materials incorrectly. Initial studies have shown that residents are more
committed to source-separated curbside programs because they see their sorting efforts
payoff.
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It only takes about fifteen minutes per week to separate recyclables. It is
convenient for consumers and cost-efTective for communities.
Proper source separation is important because cullet, as with other raw
materials, must meet specifications to ensure a quality product is made. Properly
sorted cullet will be more attractive to glass manufacturers.
Used glass containers should be color-sorted to insure that newly manufactured
containers match the color standards requested by the glass container customer. For
example, to make a clear bottle, the manufacturer needs clear glass.
Cullet should be contaminant-free, meaning that materials such as metal caps
and lids, ceramics and stones are removed. Contaminants damage furnaces and
downgrade the quality of finished products.
Other Collection Mechanisms
In addition to curbside programs, the industry supports drop-off programs
where consumers drop off their used glass containers at a designated drop-off site.
These programs can be used as fundraisers for community groups.
Buy-back centers are another option. The centers purchase glass and other
recyclables from people who voluntarily transport the materials to the center. The
centers sort and compact the materials and then sell them to manufacturers for
processing. Many glass container manufacturers have established such centers in their
plant communities.
Forced Deposits
Forced deposit laws inhibit recycling efforts. They only address six percent of
the waste stream versus curbside programs which are more comprehensive.
Beverage containers under forced deposit laws are diverted away from recycling
outlets to retail outlets, diminishing the main revenue producers for recycling centers.
Many productive recycling operations are forced out of business because they cannot
collect enough glass and aluminum containers.
According to a 1989 Gallup Poll, consumers prefer curbside recycling programs
over forced deposits by a 2-to-l margin.
Retailers find forced deposits a burden because they are required to collect and
store containers. Many switch packaging to hard-to-recycle plastic because plastic is
easier to store than 100 percent recyclable glass. This also contributes to a lower
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supply of glass for recycling. Further, it denies consumers the option to purchase a
recyclable container over a non-recyclable one.
WHAT IS THE GLASS INDUSTRY DOING TO ENCOURAGE RECYCLING?
The glass container industiy helps develop and maintain recycling networks
nationwide. These networks guarantee a steady supply of cullet.
Over the last three years, the industiy has spent over $15 million to support and
implement recycling programs. Through a unique labor-management fundraising
program, the Nickel Solution, the industiy Is able to fund many programs as well as a
full-time national recycling director and eight state directors. The state directors cover
30 states and the District of Columbia.
To improve the quality of cutlet, the industiy has installed 27 processing units
at glass plants to sort out undesirable materials and contaminants. The industiy plans
to add more units, which cost nearly $1 million each.
Because recycling depends on resident participation, the industry spends a great
deal of time and effort to educate consumers and community leaders.
The industiy produced the following brochure series on curbside recycling:
Glass Recycling: Why? How?
How to Curb the Solid Waste Crisis: Comprehensive Curbside Recycling
Comprehensive Curbside Recycling: Collection Costs and How to Control
Them
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Defense Fund have both
endorsed "Comprehensive Curbside Recycling: Collection Costs and How to Control
Them". To accompany the workbook, the industiy produced a video: The Problem:
Waste Disposal; A Solution: Curbside Recycling".
To draw consumer attention to glass as a 100 percent recyclable material, the
industiy developed a symbol called the recycling "G". Currently, Pepsi is using the "G"
on all of its bottles sold in the United States.
A 1989 Gallup Poll confirms that consumers are looking for more information
on the packaging they buy. The poll showed that 72 percent of Americans would buy
recyclable containers over non-recyclables if given the choice.
WHAT ARE SOME RECYCLING SUCCESS STORIES?
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The most successful programs involve states, communities and industry working
together. In New Jersey, where the nation's most comprehensive mandatory recycling
plan was enacted in 1987, 18 percent of the state's municipal waste is being recycled
after only one year.
Under the New Jersey law, counties and municipalities are required to enact and
enforce ordinances for source separation of leaves and three other items from a list of
recyclable materials. The state's goal is to reduce solid waste by 25 percent within two
years.
In addition to its recycling mandate, New Jersey has created an $8 million fund
that will be used for recycling grants and bonuses to municipalities and counties. The
state also offers a 50 percent tax credit to firms buying recycled products and certain
recycling equipment for use in New Jersey.
The state is hopeful that it will reach its 25 percent goal by next year.
Communities across the state are finding that recycling is saving them money.
Communities are finding that recycling glass can save on disposal costs and generate
income to offset costs of recycling programs. When communities have to ship trash
out of state, recycling becomes even more cost-effective.
The Seattle recycling success story involves the use of private haulers to collect
materials. In Seattle, two private haulers, Waste Management and Rabanco, have been
successful in implementing the city's curbside program. The city has reached a 35
percent recycling rate in four years.
A third success story shows how community groups can be used to support
recycling. In Washington, D.C., the Glass Packaging Institute joined forces with the
Council of Churches and launched Operation Igtoo. Igloos, fiberglass domes with
round holes at the top for depositing used glass containers, were placed around the
community. Igloos can even be found at the Environmental Protection Agency. Since
the program began in 1987, the volume collected has increased more than 300 percent
and many young people have received scholarships from the money raised via
Operation Igloo.
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WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?
The Glass Packaging Institute
1801 K Street, NW, Suite 1105-L
Washington, DC 20006
202/887-4850
California Glass Recycling Corporation
Contact: Lee H. Wiegandt
916/442-7002
Area: California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington
Caroliaas Glass Recycling Program
Contact* Jim Heimberger
704/525-8259
Area: North Carolina, South Carolina
Central States Glass Recycling Program
Contact: Kevin Hardie
317/872-4173
Area: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin
Mid-America Glass Recycling Program
Contact: Gail Ederer
501/855-4703
Area: Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas,
Kansas, Arkansas
Mid-Atlantic Glass Recycling Program
Contact: Ben Davol
703/836-4655
Area: Mainland, Virginia, District of Columbia
New Jersey Glass Recycling Association
Contact: Mel Hintz
201/898-9123
Pennsylvania Glass Recycling Corporation
Contact: Doug Gibboney
717/234-8091
Area: Pennsylvania, Delaware
Southeast Glass Recycling Program
Contact: David Baker
813/799-4917
Area: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi
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THE GREEN CONSUMER IN EUROPE AND CANADA:
A MODEL FOR THE U.S.?
Jane Gilbert
Karen Blumenfeld
Arthur D. Little, Inc.
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference in Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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THE GREEN CONSUMER IN EUROPE AND CANADA: A MODEL FOR THE U.S.?
In the past few years, news accounts of the depleting ozone layer, landfill
closures, acid rain, and the oil spill in Valdez, Alaska, have served to remind the world
of humanity's integral relationship with the Earth. At the start of 1989, Time magazine
highlighted this greater awareness and concern when it designated our "Endangered
Earth" as Planet of the Year, in lieu of the usual Man or Woman of the Year. Time
explained: "No single individual, no event, no movement captured imaginations or
dominated headlines more than the clump of rock and soil and water and air that is our
common home."1
Although it is still too early to predict how this public attention to environmental
concerns will translate into actual changes in purchasing behavior around the world, we
anticipate that it will evolve from a general diffuse awareness and concern to a more
specific questioning of the impact of our consumer lifestyles on local and global
environments.
In Northern and Central Europe, environmental concerns already have reached
levels that significantly impact consumers' purchasing and political voting decisions.
Although comparable growth in demand for "green" products (i.e., not tested on
animals, biodegradable, no artificial colors, no . . .) has yet to be seen in the United
'Thomas A. Sancton, "What on Earth Are We Doing?" Time, January 2, 1989, p. 7.
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States, initial signs of such a trend can be observed in areas of traditionally high
environmental awareness such as the West Coast and New England. According to a
1988 Gallup Poll, 50 percent of the Americans surveyed stated that they would change
their purchasing habits to buy foods and beverages that are sold in recycled or
recyclable containers.2 Additional evidence includes the widespread distribution of
environmental shopping guides published by the Council on Economic Priorities,
Greenhouse Crisis Center, and other environmental interest groups and state agencies.
Is the United States at the onset of a major green wave in consumer products
marketing, or will these products continue to attract only limited attention? Some
industry experts are looking to Europe for the answers.
Success of Green Products In Europe
Within the last three years, products and packaging labeled "green," or
"environmentally friendly," have quickly been gaining visibility in the marketplace in
West Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Comprehensive
consumer guide books on green products such as John Elkington's Green Consumer
Guide and Germany's Okologie Im Haushalt (Ecology in the Household) have been best
sellers in the United Kingdom and Germany. These books suggest environmentally
sound alternatives for a comprehensive array of products—everything from car parts to
caviar. Solvent-free paint systems have grown at a steady rate of 20 percent per year
3Modern Brewery Age, July 4, 1988, p. 4.
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over the last five years in West Germany. Zeolite sales (a substitute for phosphates in
washing powder) in West Germany have grown by 40 percent since 1985.
The success of retail outlets specializing in environmentally friendly products also
demonstrates the increasing consumer demand for these products around the world. In
1987, Migros, which is a cooperative grocery store chain known for the environmental
attributes of its products, was the fourth largest company operating in Switzerland based
on consolidated sales.3 The Body Shop, a British-based chain of stores that sell
cosmetics and beauty products, has been extremely successful in combining
environmental and commercial issues. Not only are the Body Shop's products green,
there is also a refill service offered in all its shops, waste is recycled, recycled paper is
used wherever possible, and environmental projects are supported by a portion of the
profits. In just a few years, Body Shop has expanded to 35 countries and posted sales
increases of 64 percent and profit increases of 74 percent.4
The success of these entrepreneurs is encouraging larger consumer products
companies such as Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson to launch green products.
For example, in 1988, Procter & Gamble introduced in several European countries its
local equivalent of Downy fabric softener (Lenox) as a concentrate with a reusable
'Swiss Business, July, 1988, p. 24.
*Ckicago Tribune (National Edition), September 4, 1989, p. 3.
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container and advertised the environmental benefits of the new product, including the
fact that the refill pouch uses 85 percent less plastic than the bottle.
Western European consumers have reached a relatively high level of environmental
awareness, and they demand to know more about the life cycle environmental impacts
of the products they buy. Consumers even seem willing to sacrifice some level of
convenience for the enhancement of the environment. What are the driving forces
behind this demonstrated success in green products marketing? Why have these
products been so successful in Europe?
European Driving Forces
The population density in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom is quite high. For example, relative to the United States, the population
density of these countries is 5 to 13 times as great That fact and the relative scarcity
of natural resources has resulted in solid waste management becoming a critical
environmental issue in these countries; so much so that Germany and the Netherlands
(as well as Italy and France) have required waste reduction and waste segregation (to
promote recycling) for more than five years.
A dismaying number of environmental crises over the past decade, including
deforestation caused by acid rain; the accidental release of toxic chemicals into the
Rhine River resulting from a warehouse fire; health alerts resulting from dangerous
1311
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levels of air pollution; and the Chernobyl disaster have led to the broadening support of
green political parties and coalitions. While the Greens still represent a small
percentage of the vote in Germany, a recent study indicated that over 80 percent of the
population was in sympathy with the Greens' environmental positions.1 In the
Netherlands, the government recently approved the details of a National Environmental
Plan, which is designed to slash all types of pollution by 70 to 90 percent. In the
United Kingdom, Prime Minister Thatcher has made it very clear that environmental
concerns have a high priority on her legislative and policy agenda. In the Single
European Act (SEA), which amended the European Community (EC) Treaty in July
1987, the EC adopted a statement that: "Economic growth is necessary but there is a
fundamental realization that ecology is an absolutely essential component." This
political action has increased public attention to environmental issues and put pressure
on industry to offer environmentally "safe" products.
Many retailers are taking responsibility themselves for determining what is
environmentally friendly. For instance, two supermarket chains, Superquinn and
Quinnsworth (both in Ireland), are identifying for customers the products they believe
are environmentally safer than available alternatives. Superquinn introduced
"Greenwatch" labels on its environmentally friendly products and has discontinued
selling products they judge are environmentally unsafe, such as chlorofluorocarbon
JE.S. Geller, "Applied Behavior Analysis and Social Marketing: An Integration for
Environmental Preservation." Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 45, No. 1, 1989.
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(CFC)-propelled aerosols. Quinnsworth is also offering products labeled Green.6
Migros, in Switzerland, has developed its own hazard ranking system, which employs a
computer model for determining the environmental friendliness of a product
One of the major dangers with this ad hoc determination of environmental
friendliness, however, is the potential that products may be labeled in a way that is
misleading to the consumers. However, in order to protect consumers against any false
representation, several European countries are looking to West Germany's Blue Angel
labeling program for answers.
When the Blue Angel program was first introduced in 1977 by the West German
Federal Government as a voluntary system for evaluating products, it was accepted
somewhat reluctantly by industry. Once several companies demonstrated that such a
label could boost business (e.g., Enkel with its phosphate-free detergent), however,
industry became one of its primary supporters. Now, the Blue Angel program is
viewed as a model for licensing the environmental safety of products. The Blue Angel
label is granted under certain specific categories such as asbestos free, reusable
packaging, retreaded tires, sanitary paper from recycled paper, PCB-free insulating
liquids for electrical machinery, or recycled glass, and it can be applied to a wide
variety of products including cars, appliances, and batteries as well as food and
beverage containers. Other countries, that is, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and
6Irish Times, July 19, 1989, p. 9.
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Switzerland, are also developing their own environmental labeling or hazard ranking
systems. However, as the Junior Environment Minister of the United Kingdom warned,
"a plethora of national schemes in Europe runs the risk of fragmenting the Single
Market (EC) and would serve the needs of neither consumer nor producer."7
Where Does the United States Stand?
It is important to note that many of the so-called green products in Europe are
products that are already widely available in the United States. For instance, low or no
phosphate detergents, CFC-free aerosol sprays, mercury-free batteries, unleaded gasoline,
and asbestos-free brake pads have been widely available and in many cases mandated in
the United States for several years. These are products that in West Germany are
experiencing dramatic growth in sales because of their appeal to the new green
consumer.
In the last five years, new packaged goods labeled "Organically Grown,"
"Degradable," "Low or No Phosphate Detergents," or involving no animal safety testing,
or using no animal ingredients, have been introduced 20 times faster than the average
rate of new product introduction in the United States.' Smaller companies with
marketing efforts targeted to the more environmentally conscious consumer, such as
1BNA International Environmental Reporter, "Consumer Interests Oppose Government
Plans for Systematic Labeling System," Sept. 1989, p. 445.
'Productscan, Marketing Intelligence Service, Ltd., Naples New York, June 15, 1989.
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Tom's of Maine or Seventh Generation, have achieved attractive growth over the last
few years. A few of the largo-, highly visible companies involved in packaging and
consumer disposables (e.g., McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Amoco, and Du Pont) have
also initiated new ventures in response to the concern over their contribution to the
solid waste crisis.
However, a quick review of the shelves at any major retail outlet in the United
States as compared to the same shelves in a Western European store reveals more of an
absence than a new presence of environmentally friendly products. Moreover, most
products that are identified as environmentally safe are so new to the U.S. market that
they have no appreciable track record to date.
A comparison of the driving forces and trends in green products marketing in
Europe compared with the United States reveals several indications that the United
States may be moving in a similar direction, namely a severe solid waste crisis,
heightened public awareness, and significant political pressuring and posturing. As in
Europe, those regions with higher population densities are showing a greater interest in
acting to preserve the environment. However, due to varying perceptions and cultural
backgrounds, the North American consumer responds to these issues differently than
does the European consumer.
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We find there arc six categories of key players that influence the success of
environmentally friendly products in any region:
• The media
• Retailers
• Consumers/general public
• Government
• Industry
• Other independent organizations (e.g., environmental and public interest groups,
religious organizations, and financial institutions)
The actions and goals of these groups can influence the perceived environmental
risks, the relative importance of the product to the consumer, and the availability of
alternative products. A closer look at these groups in North America as compared to
Europe can facilitate understanding of some of the key similarities and differences we
might anticipate in the market for environmentally friendly products.
Not only have environmental issues, especially the solid waste crisis, been the
subject of national media attention, popular entertainers and media professionals have
been getting involved in raising public awareness as well. Celebrities such as Spalding
Gray, Morgan Fairchild, Sting, Carly Simon, Meryl Streep, and Pee Wee Herman have
recorded television and radio public service announcements with environmental themes.
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In 1989, television and film professionals formed two organizations, ECO
(Environmental Communications) and EMA (Environmental Media Association), to
educate and encourage the media and entertainment communities to incorporate
environmental themes or messages into their creative work. It has become
"fashionable" to be an eco-activist in Hollywood, and these highly influential groups are
working hard to convince the broader public that the same is true for them.
Yet another barometer of the future success of "eco-marketing" is the prospering
of private organizations dedicated to various aspects of environmental management.
These groups are currently enjoying a dramatic increase in membership and financial
strength, as well as sponsorship by the media and entertainment communities. In
addition, eco-marketers have found that they can gain consumer commitment to buying
their brand by announcing that a portion of their profits will support efforts to preserve
the environment. For instance, companies have already used this "cause-related"
marketing technique for everything from credit cards and checks to high fashion clothes
and shampoo. The environmental groups receiving these profits tend to be well
managed, well financed, and politically astute. Working together, these groups
coordinate their agendas and concentrate their resources on specific issues. As a result,
they have played an important part in:
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• Increasing media coverage
• Enrolling the popular entertainment and media communities
• Providing public education (shopping guides and public service announcements)
• Lobbying to get solid waste issues on federal, state, and local action agendas
Their goals seem clear: Products should be reusable, recyclable, and nontoxic,
and disposable consumer products and packaging should be reduced or eliminated. The
primary objective of the product manufacturers, however, is to develop and provide
products that consumers will buy. Although U.S. consumer attitudes may be changing,
people still want safe, convenient, and inexpensive products and packaging first Once
these goals are met, the environmental friendliness of the product may become the basis
for a competitive edge. Degradable plastic products such as garbage bags, grocery
sacks, six-pack ting holders, and diapers have been successful because consumers
perceive that these help to preserve the environment without demanding a compromise
in convenience.
Recently, major supermarket chains in the United States have started advertising
their commitment to selling environmentally safe products. Wal-Mart stores has asked
its suppliers to develop environmentally friendly products and has committed to promote
these products. A recent article in Supermarket News explained, "because of
supermarkets* visibility, they are in a good position to promote recycling and
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environmental concerns. And increased sales may be a by-product of those efforts."9
Loblaws (Canada) now has a vice president for environmental issues and a full line of
environmentally friendly products under the Nature's Choice brand name. As an added
incentive for buyers of Nature's Choice, sales royalties go to a well-known
environmental lobby group.10
Government is also influencing consumer habits toward environmentally friendly
products. Canada has an Environmental Choice Program, which provides judgments
regarding the environmental suitability of products. The program is operated by the
Canadian Standards Association, but its board is appointed by the Minister of the
Environment. In the United States, locations such as Oregon, and Palo Alto and San
Diego, California, and the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) have
separately begun efforts to establish standards for labeling environmentally friendly
products. CONEG guidelines focus on packaging and disposable consumer goods;
highly visible items with short life spans (e.g., disposable diapers); and fast food
packaging. The prestigious American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) also has
entered the field. It met in October 1989 to begin development of standard definitions
for recycled, recyclable, and degradable packaging.
From a legislative perspective, most initiatives involving packaging and consumer
•Environment Week, "California Grocer Turns to Paper," Sept 21, 1989.
10USA Today, Aug. 23, 1989, p. B-l.
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products have occurred on the state and local government levels. There are currently
over 500 solid waste management hills before state and local legislatures that would
affect the packaging and consumer products industries. Local actions include curbside
recycling programs, consumer information services, and bans on certain non-recyclable,
non-degradable plastics. In the United States, comprehensive source segregation laws
did not exist until 1987, when the State of New Jersey passed its Mandatory Recycling
Act Since then, more than a dozen other states have passed similar legislation.
Although the majority of the U.S. population has not yet had to cope personally with
the solid waste crisis, experts believe they will be forced to do so in the upcoming
decade.
Predictions for the U.S. Market
A broad array of industries have been, and will likely continue to be, affected by
pressures for environmentally safe or green products. They include the automotive,
plastics, paper, metals, glass, packaging, consumer products, food, and retail sectors.
Overall, industry sources report that traditional values such as safety, security,
sanitation, price, appearance, and convenience will continue to be strong factors
affecting consumers' choices in the upcoming decade. Regulation and legislation will
encourage producers and marketers to minimize waste and reduce the volume of
packaging and disposable products. Business opportunities will lie in producing
alternative materials and developing new technologies and products. Innovation and
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creativity should lead to approaches that will use these changing values as a means of
increasing market share. As a result, we will likely see more and more businesses:
• Assisting consumers and the general public in understanding environmental risks
through aggressive education and awareness programs;
• Leveraging business opportunities by offering products and services that meet
community expectations for environmental friendliness; and
• In general, accepting increased responsibility for preserving and protecting the
environment.
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About the Authors
Jane Gilbert, after three years at Arthur D. Little, recently joined an organization
called Cultural Survival. She is working on a non-profit entrepreneurial venture to
market "sustainable" products from tropical rain forests. Ms. Gilbert continues to be
available as a consultant to Arthur D. Little on a limited basis. Ms. Gilbert received a
B.A. degree in Environmental Science from Barnard College, Columbia University.
Karen Blumenfeld is a Senior Consultant in the Waste Management and
Technology Unit at Arthur D. Little. She directs policy and management studies with
an emphasis on green products, product lifecycle environmental concerns, and other
solid and hazardous waste management issues. Ms. Blumenfeld holds a master's degree
from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor's degree from Smith College.
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HANNAFORD BROS. CO. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAM
Ted Brown
Hannaford Bros. Co.
Scarborough, Main#
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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The Environmental Committee has met monthly since May 1989. In addition,
meeting weekly are four sub-committees: Fact Finding, Legal and Legislative,
Education, and Retail and Corporate Solid Waste.
1989 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
Committee Activity
In addition to Identifying several environmental activities that had been
1n place for years, within many parts of our company, our environmental action
team established a corporate environmental policy and with the encouragement
of our chief executive officer J 1m Moody* and chief operating officer Hugft
Farrlngton, all department heads were asked to Inform associates of the
Importance the company had assigned to the environmental comnltment. All
14,000 associates were Informed by paycheck attachment of company
environmental objectives and accomplishments to date.
Our Fact Finding Committee gathered and reviewed Information from
governmental, Industry, and environmental sources In the United States and
Canada and sought practical solid waste solutions.
We searched for a better answer to replace our biodegradable plastic
shopping bag which we had introduced in May of 1988; and we tested pallet
stretch wrap recycling 1n nine supermarkets. During November and December, we
arranged luncheons with environmental activists, recyclers, governmental
representatives! and food association heads to ask for their help and to
assure that our environmental programs would be compatible with state and
regional objectives. The key here was to Initiate these discussions prior to
Introducing any new major programs and to seek a total state-wide commitment
and strict governmental compliances.
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1990 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
In January several meetings and discussions mere held with legislators,
municipal leaders, and environmental activists. This dialogue was essential
to guarantee consistency and compatibility with the objectives of all
governmental agencies and other recognized environmental Interests. With
input from several sources we launched our plastic bag recycling program In
all 76 corporate supermarkets on January 29, 1990. Plastic bags* returned by
customers from any store to special recycling bins located Inside the foyer of
each store, were collected, baled and shipped to our bag manufacturer in St.
John, New Brunswick, Canada. The recycled plastic Is used 1n the making of
our plastic shopping bags. Our plastic bags, containing 25 to 50X recycled
resins, have been hailed as an excellent solution and clearly demonstrate the
relative ease and practicality of consumer-drlven recycling. This effort was
Introduced with special bag messages and brochures describing the program
along with lapel pins worn by associates and a dedicated front page of our
weekly flyer carrying over 1,000,000 Impressions. During the first ten weeks,
we received over 290,000 plastic bags back from customers. A pallet shrink
wrap recycling program was also Initiated 1n all supermarkets and warehouses.
During February and March, the retail program was expanded as customers
overwhelmed our offices with expanded requests supported by over 40 customer
consent cards weekly and praises for Initial recycling efforts. Canvas
shopping bags were Introduced to encourage reuse. The 1001 cotton bags are
made In Maine and have been purchased by over 25,000 customers. Environmental
*helf signs were developed to help Inform customers of key environmental
Information developed by our environmental team, signs have been
strategically located 1n front of products or packaging where messages would
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heve tfte greatest Impact. The objective here 1s to educate end Inform, net to
market.
To assfst customers fn finding recycling facilities for the disposal of
their "racyclafrles", Recycling Information Bulletin Boards wera Installed near
the checkouts of each store. Environment*! Coordinators were appointed 1n
•ach store to maintain the recycling boards along with caring for and updating
all other instore environmental Initiatives.
Five customer brochures were designed and distributed via the plastic bag
recycling bin. The brochures provide consumers with meaningful Information
relating to the use of cloth diapers, the S.P.I. (Society of Plastics
Institute), plastic coding system for various single resin plastic containers,
and hone recycling suggestions. Schools and community organizations have used
over 100,000 of these educational pieces. The S.P.I, plastics coding brochure
has drawn significant Interest as part of our consider educational program.
Marty familiar packages are now carrying the codes l through 7 Imprinted on the
bottom to assist customers and recyclers when recycling.
With each new environmental program we have solicited Input from
environmental Interest groups and experts, through forums In every state.
1990 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
To encourage customer reuse of plastic, paper, and fabric begs, we
Initiated a three cent refund to Vermont and New York customers for any bag
they brought back for reuse 1a packing their own groceries. In Maine and Mew
Hampshire, beginning 1n April, we offered customers bringing back paper or
fabric bags Si for each bag reused to bag their orders. Further, to eneourage
greater awareness to recycling, we developed a paper bag recycling program
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with paper bag recycling bins 1n each store. Customers are encouraged to
return worn out brown paper bags to the "paper bag recycling bin". Ue bale
the bags 1n each store and send tP a recycler. Additionally, to prepare for
the new expanded Maine returnable container law effective September 1, 1990,
we tested the Tomra self-service redemption machine and experienced over 50*
weekly customer use of the self-service feature.
Earth Day 1990 featured a 10* off any tree or shrub promotion and the
Introduction of a series of "Environmental Thoughts" printed on our paper and
plastic bags. These and previous programs were highlighted in a 2 page
pullout section of our weekly ad. At the suggestion of many customers and
environmental Interest groups, we are curtailing the printing of many
brochures to save paper and continuing to use our shopping bags for printing
educational and Informational environmental messages.
SUMMARY
Hannaford's Environmental Action Program emphasizes regular customer
participation through plastic and paper bag recycling and reuse of all types
of bags. The exchange of Information with people from all governmental
sectors, industry, and especially considers 1s vital to assuring timely and
sound environmental choices for our customers. Our company environmental
objectives are clear. He all must jointly strive to resolve environmental
Issues. We should remain flexible, for what Is right for today may not be
right for tomorrow. Ue all should be working hand-in-hand together to l*y the
groundwork for expanded recycling In businesses and homes, and prepare
ourselves for lifestyle change to meet the environmental needs of tomorrow
with new action.
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HANNAFORD BROS. CO. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAM
Hannaford Bros. Co. operates 77 supermarkets undtr tht names of
Shop 'n Save, Sun Foods, and Martin's in the states of Maine, New Hampshire.
Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York, and 40 Mellby super drug stores. Our
corporate offices are located In Scarborough* Maine. We are a publicly held
company with stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Program Objectives:
Hannaford's Environmental Action Program focuses on very active
consuiier-drlven activities and team-directed Internal corporate Initiatives.
On the consumer side our company has made a serious commitment to provide our
customers with environmentally sound products and packaging choices; to
Identify and present timely, accurate, and helpful environmental Information
to our suppliers, customers, communities, and all our associates (employees);
to provide for the exchange of pertinent environmental Information and
resources among our peers - especially environmental Interest groups, waste
disposal experts, and activists; and to lay meaningful groundwork for
municipal and curbslde recycling programs to encourage and help communities
get underway with consumer home recycling programs as soon as possible.
On the corporate side of our business we have undertaken a significant
review and analysis of our Internal solid waste practices to ensure conversion
to the most efficient solid waste handling and disposal techniques within all
our retail and distribution facilities. As you will see, our environmental
efforts are strongly coemltted and action-oriented.
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Hannaford Environment!) History
Hannaford's commitment to sound tnvlronmental practices and programs Is
deeply rooted 1n the company's retail and distribution performance. Examples
of ongoing environmental efforts Include:
* Recycling corrugated cardboard In virtually all stores and warehouses
for 12 years.
* Donating 70,000 cases of groceries eaeh year (at a value of $1,000,000
per year) to charitable organizations from our Product Recovery Center
since It opened six years ago.
* Using only chlorofluorocarbon-free styrofoaro packaging materials for
two years.
* Recycling paper waste from our corporate offices slnee February 1989.
* Utilizing reusable plates, glasses, cups, and silverware 1n the
corporate cafeteria.
* Recycling thousands of pounds of unsaleable produce to animal feed
every year for as long as we have been 1n business.
1989 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES
In 1989, as a result of growing national, regional, and local concern for
the preservation of our environment, a group of our Key management associates
put together our Environmental Committee composed of over 20 representatives
from all levels of our retail and distribution business. The Conmlttee's
charge was to Investigate ways to Improve our retail and distribution
environmental practices; to raise awareness Of our peers; to research,
support, and participate in local, state, and national environmental efforts;
and to develop effective corporate environmental programs that directly
addressed the Issues and served as practical solutions to problems within our
communities.
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How Minnesota Scored
in
Consensus Solid Waste Policy Development
Governor's Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment
(SCORE)
Bill Dunn
Minnesota Office of Waste Management
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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CONSENSUS SOLID WASTE POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Minnesota's Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment (SCORE)
In the past, waste reduction and recycling legislative proposals have resulted in polarizing the
special interest groups involved in solid waste management. As a result, many states and local governments are
renewing efforts at "participatory government" by establishing consensus groups to develop solid waste policy
initiatives. These groups have been successful in developing innovative legislation. This presentation will briefly
explore such efforts around the nation and focus on Minnesota's successful consensus process as a case study in
establishing a new solid waste policy direction.
Minnesota's History
Minnesota's need for consensus on recycling was evident. An outside consultants study of legislative options
conducted in 1987 indicated that there was no agreement on the basic elements of recycling policy for the State:
Innovative or comprehensive recycling legislation had been introduced and defeated in nearly every session, primarily
because of the polarizing effect of beverage container deposit legislation and the lack of a unified coalition.
Legislation was often proposed before reaching any agreement with the full array of interested parties,
including those that had traditionally opposed state agency initiatives.
Immediately after the 1988 session, the idea of bringing the polarized interests together for consensus on
ecycling was proposed by state agencies. Three months later, the Governor appointed the SCORE committee to
jrepare recommendations in anticipation of a legislative initiative for the next session.
After four months of research and discussion, a group of 22 people appointed by Governor Rudy Perpich to
;he Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment (SCORE) reached consensus on a new direction for solid
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waste in Minnesota. Approximately 70 recommendations were submitted, warmly received by Governor Perpich, and
viewed statewide as significant steps forward. The bill that resulted addresses solid waste management through the
following: waste reduction, recycling and litter abatement through education, assistance with local program
design and implementation, market development, the proper management of problem materials, and effective long-
term funding sources.
Although the select committee process was successful in gaining the support of traditional opponents of
comprehensive solid waste legislative proposals, the SCORE bill failed to pass in the regular session; the bill fell
victim to a last minute filibuster due to a disagreement over the distribution to counties of the nearly $20 million
dollars generated annually by a 6 percent state sales tax on garbage collection and disposal services. In the following
months, it seemed as though the consensus solid waste proposal was dying a slow death. Fortunately, negotiators
were able to resolve the distribution obstacle and resurrect the proposal. The revised SCORE bill was
included in the Special Session Tax Bill that received legislative approval at the end of September. On October 2,
1989 Governor Rudy Perpich signed the solid waste provisions into effect, ushering in a new era of consensus and
cooperation in solid waste policy development.
The consensus process created a unique coalition that unified the legislature and neutralized much of the
opposition. This presentation will outline the steps used to achieve and maintain this consensus and indicate areas
for improvement.
suwrutted by:
iBI Dunn
Minnesota Office of Waste Management
1350 Energy Lane
S&int Paul, Minnesota 55108
(work) 612/649-5793
03*; 612/649-5749
lOMay 1990
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The Governor's Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment (SCORE)
MINNESOTA'S
WASTE REDUCTION
AND
RECYCLING LEGISLATION
(Articles 18-24 of the 1989 Special Session Tax Bill)
In a process that took almost 1 1/2 years, Minnesota adopted a comprehensive waste reduction, recycling and
probjem materials consensus legislative proposal. The first step was that Governor Rudy Perpich appointed a 22-
member consensus group, the Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment (SCORE), which researched and
discussed the solid waste system and developed approximately 70 recommendations. Throughout the 1989 legislative
session, the SCORE bill was subjected to extensive hearings and only minor changes were made to the original
recommendations. The bill eventually fell victim to a last minute filibuster over the distribution formula for the
funding to counties. Resurrected as part of Governor's property tax bill in the 3-day special session, the SCORE
provisions eventually gained legislative approval. On October 2, 1989, Governor Rudy Perpich signed the bill into
effect through a series of visits to recycling facilities throughout Minnesota.
Below is a summary of many of the provisions in the eight issue areas covered in the Bill. Provisions are listed in
random order and are effective immediately unless otherwise noted.
Waste Reduction
* A waste reduction procurement model program which includes life cycle costing for durable and repairable
items. Information about the program must be distributed to public and private entities.
* The Office of Waste Management must develop and coordinate a waste reduction program that includes at
least public education, technical assistance, and a grant/loan (feasibility and/or implementation) program.
Recycling
* Recycling goals are established (interim goals must also be established):
The Twin Cities metro area must recycle at least 35% by 1994.
Greater Minnesota must recycle at least 25% by 1994.
State agencies located in the Twin Cities metro area must recycle at least 40% by 1994.
[NOTE: Recycling goals are by weight and include yard waste, used oil, tires, lead acid batteries and major
appliances.]
* An "opportunity-to-recycle" provision is enacted that establishes a base level of service based on population:
(10/1/90)
Each county must have at least one recycling facility that accepts four types of materials in addition
to problem materials and major appliances and a quarterly public information campaign that informs
residents of recycling opportunities;
Communities of 5,000 or more in Greater Minnesota must have a recycling center, curbside collection
or centralized drop-off that accepts at least four types of materials;
Cities of the first and second class and communities of 5,000 or more in the Twin Cities metropolitan
area must have at least monthly curbside collection of four types of materials.
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* All public buildings (schools, state and local government) must provide containers to collect at least 3
recyclable materials. (1/1/91 for Twin Cities metro area and 1/1/93 for Greater Minnesota)
* Counties area required to amend solid waste management plans (the recycling section) to account for the
additional responsibilities and mandates by 10/4/90. The development of recycling implementations
strategies are required by 10/4/91.
* Counties may require county or city license to collect recyclable materials.
* A transportation network model shall be developed by the Office of Waste Management and the Department
of Transportation.
* A standard and uniform recycling center directional road sign shall be designed and erected on roadways.
The requesting recycling facilities must pay for installation.
* A report on recycling in public buildings and the barriers (building, safety, and fire codes and historical
preservation) that prevent recycling programs shall be compiled by the Departments of Administration and
Public Safety and submitted to the Legislative Commission on Waste Management. (11/1/90)
* A model zoning criteria for recycling facilities shall be developed by the State Planning Agency.
* The MPCA in cooperation with others, must prepare and distribute a safety and development guide for
recycling and yard waste composting facilities.
Market Development
* Grants, loans, and technical assistance for research and development end-use markets for recyclable materials.
At least 50% of the funds appropriated under this section must be used to support county market
development efforts.
* 10% price preference for recycled materials. Also a weighting factor to recycled content and recyclability
shall be applied.
* Public agencies shall purchase uncoated office and printing paper whenever practical.
* Political subdivisions, educational institutions and other public agencies shall procure compost and recycled
products, whenever practicable.
* A cooperative purchasing program with state agencies, local governmental units, other states and the federal
government. (7/1/91)
* The DOA must study and then develop and implement a strategy that encourages the procurement of recycled
materials by 7/1/91.
* Expanded reporting requirements for the Department of Administration regarding the .State's procurement
program.
Civil penalties of 2 to 5 times the amount of removal of solid wastes are extended to illegal dumping.
Prevents the unauthorized deposit of solid waste in counties, cities and towns. Requires the owner or
occupants to provide for the removal of the wastes or empowers the levy of a lien on the property.
Litter grants are available from OWM for those counties that have addressed litter in their solid waste
management plan.
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Education
The membership of the Waste Education Coalition is expanded to include three other persons with knowledge
and expertise in recycling and solid waste management issues.
OWM must develop a statewide public education campaign and also an educational curricula on waste
education for grades K-12.
The creation of OWM grant programs for those developing and distributing waste or recycling related
educational materials, waste reduction informational grant programs and a model program for proper waste
practices in formal or informal educational facilities.
The State Board of Education must amend its rules to include a waste education component for both
elementary and secondary grade levels. These amended rules must go into effect prior to school year 1991,
1992.
Problem Materials
* Major appliances are prohibited from the mixed municipal solid waste stream on 7/1/90.
* OWM must submit a major appliance report on management issues by 7/15/90.
* Household hazardous waste (HHW) must be addressed in county solid waste management plans by 10/4/90.
Each county must implement its HHW plan by 7/30/92.
* Metro area counties must establish permanent programs for the management of HHW which includes at le*st
quarterly collection of HHW by 7/30/92. MPCA must report on progress toward establishing permanent
HHW collection sites on 11/1/91.
* Problem materials are identified by a definition.
* Rules that identify and prescribe a uniform shelf label to be affixed by retailers for problem material products
may be adopted by the Pollution Control Agency.
* Programs related to spent lead acid batteries (slab]:
$5 refundable surcharge is charged for each battery. A 30-day return period exists. Retailers may
keep all unclaimed surcharges.
Retailers must accept for no charge up to 5 slabs from a consumer at one time. Retailers must assure
that batteries are recycled, each separate violation is a misdemeanor offense.
Extends misdemeanor offense to those depositing slabs in the mixed municipal solid waste stream.
Retailers must post notices of the lead acid battery return system in stores and in newspaper
advertisements.
* OWM, in consultation with others, may develop household battery programs which could include grants,
collection and transportation systems, educational materials or market development. A report on household
battery management is due 31/1/91.
* The OWM must develop a problem material processing & disposal and separation & collection plans.
* MPCA must adopt rules requiring solid waste disposal or resource recovery facilities to submit a HHW
separation plan. After 7/30/92, the MPCA may not grant or renew permits unless the plan has been
submitted.
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Funding
* Extension of the State of Minnesota sales tax to solid waste collection and disposal services. (1/1/90)
Estimated to raise approximately $20 million per year and a Department of Revenue study will be conducted
and completed by 11/1/90 to confirm this estimate.
* Appropriations are distributed by the following formula:
Counties receive 75% of all funds through an entidement program. All counties receive a minimum
of $55,000 per year (starting in the first full year) and the remainder is distributed on a per capita
basis. These funds may be expended at the discretion of the individual county but must be spent on
the legislatively established program areas.
State programs receive 25% of all funds for use in statewide financial and technical assistance
programs and technical studies.
* Excess or deficit funds, as indicated by the Department of Revenue study, will be distributed or withheld, by
the 75% to counties and 25% to state programs appropriation formula. Counties that have not received at
least 50% of the tax paid appropriation formula. Counties that have not received at least 50% of the tax paid
in will be the priority entities for the excess funds. Maximum redistribution is capped a $5 million with
funds over this amount being deposited in the general fund.
* The DOA must study and then develop and implement a strategy that encourages the procurement of recycled
materials by 7/1/91.
* Expanded reporting requirements for the Department of Administration regarding the State's procurement
program.
* A county or solid waste management district may not delegate to another governmental unit or person any of
its responsibilities unless in establishes a funding mechanism.
Miscellaneous
* Pre-empts local packaging and labeling ordinances that are different than state law. This pre-emption is
repealed on 6/30/90.
* OWM must study for environmentally sound materials labeling systems which is due on 7/30/91.
* OWM must conduct a study on the appropriate waste management of plastics and other issues by 1/1/91.
* City or towns must license persons collection mixed municipal solid waste for hire, county must assume the
authority for those units failing to provide the licenses.
* Solid waste costs must be visible to waste generators. County plans must develop mechanisms to comply.
* Any political subdivision that provides or pays for solid waste collection must make the costs visible and
obvious to the generator. County solid waste plans should provide financial incentives to reduce waste
generation and to encourage separation of recyclable materials.
* The MPCA in cooperation with others, must conduct a statewide and regional waste composition study by
11/1/92.
f or additional information, please contact:
gill Dunn
Minnesota Office of Waste Management
1350 Energy Lane
St. Paul, MN 55108
612/649-5793
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Below is an enactment timeline for the solid waste
provisions in the adopted Special Session Tax Bill
(includes the SCORE bill as amended)
1989
partial listing of the provisions effective immediately:
Pass-through funding to counties which have a separate recycling account and established
accounting procedure
Grants and loans available for market development, waste reduction, recycling and litter
projects
10% price preference for state agency purchases on products made from recycled materials
Cooperative transportation system for recyclable materials
Model zoning criteria for recycling facilities
Safety guides for operation of recycling and yard waste facilities
Optional uniform recycling center signs on all Minnesota roadways
Solid waste cost must be visible to all waste generators
Trash collectors must be licensed and recycling collectors may be licensed
Problem materials may be labeled on the store shelves
Problem material processing & disposal and separation & collection plans by the OWM
Civil penalties extended to litter offenses
$5 refundable surcharge is imposed at the sale of lead acid batteries, retailers must accept
spent lead acid batteries
Pre-emption of local packaging and labeling ordinances
November 1
December 31
1990JuI,e 30
The Office of Waste Management {OWM} presents recycling progress and
financial reports to the House and Senate Appropriation & Finance
committees and the Legislative Commission on Waste Management
(LCWM)
After this date, a 6% sales tax on solid waste collection and disposal shall
be imposed
Pre-emption of local packaging and labeling ordinances is repealed
July 1
July 15
August 1
Distribution of county pass-through funding (NOTE: counties must
provide evidence to the OWM that a 25% local match for pass-through
funds exists)
Prohibition on major appliances in mixed municipal solid waste stream
OWM shall submit a major appliance report to the legislature and the
LCWM
Counties submit recycling progress & pass-through financial reports for
previous year
pnmrt on r*cyel*d/r«eydabt« papw
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October 1
October 4
November 1
January 1
June 30
July 1
August 1
Prior to school
year 1991-92
October 4
November 1
The "opportunity-to-recycle" provision becomes effective:
- Each county must have at least one recycling facility that accepts four
types of materials in addition to problem materials and major
appliances and a quarterly public information campaign that informs
residents of recycling opportunities;
- Communities of 5,000 or more in Greater Minnesota must have a
recycling center, curbside collection or centralized drop-off that
accepts at least four types of materials;
• Cities of the first and second class and communities of 5,000 or more
in the Metropolitan Area must have at least monthly curbside collection
of four types of materials
County solid waste managment plans are required to have a revised
recycling section and the addition of a household hazardous waste section
The OWM presents recycling progress and financial reports to the House
and Senate Appropriation & Finance committees and the LCWM
The Departments of Administration and Public Safety shall review and
report on the barriers to recycling in public buildings and the progress
to overcoming these barriers to the LCWM
Department of Revenue reports the amount of revenue raised by the sales
tax to the House and Senate Appropriation & Finance committees and the
LCWM
State and local agencies and school districts located in the Metropolitan
area must provide at least 3 recycling containers
The OWM shall submit a plastics report and recommendations to the
legislature
The OWM shall submit a report on mechanism to indicate products that are
environmentally sound to the Legislature and the LCWM
Distribution of county pass-through funding
The Department of Administration presents a cooperative purchasing plan
to the LCWM and implements a strategy
Counties submit recycling progress & pass-through financial reports for
previous year
Amended state education rules regarding waste eduction become effective
Counties are required to adopt a recycling implementation strategy
The MPCA presents a progress report on establishing permanent HHW
collection sites to the LCWM
The OWM presents recycling progress and financial reports to the House
and Senate Appropriation & Finance committees and the LCWM
The OWM reports on their household battery activities and
recommendations for legislation to the LCWM
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1992
July 1
Distribution of county pass-through funding
June 30
August 1
November 1
1993
January 1
.July 1
August 1
November 1
December 31
1994 July 1
August 1
November 1
All Minnesota counties must implement a household hazardous waste
management plan which includes at least quarterly collection of HHW at
established permanent facilities in the Metro Area
The MPCA may not grant or renew a permit for a solid waste facility that
has not submitted a household hazardous waste plan
Counties submit recycling progress & pass-through financial reports for
previous year
The OWM presents recycling progress and financial reports to the House
and Senate Appropriation S Finance committees and the LCWM
The MPCA shall report the findings of a statewide waste composition study
to the LCWM
State and local agencies and school districts located in Greater Minnesota
must provide at least 3 recycling containers
Distribution of county pass-through funding
Counties submit recycling progress & pass-through financial reports for
previous year
The OWM presents recycling progress and financial reports to the House
and Senate Appropriation & Finance committees and the LCWM
Recycling goals mature (goals include traditional recyclables, yard waste,
used oil, tires, lead acid batteries and major appliances):
• Department of Administration must recycle 40% of state agencies
waste;
- Metropolitan counties must recycle 35% of their solid waste; and
• Greater Minnesota counties must recycle 25% of their solid waste
Distribution of county pass-through funding
Counties submit recycling progress & pass-through financial reports for
previous year
The OWM presents recycling progress and financial reports to the House
and Senate Appropriation & Finance committees and the LCWM
(10/18/89)
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The Governor's Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment
WASTE REDUCTION
AND
RECYCLING LEGISLATION
(Articles 18-24 of the Special Session Tax Bill)
Below is a timeline of events that led to the passage of the SCORE BID:
August 11, 1988
August thru
November, 1988
Governor Rudy Peipich appointed the 22-member Select Committee on
Recycling and the Environment (SCORE)
SCORE Committee meets. Discussions and research on waste reduction,
recycling, market development, litter abatement, waste education,
problem materiats and funding alternatives.
November 29, 1988 The approximately 70 SCORE recommendations are presented to Governor
Rudy Perpich.
-January 23, 1989
February 7, 1989
February thru
May, 1989
Legislative Commission on Waste Management (LCWM) review and
resolution In support of the SCORE Bill.
The SCORE Bill is introduced. Senate File 371 (Merriam - DFL Coon
Rapids) and House File 417 (Munger DFL Duluth)
Legislative review of the SCORE Bill and Senate File 95 (Lessard • DFL
International Fails).
COMMITTEE STOPS
sms,
Environmental Protection Subcommittee
Environment and Natural Resources
Taxes and Tax Rules
Finance
Senate floor debate
Conference Committee
HQISE
Environment & Natural Resources
Governmental Operations
Education
Taxes
Appropriations
House floor debate
July & August, 1989 Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) Advisory Task Force meetings to
develop an agreement on distribution formula for SCORE funds.
September, 1989
September 27-30,
1989
October 2, 1989
October 3, 1989
SCORE Reconciliation Team (Legislative members from both bodies) held
meetings to reach final agreement on the package.
Special Session is ocnvened and passes the Tax Bill including the SCORE
provisions.
Governor Rudy Perpich signs the SCORE provisions into law.
Date of enactment for most of the provisions.
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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE AND UPDATE ON PET RECYCLING
Alan Giles
The National Association for Plastic Container Recovery
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1343
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Since NAPCOR was formed in 1987 as a not-for-profit trade
association representing polyester resin and bottle
producers, NAPCOR has assisted communities in 13 states in
establishing PET plastic container recycling programs. PET
containers are currently recycled in 300 cities, including
more than 2.7 million households across the country. The
markets are strong for post-consumer PET bottles. NAPCOR's
list of recommended PET recyclers has grown to include 2 2
recyclers. The new programs that began in 1989 and those
scheduled to begin in 1990 will bring in many additional
millions of pounds of post-consumer PET.
NAPCOR's experience with recycling programs around the
country makes the Association a valuable source of
information and expertise on setting up systems to collect
and process PET containers. In 1990, NAPCOR will continue
to assist communities initiating PET plastic container
recycling. The Association will also be making an all-out
effort to increase public awareness of the recyclability of
PET plastic soft drink and liquor bottles and other
containers. The key to achieving that goal is to make it
easy for communities and individuals to find out the who,
what, when, where, why, and how of recycling PET plastic
soft drink and liquor bottles and other containers. NAPCOR
has materials available to help communities educate and
mptivate consumers to participate in recycling efforts. The
1344
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new NAPCOR community guidebook and video provide basic
"how-to" information about PET plastic container recycling.
A new toll-free number has been set up as a PET plastic
container recycling information hotline. The line can be
used to request information about the guidebook, brochures,
environmental related PET information, PET recyclers or
other aspects of PET plastic container recycling. Each
community has its own needs and character, and NAPCOR can
help design the community's own approach to collection and
recycling.
NAPCOR7s corporate objective is to facilitate, develop, and
support the collection of plastic containers for recycling,
with the initial emphasis being on the PET plastic container.
A secondary objective is to communicate the environmental
efficiency of the PET container by demonstrating its vast
properties of recyclability.
NAPCOR is a national trade associate based in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Its members include the manufacturers of
polyester resin and polyester bottles. Members of NAPCOR
are manufacturers of polyester resins and bottles:
Amoco Chemical Co. (Associate Member); Continental PET
Technologies; Eastman Chemical Co.; E.I. DuPont de Nemours &
Co.(Associate Member); Polyester Division, The Goodyear Tire
& Rubber Company; Gulf States Canners Inc.; Hoechst
1345
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Celanese; ICI Americas, Inc.; Johnson controls, Inc.; Sewell
Plastics, Inc.; Silgan P.E.T. Corp.; Southeastern Container;
and Yoshino America Corp.
1346
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LAY PERSON'S GUIDE TO PUBLIC EDUCATION
Susie Harpham
Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1347
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LAY PERSON'S GUIDE TO PUBLIC EDUCATION
Good Morning, I'm Susie Harpham, Vice President of Training &
Program Development for Keep America Beautiful, Inc. I appreciate the
opportunity to spend a few moments discussing the importance of
education on the vast and significant world of garbage. It is an
appropriate role for KAB as we are a privately funded, not-for-profit,
public education organization dedicated to improving waste handling
practices in America communities. If you really listen to that mission
statement you can understand the foundation of our 36 years of work—an
absolute belief that educating to create responsible attitudes will
ultimately alter an individual's behavior in a positive way. As it
relates to this week's conference, we are speaking about recycling
behavior, littering behavior, reducing our waste and understanding what
options each of us have. It's not a particularly dramatic approach and
certainly doesn't happen overnight, but KAB knows that education is the
key and can actually document its progress throughout our 450 affiliated
communities.
But, I would guess that you are here today because you believe that
already and are wanting to hear how people are being successfully
educated.
The focus of my remarks will be an introduction of two new
educational materials available from KAB. Both are representative of
our understanding that people want to know the alternatives when they
decide how they will personally handle their own waste as well as the
appropriate ways in which their community will plan and manage garbage
1348
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for decades to come. It needn't be the emotional issue many would like
to make it. Economics, local idiosyncrasies and long term effectiveness
should be the focus of the everyone's attention.
To that end, KAB has produced a 30 minute "lay persons guide to
understanding garbage disposal." Designed to compliment our Overviev:
Solid Waste Disposal Options booklet, it is "municipal solid waste
management" for beginners. The video and the booklet identify and
describe the components of an integrated waste management'plan:
o Source Reduction
o Multi-material Recycling
o Composting
o Waste-to-Energy
o Landfill
o Bio
o Photodegradation
The message of the video is that one, all, or a combination of these
alternatives is safe and acceptable for communities when careful
planning, designing and engineering in compliance with required
regulations takes place.
The intended audience is adult-local public officials, educators,
citizens, civic leaders and the overall theme is "let's take the time to
educate ourselves so that, together, we can make educated decisions."
It's simple, straight forward and is an excellent tool for public
forums. It can be used for consumers, students, employees and
environmental groups. The music is terrific and the cost is $20.00
Secondly, is KAB'8 new waste disposal poster created in cooperation
1348
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with the American Public Works Association and made possible by a grant
from Georgia Pacific. The target audience is 7-9th grade students.
Again, the focus is Integrated waste disposal. The reverse side has
four related classroom activities for teachers. It's bright, concise
and certainly can be used in a variety of places, in addition to schools.
My time today does not permit me to describe the broad range of
materials we use to educate. Our network requires us to provide
brochures, iBsue papers, training videos, curriculum guides and
supplements, and "how-to" manuals—continuous updating and informing as
the issues change and evolve. Suffice it to say that we cover ages 3 to
93 across the country in a proactive and cost effective way by utilizing
media and "train the trainers" workshops on numerous subjects.
We are with you this week because we feel a responsibility to the 74
million Americans our KAB SYSTEMS cities serve. All sides must be
fairly represented with documented Iftfita, factsf factq.
I congratulate the EPA on their first national conference and charge
every person in this room to concentrate their efforts on counteracting
the "doomsday media hype" and "gimmick mentality" with factual,
reasonable, attainable directive sflU£££ism.
Thank you.
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MODERATOR'S SESSION INTRODUCTION
SESSION: DEVELOPING PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS: PARTS I & II
Marc A. Breslav
Public Relations and Marketing Consultant
South Mountain Pass
Garrison, N.Y. 10524
(914)424-3484
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1351
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When the EPA approached me to moderate a public
education session, they had two consecutive, but separate
sessions planned, with a non-related lunch intervening.
The morning session's title focused on innovative
approaches, and the second's title focused on successful
application of such approaches. EPA had selected a variety
of excellent papers and speakers for these two sessions.
There were speakers with municipal, county, state and
national service areas, and the west, mid-west, south and
east were all represented.
The task of any moderator is to help the individual
speakers to avoid duplicating each others points,
encouraging them to build a logical sequence and thereby
create a more team-driven, holistic session. This is a
doubly important task for a moderator of sessions about
recycling information and education (I&E):
The Challenge of Creating Synergy
Many, if not most, existing and planned recycling I&E
programs throughout the country are comprised of a series of
often short-lived disconnected components. Sometimes these
components are intended to be part of an overall campaign,
but cohesion and synergy is lacking for a variety of
reasons. But, as often, there is no sense of or attempt at
creating a campaign. One agency provides a curriculum and
support material for the development of in-school recycling
programs. Another publishes a newsletter, and a series of
radio public service announcements are aired over a few
months. A third sends direct mail flyers to every household
at the inception of a program, accompanied by newspaper ads
over a few weeks. All of these may be appropriate and
strong components. But, independently they do not make for
a wholistic, durable campaign or program.
There are several reasons for this situation. Many
people see the information and the education components of
recycling as separate matters. Ideally. they are not.
Forethinking public relations people will maintain it all
falls under the rubric of public relations. Smart marketing
people will say it's all marketing. Educators may say
anything that involves learning is education. Advertising
agencies will buy you ad time, take their 15Z, and consider
the education side irrelevant, even to a public service
campaign. Yet, in government, particularly among
conservation or fish and game departments and their
outgrowth mega-agencies, there is a long tradition of the
information and education bureau/section.
Whatever your discipline, whatever your turf, call it
what you will, but tie the information and education
together in a coordinated campaign. What goes on in the
1352
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schools and non-formal education settings can build on
what's happening in the media, and vice-versa.
If you don't believe it, look at the study to be
published this summer by Harvard's Center for Health
Communication. Described at least twice in the New York
Times advertising column, and evidentally a big topic on
Madison Avenue, the study says that "conventional public
service ad campaigns are of limited effectivenss in
persuading people to make long-term changes" in behavior,
and recommends integrated communications campaigns that
supplement advertising with market research, community and
school-based programs, and publicity.
Another reason for the lack of cohesive I&E campaigns
comes down to the usual challenges of money, time and
politics (death presumeably doesn't apply, but taxes do).
There are recycling I&E staff who understand this need for
synergy. But, staff never have the budget to implement the
optimum. Or, staff may not have been set on their job early
enough to have the time to do it right. And, often, staff
have to deal with bosses, legislators or political leaders
who force premature implementation of program without
adequate planning. Or, the bosses have a bias toward
education or information, but not both. Or, turf wars or
pigeon-hole management prevails.
The last reason for the lack of synergistic I&E
campaigns relates to overlap of government jurisdictions.
Even discounting the efforts of the non-profit and private
sectors, in some places there are at once recycling I&E
programs offered by municipal, county, state and national
government agencies. Generally, there is all too little
coordination between the agencies, with each using separate
graphics, themes, messages and/or educational approaches.
Thus, at best they do not realize the great power of
synergistic communication, where each agency s program
reinforces the other for maximum effective use of tax
dollars. And at worst, each agencies' communication clashes
with the others', and the public becomes understandably
confused.
Lest this litanny of criticism seem negative, be
assured that is not its intent. The world of recycling is
full of a committed, creative people, thinking well about
information and education, and doing the best they can'.
There are innovative and brilliant program components by the
dozens. And the more we learn about this nascent area of
recycling, the better we will become at it.
But we cannot become complacent, and we must keep
trying. The job is just too important to do otherwise.
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Can the Session Help to Meet the Challenge?
Prior to today's sermon, we were exploring the roots of
this session.
In an effort to practice what I preach, EPA session
captain Mia Zmud and I agreed to attempt to create a thread
between the papers so that the various models, taken
together, demonstrate the comprehensive whole.
We realized that all of the papers in the two separate
sessions, involved application of I&E approaches. Since the
sessions were in consecutive time periods, with only a lunch
period intervening, we joined the two sessions into one,
which would be offered in two parts. The lunch period was
then a natural time for networking and sharing, so we sought
permission to have the lunch in the session room, as an
extension of the session, rather than have participants
disperse into a general lunch area. To draw on this extTa
time seemed particularly important, since in evaluation of
previous such recycling I&E sessions I have moderated or
conducted, participants always respond that there wasn't
enough time for such activites.
We also developed a (hopefully) logical sequence for
the presentation. We began with Ticiang Dianeson's paper
focusing on her experience in planning and market research
related to Seattle's government program. We continued with
Craig H. Benton's paper on theme and logo development,
drawing from four different Seattle area hauler programs.
To have these two presentations back-to-back seemed logical
from the standpoint of what comes first and second in the
planning of a campaign. It also made sense to look at the
challenge of coordinating I&E campaigns for a single
metropolitan media area with various recycling services
provided by a mix of governmental agencies and haulers.
VJe then turned to various methods of reaching people.
We began with Margaret Gainer's presentation on
interpersonal communication based on grassroots organizing
models used in a variety of settings. We continued with
the popular model, particularly at state levels, of formal
school education through curriculum development, as
presented by David Landis of the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources.
After the lunch, we began part II with a non-formal,
statewide, cooperative extension models demonstrated by
Philip OfLeary of the University of Wisconsin. We followed
with Michael Mullin's non-formal education model, which is
also university-based, but involves public-private
partnerships, rather than drawing on cooperative extension.
1354
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With some of the possible components of an I&E campaign
exemplified, we then turned to case histories of I&E
campaign, building from smaller to larger governmental
jurisdictions. Since we had previously looked at the
Seattle municipal campaign over two presentations, we began
with James J. Hogan's look at suburban Westchester County's
campaign. The campaign included the use of a school
assembly program, which allowed a brief look at that
particular component, not present in any of the earlier
presentations. We continued with a look at one of the
oldest statewide campaigns, as described by Mary Sue Topper
of New Jersey. And we concluded with the national
Advertising Council/Environmental Defense Fund campaign,
presented by Emily Moore, of EDF.
Clearly, there are a variety of possible components and
models which go undescribed. We had to deal within the
constraints dictated by the initial selection of papers and
the time conference organizers allowed us. I, at least,
found it unfortunate that I&E could not have been treated as
one continuing track throughout the conference. In this
way, our "Developing Public Education Programs" session
would not have been presented at the same time as "Public
Outreach—Private Industry Efforts." The psychological and
sociological research foundations described in "Changing
Consumer Attitudes and Behavior" would not have competed
with the demonstration session on "Education and Outreach in
Action." And all of these sessions, plus "Getting to Yes"
The Public As a Player" and "Siting: The Public As A
Player," would have been presented in a logical, coordinated
sequence. In every time period throughout the conference,
there would have been one session related to I&E.
But then, no solid waste conference I know of has ever
has as many sessions devoted to I&E as this. No multi-day
recycling conference I know of has devoted a track to I&E.
And as all involved in recycling I&E know, too little of the
money and staff in recycling programs is devoted toward our,
most crucial, end of the program. The way I&E is treated
and disdussed at conferences is both a reflection of that
imbalance and a cause of it.
We distributed a thesis statement to speakers for this
"Developing Public Education Programs" session to try to
bring one point of common focus to each of their
presentations. The most important part of that statement
was: "By looking at many model parts wholistically, perhaps
we can begin to fashion a strong, comprehensive model whole
for the national recycling information and education
effort."
Indeed, that job is just too important to do otherwise,
c. 1990 Marc A. Breslav
1355
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THE MYRIAD PATHS TO LANDFILL SITING:
A CASE FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Jeffrey T. Crate, P.G.
Draper Aden Associates
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Haste Management
June 13 - 16, 1990
1357
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form of a NIMBY attitude, which grows fron a perception of "big
government", and a helplessness that there is no involvement in
the decisions that affect personal lives. Both issues emphasize
the need for public expression of community concerns as well as
project oversight, that are just as important as any technical
issue.
The five siting projects that are described in the remainder
of this article were conducted using five different processes.
While all of the projects have, or will soon, reach a successful
conclusion, some could have benefitted from better public
participation. The five case studies are described as follows:
Spotsylvania County:
This historically significant community is located midway
between Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, adjacent to the
City of Fredericksburg. The County is the site of a number of
federally protected battlefields, is bordered by an important
recreational lake and designated scenic river, and also falls
within the Chesapeake Bay protection zone. Some estimates of
its rapid population growth range from 5 - 10% per year, which
has fostered a parallel boom in commercial growth as well.
However, most of this expansive growth is occurring in the
northern half of the County, whereas the southern half has
remained rural in nature.
Initially, a County solid waste, management committee
conducted the search for a new landfill site. The committee,
comprised of County staff and elected officials, conducted its
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work in closed sessions without public input or distribution of
information. A logical and objective process was used to select
a top-ranked site, located within the southern, less populated
portion of the County. Negotiations for property acguisition
moved forward with the property owner.
When the County Planning Commission reviewed the site for
local land use conformance, the local community amassed in force
to protest the selection of the site. While site suitability
was never seriously in question, the credibility of the siting
process was attacked on the basis of secrecy and lack of public
input. Needlessly, the adequate performance of the County's
entire solid waste management program was challenged, and often
unfairly criticized. Placed in a defensive position, the
elected body (Board of Supervisors) compromised and commissioned
a second landfill search in the northern, more urbanized area of
the County. The second study confirmed what had been
established by the first: A suitable, long-term disposal site,
that was not excessively expensive to develop, was not
available. Ultimately, the first site identified was selected
for the new County landfill facility. The second siting process
was conducted entirely in open session by the full elected body,
and the public slowly developed an appreciation for the original
siting study, and the level of professionalism employed by the
County for its overall waste management program. In summary,
public involvement and education, if coordinated early in the
process, may have reduced the overall project costs and time
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frame. It nay also have reduced the political damage that
resulted fron unfounded criticism of a well-managed solid waste
program.
Bedford County:
Bedford County is a community located between the major
metropolitan areas of Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia. It also
borders a popular and well protected recreational lake, and a
portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a national scenic highway
with several well-known vantage points overlooking the County.
In this case, the landfill siting process was conducted
entirely under the direction and supervision of a volunteer
citizen's advisory committee. The committee, given full
responsibility for the siting process, responded admirably and
even took an instrumental role in the selection of the
consulting engineer for the project. The public was informed of
the process, and the news media provided advance notice of all
meetings. Additionally, the media received press releases at
key points throughout the process. The local governing body
fully accepted and endorsed the committee's work, and the top
site has been selected for the permitting process. Reaction to
the siting was based on an informed public that was more focused
on specific issues and less emotional that typically associated
with landfill projects. In summary, this project could serve as
a model for other localities seeking answers on how to approach
their own siting project.
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Fauquier County:
This County is widely diversified both in terns of its
citizen base, geologic setting (ranging from the Blue Ridge to
the Piedmont), and scenic rivers. The population is employed by
both the local economy and those of neighboring localities (the
Northern Virginia area). Demographically, the population center
is the Town of Warrenton (County seat), which is also located
close to the geographic center of the County.
While this landfill siting process was conducted by the
consulting engineer in public session under the supervision of
the full elected body, there was no attempt to educate the
public or coordinate coverage of the process with the news
media. Thus, as various sites were selected for on-site
investigation, a corresponding public reaction was mobilized.
Complicating the issue was a complex geologic environment that
made it difficult to fully evaluate individual site
suitabilities without on-site investigation of soil and water
conditions.
Although the selection of a site was complicated by a lack
of public understanding of the siting process, and the need to
review numerous sites in the field, the elected body was
committed and willing to make the difficult decisions to keep
the project moving forward. Two sites are now being evaluated
and preliminary work is being conducted to initiate the
permitting process. In summary, an improved public
informational program may have reduced public anxiety and
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minimized political outfall from the project.
Wythe/Bland Counties:
The rural nature of these two southwest Virginia Counties
would seemingly simplify the siting process. However, difficult
geologic conditions (predominant limestone valleys, steep
slopes, and major thrust faults) made the process considerably
more complex. Similar to the Bedford County example, a
volunteer citizen's advisory committee was utilized, and press
releases were provided the new media throughout the process.
Finally, because of the regional nature of the study, several
public work sessions were conducted with full attendance by all
publicly elected officials. While the advisory committee did
not take the same leadership role as did the committee for
Bedford County, the process moved forward with a minimum of
problems. Two sites have been selected for preliminary
investigation with little negative public reaction.
In summary, an effective public relations and participation
program simplified the process and increased the chances for
public acceptance of the project.
Washington County:
Nestled along the border of Virginia and Tennessee, this
County is the home of the Town of Abingdon, one of the more
historic towns of southwest Virginia. It is also adjacent to
the City of Bristol, one of the most populated cities in
southwest Virginia. Like Wythe and Bland Counties, the region
is punctuated by complex geology and a scarcity of truly
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suitable landfill sites.
The siting process was initiated using a landfill search
committee comprised of both elected officials and County staff.
The search was conducted in its entirety behind closed doors,
under the philosophy that this provided the County the best
position from which to negotiate with property owners without
political pressure and speculation of property values. During
the latter stages of the siting process, changes were made in
both staff personnel and elected officials, and the direction of
the project was altered. The newly elected officials did not
have a full perspective of the process or the results of the
study to date, and naturally exhibited caution as they were
thrust immediately into a very potentially volatile situation.
The siting process continued in executive session with the full
elected body. To date, there has not been a public
informational program.
The siting has progressed to on-site reviews of 15 potential
landfill sites. Some difficulty is expected from the public
once the final site or sites has been identified for preliminary
investigations and permitting.
in summary, the use of a citizen's advisory committee would
have transcended the difficulties related to changes in County
leadership.
Each of the localities presented herein should eventually
find a suitable landfill site, because each search utilized a
very defendable, objective, and well documented process.
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However, the two cases that utilized a fully organized citizen's
advisory committee moved forward the most quickly and
experienced the least problems. The remainder of the localities
would have benefitted in some way by utilizing a citizen's
advisory committee, or by more fully emphasizing public
informational programs and press relationships.
In summary, local governments must learn that citizens can
be made a part of the solution rather than part.of the problem
when it comes to landfill siting. By making conscious and
deliberate decisions on how to keep the public informed, to
receive constructive public input, and to maintain credibility
and public confidence, a locality can avoid many of the problems
that typically plague projects of this type. Use of public
involvement allows the local governing body to best perform its
task by allowing the public to play a large role in the
selection of the site itself. Not surprisingly, when given such
an important public mission, local citizens will respond by
setting aside self-serving interests and pursue the common good
of the citizens of that locality. Not only will they do the
honest, hard work of siting the facility, but they will defend
it for you and applaud you for your approach. Not a bad way to
avoid the NIMBY syndrome.
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THE NATURE OF COMPOST
By William D. Gibson, President
RESOURCE SYSTEMS CORP.
Related to Presentation at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1367
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Since the beginning of time, living organisms have deposited
waste on the surface of the earth. Plants and animals die from
disease or old age# leaving their physical remains behind. Some
plants such as trees shed parts of themselves annually. Animals
have deposited incalculable amounts of their excrement on the
earth. It would seem that by now the earth would be covered
with a thick layer of foul-smelling, disease-ridden debris. Yet,
we know that is not true. Generally, where human beings have not
interferred with nature, the world is a clean and healthful place.
There is no remaining evidence of the waste produced over the
centuries.
In a never—ending cycle, nature not only cleans up and sani-
tizes the waste it creates, but also converts it into a humus
which mingles with the soil to enhance the growth of new plant
life which, in turn, provides food for new animal life.
This process depends upon billions of minute, harmless micro-
organisms that digest all dead organic material and convert it
into beneficial humus.
During its short history, mankind has taken advantage of
nature's self-renewing process. Nomads disposed of their refuse
a short way from camp, knowing that when they next passed that
way again, it would have disappeared. When people settled down
to raise crops, they used manure, food scraps and other organic
refuse to enrich the soil. Today, many people use nature's
processes in their gardens, collecting leaves and grass clip-
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pings for compost piles which are slowly transformed into a use-
ful mulch.
In recent times, attention has been given to using nature's
self-cleaning and self-renewal processes to deal with the grow-
ing volumes of refuse generated by modern society. Most modern
cities now have sewage treatment plants which employ nature's
processes to convert organic materials into a sludge that is
separated from water, which then is clean enough to return to
our rivers and streams.
Until recently, landfills seemed to be the appropriate and
least expensive way for communities to dispose of their solid
waste. Now however, that method is less acceptable. Once
again, nature's composting process is being used to deal with
the tons of refuse generated daily in modern cities. To handle
these large volumes of municipal waste, the process is speeded
up. The microorganisms are given an environment which allows
them to reproduce rapidly and work at peak efficiency to break
down waste.
To do this, they need lots of oxygen, or air. When this is
supplied, the microorganisms not only multiply and work rapidly,
they do so without creating odors. This is called aerobic de-
composition. If enough air is not supplied, the biological/
chemical process is slower and emits objectionable odors. This
is termed anaerobic decomposition.
Moisture is another factor that influences the activity of
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the microorganisms. So water is supplied to keep moisture
within the range which the microorganisms prefer.
Microorganisms prosper under varying temperature conditions.
For example, mesophilic microorganisms do best in temperatures
from 55°to 110°F. These microorganisms convert carbon into car-
«
bon dioxide, causing the temperature to rise. At higher temper-
atures, thermophilic microorganisms thrive. They multiply
quickly and continue the work of decomposing organic components
of waste begun by the mesophilic organisms. Thus, the tempera-
ture of the waste material rises from 110°F to as high as 175°F.
The DANO composting system, which has been used successfully
in Europe for 40 years, creates ideal conditions for microorgan-
isms to multiply and work rapidly.
- The organic waste is first pulverized into a pulp,
which can be digested more easily than larger pieces.
- A constant air supply assures rapid, aerobic decom-
position.
- Proper amounts of water are added to keep the moisture
content within the desired range.
The total composting process is completed in about six weeks.
During the initial pulverizing stage of six to eight hours, large
inorganic items are removed. The pulp is then deposited on aer-
ation slabs where air is forced upward through the material.
After three weeks, the waste is about 90% composted. Then it
is removed to static maturation beds where the process is com-
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pleted, taking another three weeks. The resulting product is
an odorless, fully-matured compost, which is a wonderful soil
conditioner. The prolonged high temperatures during fermenta-
tion have pasteurized the product, killing or rendering harmless
pathogens, weed seeds, insect eggs and larvae and other undesir-
able organisms.
It should be noted that the above describes only the com-
posting process. Modern DANO plants also remove recyclable
materials.
WHAT IS SOIL?
Besides moisture, soil normally has four basis constituents:
Sand
Powdered minerals, or silt (much like sand, but finer)
Clay
Organic humus, or compost.
The amount of the last ingredient strongly affects a soil's
fertility. Most of the soil in most places is deficient in
humus. This can be corrected with the addition of compost.
Compost is not a fertilizer, although fertilizer can be added
to it. Its greatest value is as a soil conditioner which:
- Improves moisture retention
- Aerates and loosens the soil
- Increases the soil's ability to hold nutrients
- Provides trace elements which plants need
- Controls erosion
- Helps plant roots absorb nutrients
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The amount of natural humus tends to diminish in soils
which are intensively cultivated. Many commercial growers
rotate their crops and add soil conditioner to a portion of
their land each year.
In summary, the DANO process is a natural process. Organic
waste materials, which originally come from the ground, are
converted to composted humus by microorganisms. When the humus
is applied as a conditioner to soils, the natural cycle is com-
pleted.
Solid waste is a valuable resource to be used, not buried
or burned.
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THE "OTHER" MARKET DEVELOPMENT: HOW TO USE MARKET RESEARCH
TO DEVELOP CUSTOMER EDUCATION THAT WORKS
Ticiang Diangson
Promotions and Customer Education Coordinator
Seattle Solid Waste Utility
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 14, 1990
1373
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Introduction
The "other" market development is increasing the market of
solid waste diversion program participants. My focus is the use
of market research to develop customer education that works in
increasing that market of program participants. Because the
popularity and pressure for recycling programs is so high, we
tend to rush to get programs—including their customer education
and promotion elements—out on the street as fast as possible.
That rush sometimes overshadows the need for research: research
to' determine what kind of program will work best in a specific
geographic area and what messages will best elicit participation
in that program.
That is what happened in Seattle. Curbside recycling was
a "political tiger" that the Solid Waste Utility had by the
tail. Without asking Seattle residents what service elements
they would like, we published a Request for Proposals for
contractor services to collect recyclables at the curb. What we
learned from doing that could be the topic of a whole, separate
presentation. What I am going to describe is the research we
did do to ensure effective customer education about curbside
recycling and our other municipal solid waste diversion
programs.
Before I elaborate on market research, I want to give you
a brief overview of our customer education perspective. We^
think good customer education:
o increases participation, resulting in recycling tonnage arid
lower garbage tonnage;
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reduces customer questions and decreases telephone staff
time;
improves customer preparation of recyclables and reduces
contamination of recyclables.
builds an influential constituency for solid waste
diversion programs.
The key elements in Seattle's customer education efforts
1. Market research to determine what kinds of programs
customers want, how to identify non-participants, how
to tailor specific messages to reach subgroups of
nonparticipants, and evaluation of program and
customer education results.
2. Public involvement and community outreach so that
customers can give face-to-face feedback on what is
working and not working*—and give us ideas for the
future.
3. Promotion campaigns centering around direct mail
pieces which give the latest information on programs
and are supported by traditional promotional
approaches: news releases, radio and print
advertising, radio and TV public service
announcements, community events booth staffing, and
other materials.
4. Coordination of customer education efforts between the
Utility and the collection contractors, other
government agencies, community environmental groups
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and related private businesses. We have a monthly
meeting with the contractors and utility public
information staff to make sure the right hand knows
what the left hand is doing.
5. Last, but most important: excellent customer service
coordinated with customer education so. that the
customer education messages and the Utility service
delivery both match and both are changed when they
don't work for the customer.
Market Research Experience
Before I describe our market research , I want to stress
that I am talking about approaches that can be adapted to any
community. There are ways for both a big city and a small
county to adapt these approaches to their community. You can
blow these ideas up into large scale projects with professional
consultants or whittle them down to shoestring budgets and
volunteers.
When we don't do market research, I think we can end up
preaching to the choir—because we unconsciously assume our
diverse customer populations all view solid waste issues the
same way we "garbage groupies" do. All customers are different
and they think differently from solid waste personnel. Seattle,
like all cities, has its own distinctive demographics: median
family income is $22,700; ethnic minorities are 24% of the
population; 14% of the population is 65 years or older. Our goal
is to persuade all of the demographic segments in Seattle to
participate in our programs.
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While the utility aims much of our customer education at
Seattle as a whole, we also research smaller customer segments:
different neighborhoods, different ethnicities, single family
residents vs. multifamily, etc.
Curbside Recycling Research
In December 1987, two months before curbside recycling was
scheduled to begin in Seattle, we did focus groups to help us
design the customer education. (Focus groups are small
discussion groups of customers who represent the audience you
are trying to reach; the purpose of the group discussion is to
get in-depth understanding of motivations and preferences—
qualitative information.) The curbside recycling program was
split between two contractors with different collection methods:
North End residents would be getting weekly collection from
source separated bins; the South End residents would be getting
monthly collection from a co-mingled toter. We did three,
randomly selected focus groups: one for North End
"recyclers"(those who had done some kind of recycling on their
own in the past year), one for South End recyclers, and one for
"non-recyclers." We structured the groups this way because we
wanted to find out first about the customers who were
predisposed to recycle, and, later, gradually work up to the
"less inclined to recycle" customers.
What we learned from the focus groups changed some of our
assumptions. We found (paraphrasing from the final report) that
"virtually everyone recycles something, or has in the past.
Most people go through periods of more or less recycling
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activity, usually dependent on their circumstances at the time.
With a few exceptions/ there were not real differences between
*recyclers' and xnonrecyclers'" The findings from the focus
groups resulted in the following linchpins for our customer
education messages:
1. Virtually everyone views recycling positively.
People do not have to be convinced that recycling is a good
thing. They value the concept and feel good when they do
it.
2. Everybody has recycling experience.
Just about everyone has recycled some material at some
time. Most have recycled something recently. Almost
without exception, these experiences are positive.
However, people often don't think of what they are doing as
"recycling."
3. Each person seems to have a point beyond which recycling
• seems too complicated or difficult.
It is important not to overwhelm people and risk pushing
them past their saturation point. Someone with minimal
recycling experience is more likely to begin with
newspapers and add cans, glass, and other materials later
than to begin recycling everything at once. If the choices
look like all or nothing they may choose nothing.
4. Convenience is the key to increasing recycling activity.
People do not view recycling as particularly easy or
convenient, and every step of the process present®
barriers: identifying recyclable materials, preparing
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them, storing them, taking them where they need to go.
Each barrier will cause some people to drop out. Any
measure which makes these steps easier will pay off.
5. Details are extremely important, and every detail presents
possibilities to lose participants.
Example: People are remarkably sensitive to the
characteristics of storage containers, including ' their
size, shape, color, sturdiness, and protection from rain
and animals. Example: "Curbside" recycling is a red flag
to people whose garbage is collected from their alley.
6. People are very responsive to what their friends and
neighbors are doing.
Recycling activity spreads like an epidemic, especially
when it is made visible. It may be best to start first
with a core group who will get the process underway, rather
than trying to get everyone all at once.
7. Apply the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Sweetie.
In April 1988, two months after the curbside recycling
program began, we tested possible visual themes and slogans for
our customer education. Why two months after? Because the
recycling "tiger" schedule moved faster than our budget ability
to hire a promotional consultant to design our customer
education campaigns. (The initial, advance sign-up for the
program was done through direct mailers designed in-house using
the focus group findings as a guide.) Also using the focus
group findings, our new promotional consultant designed
alternative visuals and slogans. We tested these alternatives
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by interviewing 200 city residents at two North End grocery
stores and two South End grocer stores (50 at each store).
Major findings from the store interviews final report:
1. The Corporate Logo design (three recycling arrows)
attracted the most attention — both positive and negative.
In fact, response to the Corporate Logo was polarized:
people either loved it or hated it. Positive and negative
response to this design was split about 50/50.
2. The Kirby the Cat display (a feline mascot) received the
least attention. Almost half of the sample said nothing
about it, good or bad. But, overall, more people disliked
t}ie Kirby display than liked it.
3. In amount of attention given, the Recyclettes (cartoon
characters of newspaper, envelope, bottle and can) fell
somewhere between the Corporate Logo and Kirby the Cat.
But those who thought the Recyclettes were best slightly
outnumbered those who thought it was worst. The Recyclettes
display is the clear favorite of those who had not yet
signed up for the recycling program.
4. "Curb Waste—Recycle" and "It's up to You and Me" were the
verbal messages receiving the greatest positive response.
Although either of these messages should work well in the
promotional campaign, "Curb Waste" has the advantage of
brevity and could • also be used for the City's upcoming
curbside garbage collection program.
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Other Research
In July 1989/ we surveyed customer attitudes, awareness,
understanding" and participation regarding all our major solid
waste programs. Some of the evaluative findings about customer
education were:
75% of the customers understood how to sign up for the
new garbage service and rates (instituted in January
1989);
68% sent in the return card to sign up, 15% signed up
another way, 10% couldn't remember how they signed up,
and 7% called the utility to sign up (one of our goals
was to minimize the number of incoming phone calls—
even with these fairly good results the phone lines
were occasionally overwhelmed);
- Customers who received a tip sheet, explaining what
they could do to improve their collection service
(garbage out by 7 a.m., etc) were significantly more
likely to perceive the utility as committed to good
customer service.
Market research has allowed us to evaluate and project
customer trends: in the past three years, customers have become
more knowledgeable and sophisticated about solid waste issues
and more willing to take additional steps to recycle and to
reduce waste. It will be interesting to compare our previous
research results with the future surveys — to see if all the
Earth Day hoopla has resulted in another leap in knowledge and
sophistication!
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Research still in process:
- follow-up focus groups from the 198 9 survey: ethnic
minority customers and unhappy customers;
- waste reduction survey of customer attitudes,
behaviors and preferences regarding waste reduction;
small commercial business recycling (a survey to
identify customers and program elements for a new
direction for small private recycling businesses);
- apartment dweller recycling: the use of dropsites and
buyback centers, what preferences are for program
elements.
Two additional/ easy evaluation tools of our customer
education were signup card returns and phone calls. 'Both our
internal data and also our survey reports confirmed that most
customers signed up for the Curbside Recycling program at the
beginning; other "peaks on the graph" occurred when neighbors
saw neighbors getting containers delivered and when the
newspaper talked about garbage collection rate increases being
linked to the volume of garbage disposed of. Phone calls let us
know what the service problems and customer confusions were on
which we needed to focus customer information. Our phone lines
were literally swamped and we sent out informational mailers on
the most common questions called in — in order to reduce the
number of phone calls.
Market Research Guidelines
Here is a checklist of steps that have worked in Seattle;.
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1. Pick a researcher that has experience and
understanding of how to elicit information from all the
segments of your customer population.
2. Ask the researcher to review existing, relevant
research to avoid re-inventing the wheel so that you can
test "current wisdom" to see if it applies to your
populations.
3. Decide the balance of quantitative (survey) and
qualitative (focus groups or interviews) research you want;
decide the balance of "overall samples" you want vs.
targeted samples (the whole population vs. special
segments) .
4. Allow your researcher to be creative in how the
information will be collected (conjoint analysis, grocery
store intercepts, surveys at buyback centers, etc.).
5. Clarify your goals so that the broad questions you
want answered are reflected in the specific questions;
clarify beforehand how the information will be used (for
design, evaluation, funding decisions, etc.).
6. Double-check that the questions are easy to
understand! You usually want information from your whole
population, not just the very literate. Pre-test your
survey to see if the questions are understood.
7. Make certain that all the demographic data you want
collected is included and that the survey is structured so
you can get the cross-tabulations you want (for example,
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what per cent of single family residents sighed up for yard
waste collection).
8. "Listen in" on the fielding of the survey and the
debriefing of the survey staff so you get a firsthand sense
of customer response.
9. Edit the final report to reflect what you think is an
accurate interpretation of the data, to suit all of your
purposes and to truly be a resource document you will use.
Closing Summary
How much does market research cost and is it a worthwhile
investment? The Seattle Solid Waste Utility spends between 20-
30% of its customer education budget on market research. We
think it is worthwhile because it has helped us communicate
appropriate messages, reduce customer confusion, improve
customer solid waste diversion behavior and evaluate what works
and what doesn't.
Part of the success of Seattle's recycling, yard waste
collection and other solid waste diversion programs is a result
of customer education developed through market research. Of the
150,000 Seattle residents eligible for the curbside recycling
program, 90% are aware of it and 75% have signed up for it; 84%
of eligible residents are aware of the yard waste collection
program and 60% have signed up for it; 65% of the residents get
their program information from utility direct mailers.
"As technically advanced as we are, to have them walk on
the moon or having space ships going out of our solar system, w*
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ought to be able to do something with our garbage." {Quote from
Seattle customer focus group, February 1990)
With the help of market research, we ought to be able to do
more and more with our garbage, more and more effectively.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Market research reports prepared by consultants for the Seattle
Solid Waste Utility:
"Promoting Curbside Recycling in Seattle," February 1988
"Visual Themes for Use in Promoting the Curbside Recycling
Program," April 1988
"Marketing and Promotion Literature Review," August 1989
"1989 Marketing and Promotion Customer Survey," October
1989
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First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
GRCDA • June 13-16,1990
Promoting
Recycling Collection Programs
The programs covered in this presentation will
include:
• King County's (Washington) rural landfill drop-off
• City of Seattle's "Recycle Seattle" curbside collection
• Paper Fibers CQmpany's "Paper Pick-Up" office paper
collection
• Seattle Disposal Recycling's commercial commingled
collection
• Rabanco Ltd.'s "Recycling Centre" processing facility
Craig H. Benton
Sound Resource Management Group, Inc.
7220 Ledroit Court SW, Seattle, Washington 98136 • 206/281-5952
Recycling Programs
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Theme & Logo
Purpose
• Identify sponsor and establish credibility.
• integrate and unify program components.
• Attract attention to the program and maintain public visibility.
• Send a positive, consistent message to spur participation.
• Published materials: brochures, utility bill inserts, newsletters,
calendars, fact sheets, flyers, door hangers, etc.
• Advertisements for newspapers, radio, TV, bus panels, billboards.
• Labels and buttons: bumperstickers, lapel buttons, and signs for
hauling trucks, semi trailers, collection containers, recycling centers
and disposal facilities.
• Business stationery: letterhead, business cards, invoices, etc.
• Presentations and displays.
Following are the logos that were and are being used to promote the four
recycling programs discussed in this presentation, including an
adaptation of the King County Can Man logo for use in their landfill
recycling services brochure:
Uses
Give GarbageV pM
Recycle!
a
Recycle Seattle
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Brochures, Newsletters, Flyers
Printed information should include:
• WHAT the program is about and what materials are involved.
• HOW to participate and how to prepare materials.
• WHERE materials need to be taken and when.
• WHY participation will benefit the customer, local economy and
regional environment.
• Phone numbers of contact people or agencies for answering
questions or fielding complaints.
• Attractive graphics, positive and motivating copy, theme and logo.
The following illustrates how the WHAT, HOW, WHERE and WHY of a
recycling program can be assembled into an effective layout (from King
County's landfill recycling services brochure):
landfill Recycling
Services
Klag Csaacy now provide*
convenient myelin*
sendees at all county
opented UndlUl
sues thai an open
to the public. These
aervtcsa arc man
convenient for mid«nt»
living in tnu of King
County without nearby municipal
or private recycling opportunities. With a little preparation, you can drop off
glaae oaatalasre. aaifltul t&a aaaa. ataalna aaaa. aewspapar and arisetf
waate paper during your next vtsli to the landlUl.
The best way to awn recyrhng la lo And a convenient apace to
•S? atore recyclable materials. it ought be m a comer of the |aragc. in
a doeet near ihe door, or under cower on the porch. Storage of
giaaa. can*, newspaper. broken down cardboard boms. and mind
waur paper for one month ulna a 3 ft. by 3 ft. area. You m uae
cardboard boxes. paper bags. buckets. or other available containers to hold thaae
recyclable*. Vou might warn to atare reflllaMe beverage bottles separately tor
occasional trips is private recycling centers that buy them back. Just remember
the baaic rule: i«— —<•>¦
¦ Cadar Falls LaadBB
10901 Cedar Falls Road SE
33431 lasaquah-Hoban Road
I badn LaadflS
39000 SC «0th Street
I ^afcoB LaadSlI
1«880 130th Avenue SW
LanrtflUs aie open 7 davs a week, en-
cept an Thankapving. Chrwmu. and
New Ysar'a Day. Hours of operailan
are Sua to 9n Standard Die. or 9**
to dm Dayttght Savings Time.
Preparing Tour
Recyclable
Recyclable*
Material pupmllwi is eaay. Juat
Mow the ample fuMebnaa outtasd I
this chart At ihehndAl racydtngriu
¦»* on O* ii^dM bee we
you where t» put —ch ulial
aecurely cover all laada lakan Is tbe
landfla ao thai iwdam am taw jsur
' : Wtak a is kiraaonn.
All graphics except the King County "Give Garbage New Lffe...Recycter Can Man were
produced by Sound Resource Management Group, Inc. The Can Mian logo and theme was
produced by SRMG in conjunction with a Seattle public relations firm and local artist
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Labels
Elements for successful labels:
• incorporate the program's logo, colors and theme if possible.
• Include only the most important information (save the rest for
brochures) and at least a phone number for inquiries.
• For outdoor applications, silkscreening produces a longer lasting ink
image than does an offset printing press. Use high-quality materials
(vinyl is best). Remember that reds fade sooner than other colors.
• Locate label on a smooth surface of the container or vehicle where it
will be clearly visible. Avoid placement where contact is made by
other pieces of equipment.
The following is an example of a commingled dumpster instruction label:
Commercial
Recycling
Service
Recycling Bin Instructions
PI««M put only tho following rocyclablo materials into ttila eontainor.
H you nit* quotient (Bout rteycfmg Mhor mattnait not ksiM narc.
cut Saaina Oitposai Recycling al 7(3-2800.
ALL PAPER
CARDBOARD
Cwni|tl>< Nim
6mnI I*>m
iWhwi mm**
'sssttzsssr
GLASS
Seer* Wine
MUm
Feetf 4mm
wnoeegeis
|w«ni>
METALS
ThiFMtfCani
M
PLASTICS
i fcrwim mi I
DO Put The Following Materials Into This Recycling Bin:
Liquids • Food Waste • Waxed Cardboard • Fabrics • Wood * Styrofoam
Events
Items to remember when planning an event:
• Press releases that include the date, time and location mailed to
local media several weeks prior to the event.
• Press packets, comprising brochures, flyers, label samples, etc.
• Invitations sent to government officials or local media personalities.
• Theme and logo prominently displayed.
• Arrange for people knowfedgable about the program or facility to be
interviewed by the media.
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PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS ON REDUCING, REUSING AND RECYCLING
Marie Hammer
Cooperative Extension Service (CES), University of Florida
Jo Townsend, CES
Orange County, Florida
Celia Bugg, CES
Lee County, Florida
Alicia Homrich, CES
Orange County, Florida
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
Sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency
June 13-16, 1990
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I. Situation
The issue of waste management is of critical importance to Florida and
to many states across the nation. Florida is now the 4th most populated
state with a population of 12.4 million, increasing by 900 persons per day.
In addition, the sun, sand, surf and attractions lure 37 million visitors
to the state each year. Each person in Florida generates 7-8 lbs. of solid
waste per day, compared to 4 pounds per person for the rest of the nation.
This comes to 15.8 million tons of waste generated per year in the state.
Florida aggressively addressed the problem in 1988 by passing the Solid
Waste Management Act (SWMA), considered to be one of the most comprehensive
state bills passed to date. Each county in Florida is mandated to reduce
the county's waste stream by 30% by 1994. Ultimately, the goal is to
recycle 33%, landfill 33% and burn 33% in waste to energy facilities.
II. Public Education
Embedded in the SWMA are provisions for public education programs to
support county waste management plans. Hie Cooperative Extension Service
is in a unique position to provide educational leadership to support
community waste management decision making. The Cooperative Extension
Service is the people rs/lpublic link to the land grant system at the county
level. It is a cooperative venture of federal, state and county government'
to transfer university-based knowledge to deal with local problems. It is
able to apply a wide range of innovative techniques including: initiating
community involvement in problem solving and serving as a catalyst for
networking among local and state decision makers and public, private and
regulatory agencies and organizations. It has a 75 year history of
effective community education with emphasis on utilizing volunteers to
reach youth and adult audiences.
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Public education programs in solid waste management have been developed
in 43 of Florida's 67 counties by the Cooperative Extension Service working
in tandem with local officials. These programs have been directed to help
educate government, business, and community action leaders, as well as
individuals, producers and consumers.
III. The Land-Grant System Support
The inter-disciplinary nature of the solid waste issue relies on
expertise in engineering, economics and business, sociology, soils and
agronomy, chemistry, community development, public policy education, home
and consumer economics, youth education and environmental law. CES is
utilizing these resources in the land grant system to help solve local
problems through education. In addition, Extension is networking with a
myriad of organizations/agencies such as the Florida Clean Community
Commission, Florida Business and Industry Recycling Program (BIRP), Florida
Hotel and Motel Association and the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, to
name a few.
Local governments are in need of information related to policy issues.
Programs for local governments can be concentrated on both technical and
institutional solutions to waste problems. This might include designing a
comprehensive waste management plan, establishing a recycling program,
planning a community-based composting program, or calculating costs and
benefits derived from reducing the waste stream, ttie county Extension
faculty, with support from the land-grant system, are in a position to
provide technical expertise and information which cam be customized to the
local situation for decision making.
Interrelated with institutional/public policy issues and technical
solutionis is the need for educational programs targeted to all segments of
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the population. Programs are needed that increase consumer awareness of
the solid waste problems and the environmental consequences of purchase
decisions and solid waste disposal. Programs are also needed that provide
education on true cost accounting, cost avoidance and risk assessments of
waste management alternatives. Implementation of these programs will
ensure public participation in decision making and planning.
One key to long term success may be educating youth. Youth will grow
up with an environmental ethic which they can relay to their parents and to
future generations as well. In Florida, 4-H youth enrichment programs are
being designed to strengthen school-based environmental education
curricula. Another key to a multiplier effect in programming is the
utilization of volunteers in expanding educational efforts. This cadre of
Extension volunteers is helping to raise awareness of the solid waste
crises and promote source reduction and recycling.
Three exanples of programs have been selected for this discussion to
illustrate the breadth of Extension programming capabilities. In the first
example, Extension provides leadership to develop recycling systems and
provides education to promote waste reduction and recycling in the
commercial sector. Two additional examples target adult and youth citizens
to direct their personal sense of responsibility toward a waste reduction
and management ethic.
Recycling Systems/Educational Program - EXAMPLE 1
DESIGNING A HOTEL/MOTEL RECYCLING PROGRAM
Jo Townsend, Orlando, Orange County, Florida
I. Situation
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There are approximately 5,000 licensed hotels and motels in Florida
with an unknown number under construction. The existing number of hotels/
motels represents over 300,000 guest rooms.
In the Orlando/Disney World area there are 400 hotels/motels
representing 69,700 guest rooms. Ten additional hotels at Disney World,
Kissimmee and Orlando Airport are under construction and will be opening
this summer and fall. This is expected to increase the room count in the
Orlando area to over 73,000. In addition to guest rooms, the majority of
these properties have restaurants, meeting roams, laundries, conference
facilities and other guest services, all generating different types of
waste.
II. Waste Stream Analysis
A waste stream analysis of five hospitality facilities in the Orlando
area revealed these figures: waste materials generated in guest rooms
ranged from 1/2 pound to 28 1/2 pounds per day with 80% of the material
considered recyclable. Newspapers, computer paper, convention throwaways
and beverage containers accounted for the largest volume of recyclable
materials. Properties with restaurants, conference facilities and
laundries generated more waste and had more recyclable items; for example,
one large property generated 8-9 tons of solid waste per day.
III. Waste Stream Characterization
The characteristics of the waste stream were fairly constant in the
five pilot hotels/motels. The recyclables in guest rooms were newspapers,
computer and office paper, aluminum cans, glass and beverage containers.
From the lounge areas came glass, aluminum and plastic. Convention
facilities generated large volumes of paper of various types, plastic,
aluminum and shipping pallets. Convention Center waste streams varied
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depending on the type of convention. Laundries generated plastic and rags.
Kitchens and dining rooms generated glass, cooking oil, aluminum, steel and
plastic. The Engineering Departments' waste streams were unique in that
they required special handling in some cases because of hazardous waste
materials such as pool chemicals, paints, pesticides, motor oils,
batteries, etc. Old equipment, wood shipping pallets, yard debris, copper,
aluminum and steel were recyclable items found in the engineering areas-
Gift and beauty shops disposed of glass, paper and plastic. All
departments yeilded cardboard, making it the largest unrecovered recyclable
item.
IV. Systems Design/Educational Programming
Five pilot hotel/motel recycling programs were developed to test
recycling methods and systems. The collection method, storage
system/facility and marketing strategy varied slightly in each property.
Equipment and containers were selected based on volume, design of storage
areas and methods of collection.
Educational programs were designed and implemented for hotel/fcotel
employees and guests. Hie educational training module consisted of an
instruction manual for management, a training video for employees and
specific information on recycling of aluminum, glass, paper, steel, cooking
oil and plastic. A guest awareness information packet was developed and
placed in guest rooms, on drink dispensers, in hotel lobbies and in other
public areas. Seminars and workshops were held statewide to provide
education on recycling strategies for Hotel/Motel Management and Recycling
Coordinators. This was done in order to involve property management teams
who were not involved in the pilot project. Participants report their
monthly recycling activities so the outreach of the educational programs
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can be monitored and more data can be collected. Presently, the five pilot
project sites are being monitored closely and the energy agent is providing
training and dealing with collection and storage on a regular basis.
V. Cooperative Efforts
This program links the Florida Cooperative Extension Service to the
Florida Hotel and Motel Association, the National Hotel and Motel
Association, the waste and recycling industries, the Florida Governor's
Energy Office and the Florida Department of Environmental Regulations
(DER). The Keep Florida Beautiful Program's statewide campaign has
authorized the use of their slogan and logo in the materials developed for
the recycling pilot program.
The waste and recycling industries are supportive of the Hotel/Motel
Recycling Program. The Florida Business and Industry Recycling Program
(BIRP) has been involved in the program from the onset and has assisted in
designing the pilot program and in facilitating in-service training
opportunities. Working hand-in-hand with Extension, they have brought
resources from the business and industry sector to support the system
development and educational components of the project. Recycling equipment
manufacturers and distributors have been deeply involved in the project.
They have arranged for special pricing for containers and equipment and in
some cases have provided them at no cost.
The Florida Cooperative Extension Service of the INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES based at the UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA has provided
technical and scientific expertise for the project. The university has
also provided electronic media experts to the pilot project as well as
editorial assistance to help design a media packet and educational
materials.
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VI. Monitoring Program Progress
The results of the pilot Hotel/Motel Recycling Project are not
complete; however, definite reductions in the volume of waste being hauled
to landfills has been documented in all five properties being studied.
Factors affecting the success of the program favorably include:
- A well-planned employee training progam
- High employee involvement in the collection and storage
- Positive attitude of management and employees toward recycling.
Types and locations of recycling equipment and storage areas at this point
of analysis do not seem to be significant to the success of the programs.
The five pilot projects are being monitored until the end of 1990 when the
program will be evaluated on waste reduction, reduced cost, increased
employee involvement, response from guests and program expansion. The
systems for recycling and guest response to the pilot program will also be
analyzed.
The Florida Hotel/Motel Industry is the first industry in the state to
unite in designing and implementing recycling programs. The hotels/taotels
in the Orlando area provide an effective way to demonstrate recycling in
the commercial sector to the millions of visitors from around the world who
visit this area.
Educational Program - EXAMPLE 2
MEETING THE SOLID WASTE CHALLENGE THROUGH YOUTH
Celia Bugg, Ft. Myers, Lee County, Florida
I. Situation
Nationally, the Cooperative Extension Service has been providing
research based information to consumers since 1914, and in Lee County,
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Florida since 1922. As community educators, Extension personnel strive to
provide current information to individuals that will improve their quality
of life.
4-H is the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension
Service. The program encourages creativity in a "doing" environment. 4-H
encompasses all youth, urban and suburban, ages 8 to 18. Nationally, we
provide education to five million youth. Participation in a 4-H activity
can be through a traditional 4-H club in the community, special interest
groups, or school enrichment programs. Extension Agents have effectively
worked with youth to educate and build future leaders. Senator Bob Graham
of Florida, Orville Redenbacher (of popcorn fame) and Harold H. Poling,
Vice President of Ford Motor Company are three successful individuals who
were involved in 4-H programs.
II. 4-H Youth Program Potential
Environmental programming has always been a significant component of
the 4-H program. Solid waste education as part .of 4-H's major
environmental thrust is gaining momentum. Aggressive efforts to teach the
3 R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - can develop lifetime habits in youth
and create positive effects for our environment.
Lee County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. The
Extension faculty recognized the dilemma of the rapidly growing population,
limited landfill space and state legislation requiring solid waste
reduction. Working closely with the Lee County government, a grant was
provided to the Extension Service from Department of Environmental
Regulation funds to develop the county solid waste education program.
The program was launched with a pilot camp project titled "Trash Masters:
What's All This Trash About Garbage?" Twenty-five campers, ages 7-13,
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representing all areas of the county, attended a one week camp with a
curriculum that included a number of educational activities. Some of these
were: touring a landfill, learning how to compost, conducting a beach
clean-up and learning ways of reducing, reusing and recycling. As a result
of the camp, 50% of the families of the campers started recycling, 58% made
practice changes to reduce waste and 66% shared waste management
information with other family members and friends. Trash camp exposed the
youth to environmental facts in a fun, hands—on way.
III. Outreach
Now Trash Masters is going on the road as a vital part of Lee County's
Parks and Recreation summer program as well as being incorporated into the
school system's Environmental Education Summer Camp. The Extension faculty
will present units on recycling, reducing, reusing, horticulture, food
waste and the detrimental effects of garbage on marine life. School
programs, organized church-related groups and preschool child-care programs
will concentrate on recycling as the major focus of the program. A school
recycling contest during Earth Day activities brought in 7,000 pounds of
recyclables and involved hundreds of school children.
Extension is developing a plan to provide continuing education on
recycling for professional educators in the public/private schools systems.
The training will support the Florida Department of Education Recycling
Study Guide curriculum for schools. Teachers will receive an update on the
latest procedures for county recycling and will be provided with activities
for classroom learning.
IV. Model Program
The Trash Masters camp curriculum has been shared throughout the
Florida Extension network and the Lee County camp model will be used to
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plan camps in at least 40 Florida counties in summer 1990. Trash Masters
is also being distributed by the Extension Service/USDA to all states, with
the potential of reaching thousands of youth through this network.
Educational Program - EXAMPLE 3
INVOLVING VOLUNTEERS IN SOLID WASTE EDUCATION
Alicia Homrich, Orlando, Orange County, Florida
I. Situation
In Orange County, Florida, the solid waste issue has taken a front row
seat not only as a political concern, but also as a community concern. As
mandated by the 1988 Florida Legislature, Orange County must reduce its
waste stream by 30% by 1994. The waste issue is also tied directly to the
safety of Florida's fragile fresh water supply, a concern to all Orange
County residents.
The ultimate consumer market is comprised of individuals and families.
Both solid and hazardous wastes are generated either directly by homes or
in the production of goods that are eventually consumed by families. This
audience must be the target of any accompanying educational efforts to
reduce waste generation. Consumers must be cognizant of their
responsibility in the pollution issues that are related to waste disposal.
Individual consumers have the power to make choices that will reduce
excessive consumption of products, packaging, toxins, etc. that result in
the generation of waste. It is necessary for them to change their
attitudes, decisions and habits about what they consume and how they
discard the unwanted remains. Throughout this process, a vast array of
decisions are required of each consumer before and after the point-of-
purchase. The ultimate objective of any educational effort is a permanent
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change of habits that will have a long-term, long-lasting impact on the
overall solid waste dilemma.
II. Orange County Educational Program Implementation
Orange County Cooperative Extension Service designed a three-pronged
community targeted educational program to reach as many individuals as
possible in the most effective ways. The first is a series of educatonal
presentations made available at no cost to community groups on topics about
hazardous and solid waste. The primary topics included: "Don't Let Your
Garbage Go to Waste!" and "Are You Poisoning Your Water Supply?" These
group presentations provide the opportunity to educate, to motivate change,
and provide answers to individual inquiries. The second approach includes
displays featured at local gatherings or exhibits attended by the general
public. The third part involves training volunteers to extend educational
information to greater numbers of individual consumers.
This third approach utilized a resource available to Extension offices
throughout the country: the Extension Bomenaker Volunteer Network. There
is a potential network of over 412,000 members nationally who can be
trained to extend solid and hazardous waste education to others. Florida
alone claims 8,000 members whose stated goals include promoting continuing
education to individuals. In Orange County, thirty Extension Homemaker
Volunteers were trained to teach the "Don't Let Your Garbage Go to WasteI"
educational program. In teams of two, their educational efforts
multiplied to 600 members by presenting the program to organized clubs.
Some members have also made this presentation for other community groups,
staffed educational exhibits and distributed educational materials to
participants in the state sponsored Amnesty days household hazardous waste
collection program.
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Assistance was provided to the county Environmental Protection Office
and County Recycling Coordinator in designing educational programs for
schools, the general public and specialized audiences. Requests and
referrals for educational programs, displays, and volunteers were received
from these agencies, community groups and public schools, and met by
faculty from the Orange County Cooperative Extension Service.
III. Program Results/Evaluation
The Orange County Cooperative Extension Service has provided over 62
programs to community groups on solid and hazardous waste topics in 1989-90
directly reaching a total of 7,374 county residents. Much of this effort
has been through the use of a volunteer network. Volunteers have
transmitted educational information on proper management of solid and
hazardous waste to over 5,250 of the residents or 71% of the total county
residents reached. A survey was conducted of a sample of the audience who
received volunteer instruction on "Don't Let Your Garbage Go to Waste!"
The results showed that 80% of the participants planned to change their
waste disposal habits as a direct result of the presentation. Eighty-one
percent of the program participants rated the information presented as
"very useful" and 57% requested additional information on recycling and
packaging.
IV. Potential
With Cooperative Extension Service Offices in every county in the
united States and Extension Hamemakers Council (a volunteer network) in
most states, the potential outreach is enormous. Extension's network of
researchers, specialists and faculty provide the backing for organizing,
training and extending information through volunteers. Volunteers can
reach out to people on an individual and small group basis. They can
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spread the word about waste reduction to the people at the grassroots level
who are the holders of the key to a successful solid and hazardous waste
management program.
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RECYCLING EDUCATION: WISCONSIN AND BEYOND
Joel L. Stone
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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Recycling Education: Wisconsin and Beyond
As educators we recognize that waste reduction through
recycling will only be accomplished through individual as well
as institutional actions and that the best way to affect
individual behavior is by educating our youth. The Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Region 5 of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are working together to
produce recycling education materials and are examining ways
to efficiently and effectively distribute these materials to
teachers and youth leaders. Emphasis is being placed on
establishing cooperative networks for the development and
distribution of program materials. Materials developed and
tested in Wisconsin will be applicable and made available for
use nation-wide.
This recycling education program is directed at the youth
of Wisconsin — encouraging them to take action. The 1990
program has three target audiences: schools, participants in
park interpretive programs and 4-H clubs.
School Program
The Wisconsin DNR's nationally recognized Recycling study
Guide for grades 4-12 was used as the foundation for the
school program. The Fourth "R"; An Action Booklet for
Recycling in the Classroom and School has been created, and a
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K-3 supplement for the Recycling Study Guide is in the final
stages of development. High school activities with a Science
Technology and Society theme will be developed this summer.
Park Interpretive Program
The Wisconsin state park interpretive program selects an
interpretive theme each year. Recycling, with an emphasis, on
nature's recyclers, was chosen as the interpretive theme for
199 0. Interpretive signs ("Life from Death—Recycling" and
"Composting—a Natural Experience"), posters ("We're Recycling
Now" and "Is Your Picnic Going To Waste?"), activities, for the
Wisconsin Explorer (a parent-child participation program), an
activity booklet (Nature's Recvclers Activity Guide), a
coloring book (Natures's Recyclers^ and a slide/tape program
("Nature's Recyclers") have been developed. State parks were
also encouraged to provide recycling containers for park
visitors and to set up composting demonstrations.
4-H Program
The Wisconsin 4-H program's Recycle for Reuse; leader-
member-familv guide was supplemented with an incentive program
called Recycling the 4-H Way. This program was sponsored by
the Wisconsin DNR, University of Wisconsin Cooperative
Extension 4-H Program and Wisconsin Industries Saving the
Environment. Recycling the 4-H way encourages 4-H'ers to
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participate in a variety of recycling activities (recycling
week, community service projects, club recycling and county
fair exhibits) each-year by giving annual awards to top
participating clubs.
Development and Distribution of Materials
Product distribution is just as important as product
development. Unfortunately in many programs, so much time and
energy is devoted to development that there is little left for
distribution. Even the best educational materials are useless
if teachers and adult leaders do not know about them and use
them. Consequently, a great deal of time in this program was
devoted to investigating potential mechanisms for product
distribution and setting up the proper networks. This was done
before new program materials were developed. Once the target
audiences and their corresponding networks were selected,
members of each network were provided the opportunity to
assist with the development of materials. This gave key
participants ownership of the programs and resulted in the
creation of program materials that were most likely to be
used.
Subject specific curriculum consultants in Wisconsin's
Department of Public Instruction (DPI) assisted in the
development of the school programs and provided access to the
various teacher associations. The newsletters and conferences
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of these associations were used initially to solicit program
ideas, and after materials were developed, they were used
respectively to announce and distribute program materials. The
Wisconsin DPI has a Cooperative Educational Services Agency
(CESA) that has 12 district field offices. The newsletters and
services of the CESA offices were also used to announce and
distribute program materials. In addition, DNR recycling
education program staff responded directly to material
requests and conducted recycling education inservices for
teachers.
The Interpretive Committee for the DNR's Bureau of Parks
and Recreation assisted in the development and distribution of
the Naturals Recyclers program and in training interpretive
naturalists. All superintendents and naturalists in the state
parks were provided a synopsis of the proposed program in 1989
and were given an opportunity to critique it as well as to
submit additional ideas. Program materials were distributed to
participating parks and state forests in the late spring of
1990 and the interpretive naturalists received training in
June. In addition, selected materials were sent to public and
private nature centers and to members of the Wisconsin Park
and Recreation Association.
The Environmental Education Committee for the Wisconsin
4-H organization assisted in the development and distribution
of Recycling the 4-H Way. The monthly 4-H "Open Line" news-
1409
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letter was also used to solicit program ideas and to announce
the program. Materials were distributed to all 4-H clubs
through mailings to county 4-H and youth agents.
National Distribution of Materials
The DNR has already distributed its first printing of the
Recycling Study Guide and continues to respond to requests
from all states for the second printing. "Copy masters" of
this guide have been provided to all regional offices of the
EPA (except Region 4), and several states are now printing
their own editions. "Copy masters" of the newly developed
materials will be provided to Region 5 of the EPA in the fall«
of 1990 once each program has been evaluated. At the same
time, a set of the school, interpretive and 4-H program
materials will be sent to appropriate DNR, DPI and 4-H
agencies in all 50 states.
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RECYCLUS (sm): NATIONAL RECYCLING SUPERHERO
Marc A. Breslav
Public Relations and Marketing Consultant
South Mountain Pass
Garrison, N.Y, 10524
(914)424-3484
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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Introduction
Recyclus(sm), the national recycling and waste reduction
superhero, conducts educational assembly programs at schools
and other locations nationwide. The assembly programs are
also designed to attract media attention, particularly to
promote participation in new recycling and waste reduction
programs in a given location. As a graphic and creative
centerpiece, the Recyclus logo and story line can be used
synergistically throughout an agency's recycling information
and. education campaign, in much the same way as Smokey Bear,
for example.
Since its debut in October, 1989, the Recyclus assembly
program has appeared in some 130 locations in three states.
It has been featured nationwide on the CBS television network,
in two articles in the New York Times, and in many other
newspapers, magazine and television stories. Recyclus
performed at the Eighth National Recycling Congress, and now
at the EPA's First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste
Management. The assembly program has received rave,
unsolicited letters of commendation from teachers and
principals.
In the limited time we have at this conference, we will
present the assembly program virtually in its entirety,
leaving discussion of the details of the program for these
printed proceedings. The assembly program speaks for itself
and cannot be adequately portrayed in the proceedings. We
urge you to see the assembly program firsthand, at this
conference if you are reading this prior to our presentation,
or at some later occasion which we can arrange with you.
We believe that there is a need for a nationwide
character to promote recycling and waste reduction, for a
Smokey Bear of recycling. No government agency seemed to be
working toward that vision, so we undertook it. We maintain
that there is no reason why that character cannot be developed
through private initiative and entrepreneurship, as long as it
ultimately serves the public good.
Description of the Assembly Program
A costumed performer playing the role of Recyclus(sm),
the trademarked national recycling superhero, conducts up to
three performances of an exciting, participatory assembly
program at each location. The program, entitled "Recyclus:
The First Mission," is a multi-sensory educational and
theatrical experience with extensive audience interaction.
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The assembly program was developed after more than a year of
testing, research and imput from experts, including
environmental educators, a children's theatre producer, a
speech pathologist and a language scholar.
The 30-minute program involves acting, mime, humor,
sound effects, and a variety of participatory activities,
presented "in the round," often without a stage. As the
copyrighted story goes, Recyclus was sent from "Planet
Refuse"(sm) on a mission "to tell the Earthlings what we
learned too late." After crash landing, he teaches the
audience about how to be "garbage brains" by "thinking about
your garbage piece by piece." "Garbage brains," the audience
learns, must remember "the three R's," and ask whether the
garbage they throw away can be reduced in quantity, reused or
recycled. With the help of volunteers, Recyclus then
demonstrates how recycling works and overcomes the
"Refusians"(sm). Recyclus concludes the program by asking the
audience to become "exponent proponents" and join him in his
mission by telling two other people about that mission.
The assembly program, while most often performed for
children in grades K through 6, has been successfully
presented to family audiences and even to exclusively adult
audiences. Performances are generally held at elementary
schools. However, they may be conducted as family programs at
Chamber of Commerce, County fair, nature center or other
functions. In all cases, the program is designed to actually
reach more people than are present in the audience, through
word-of-mouth and media coverage.
The assembly program is not one of passive entertainment
or teaching. The audience is encouraged to participate—
through activities, questioning, role-playing and movement.
Recyclus can encourage direct and immediate recycling
participation by conveying locally-specific recycling
information at each performance.
Experience
Recyclus has initially been portrayed by John E.C. Doyle,
a Brooklyn-based performer/educator who was selected with the
help of a professional pasting director at a nationally-
advertised Broadway audition. Doyle is also a certified
teacher, and has taught all ages and special needs. He has
extensive educational performance experience with children,
including three years with Disney and three years with the New
York State Department of Health as their nutritional
superhero, "Nutri-man." He is trained in T.E.A.C.H. and
American Sign Language.
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The assembly program, which premiered in the Fall, 1989,
and has been tested in a variety of settings, is now on
national tour. To date it has appeared at some 130 locations
in three states.
The tour is produced and managed by the author of this
paper, Marc Breslav, who also initiated the popular,
trademarked "Ray Cycle"(sra) program in Connecticut (the Ray
Cycle character is limited to use in that state). Breslav is
a public relations and marketing consultant to environmental
and recycling organizations and agencies. He speaks
frequently on how to promote recycling, and is moderating the
two-part "Developing Public Education Programs" session at
this conference. He has also served the environmental
education profession for 20 years, and is trained in New Games
and Acclimatization (Earth Education) techniques. Breslav co-
wrote the Recyclus assembly program with Doyle.
Benefits and Integrative Potential
The assembly programs have the greatest effect when timed
appropriately to kick-off and motivate final phase recycling
implementation and the use of curricula or lesson packages.
Notice announcing the assembly program availability can be
made at teacher trainings, enclosed in any mailing of
curriculum packages and publicized as appropriate.
The appearance of Recyclus at schools motivates students
to learn more about recycling and waste reduction, and perhaps
more importantly, motivates teachers to take out or obtain
curricular materials and actually use them. And by
integrating local curricular materials with the assembly
program, the assembly program becomes more than a single
learning experience. Instead, the assembly program serves as a
centerpiece of pre and post activities, with all three
components together creating an integrated learning process.
In addition to its educational and motivational value,
the assembly program attracts significant media attention.
This educates adults, reinforces the message children are
specifically asked to bring home to their parents and promotes
political support for recycling and waste reduction. Thus,
the education "trickles up" from the children. engendering th«
most powerful form of promotion: word-of-mouth.
To further stimulate media attention, the premiere
performance in each tour area is designed as well to be a
media event. These events are coordinated and often attended
by Marc Breslav, in cooperation with appropriate government
staff.
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As an option, an agency can license the character
trademark and/or the script copyright for use in the public
service announcement, brochure, slide show, promotional
educational item and other educational/informational
promotions. Performers portraying Recyclus can also serve as
the talent for public service announcements, ads, etc. This
permits the creation of a coordinated, synergistic campaign
centered on Recyclus, capitalizing on the goodwill, media
attention and learning that Recyclus generates.
Cost
Cost of the assembly program depends on the number of
locations and options selected. Cost per location is
comparable to that of national school assembly programs of
similar quality. Where government funding is insufficient,
free preliminary consultation can be offered on how to seek
business sponsorship of the tour.
About the Recyclus Trademark
The name Recyclus and the Recyclus image are service
marks owned by Hare Breslav, and may not be used except under
written license. License for use in assembly program
performance is included in all contracts for appearances we
provide, with certain restrictions. Recyclus will not be used
to promote any cause other than waste reduction and recycling,
nor any specific industry or recyclable material.
Recyclus was conceived as a character that could be
portrayed by anyone of any sex, age, heritage or body type
specifically so as not to perpetuate the stereotype of
superhero as white, male and "macho." The hope is that all
members of the audience can Identify with Recyclus, join in
the mission and "become" a hero too.
For More Information
Marc Breslav
Public Relations and Marketing Consultant
South Mountain Pass
Garrison, NY 10524
(914)424-34B4
c. 19B9 Marc A. Breslav
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SOLID WASTE ISSUES AND EXCEXUSNCE IN EDUCATION
David Landis
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Division of Litter Prevention and Recycling
Presented at the
U.S. Ooo&renoe on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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Solid Waste Issues and Excellence in Education
Solid waste, as a subject of environmental studies, can provide
public agencies and, to a lesser degree, private enterprises in the field
with opportunities to establish in-school programs that promote quality
education. Solid waste in-school education programs serve public agency
interests by providing an economical means of informing and mobilizing
communities to plan and take action. Such programs are rewarding for
teachers and students because solid waste concerns can readily be adapted
to hands-on learning activities that provide an understanding of our
scientific, technological and social world.
Establishing an in-school education program that serves both
public interests and the needs of educators requires careful planning.
Two types of in-school education programs can be identified based on a
distinction of educational objectives. (In practice, however, the
distinction becomes blurred.) The first type of program is an in-school
awareness program. The goal of in-school awareness programs is to inform
and affect behavior changes relative to anti-littering norms,
pro-recycling norms, materials disposal, etc. The objective is to
accomplish this task through the use of agency materials, projects and
representatives that intervene in the learning process vfriich takes place
between teachers and students. The second type of program is an
in-school curriculum integrated project vfriich has the same goal of
providing information and changing behaviors but differs because
1418
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objectives are related to teacher-student learning processes without
intercession from agency representatives. The in-school awareness
program is generally less expensive to initiate but In the long run can
be more expensive to continue when compared to long term costs associated
with a curriculum integrated program. More about budgetary concerns
later.
Once a budget is established, the most important planning step in
either type of program is to consider potential gains and special
concerns associated with particular implementation strategies. Various
strategies associated with each program type will now be explained in
regard to potential gains and the special concerns of educators.
In-school awareness programs can take many forms and are often
coup arable to public relations campaigns. Three practices can be
identified as widely used. One is a slogan campaign. Those responsible
for anti-litter and pro-recycling campaigns have traditionally relied on
tasking available to school children posters, buttons, patches, pencils,
litter bags and other "premiums" that bear a message and logo. At best,
teachers view these as neat things to give kids that make them smile or
that reinforce positive behavior. At worst, they can distract from
learning if not carefully linked to useful information. Information
transfer as a component of in-school awareness programs gives direction
to behavior prompts established by slogan campaigns. Information
strategies should enable students to understand why they should not
litter, why they should recycle as well as provide information about how
to, vfoere to, and vrtien to. Information transfer, when linked to
1419
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pre/post-testing strategies can resenble traditional educational
practices of imparting knowledge to children which they are then asked to
recall on a test. Information transfers, however, are limited, even when
linked to testing strategies, because they usually require only the
regurgitation of facts and reasons and do not involve higher order
thinking skills such as reasoning, comparing or hypothesizing.
The sponsoring of contests is another popular strategy for
implementing awareness program objectives and is often used in
conjunction with slogan campaigns and information transfers. Contests,
such as poster and essay contests, can be creative and skill enhancing
when they are linked to reasoning processes, and/or conducting research,
and/or creating unique images. Hovaever, contests often involve little
more than emphasizing opinion arid identifying correct behavior.
Contests, such as school cleanups and recycling collection drives which
generate competition between classrooms or schools to see who can bring
in the most, although valuable from a public interest viewpoint, can be
quite lacking in educational value. But, once again, strategies can be
devised so that higher order learning skills are incorporated into a
collection campaign. One example would be the application of skills and
concepts to figure.quantities and prices of materials collected.
Slogan campaigns, information transfers and contests will not
result in distractions from quality education if properly planned so as
to be integrated into the standard curriculum, vMch means not only
linking up with subject matter, (i.e. environmental studies lessons) but
linking up with skill development strategies as well. Sloganizing
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premiums can distract from learning, especially vfoen they involve more
hype than relevant information. But these little material perks can also
be made part of quality education tfien linked to a positive reinforcement
program as a reward, not just for correct behavior (i.e. cleaning up,
recycling) but for having reasoned and conducted research. Likewise with
information programs. A one way transfer of information, even when
linked to testing methods, can be limiting in educational value when
compared to information strategies that require students to conduct
research and draw conclusions. The same with contests. If poster and
essay contests involve student research and/or drawing conclusions and/or
applying imagination to creative insights, then quality education will be
served.
To insure that in-school awareness programs are implemented so as
to provide quality education, the public agency and/or private enterprise
Initiating the program should include in the planning stage a curriculum
specialist from the state, local school district or university who is
familiar with environmental studies programs. This type of educator has
an understanding of vrtiat makes a quality educational program and what
does not. The most Important part of a quality educational program
involves strategies for going beyond information sharing to provide
opportunities for children to use higher order thirking skills.
Be aware, however, that teachers often allow the use of materials
and representatives from special interest awareness programs to fill time
with students in ways that occupy the students' attention without
enhancing quality learning. Instructional specialists and curriculum
1421
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supervisors should be able to recommend ways to avoid this situation.
Yet, even with quality educational goals and objectives in mind, a
special interest group may find that teachers (and even practicing
curriculum specialists) may be reluctant to do the time consuming vrotk
necessary to upgrade an in-school awareness program so that more
attention is given to strategies for enhancing higher order thinking
skills. This is usually the result of time constraints more than it is a
lack of willingness on the part of educators. Teachers, more than other
professionals in society, have been recipients of requests and rigtrarvfe by
special interest groups and legislators.
The value of in-school awareness programs for many public agencies
and/or private concerns is that many students (and parents) can be
reached at relatively little cost. Materials and supplies for slogan
paraphernalia, information programs and contests do not generally require
a lot of expense or staff time. The major expense may be in the
distribution of these materials, if their distribution is linked, to
in-school programs that require agency representatives (often hired as
full time staff people) to distribute materials and promote contests.
Additional costs may be incurred if attempts are made to up-grade
in-school awareness programs so that quality education can be served.
From an educational viewpoint, In-school awareness programs are a
limited partnership between schools and special interest groups because
transfers of knowledge most often take place between a special interest
representative, bearing gifts and information and requests, and
students. Time set aside for quest speakers and/or contests is limited
1422
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arid little planning Is usually done to Integrate the ideas and
information into the learning of skills and concepts that are a part of
the normal curriculum. Transfers of knowledge between special interest
representatives and students, although a valuable activity when conducted
properly, is by nature more limiting than are transfers of knowledge
between teachers and students as part of the ordinary curriculum.
Therefore, the number one rule of all successful solid waste management
educational programs has been to involve teachers and students in
classroom activities that enhance the learning of concepts and skills
that are part of the standard curriculum. To a limited degree, this can
be achieved by upgrading standard in-school awareness campaigns as
explained above. But more often the achievement of this objective
requires a different type of program and materials, the type referred to
here as a curriculum integrated program.
Several examples of these solid waste education programs exist in
the United States. And they also include elements of in-school awareness
programs. The basic difference is that they provide for extensive
materials development and/or use by teachers and spend less time and
resources on intervening between teachers and students in the transfer of
knowledge.
Curriculum Integrated programs about solid waste issues typically
involve the cooperation of a state or municipal agency, educational
experts and teachers, state departments of education and local school
districts. Occasionally, private industry may be drawn into the
development and or review of such programs, but generally their input is
1423
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limited. The cooperative effort usually Involves a curriculum
development project that results in extensive materials production for
local, state, and even national distribution. Once materials have
produced, emphasis is placed upon conducting workshops for teachers to
instruct them in the use of materials.
Although materials may be purchased to implement a curriculum
integrated program, the merits of developing curriculum materials for use
in such a program are worth considering. Reluctance to develop materials
is based on three standard arguments. One relates to the cost of
materials development. Since a quality curriculum integrated program
requires extensive development, the costs in money and time from
development stage to printing can be relatively high, anyvhere from
$80,000 to $200,000 over a two to three year time period. Another
argument against development is that given the quality materials already
in use and their availability for purchase, there is no need to reinvent
the wheel. The third argument focuses on time factors. If a state or
municipality Is approaching a crisis situation, with the closing of
landfills and the passing of legislation to promote or mandate recycling,
then action must be taken quickly to change behaviors and there is no
time for extensive curriculum development.
The argument against spending time in a crisis situation is
legitimate, however, solid waste crisis situations can generally be
anticipated anyvfoere from 5 to 10 years in advance, allowing ample time
to develop and distribute quality materials. Of course, factors external
to municipal and state disposal policies can decrease advanced planning
1424
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time, such as legislation passed in another state vftiich suddenly
decreases the ability of the home state to ship its waste out-of-state.
State and local governments caught in a crisis situation, will no doubt
opt for in-school awareness programs over a curriculum integrated
development project. However, in order to sustain recycling over a long
period of time a curriculum integrated program is called for.
Those who object to curriculum development based on cost factors
should consider the following. First, if we consider that on the average
it costs $125,000 to develop, test, revise, produce and print materials,
over a two year time period, the cost per year comes out to $60,000 a
year—with considerably less required in the following years to
disseminate the materials—which is relatively inexpensive compared to
other solid waste public awareness programs. It is also true that
development costs aside, the production and printing costs in-state can
make the materials less expensive in the long run than out of state
material because the costs of production and printing vary from state to
*
state.
One of the most Important reasons for developing materials is that
the development process itself can assure more effective dissemination
than if the materials were purchased from out-of-state. When local
teachers and other educators are involved in the development process a
For example, In Ohio, we can print material for $15.00 a copy
whereas cooparable materials from out-of-state could cost us from
$30.00 to $50.00 a copy (reflecting only their cost of printing and
mailing).
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base Is established for support of the materials and for their
distribution once the materials have been produced. This can lessen time
and expense involved in gaining the acceptance of local and state
educators. It can lessen the time and expense related to hiring or
training people to take charge of distributing the materials. Also, by
developing materials locally, special attention can be given to local
problems and opportunities.
Finally, in response to critics of development projects vAio claim
development amounts to reinventing the wheel, the claim should be
counterposed that had not the wheel been reinvented an automobile ride on
stone would be rather unpleasant. Reinventing the Wheel has several
useful consequences. Teachers that develop and test materials have more
of a vested interest in their use. And even if the majority of those who
eventually use the materials were not involved in their development,
there is much respect for materials created by colleagues in ones own
state or region. Although a lock at materials already developed reveals
a repetition of activities and basic ideas, there also exists many unique
activities and ideas in these materials. Get a group of teachers
together to develop activities and there is no end to discussion of the
possible that has not appeared in print. Also, reinventing the tfieel
does not mean to invent from scratch. Most all development projects,
since the creation of an original few supplementary texts in
environmental studies, have relied on materials from other programs to
inspire and provide ideas.
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Much has so far been said in reference to educational materials.
More specific descriptions about materials will now be given followed by
an explanation of quality materials development processes.
Two types of materials can be distinguished based on the
difference between in-school programs that provide for awareness and
information and curriculum integrated programs that provide activities
that enhance higher order thinking skills. Information and awareness
materials associated with in-school awareness programs take many forms.
They can be brochures, posters, coloring bocks, game bocks (with
crossword puzzles, rebuses, word searches), video tapes and play books.
These are generally designed and used in ways that require the passive
reception of information and knowledge by students. The type of
materials associated with a curriculum integrated program are designed to
be active in nature providing hands-on learning experiences for students
that include opportunities (a) to enhance basic learning skills (grammar,
reading comprehension, mathematical calculations, writing), (b) to
enhance higher order thinking skills (reasoning, inferring,
hypothesizing), and (c) to enhance lifelong learning skills (cooperating
with others, working Independently, making judgments).
Curriculum integrated program materials are usually formatted and
printed in the form of an activity guidebook. In the past, kits were
popular that included ditto masters, posters, activity cards, film
strips, and information and awareness materials in addition to hands-on
learning activities. Kits are less popular today because of expenses
Involved in production, handling and distributing. Currently, the most
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popular curriculum supplementary product is an activity guidebook,
including anywhere from 20 to 80 interdisciplinary activities, aloqg with
photocopyable hand-outs, background information and resource listings.
These activity guidebooks In solid waste issues are marketed to educators
as curriculum supplements In environmental studies. How can this type of
quality material be developed, marketed, and most effectively
distributed? Seven successful programs around the country have been
surveyed in order to answer these questions.
Development of a quality curriculum supplement requires attention
to factors of funding, supervision and the creation or modification of
specific activities. Development funding for all seven programs included
in this survey came from public agency sources: state, municipal/county,
and regional agencies. In the case of some programs corporate taxes and
tipping fees have been funneled through state agencies for program
development. The costs of development varies with the extent of
materials production, but these costs are usually somevftiat less than the
amount needed for production and printing costs. This is the case even
when printed materials are in blade and vftiite, but Include a fair amount
of artwork. In Ohio, we have found that development costs for seme 70
activities and background Information in a 300-400 page text, runs about
$30-40,000 and this includes field testing. Other programs cite similar
figures for comparable materials development. Quality artwork can cost
from $15 to $30 thousand, and printing and production from $40 to $50
thousand.
It is best to consider development costs based on the method of
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development, which Is a function of who will supervise and Who will
create activities. Someriiere along the line provisions are usually made
to pay active classroom teachers for development and/or field testing of
activities. This amount averages out to around $75.00 to $100.00 a day
per teacher for the development and/or revision of activities. It
generally takes about 5 days of development to complete this process,
sometimes accomplished in a week long workshop, sometimes spread out over
several months. Anywhere from 10 to 40 teachers may be involved. Some
solid waste agencies supervise this development process and so incur
The seven programs represent geographical and regional variety:
three programs from the West Coast (two state agencies and one
municipality); two state agency programs from the East Coast; a
southern regional program of the TVA; and a Midwest state agency
program.
California Integrated Waste Management Board, Wizard of Waste (grades
2-4) and the Trash Monster (grades 5-7), (1980). Multi-material
kits.
City and County of San Francisco, 4th R Recycling Curriculum (1987).
Grades K-5 activity guidebook.
Keep America Beautiful and the Tennessee Valley Authority,
Waste: A Hidden Resource (1988). Grades 7-12 activity guidebook.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Here Today, Here
Tomorrow, Revisited (1988). Grades 4-8 activity guidebook. Eased
on previously published materials, Here Today, Here Tomorrow
(1980). Grades K-12 activity packets.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources , Super Saver Investigators (1988)
Grades K-8 activity guidebook.
Virginia Department of Waste Management, Operation Waste Watch (1980)
Grades K-6 multi-material kits. Currently being revised in form of
an activity guidebook.
Washington State Department of Ecology, A-Way With Waste (1984), revised
1985, third edition recently published Grades K-12activity
guidebook.
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staff ft"*8 costs for this purpose. This was the case in New Jersey,
Washington and Ohio materials development programs. In other programs,
KAB/TVA, California and Virginia, the supervision of activity development
was contracted out to educational experts. This involved an
environnental education center of a university in the case of KAB/TVA, a
public nonprofit curriculum development firm in the case of the
California program and two individuals, an environmental education
professor from a university and a state department of education official
in the case of Virginia. Contracts given to educational experts to
supervise development usually Include costs for teacher development of
activities. However, in some cases, the educational experts may create
the activities while teachers are paid to test and modify activities. In
cases where solid waste agencies contract out the supervision of
development, the agency or an agency board generally intervenes to review
activities before and/or after teachers test the materials.
Planning f°r the distribution of materials should take place at
the same time development strategies are being planned. This is because
distribution of materials can be enhanced and assured of necessary
endorsements when distribution factors are figured into development. The
most inportant development/distribution strategy is to insure that
development of activities is accomplished with an eye on the standard
curriculim of teachers so that activities not only fit in with vrtiat
teachers ordinarily teach, but that they offer opportunities to teach
these subjects in ways that are not offered in standard textbooks. The
quality of curriculum supplements is increased to the degree that they
provide opportunities to enhance basic skills, higher order thinking
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skills and life-long learning skills that are part of the standard
curriculum. Throughout the United States, in response to criticisms
leveled against American education in the 1980's, states have adopted
more stringent academic requirements for local school districts that are
related to the learning skills just mentioned. Therefore, it is very
important to consider these state and local requirements before
developing materials.
Another important distribution strategy used by successful
education programs is to involve state and local educators in the
development planning stage as informal, unpaid consultants. This may be
in addition to paying educators to be directly involved in the
development process. This increases the likelihood that educators will
endorse the final product and help with its distribution. The more
geographically dispersed education consultants and developers are the
greater the likelihood of acceptance in all the right places. Therefore,
\kvzn contracting supervision and development work out to a consultant
and/or educational expert it would be wise to be assured of their
endorsement by, and historical relationship with, state and regional
educators.
Once materials have been printed, several program policies can be
implemented for their distribution depending on objectives for the use of
materials. If you want teachers vrtvo are most likely to use the materials
to receive them, and you want them well informed about material use and
solid waste issues, then a workshop policy is called for. Workshops
usually require anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, but may be longer, in order
1431
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to allow for proper introduction to materials. Few programs require a
workshop setting for distribution, but most have made provisions for
conducting workshops. The Ohio program requires a workshop setting for
distribution of their materials and this enhances their use by committed
teachers. Of course, the extent to which workshops are required or are
standard fare for a program is contingent upon the personnel available to
conduct and to train others to conduct workshops. In the first few years
of the California program three people were hired exclusively to conduct
workshops. In Ohio, 90 community grant programs are required to conduct
educational programs. Thus a large group of agency affiliates exist for
conducting workshops throughout the state. Aside from grant program
personnel in Ohio, educators are also involved in conducting workshops,
sometimes in cooperation with a local grant program and sometimes
independently. The New Jersey program has over 22 solid waste districts
in tiie state, through which to work to arrange workshops. Ohio also,
through the enactment of recent legislation, has established 50 waste
management districts that have the opportunity to support educational
programs. In states without agency personnel well dispersed and
available to be trained to conduct workshops, materials are often sent to
local school districts vfoere provisions are made by educators to provide
workshops for materials distribution. This situation makes it all the
more important to incorporate educators in the development of materials,
who may then serve as a base for marketing and conducting workshops.
Naturally, most programs sell their material out-of-state without
giving consideration to workshop arrangements. However, especially in
cases where multiple orders of materials are purchased by out-of-state
1432
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school districts, provisions for workshops axe often arranged by die
local school district making the purchase. For programs that distribute
materials within their home region without requiring workshops, materials
distribution is generally made upon request instead of by mass mailing.
This is because quality education requires interest and inducement for
success Instead of mass distribution and mandatory requirements.
Curriculum development projects take time to develop and time to
distribute effectively, but their ability to sustain recycling and other
solid waste management policies is considerable. Therefore, agencies
responsible for implementing educational programs should consider the
following:
+ Development of materials in-state enhances the likelihood they
will be readily accepted by educators throughout the state.
(Especially when development proceeds as recommended in the survey
of successful programs explained above.)
+ If out-of-state materials are adopted, time will have to be
devoted to ensuring they meet state and local educational
standards and requirements. This takes time for review and may
require modification. And then endorsements and a basis for
distribution must be established which could have been achieved
in the process of the development of original materials.
+ Out-of-state materials will at least need to be modified to
include information relevant to local solid waste management
issues.
-I- Development of materials provides opportunities to establish
cooperative links between education officials, local school
districts and coraounitles, state agencies and private enterprise
1433
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and local and state government representatives, vfoo must all work
together to solve solid waste problems.
+ Development of materials is not reinventing the wheel as much as
it is using good tdieels as models for improvement, that include
adaptation to local circumstances.
Whether materials are developed or adopted from outside, it is
still important to consider implementing an in-school curriculum
integrated program as well as, or in place of, an in-school awareness
program. Because in final analysis, the solution to solid waste problems
will rely on informed arel reasoned decision making on the part of
citizens and public officials in cooperation with private enterprise.
And this requires quality education over and above awareness campaigns
and information transfer.
Not only are solid waste management planners serving themselves by
promoting quality education, they are doing the nation and the
educational community a service as well. An improvement In the quality
of educational programming} especially science education, has been the
£
topic of debate in numerous national publications of the 1980's.
Calls for improvements in education resulted from the concerns
vrtiich politicians, businessmen and educators expressed in regard to
national indicators that showed the quality of American schools and of
American industry was in decline. Part of the reason for this decline
has been an unwillingness to plan long term and to commit funding for
long term projects that will not reap an Instant reward. A curriculum
development project In solid waste management therefore meets a need, not
1434
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just to deal with an important social issue, but to promote long term
investments that will improve international competitiveness and sustain
protection of the environment.
Once a quality in-school program has been established, be aware of
the competition from other special interest groups that are vying for
teachers' time. Those responsible for distributing curriculum
The year 1983 ushered in the beginning of the publication of
numerous reports and lengthier studies about American education, idiich
not only increased public attention to education, but politicized
reform movements in education by prompting governors and state
legislators to take action in consortium Which businessmen and
educators. The publication Which gained the most notoriety and
political attention, and hence is often perceived as the start of the
1980's reform movement, was the report by the National Commission of
Excellence in Education entitled, A Nation at Risk: The imperative for
Educational Refom,. (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1983). Other important publications include the following:
Bayer, Ernest. High School: A Report on Secondary Education in
America. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy. A Nation Prepared:
Teachiers for the 21st Century. Washington D.C71 Carnegie forum.,
Committee for Economic Development. Investing in Our Children:
Business and the Public Schools. Washirgton D.C., 1985.
Education Commission of the States. Report of the Task Force on
Education for Economic Growth. Denver: ECS Distribution Center,
May 1983.
Goodlad, John I. A Place Called School: Prospects for the Future.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.
Sizer, Thedore R. Horace's Comprise: The Dilemma of the American High
School. Boston: Houston Mifflin, 1984.
Task Force of the'Business-Higher Education Forum. America's
Competitive Challenge: The Need for a National Response.
Washington, D.C.: Business-Higher Education Forum, 1983.
1435
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supplements need to be sensitive to the demands that have been placed on
teachers, including mandates that specify an increase in standard
curriculum requirements. This is why a curriculun supplement should have
the quality traits described for an in-school curriculum integrated
program, and why it must be given time for acceptance through a workshop
approach and not be forced upon or mass fed to teachers. Fortunately,
solid waste issues as a special interest topic can be applied to many
subjects and concepts within the standard curriculum and can also serve
as a excellent resource for introducing teachers to the subject of
environmental studies.
Flexibility should be a part of any In-school curriculum
integrated program, so that it meets the needs of teachers who are
reluctant to spend a lot of time on special interest concerns as well as
providing opportunities for teachers who will commit a lot of time and
preparation to a special interest. Materials developed in Ohio meet this
need by blending hands-on activities that require a fair amount of Hwo
and preparation with shorter activities, all including skill development
handouts that can be easily photocopied by teachers for all of their
students. The California and Virginia programs have developed kits for
specific age levels so that teachers do not have to spend time looking
for what is appropriate for their needs. These kits also include
information, awareness items and hand-out materials that can be used
quickly by teachers. One disadvantage of age/graded material is that
what may be taught in one school or school district at a certain grade
may be taught in another grade level at another school or school district.
1436
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It Is also the case that teachers often use activity guides for
ideas, adapting activities designated for other grade levelfe to their own
grade. Therefore, most programs have developed activity guidebooks for
K-6 or K-8 or K-12 or 7-12 with suggestions and indexes as to the
age/grade appropriateness of each activity. Still it is difficult and
often unnecessary to stipulate any more than appropriateness for primary,
intermediate, junior high and high school. Those programs that age/grade
materials do have the advantage of offering to teachers lessons that
insure there is no repetition of activities as students move on to other
grades. However, programs that to not age/grade specific activities can
generally rely on individual schools and school districts to do this for
their teachers if it is felt necessary.
Because the content of activity guidebooks can lock intimidating,
teachers may express alarm initially at having to do so much or at having
to wade through so much to find vrtiat they need. All the more reason to
distribute the text in a workshop manner to familiarize teachers with
content and show them how quick selections for appropriateness can be
made.
In the end, teachers are the best sales people for a curriculum
supplement. But they are a resource that should not be taken for
granted. That is vfay, most often, financial inducements are necessary to
involve teachers in original development and to a lesser extent can be
used effectively In distribution of materials. Those tfio feel that
teachers, as public servants, should be willing to create activities
1437
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voluntarily, have not lived the life of a teacher.
Financial remuneration may even be appropriate to serve as an
Inducement Car attendance at a workshop where materials are distributed.
It says to teachers that they are respected as professionals, that their
time is highly valued and recognized as scarce. Some will argue that
this will entice teachers to attend a workshop without Investing a
commitment in the teaching of the materials. Rarely have we found this
to be the case in Ohio, In situations where it is deemed appropriate and
necessary to offer a small stipend for attendance at a workshop.
Generally, however, the Ohio program relies on In-service days to prwyftict
workshops where no expense to the agency is incurred and also on payment
for release time (substitute teachers) where the school system and not
the teacher is being compensated for attendance at a workshop. Sane
programs are better able to rely on voluntary siqpport from teachers than
are others because of an environmental attitude, as Is found in the
Northwest coast, specific educational policies, or because the program
has an established reputation of distributing quality materials. In
Virginia they are expecting voluntary support from teachers to update
and modify activities from an old program. But this is because these
teachers have already been using the old materials, thoroughly enjoy them
and so have been Induced to volunteer their time because of prior
participation in a successful program. In Washington, the superintendent
of public instruction has mandated that teachers cannot be paid to attend
a workshop, but release time can be paid for by the solid waste agency as
well as costs incurred by teachers to attend.
1438
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Where possible, It is always best to rely on voluntary support.
This is, after all, the best sign of a commitment on the part of
teachers. But excessive demands for voluntarism from so many special
interest groups have led many school districts, often in conjunction with
local unions, to establish policies that restrict these demands on
teachers' time without some type of compensation.
0350R
1439
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STEEL CAN RECYCLING:
THE STEEL INDUSTRY COMMITMENT
TO SOLID WASTE SOLUTIONS
Kurt Smaiberg
President
Steel Can Recycling Institute
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16,1990
1441
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Steel Can Recycling: The Steel Industry Commitment to Solid Waste Solutions
Kurt Smalberg, President, Steel Can Recycling Institute
National solid waste issues and their solutions have brought about some
interesting exchanges and partnerships that would not have been considered
several years ago. These partnerships have been created by the need to service a
national situation on a local basis. They utilize many of the public and private
systems and structures already in place to focus on consumer disposal habits and
to redirect large volumes of materials from the solid waste stream back to
industry.
Recycling, when viewed as an entire system, involves a remarkable array of
entities and people, from the consumer to the industries that will create new
products from recycled goods. The integration of public systems-such as
municipal solid waste departments, with private services-such as haulers and
processors, has created a cooperative atmosphere that will permanently change
the way these systems are viewed, as well as the way in which they work in the
future.
For recycling, this level of cooperation is the only option. Industry,
traditionally, cannot reach the consumer directly, except through the chain of
distributors and retailers linking the two. And for recycling, an even more
complex system must evolve, because recycling is essentially new, and the
methods selected by various communities differ according to their needs.
1442
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The steel industry continues to develop relationships with public entities that
link it to the muncipal solid waste stream in order to retrieve its 100% recyclable
post-consumer steel products.
This industry differs, however, from others because it has been recycling for
over 100 years with the help of other private industries, such as detinners and
ferrous scrap dealers. Most of the steel materials that have been traditionally
recycled have been steel scrap from mills and fabricating processes and scrap
from used steel products, such as construction materials, cars and "white goods,"
which are large appliances. While the latter are technically "post-consumer"
goods, they are not the same goods found in the consumer trash can; they are
goods, instead, that the consumer has disposed of through private companies,
such as haulers or retailers.
But, with the creation of the Steel Can Recycling Institute in late 1988, the
steel industry reached further into the consumer domain by initiating an effort
to capture and recycle the goods that are found in the traditional post-consumer
waste stream-primarily steel cans, and in some cases, other post-consumer steel
items, such as tools, toys and small appliances.
The Steel Can Recycling Institute has established a comprehensive program
of contacting municipal and county solid waste representatives who manage
community solid waste efforts. Making these contacts requires direct, personal
attention-to inform, educate, supply information and to follow-up to ensure
that steel can recycling is working effectively within each community's program.
1443
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The SCRI serves as the steel industry's voice for steel can recycling by
developing a comprehensive program to ensure that post-consumer steel cans
are diverted from the waste stream and carried back to the mills for recycling.
Steel Industry Recycling History
For well over fifty years, the total steel recycling rate has been over 50%, reaching
66% in 1988. This remarkable achievement stems from the fact that recycled
products, or "scrap" have been incorporated routinely into the steelmaking process
as an essential raw material. Traditional scrap consists of "home" scrap, which is
steel recycled from the mills, "prompt" scrap, which is steel recycled from fabricating
facilities, and "obsolete" scrap, which is recycled steel products.
Today, steel mills use more scrap than ever in the steelmaking process. Of the
two primary steelmaking furnaces, the basic oxygen furnace consumes from 20 - 30%
scrap in a steelmaking "heat." The electric arc furnace consumes virtually 100%
scrap per heat. The use of these furnaces has increased overall external scrap
consumption. And the utilization of electric arc furnaces, represents about 40% of
all U.S. steel production. This means that an increasing proportion of steel
production requires larger volumes of scrap.
As the steel industry scrap needs have increased, the volume of scrap available to
the mills has declined. Technical advancements, such as continuous casting and
statistical process control, have made the steelmaking and fabricating processes even
more efficient; consequently, there is less "by-product," and therefore less scrap
available for the steelmaking process. From 1974 to 1988, the percentage of self-
generated scrap consumed by steel mills declined from 60.5 percent of total scrap
1444
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onsumption to 28 percent. This means that the steel industry has been purchasing
_n increasing amount of scrap from outside the steelmaking process.
Additionally, the steel industry recognizes its environmental responsibility, and
although it already has a remarkable recycling rate, the industry realizes the
importance of adding the ferrous fraction of municipal solid waste-dominated by
the steel can-to its recycling process.
Steel can recycling has provided an ideal solution—it enhances the level of the
industry's environmental commitment, and it serves as the newest source of scrap
to feed the steelmaking process.
Steel Can Recycling: A Renewed Environmental Commitment
Five to seven percent of the total weight of the municipal solid waste stream is
comprised of steel cans and other post-consumer ferrous (steel) products, according
to a report prepared for the EPA by Franklin Associates. Vet these steel products are
100% recyclable. As the industry works aggressively to recover its post-consumer
products for recycling, it will continue to help extend landfill life. Already, over 100
billion pounds of steel are recycled each year.
\
Recycling steel cans or other steel products provides additional environmental
benefits. For example, every ton of steel that is recycled saves 2500 pounds of iron
ore, 1000 pounds of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone, all domestic natural resources.
And there are significant energy savings achieved through steel can recycling. Each
1445
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year, through recycling, the steel industry saves enough energy to electrically power
over 18 million households for one year.
Steel cans themselves are one of the most environmentally compatible
materials available. Because the steelmaking process routinely incorporates
recycling, each steel can contains an average of 25% recycled content. The steel
can, which both contains recycled steel and is recycled, will comfortably meet the
mandatory environmental requirements of a state, and more importantly, will
meet the true environmental needs of the country.
The steel can is completely degradable, being reduced to benign iron oxides when
exposed to the elements, or degrading more slowly in landfill. The can simply
disappears, rather than remaining as a blight on the landscape. While no can
should ever be littered, steel's degradability is a true indicator of its complete
environmental compatibility.
Why Steel Cans Work in All Recycling Programs
Steel cans are recyclable through all of the current recycling methods: curbside
collection, resource recovery facilities, and drop-off and buyback centers. The reason
they work well in any of these programs-in addition to their recyclability-is that
they are magnetic. This property dramatically enhances the separation process,
allowing steel cans to be pulled from other recydables or from post-consumer waste
automatically. Other materials most often are sorted by hand.
From a consumer perspective, steel cans require very little preparation for
recycling. They do not have to be delabeled, flattened, or have t>oth ends removed.
They only need to be rinsed for cleanliness, and most consumers follow this routine
1446
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with all recyclables for sanitary purposes. But this simple rinsing activity also
benefits the processing of recyclables; if they're clean, they'll require less preparation
for market.
Magnetic Separation and Recycling Methods
Curbside Recycling Programs
For commingled curbside programs, the magnetic quality of steel cans means
that material recovery facilities (MRFs) do not require labor to hand-sort the steel
cans; a magnetic belt automatically removes them. And for the source-separated
programs, in which consumers put each recyclable into its own container, steel's
magnetic quality allows consumers to commingle all metal cans-they will then be
separated automatically at a processing facility. This saves time for the consumer
and the curbside pick-up staff, and eliminates the need for an extra compartment in
the recycling truck.
While each community has its own needs and must develop programs best-
suited to its internal systems, the Steel Can Recycling Institute strongly recommends
commingled curbside collection. Today's consumers are increasingly
environmentally responsible, and a majority favor recycling, but this altruistic
motive will not ensure t.otal participation in curbside programs. Commingled
curbside collection requires less consumer involvement, thereby generating a
higher participation rate. This participation~at the source of the recycling process-is
the key to generating maximum recycling for every community.
1447
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Resource Recovery Facilities
Resource recovery facilities receive all post-consumer solid waste—everything in
the trash can, and more. So hand-sorting at these facilities is not practical. Magnetic
separation of post-consumer steel products is a relatively simple process that
effectively removes steel products from the solid waste. This separation is either
conducted at the front-end of the process, before the burn; or at the back end, after
the burn. Front-end separation will result in a more immediately marketable
product.
These facilities may soon be required by the EPA to separate 25% of the reusable
components of municipal trash prior to the burn, and magnetic separation of the
steel items will go a long way toward fulfilling this goal. The separation of steel
products will result in the attainment of at least 20% of this goal. A rule of thumb is
that a population of 500,000 will generate at least 14,000 tons of post-consumer
ferrous per year. And over half the steel recovered will be steel cans, with the
balance consisting of other post-consumer steel, such as toys, tools and small
appliances.
Since resource recovery facilities process waste directly from the household, any
"recycling" or separation conducted at the facility is done without consumer
participation. This is "automatic" recycling at its best. To date, at least 20% of the
resource recovery facilities in the country conduct magnetic separation to recycle
steel products. Through this process, recycling rates of up to 95% have been
achieved in communities such as Dade County, Florida; Niagara, New York;
Norfolk, Virginia; and Columbus, Ohio.
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Voluntary Drop-Off and Buyback Centers
Finally, at drop-off and buyback centers, where consumers usually bring in steel
and aluminum cans mixed together, the single action of magnetic separation will
make both types of can ready for market. An increasing number of drop-off centers,
in particular, have progressed from single material locations to multi-material
facilities. As a result, many of these facilities accept steel food and beverage cans, and
the use of magnetic separation has become a convenient method of sorting.
Completing the Recycling Process
Collection and separation are only the beginning of the recycling process. These
elements of the process that deeply involve the consumer, as well as public and
private partnerships. To complete the process, the recyclables must be marketed and
used to make new products. This is where the process leaves the consumer realm
and involves public or private entities in conjunction with the private industry end
markets that will ultimately recycle the products.
It is easy to discern from the steel industry history, that the market for recycled
steel cans is strong and has a growth-oriented future. This market is shared by steel
mills and detinning companies.
There are over 120 steel mills with melting locations throughout the country.
Many buy steel cans, and are very aggressively pursuing this resource. Steel mills
will buy large volumes of cans directly from suppliers, such as municipalities, waste
haulers and scrap dealers. The mills combine steel can scrap with other ferrous
scrap, and and feed it directly into the steel furnaces.
1449
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Detinners form the other half of the end market team. They perform a valuable
service to the steel industry by removing tin from tinned steel products, and selling
the detinned steel to mills and the recycled tin to appropriate markets. The major
detinning companies have expanded their facilities, building new plants and
opening additional collection sites for steel cans, to accommodate the increasing
recycling rates.
These end markets offer alternatives for accessible transportation, often allowing
communities and recyclers to select that which best suits their needs, logistically and
economically.
The SCRI publishes a listing of major end market purchasers and general
specifications for steel can scrap. This list is updated continuously as new steel mills
and detinning locations are added to the list. The SCRI stresses, however, that it is
very important to contact end market buyers for their own specifications and
transportation requirements.
Ferrous Foundries
Finally, iron and steel foundries are an additional end market target for the sale
of steel can scrap. While the foundry market is currently under development, it
represents a potential additional user of post-consumer steel can scrap. Iron and
steel foundries typically use 30 to 40 percent purchased scrap mix, in addition to the
same proportion of self-generated scrap, to achieve their final product.
Approximately 2000 such foundries exist throughout the country, and can represent
excellent local markets at substantial transportation savings.
1450
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Intermediate Markets
The ferrous scrap dealer's entry into the post-consumer steel can market has
enhanced the steel can recycling process. Increasingly, ferrous scrap dealers are
becoming high volume collectors and processors because they serve as an
intermediate market buyer of post-consumer steefl cans from municipalities, and
of smaller quantities from their own retail buyback businesses. They have been
partners with the steel industry for decades, collecting, processing and shipping
the traditional forms of steel scrap to the mills for recycling, in quantities that
would surprise most people. They are now building their business opportunities
by purchasing recycled steel cans regionally. Thus they are a vital link in the
infrastructure. With over 1,500 locations throughout the country, sale to ferrous
scrap dealers helps local sellers of steel cans decrease their shipping distances and
eliminate processing concerns.
The Demand/Supply Factor
As the steel can recycling rate continues to climb, the public needs assurance that
the market will remain strong. The steel industry offers that assurance. The
industry could today effectively recycle all of the 100 million steel cans used daily in
this country if each one were collected. As the industry's internal scrap resources
continue to decline, its demand for post-consumer steel cans will rise steadily.
It is important to note that because the steel industry has such a long recycling
history and because scrap is a routine element in the steelmaking process, steel
recycling is a multi-product activity. A recycled car doesn't have to become a
new car; it may be used to make steel can sheet. And recycled steel cans aren't
just used to make new steel cans. Steel cans are used as scrap in the production
of many types of new steel products because the base metal in a steel can is one of
1451
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the highest quality types of steel made. While recycling has often been described
as a closed "loop" process, steel can and other steel recycling provides many
options in the production of new steel materials. It is really a continuous cycle
through which the material is reused again and again.
The importance of the "material" instead of the "container" focus for steel cans
becomes more evident when markets are considered. If a product can be recycled
only into one or two new products, its recycling depends solely on the commercial
market of the product into which it will be recycled. If that market declines or
fluctuates for any reason, then market capacity for the recycled products declines as
well. But a steel can may be recycled into steel that will be used to make a car, new
construction materials, tools, toys, appliances, and of course, steel cans themselves.
The breadth of steel products indicates the broad spectrum of the recycling end
market options for steel can scrap.
Supply will amply meet demand as steel can recycling grows at an increasing rate
throughout the country. A recent report indicates that'97% of the country's material
recovery facilities that process recyclables from curbside programs process steel food
cans. And resource recovery facilities conducting ferrous separation are reaching
benchmark post-consumer steel recycling rates. These recycling methods, coupled
with the rising number of communities implementing recycling programs, indicate
rapid growth on the supply side.
Clearly, recycling is being implemented more rapidly in populous areas,
primarily due to a larger volume of solid waste, depleted landfill space, and higher
tipping fees. Of the top 50 largest cities that have implemented curbside recycling
programs, over 80% include steel can recycling. And five of the top 50 cities send all
1452
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or a portion of their solid waste to resource recovery facilities; all five conduct
magnetic separation of post-consumer steel for recycling.
The Steel Can Recycling Institute
The Steel Can Recycling Institute is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its
mission is to promote and sustain steel can recycling. The organization serves as an
information and technical resource to communities, recyclers and intermediate
processors who are implementing or are involved in steel can recycling.
The SCRI works with municipalities, recyclers, public works officials, legislative
representatives and consumers to expand and strengthen the steel can recycling
infrastructure. In most phases, this is the same infrastructure that supports all
recycling.
Over the last few months, the SCRI has hired regional representatives in the
states of Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and Virginia, who will work closely with
community leaders to implement or enhance steel can recycling.
Each community should be recycling, and should include every recyclable
possible. Recycling is an essential solution for the nation's environmental
health. And steel can recycling is a strong factor of this solution.
1453
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/fon|gpnieiy Cbunty Cbwsrnmait
USING FOCUS GROUPS TO DETERMINE
CITIZENS' ATTITUDES ABOUT RECYCLING
Esther R. Bowring
Recycling Coordinator
Montgomery County Government
Rockville, Maryland
Nancy Petersen
Partner
Stratton/Petersen Publishing and Public Relations, Inc.
Arlington, Virginia
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16 r 1990
Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Environmental Planning and Monitoring
Executive Office Building, Rockville, Maryland 206)0,301/217-2380
1455
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INTRODUCTION
"Three out of four Americans believe they could recycle more
than double the amount of waste they presently recycle, compared
with just 40% who thought so last July....74% of those polled in
March [1990] believe they could beat the federal Environmental
Protection Agency's long-term goal of recycling 25%...." wall
Street Journal. May 1, 1990.
In the past three years, surveys such as the one quoted have
shown high public approval of recycling. The recycling public
official's job ought to be simple: implement a program and
everyone will be happy. If only it were so.
Apparently high levels of public support for recycling give
government officials and planners a false sense of security, we
are lulled into believing that promoting recycling is easy. Or,
we ignore citizens' concerns, neglecting ideas that could help us
obtain better recycling results.
In Montgomery County, Maryland, recycling looked like the
proverbial "piece of cake" to County officials. Mired in
controversy about sitings of a waste-to-energy facility and
landfill, County officials heard nothing but praise and support
for recycling from vocal opponents to these projects. They
thought everybody loved recycling.
Recycling planners like myself had early clues that this
wasn't true. We knew we needed a "reality check." We wanted to
get well beyond the general statements, such as "I support
recycling" and "Recycling is preferred to incineration" to more
specific thoughts and reactions.
1456
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Montgomery County's research objective was to maximize
recycling participation by knowing as much as possible about
citizen's attitudes toward recycling — including all the
negatives — and responding to concerns and objections.
In evaluating the opinion research techniques available for
our use, we chose the focus group interview technique. A focus
group is a qualitative research technique that is designed to
provide insights about people's perceptions, motivations,
opinions and attitudes about a program or product. Typically, a
trained moderator selects individuals to participate in a guided
discussion lasting 2-3 hours.
We chose focus groups rather than other methods such as mail
or telephone surveys because of the freedom the technique offers
in allowing participants to express their views. Qualitative
research is less influenced by how the researcher defines the
problem. It allows participants to identify the problems. Good
research does more than merely confirm what you already know. It
should surprise you a little.
We certainly were surprised at the depth of feeling and
emotion revealed in statements such as these from our residents:
"Let [someone else] recycle whatever they want to
recycle, and what they don't want to recycle they can ship
to space or wherever the hell they want to."
•'Are we being bombarded by the recycling industry or a
lobby or is this a real severe problem? What are we really
dealing with here? This is very vague. This man has
knowledge and he also makes money off it. If you sit down
in a household of two and recycle this and that so he can
make more money, I'm not going to do it."
1457
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"This idea of recycling really makes me nervous. I
mean... it just seems... for one thing, what about
sterility? If you get this plastic bottle, you throw it
away, it's recycled, you're using, in reality, someone
else's plastic bottle. I know there's very stringent
rulings, but the whole idea of it... everything's
recyclable... it seems like we're paying a pretty penny for
something that was used at one time. It's not the same
quality that we used to get, although we're paying much more
for it. It really is upsetting to me."
METHODOLOGY
In conducting focus groups in Montgomery County, our goal
was to get a minimum of 100 total participants who closely
matched demographic profiles of County residents.
Located just north of Washington, DC, Montgomery County is
one of the country's most affluent jurisdictions. There are
about 244,000 households with over 700,000 residents. The median
household income is $55,000? two-income households predominant,
as are white collar professions. The median age in the County is
relatively mature, at 44 years.
The County's size contributes diversity. Older, close-in
neighborhoods are typically urban, characterized by older
residents, more minorities and lower incomes. Beltway
neighborhoods are younger and family-oriented. And some northern
and western parts of the County remain surprisingly rural.
1458
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Selecting Focus Group Participants
To ensure that this diversity of residents was represented,
we selected six geographic areas of 17,000 to 22,000 households
that were demographically representative within the County.
In each area, 400 households were selected randomly from
telephone listings. Each household received a letter from the
County's Department of Environmental Protection asking them to
participate in a discussion group. About half of those who
received letters were contacted by phone and invited to
participate. Approximately 1 in 10 agreed. Those who could not
be reached by phone or who declined to participate were asked to
complete a mail survey. A total of ten focus groups ranging from
12 to 22 participants each were conducted.
How We Conducted The Focus Groups
In conducting the focus groups, our intent was (1) to
explore residents general attitudes toward solid waste and
recycling, (2) to gauge the extent of their knowledge on these
issues, (3) to determine how much recycling citizens are willing
to do, (4) to obtain their reactions to the proposed recycling
program and program elements, and (5) to obtain their reactions
to public outreach techniques.
An outline (s£e exhibit) was used by the moderator to guide
the discussion in each session.
1459
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EXHIBIT 1-4
8
»wwm TOFICU KHDk
mrrooimT coram ncos groups
mnunr mid mm, »»
SIG* III
—Make and vmt naae tag*
—Receive one-page background ih«*t
IWTRODOCTIOHS
—Moderator opene, introduces salt and har role, briefly
states "why-we-are-here" purpoaa of aaaalona
—Participants introduce thaaaalvaas naae, araa whara thay
live, profession
--Cat food
IK DISCPSSIOM
—Kodarator raatataa purpose of session, tolls how sosslon
will procede and other "rulee" (txuplti baing candid,
no-holes-bared), refers to one page handout, recaps
contents of handout verbally, opana discussion*.
TOPIC ORB —. Determine Current bevel of understanding About solid
Neete Iasuas end Recycling
—Kodarator will open by asking Inroad question: what eolid
waste probleas are feced by local pfficiele end what do you
Final 02/27/it 6
think is involved in recycling?
—Discussion will explore
— awareness of County's current collection and
disposal options
— whether anyone present recycles
— awareness of types of Materials that can be recycled
— awareness of source separation aethods (curbside,
drop off, volunteer charity groups, etc.)
— awareness of aechanical recovery methods
— awareness of rules of preparation for recyclables
— awareness of what happens "after it leaves the curb"
including further processing, factors concerning
Markets and resale, end recycled product
— how knowledge of recycling was acquired
— awareness of costs associated with recycling
TOPIC Two — current Trash Habits and Practices
—Moderator will ask for information fros participants
regarding current trash habits and practices
roughly organized by type of trash material an
collection cethod: newspaper, glass, eetals at
curbside; newspaper, glass, eetals at drop off
yardwaste.
—Discussion will explore
—Newspaper, glass, aetals at curbside:
Pinal 02/27/89
-------
—Yardvaata
— ale* of yard
— interest in yard/gardening
— use* lavncara aarvica/gardener
— pttftraiMi rake to cuit or bag
— bin chippara, blowara
— Mho r—pooalbal, how atored
TOPIC mm — Willingness to Participate in Recycling
--Moderator will aolicit broad raaotion to general concept
of recycling, nay aak for relative ranking onptrtd to
othar envlronaantal good behaviors. After ganaral
co—»nta, participanta will ba provided aecond handout
sheet that briefly deeeribea nriew levels of
recycling.
—Dlseoaslon will explore
— general pro/eon reaction to various levels of
recycling
— Mat types of recycling participanta would be nost
likely to do
— what level* of recycling participant* think would be
sufficient or good result*
— how nuch recycling is too nueh for oitisens to do
— how nuch recycling is not enough in citizens' eyas
— whether sons should be "excused" fro* recycling,
Final 02/27/89
9
— containers currently used, cans or bags
— how aany of above per week
— nore or less relative to neighbors
— where stored in ho**
— where stored outside of hose
— reaction to separate location for
recyclables (curb) vs. backdoor
collection
— buying habits of recyclable Materials
(paper/plastic grocery bags,
plastic/glass, aluninua netals)
— who puts trash in large cans
— who takes to curb/back door/outside
— how aany hose newspaper subscriptions
— how long each newspaper saved in hone
— read in one roos or aany
— where stored in ho*e
— weather factor*
—Newspaper, glass, aatals at dropoffs
— relevant factors fro* above discussion
— who would bring to drop off sit*
— how often would visit
— what containers to us* in transport
— paynent incentives
— locations they consider convenient
Final 02/27/89
-------
*
a>
to
receive special breaks, etc.
— what enforcement procedures are appropriate
— whether participants would be willing to help
organic* recycling efforts. In addition to doing,
such as be a block captain
— levels of interest from different family Berbers
— reaction to monetary incentives, such as prises and
variable rate
TOPIC POUR — Use of specific uterials/prograai
—Moderator will show provide additional intonation re
options being considered by County and show samples of
containers, logos, and informational materials and ask
for reactions*
TOPIC riVK — Best Routes tor Disseminating Information in Future
About Recycling
—Moderator will lead discussion about different ways County
can disseminate information and ask for reactions to
level of effectiveness.
TAKK PEN NXKOTES TO COMPLETE PORN
ADJOURN
Final 02/27/89 10
-------
Benefits and Disadvantages of Using Focus Groups
Any opinion research technique has advantages and
disadvantages. The benefits of using focus group interviews
include:
o Respondents introduce issues that never occur to those
of us who live and breathe with the problem, product,
or issue everyday.
o Respondents are more willing to discuss their feelings,
ideas, and reactions.
o Participants can react to "what if" situations.
o Participants can react to complicated or specific plans
that are difficult to present using other methods
o Participants interact — they talk to each other about
the issue. Recycling is a behavior that is influenced
by how the group or community reacts. Focus groups
give clues to how people will respond as a community.
o Creative and program people and political leaders
obtain a clearer idea about who their audience is.
They learn to respond to the "lady in the blue
dress" rather than a percentage. They know who the
"real, live customer" is.
There also is a political benefit to using focus groups
outside of the research objective. In Montgomery County> this
was the first time that 100 "regular people" had been personally
"invited" by their County government to participate in the
decision-making process, in a non-controversial setting and well
in advance of implementation of the program. We know based on
their comments in the group that it was a noteworthy event —
almost everybody told their coworkers, family and friends where
they were going that night I
1463
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Focus groups also have disadvantages:
o Respondents may not say what they mean. Respondents
may be more negative, more positive, or just different.
Group dynamics need to be acknowledged by facilitator.
o Focus groups do not provide projectable estimates. You
can't talk in terms of percentages.
o Focus groups also are expensive, with costs running
about $2,500 per session.
»o It's also difficult to get minorities and elderly to
participate.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT CITIZENS' ATTITUDES
General Knowledge About Solid Waste Issues and Recycling in
General and in Particular to Montgomery County
Most Montgomery County residents were aware that solid waste
disposal, in general, is a problem. Their awareness improved
during late 1987 and 1988 and many said that it was the media's
extensive attention to the garbage barge that made them more
aware. Most residents also were generally aware that "the
problem" is one of space.
About one-third of those who attended the focus groups were
highly aware of the issues. However, a high level of awareness
of solid waste issues did not motivate these participants to
recycle, under the current system. Among the 100 participants
were an environmental policy graduate student, a highly-informed
computer specialist who pays close attention to the news, the
brother of a Waste Management, Inc., landfill manager, a former
community recycling organizer and a former Montgomery County
1464
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community center head, just to mention a few. All of these
people knew a lot about solid waste issues. None made any
special effort to recycle. Those who know more than most acquired
their knowledge through four principal sources:
(1) Work-related experience;
(2) Current or prior personal experience — for example,
they haul their own trash to the County's transfer
station and noticed recycling bins, were involved in
early 1970s recycling efforts, or previously lived in
states with bottle bills or recycling;
(3) Talking or visiting with relatives and friends in other
states where solid waste is a bigger issue or recycling
is already under way; and
(4) Better-than-average awareness of news events.
In the case of those with prior recycling experience, many
had outdated information. To them, recycling means extensive
preparation — sorting by color, removing labels, taking to a
drop-off center. Some of these residents have experienced
recycling as an "on-again/off-again" proposition and they are
skeptical about whether recycling is worth doing.
Most people knew paper, glass, and aluminum are recyclable
and some had a general idea how. However, several people
believed that recycling containers meant reusing the same
container and were concerned about sanitation. Few were aware of
the possibility of mass sorting, such as that done at a materials
processing facility.
For the most part, only those residents who live or work
near one of the County's existing or planned solid waste disposal
facilities (Shady Grove, Laytonsville, Dickerson) have any idea
1465
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of what happens to their trash after it leaves the curb. Many
residents — especially those DownCounty (nearer Washington,
D.C.) — didn't remember the controversy surrounding siting of
the waste-to-energy facility near the Beltway vs. the rural area
and didn't know what the final decision was regarding siting of
the incinerator.
WTT.I.TNGNFSS to PAffTTrTPATE TN HBCYCLXWQi CQNCERHS AMP ISSUES«
HARP INCENTIVES
Some Montgomery County residents are already recycling and
are eager to do more. DownCounty residents who are recycling
tend to be those with personal convictions regarding "not being
wasteful" (typical of some of the older participants) or concern
for the environment. Only one resident was recycling for the
small return of cash for his' recyclables. UpCounty (Gaithersburg
and rural) residents are likely to have gotten started in
recycling as a way of avoiding paying hauling fees — they took
their trash to Shady Grove themselves and started recycling when
they saw the transfer station recycling facility.
Many residents were genuinely dismayed at the prospect of
sorting their trash, even when they agreed that "it is a good
thing to do1' or, at the least, "inevitable." A few were hostile
about it.
Five strong attitudes emerged from the group discussions
with Montgomery County residents:
1466
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(1) Montgomery County Residents Do Not Perceive Solid Waste
Disposal as an Urgent Problem in the County.
Residents in Montgomery County, especially those DownCounty,
had no real sense of solid waste disposal as an urgent problem in
the County or for them. They don't know what Montgomery County
lS doing with its trash or whether the problem is serious,
because they don't know, they tend to believe it isn't serious.
'I put my trash at the curb and they take it away," one resident
said, "That's all I know."
(2) There is a High Level of Resistance to Recycling, Especially
[f the System Involves Significant Inconveniences Such As
Multiple Sorts or Travelling To Drop Off Centers.
Residents see recycling as a time-consuming and burdensome
chore. They really can't believe they are going to have to do
this, even though they concede it has to be done. Some comments
from residents:
"I conducted a survey with my colleagues...they will
put the newspaper out as long as somebody comes and picks it
up. But to sort their stuff and have to tote bags of stuff
and turn individuals into sorters, they just don't want to
do it....there should be some technology to separate that
junk and, whoever wants to, take whatever they can.
Obviously there will be a cost. It has to be done at that
point rather than us, the citizen, doing it."
"It's almost a mind-boggling task to get the garbage
out of my house anymore. I have four kids. There is no way
I can tell you how many times I have gone out Saturday
morning — bare feet,' in my PJs, in freezing weather — to
get the garbage out because one of my kids forgot. It is
almost impossible to imagine separating that stuff. It is
hard enough getting it into one bag or in one bag from seven
or eight different rooms in the house."
1467
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"This whole thing. I'm going to sound like I'm really
cranky here. It's like a part-time job here. You're going
to have a bag of plastic, a bag of bottles, a bag of
cardboard. Then you take this one to Giant, and you take
this one day to the waste station, and you take this one day
to the curb on Tuesday, then you have your regular trash out
on Wednesday and Saturday. It's just like...it's work.
Everybody has to fit things into their schedule as it is.
Now we're going to have a trash schedule."
How convenient (or inconvenient) recycling would be was a
major issue for these residents. Most participants felt they
would recycle if the system offered were part of their regular
trash collection service, if little preparation were reguired,
and if only one additional container was involved. But many
residents balked at having to bring recyclables to the curb
(especially if they had back- or side-door service), two.or three
sorts, or using drop-off centers.
(3) Residents Think They're Doing the County a Favor by
Recycling.
By recycling, residents think they are helping the County
solve its problem. They think solid waste service is something
they are entitled to and that the County ought to provide it.
They don't see solid waste as their problem.
They feel like the middle man, caught between packagers who
create the trash and public officials who can't solve the
problem. They don't see themselves as "trash generators."
Residents view their participation in recycling as a
contract or partnership between resident and government:
1468
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"We do our share as citizens of putting that stuff out
and you do your share as the government to have it picked up
and clean....It is something we don't mind putting in our
front yards."
"So if we make the County's job easier, it should be
that much easier for us."
"I resented getting this letter...the County wants me
to make a special effort, but what has the County done for
me lately?"
".—Is [the recycling program] going to be a benefit
for the taxpayer? Is he going to get anything back for his
efforts."
"I believe we need to recycle, but I want to see the
County do a little bit more for me if I cooperate with
them."
(4) Residents Don't Want To Have To Do It All.
Because residents see recycling as an imposition, as
something they have to do to help the County solve its problem,
they want to know that the County is equitably distributing the
burden. They want to know businesses and apartments are required
to pull their weight.
"A lot of trash problems are out of our control...
schools, industry, offices, restaurants....This meeting is
about what you and I can do, but what about others?"
And they want the County to do something about excess
packaging.
(5) Residents Question the Effectiveness of the County's Approach
To Recycling.
Residents understand that the disposal problem is a problem
of space — that "landfills are filling up." But if it's a
problem with space, they don't see the materials the County is
1469
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concentrating on — newspapers, glass, and cans — as solving
that problem. They don't feel that recycling these materials
will result in a significant savings in landfill space.
Several also questioned the County's goals for recycling —
why the percentage was so high in the beginning, followed by a
small increase.
Plus, they wonder why the County isn't "doing something"
about more serious problems, such as plastics — the bad waste —
or household hazardous wastes.
These sentiments contributed to residents' feelings that the
County isn't going about this program in the right way.
In addition to these five pervasive attitudes, residents'
opinions about key issues are summarized below.
ENFORCEMENT
Residents didn't think that compliance with recycling should
be forced by strict enforcement measures, such as fines, "trash
patrols," or no pick up for chronic nonsorters. Several
residents used the term "police state" to express how they would
feel about strict enforcement of recycling measures. Many felt
recycling should be voluntary or, at the most, a fine should be
"on the books" but rarely enforced.
EQUITY/FAIRNESS
Two equity or fairness issues arose in the group
discussions.
1470
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Variable Rates
Residents were asked if they thought rewarding people
who recycled more and/or produced less trash with lower
trash fees was important. Most residents immediately said
that implementing such systems would be a "bureaucratic
nightmare" that wouldn't be worth it. Even when the
moderator described two systems currently being used in
other communities (the Seattle variable can rate and a 52-
tag system), they said no. One resident described such a
system as "a tax on children," a system that would penalize
large households. They didn't think it would be cost
effective and didn't like the idea of someone checking up on
their trash.
Cost was a more important issue for upper county
residents, such as the small Gaithersburg group on March 14
and a few people from the Damascus areas.
"Okay! Now you've got my attention....I'll recycle if
they lower the bill, but I am not paying more for less
trash."
These residents did feel that they deserved a
financial reward for recycling and that less-cost-for-less-
trash would be a good motivator.
Different Levels of Service for Different Areas
Upper County residents anticipate that DownCounty
residents will receive a higher level of service (i.e.,
1471
-------
curbside vs. drop-off) than they will. They feel gypped
already that trash collection isn't included in their taxes.
They don't really perceive recycling collection as "an
additional service" (they see it as an imposition, a
requirement), but they'd be mad if DownCounty got it and
they didn't.
"Why can't I have curbside service? I pay to have
pickup.11
"Potomac [a high income area] will definitely get
curbside."
"We also pay taxes; maybe it's not cost-effective to
have curbside UpCounty [but] ....we feel like we're
strangers up here in this part of the County."
"Everybody here pays to get the trash picked up
[despite the fact that]....the taxes are high enough for the
privilege of living in Montgomery County."
"You can't have a double standard? you have to treat
everyone equally."
DROP-OFF CENTERS
Residents didn't respond well to the idea of taking trash to
a drop-off center. Many participants said they would visit drop-
off centers on their short survey, but this often contradicted
their comments in the meeting. In the words of one participant,
"drop-off centers will leave people cold."
REACTION TO CONTAINERS
In-hone
Residents didn't think the County had any obligation to
provide in-home recycling containers. But they wanted in-
1472
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home devices that would make recycling easier and
unobtrusive
"divided" kitchen wastebaskets;
small, soft sacks that could fit in convenient
places, go under the sink, or be hung from a door;
a "recycling closet" or cabinet already built in;
something childproof; and
containers in kitchen colors.
Curbside
Residents didn't see the "ideal" recycling container
among those we showed. Residents' "ideal" container is
tall, thin, and square or rectangular (space-saving). Its
volume is slightly more than a tall kitchen wastebasket. It
has a lid that can be secured. It's made of a durable,
weatherproof material (no one suggested it should be
something other than plastic). It comes in neutral earth
colors — olive, black, tan, brown.
Of those containers we showed, the Otto container, a 24
gallon wheeled cart, came closest to meeting this
description. Residents, however, perceived it to be too
big, thought the shape was unattractive, didn't like the
"made in Germany sticker," and didn't think wheels were much
of an advantage. Some, in fact, compared the Otto can with
the District of Columbia's "supercan" — a negative because
1473
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they feel District residents leave the cans at curbside all
the time.
Residents' views on whether the container ought to be
identified as a recycling container by words or a symbol
were mixed. Some residents rfeally want to camouflage or
hide their containers and were offended at the aesthetics of
a container with words and a symbol on them. They also
"didn't want their neighbors to know they were recycling."
However, the majority thought that marking the
container was an advantage on two counts:
(1) it would help haulers pick up the right container, and
(2) it would create both a curiosity and peer pressure for
conformity among neighbors.
The County's providing a container would be perceived
as a real positive — the County making recycling easy and
doing something for residents.
IDEAS ABOUT PUBLIC INFORMATION
Whether residents were eager or reluctant to recycle, they
thought an extensive public information campaign was necessary to
motivate people to recycle. Residents said that in order to
recycle they needed the County to:
(i) HaKe It Convenient'
Montgomery County residents are unlikely to make
extensive use of drop-off centers, based on their comments
in these sessions. They want curbside service and those
1474
-------
who have back- or side-door service would like to retain
that option, too. Other elements of convenience identified
by residents were (1) a single container for recyclables,
with a lid and provided by the County, (2) little or no
preparation requirements (washing? removing labels, rings,
or newspaper inserts; crushing), (3) same day collection as
trash.
(2) Tell Them About the Problem.
To motivate them to recycle, residents said they needed
to hear more about the solid waste problem in Montgomery
County and what benefits recycling would bring to Montgomery
County residents. They wanted statistics and information;
how long the landfill will last with and without recycling,
the effect on their hauling bills or taxes with and without
recycling, the environmental benefits of recycling, and
consequences of not recycling.
O) Tell Then What They Are Supposed To Dq About it.
Residents stressed the need for frequent, direct and
simple instructions on how to recycle. They wanted both
media-oriented information, such as reminders on TV, radio,
and METRO stations, and personalized information sent
directly to their homes several times a year.
1475
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(4) Give Them Some Feedback — Tell Then That Their Effortf=
Are Making A Difference.
Residents said that to motivate them to continue to
recycle, they needed to know that their extra efforts were
effective. Once the program was under way, they want the
County to report back to them on the progress — the
landfill life has been extended by "X" years, how many
thousands of tons of material had been recycled, etc.
(5) Let Them Know That Everyone Is Pitching In
Throughout the program, residents need to hear that
everyone is doing their fair share. They don't want one
part of the County to be doing more than another. They want
to know that public officials are working to minimize waste
generation and managing the waste stream. They want to know
that business and industry is working on this, too.
Residents who were more reluctant to recycle most often
mentioned high-level public information efforts — Metro and bus
ads, TV, radio. Just as these residents want recycling made easy
for them, they want information thrust upon them — they don't
want to have to ferret it out. Those groups who suggested these
media were pointedly asked whether they thought spending their
tax dollars on this type of publicity was a wise use of tax
dollars. Most agreed with one resident who said, "Well, if you
want this program to be successful, it just has to be done."
1476
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Those who were more inclined to comply with recycling —
because of their nature to follow government rules or because
they were pro recycling — said official-looking instructions
from the County would probably be enough to get them started, but
frequent reminders were necessary.
HOW THE RESEARCH HAS HELPED OUR RECYCLING PROGRAM
The focus group research in Montgomery County has been a
valuable tool to County staff and contractors working on
implementation of the recycling program. Because we were able to
get citizens to expose their real feelings— to risk expressing
the "unpopular thought" — we are much better able to shape a
recycling program and public information campaign that meets
their needs.
The focus group research helped staff make several
significant decisions regarding the design of recycling services
in the County.
First, the County's plans to set up a minimum of 3 drop off
centers for glass, aluminum and paper in the more rural areas of
the County were reassessed. An economic analysis of drop off
centers versus curbside for the rural areas indicated that
curbside was economically justified and the decision was made to
offer it.
1477
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Second, the concerned raised by participants regarding
plastic persuaded the County Council to include plastics
collection as part of the curbside program.
In addition, citizen's comments reinforced the conviction
already held by staff that commingled collection of recyclables
was the way to go for Montgomery County residents.
The focus groups' comments supporting a high-visibility
public education campaign helped secure approval of a first-year
budget of approximately $100,000. In addition, public service
advertising and contributed time and money from businesses and
public interest groups may bring the value of the public
education effort as high as $400,000.
The campaign will include newspapers ads (some donated by
the newspapers), paid radio advertising, advertising in movie
theaters, mailings to the home, distribution of posters and
literature around the County, and much more.
Our goal in creating every public information piece is to
follow the recommendations of the focus group. The attached
advertisement regarding grass clippings is a good example, it
tells residents all they need to know in one reading. Tells the
impact their recycling will have on the County's waste handling.
And offers additional information if needed.
The focus group research demonstrated to County officials
the need and impportance of an extensive publication education
program and is shaping a successful program.
1478
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Grass Recycles Itself.
All you have to do is leave it on the lawn.
Many people think that
recycling means more work.
But the easy way to recycle
grass is simply to leave grass
clippings on the lawn!
Don't rake or bag.
, A O Htea
fr\ /'fr^
• vtVto'¦<•/¦ w.'.'i',¦!w/;
i I / ' •' i' ' / 'f f i%* ' f ' /
Lawn experts say that leaving grass clippings where they fall provides
vital nutrients to the soil, holds moisture, and keeps the ground cool.
The result? A better lawn next year!
It's good for your lawn and the environment.
Grass clippings account for a whopping 30% of
residential waste in spring and summer. Keeping
your grass clippings out of the trash really helps
Montgomery County achieve its recycling goals.
If you do rake your grass or use a grass-catcher bag, put the clippings
in your backyard compost pile. Nature will turn your
pile of leaves, grass clippings, and yard waste
into a rich, plant food for your garden. , ' ; \
•twMMKfgsft:.: •••;>
But, remember, the best solution is the ''''"
easiest—let your mowed grass recycle itself. Leave it on the lawn!
For a free brochure on composting and recycling call 217-6990.
Lawn Care Tips
-Set your mower blade to keep grass 2V4-3" tall.
-Mow lawn often to keep grass clippings short—
no more than one inch.
-Remove excess thatch before leaving your dip-
pings on the lawn. One-half inch of thatch is ideal.
-Never mow your lawn when it's wet. Wet grass
clippings clump and don't work into the soil.
Recycling,
ftfs Something
\buCanDot
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY
RECYCLES
1479
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Utilizing Surveys as Community Participation Mechanisms:
Toward a Citizen Empowerment Strategy
Michelle Berry and Clifford Scherer
Department of Communication
Cornell University
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16,1990
1481
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Utilizing Surveys as Community Participation Mechanisms:
Toward a Citizen Empowerment Strategy
While we have long recognized that citizen participation in
community decision-making is not only a right, but also a demand of
citizens, we have been slow to develop mechanisms which facilitate
citizen participation.
The usual model has been a system of public meetings or hearings
designed, in many cases, to defend already made decisions. Other
communities have effectively utilized citizen advisory committees. Both
of these methods can and are useful. However, both assume only limited
involvement by citizens. Public meetings which result in even one or
two hundred people attending can quickly become unmanageable.
Likewise, citizen committees assume a small number of participants. Lefi
out of the decision-making are the rest of the citizens. These uninvolved
citizens may be seen as irrelevant, uninterested, uninformed or
unimportant in the community decision-making process. This assumes
of course, that the majority of the population have no relevant opinions
or ideas which can contribute to a successful resolution of the situation.
Community based surveys can be an effective mechanism for
involving broader segments of the population in the decision-making
process. Community surveys can also help build confidence in local
1482
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leaders who, through the survey, take the time to ask the opinions of
citizens. Community surveys can also provide valuable information for
decision-making. They can provide leaders with support for decisions
made in the interest of broad segments of the public, not just special
interest groups or other active groups most likely to participate in
hearings, meetings, or citizen advisory groups.
Background
The increasing demand for citizen input in waste management
issues require the development of participatory mechanisms that will
both empower the public and facilitate successful community decision-
making. Citizen participation is often requested only during public
meetings. Citizens attending these "open" discussions are usually asked
to react to legislation, an event, or a decision. While this method of
participation is useful, it is extremely limited in what it can accomplish. If
community leaders wish to build confidence and credibility they must
develop methods for actively seeking opinion from broad segments of the
public.
The use of surveys, as both research and empowerment tools,
allows the practitioner to accomplish four important goals:
1) Surveys put the community leaders in a proactive situation-
they are actively seeking public input from a broad range of citizens-not
just those who are concerned enough to attend meetings or hearings.
2) The public survey can provide valuable information as to where
the public really is on an issue. Leaders are often confident that they
1483
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know public opinion, but a number of studies have shown that not
infrequently they are wrong (Meiller and Broom, 1987) .
3) Evidence from public surveys can often help explain decisions to
special interest groups who support a particular position. If leaders are
confident that their position is more representative of the larger public
opinion they can more effectively support those decisions.
4) By making the results of the survey widely available to the public
through the mass media, both the media and the public will focus on
positive outcomes—real concerns of the citizens, and alternatives favored.
Effectively tapping public opinion about waste management is as
challenging as it is complex. The complexity involved in engendering
community participation stems from the premise that most waste
management deals with the communication of risk. Successful risk
communication requires long-term, proactive strategies. The primary
objective in a proactive strategy is to create an informed and solution-
oriented public through community empowerment (Scherer, 1990).
Slovic (1987) argues that the public's perception of risk is often
inaccurate. Too often, studies fail to measure community levels of
perceived risk; rather, they rely solely on conveying the levels of actual
risk.. The concepts of perceived risk, actual risk, and acceptable risk
must be considered when designing surveys to better understand how
these factors influence the public's perception of the situation faced by
the community. It is perceived by some government officials and
scientists that the community often does not understand, nor does it
wish to expend the time and effort required to deal with the complexity
involved in waste management. However, research suggests that the
public actively seeks involvement in the decision-making process.
1484
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The case of low-level radioactive waste siting in New York State
provides an example of the pitfalls of a reactive rather than a
proactive strategy, (see Coleman, 1989). The enactment of top-down
strategies in information campaigns often negates the role of the public
in the participation model. For example, New York State's compliance
with the federal mandate to developing an in-state site for low-level
nuclear waste storage met with strong opposition from communities
slated to receive the site. Although the outline of the government's
"Site Method & Selection Plans" is worded proactively,: "public
participation is built into every step of the facility development
package...statewide public information and education programs and
decision documents will be made available for public review and
comment," the action of government stems largely from a reactive
strategy. Citizen input and public discussion was only invited after the
candidate area was selected.
Since the outcome of most waste management strategies is
behavior change, strategists must realize that the process of changing
beliefs, attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors is difficult Attitudinal
studies concerning repository siting indicate that public opposition and
hostility often result from a lack of empowerment. A synthesized
approach in increasing community participation begins with die
removal of the public from the bottom tier in the decision-making
flow chart. Most importantly, strategists must remember that there
are no 'quick-fix' solutions in the waste management equation.
Public opinion surveys might also target: (1) public development
of safety requirements for siting in "their backyards"; (2) the future of
waste disposal/retrievable storage within the community; and (3) the
effects of compensation packages across communities.
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The creation of such baseline data could help with the study of
the structural, technical, historical, and environmental issues which
frame the waste issue within a given community. Several scholars
argue that the communication of risk is an interactive process
involving understanding of both cultural, temporal, and social factors
which often weigh as heavily as traditional demographic factors
(Fessenden-Raden & Fitchen, 1986).
Implementation of community surveys
McLeod & Chafee(1972); and Warren (1972) analyze the
community as both a social system and a network. The community, as
a network, rather than a small group of individuals, is often the
vantage point of those interested in decision-making processes.
Understanding how a community processes risk, seeks
information, and operates as a social network can assist both with the
design of the citizen survey and in understanding citizen reaction to
risk situations such as the siting of a waste management facility.
Attitudinal understanding often leads to dialogue-an element often
missing in top-down strategies. Additionally, segmenting the citizenry
into a variety of categories, may help the practitioner understand the
various and often diverse needs of the public.
Milbrath (1981) summarizes the "major deficiencies of
traditional citizen participation methods: (1) they can be manipulated
by public officials to suit their own purposes; (2) they are much more
likely to elicit contributions from those who might be hurt by a policy
than those who might be helped; (3) the uninterested but affected
I486
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public (which is a substantial majority in most cases) does not
participate; and (4) if thousands of people respond, the messages
become coded and so condensed that much of their insight is lost."
Milbrath (1981) argues that both citizen committees and public hearings
(meetings) often fail to engender true community participation.
Because citizen committees are often appointed by government
officials and hearings are held after policy is decided, Milbrath Ends
fault with these methods when used to engender community,
participation. However, he finds that the "strength of traditional
methods is that they provide the opportunity for thoughtful,
insightful, and creative interchange between public officials and
citizens. On rare occasions, public officials have used citizen
participation to creatively develop and implement a new policy."
Earlier we discussed the delineation between perceived, actual,
and acceptable risk. Similarly, in terms of measuring community
attitudes, knowledge, and opinions perceived agreement and accurate
agreement on a particular set of issues are also important. Following an
interpersonal exchange, it is assumed that one person or both persons
within the communication dyad will change their estimates of the
other person's cognitions, thus increasing accuracy. However,
Wackman (1974) argues that accuracy increases even if persuasion does
not occur. He states, "the major function of communication is not
persuasion...the major result of interpersonal communication is to
change cognitions or attitudes..'1
The use of surveys to tap attitudes and cognitions is grounded in
the belief that understanding the citizen's 'world view' will aid the
practitioner in designing strategies which will complement that
particular perception. Strategists hope that a change in attitude/belief
1487
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will correlate with a subsequent behavior change. However, the
practitioner must take particular caution when attempting to
distinguish between perception and reality. "Levels of actual agreement
are typically not known to those involved in community decision-
making. Instead/ individuals and groups take actions based on their
perceptions of agreement on development priorities and issues."
(Meiller & Broom, 1979).
Heberlein (1976) outlines four stages of public involvement: (1)
informational; (2) interactive; (3) assurance; and (4) ritualistic. Since the
survey requests information, it is a poor tool for providing
information. However, Heberlein suggests that the interactive
function can be considerably improved by increasing information flow.
According to Heberlein, those who use surveys must follow a list of
sequential steps to ensure accurate coverage of the project and the goals
and benefits thereof. The community survey often surpasses its
potential to uncover community goals, problems, and beliefs, it often is
used to "identify positions of important community groups as well as
to determine how members of each group perceive each other and
members of other groups." (Johnson & Meiller, 1987) The use of such a
device in gauging not only community reluctance to particular waste
management issues, but in targeting particular change agents and
members of the community power structure, could be of great benefit
to both the policymaker and the practitioner.
Simmons (1984) examines citizen invovlement in hazardous
waste siting issues. She finds striking differences in the way "experts
and non-experts think about hazardous waste management issues."
"The expert's view cannot be considered representative of the lay
public's view. Consequently, it is important to consider closely the
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concerns of the lay public in every stage of the planning process and
not to assume that those who are more knowledgeable about technical
issues, the experts, can more effectively represent these views,
likewise, experts who may become involved in organizing
community workshops should recognize that their views and
knowledge are not necessarily held in common with the public."
The analysis of community needs, or a needs assessment
inventory, (see Nix, 1982; Johnson & Meiller, 1987) often leads to
greater understanding of the most salient issues facing a particular
community. Johnson & Miller find that citizens who are elevated from
the position of 'passive survey respondent' are more likely to
participate in the implementation of particular findings and
suggestions. The quality of the interactions among the various groups
is as important as the number of exchanged within the social network.
When the survey is the only mechanism used to engender
response, Johnson & Meiller (1987), suggest only a limited impacts
However, "when the survey is properly designed, and combined with
other techniques that improve communication and promote
participation and more accurate understanding, it emerges as a
powerful tool in the hands of the change agent." Milbrath (1981)
suggests however, that the citizen survey is not always a powerful tool.
Milbrath (1981) states that most citizens and government
officials neither "know how to conduct such surveys or how to
interpret them...the best way for a public agency to tap into the survey
knowledge pool is to employ consulting firms that conduct surveys or
turn trained professionals at a university...(however) even if agency
personnel recognize that they could hire an outside consultant to
conduct a survey, their lack of knowledge of the usefulness of surveys
1469
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or of how to interpret surveys may lead them to be skeptical about the
meaningfulness of survey data...."
Conclusions & Recommendations
Traditional methods, such as meetings and hearings, are subject
to many competing agendas. They usually serve as devices for input
long after decisions are made. This can cause public hostility and
mistrust. Public opinion surveys are one mechanism which can help
broaden public input, provide valuable information on which to base
decisions, increase public confidence in leader decision-making and
refocus the local agenda toward a more positive discussion.
While there is nothing magical about public opinion surveys,
there are a few cautions in properly conducting and using them.
1) For survey results to be reliable and truly representative of
the public, they must be conducted properly. The sample of the public
must follow scientific principles of sampling: Questionnaires cannot,
for example, be distributed to anyone who wants one.
2) Public participation in the design and execution of the survey
is desirable, but it must be done within a framework which will make
the results scientifically valid. Utilize local experts who have the
training in conducting social marketing surveys. Use of local citizen
advisory committees in the development and design of surveys in
cooperation with survey experts has proven to be an excellent
approach in many communities.
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3) Make sure the questions which are asked on a survey will
provide useful results for decision-making. Questions which are "just
interesting" are seldom useful. When alternatives are presented for
public reaction on a survey, make sure that the alternatives are realistic
and possible. There is no reason to ask if residents would favor curb-
side pick-up of household hazardous wastes if that alternative has
already been ruled out because of costs considerations.
4) Make the results of the study widely available for all to
examine and discuss. Make sure that the scientific validity of the study
is also communicated. Here local experts on social surveys can help.
If they participated in designing the study and implementing it, they
can help defend the validity, and make it more credible to the
community.
5) Use the results of the study. Don't ignore results you disagree
with—that will hurt your credibility. If you disagree with the results,
and believe that the public didn't understand the implications of their
choice, explain that, ask for more public input on the issue.
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Bibliography
Coleman, C.L. "What Policy Makers Can Learn from Public Relations
Practictioners;" Public Relations Quarterly; Winter 1989-1990.
Fessenden-Raden, J. and J.M. Fitchen. "Community Perspectives on
Communication of Risk;" Panel Presentation: Issues of
Responsibility in Risk Communication; Annual Meeting of the
Society for the Study of Science, Pittsburgh, PA. October 24,
1986.
Heberlein, T.A. "Some observations on alternative mechanisms for
public involvement: the hearing, public opinion polls, the
workshop, and the quasi-experiment;" Natural Resources
Journal; vol. 16.
Johnson, D.E. and L.R. Meiller. "Community Level Surveys;" in
Needs Assessment: First edition. Iowa State University Press.
1987.
McLeod, J. and S.H. Chaffee. "The Construction of Social Reality;" in
J.T. Fedeschi (ed), The Social Influence Process. Chicago:
Aldine Atherton Publishing, Co.
Meiller, L.R. and G.M. Broom. "Communication Experiments in
Building Community Consensus; The Community Development
Society; v. 10, no. 2:1979.
Milbrath, L.W. "Citizen Surveys as Citizen Participation Mechanisms,"
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, v.17 no.4, 1981.
Scherer, C.W. "Communicating Water Quality Risk Issues to the
Public; Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Special Issue
on Groundwater. 1990 (In-press).
Simmons, D.A. "Community Involvement in Hazardous Waste
Management;" Journal of Environmental Education, v.15,
no.3, Spring 1984.
Slovic, P. "Informing and Educating the Public About Risk;" Risk
Analysis, v. 6, no 4, 1986.
Warren, R.I. The Community in America. Second edition. Chicago:
Rand McNally.
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Consumers and Solid Waste in
an Age of Environmentalism
Edward (Ted) Byers
Vice President, Cambridge Reports/Research International
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16,1990
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My task here today is to give an overview of the current state of consumer
and public opinion about the environment and the solid waste problems
facing our nation.
First, a bit of background. My company, Cambridge Reports /Research
International has one of the largest-if not the largest-archives of survey data
on attitudes toward environment-related issues. Starting in 1974, we began
conducting opinion research on environmental issues and have been doing it
ever since. In our ongoing series of national consumer and public opinion
surveys of 1250 adult Americans, we have asked about 12,000
questions-some once, some dozens of times.
About 3,000 of those questions are on environmental issues. In addition to
this syndicated database, we've done over 300 custom surveys on
environmental issues for clients ranging from DOE and EPA to large oil and
chemical companies to, recently, the Council for Solid Waste Solutions. The
point is-we've got a lot of data!
Obviously, in the few minutes we have together, I can't share much of this
data with you. Instead, I'd like to make a few broad points that could be
labeled the "realities of consumer and public perception" and illustrate these
"realities" with a few pieces of data.
And why are these "realities of perception" important? Because in our
democracy, public policy ultimately must be built upon widespread public
understanding and acceptance if it is to be stable, rational, and consistent.
Public policy must take into account and build upon consumer beliefs,
values, and attitudes-whatever they are.
#1. Americans are dramatically more concerned about environmental
issues than they were just a few years ago.
A few highlights of some of our data in this area include:
• 49% of Americans feel overall environmental quality has
worsened in their area in the last 5 years; only 28% feel
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things have gotten better. Just 3 years ago that 49% was
32%;
• A majority believe no tradeoff is necessary between the
goals of economic growth and preserving the quality of the
environment But if some tradeoff is necessary, by a 52% to
21% majority Americans say they are willing to sacrifice
growth for the sake of the environment.
It appears the country is at the beginning of another "growth spurt" in
concern for the environment and demands for public action. That the litany
of environmental issues in the last year-acid rain, the greenhouse effect,
ozone depletion, the Exxon Valdez accident-appears to be getting our
attention is apparent from my second reality.
#2. A significant and growing number of Americans are becoming
"Green Consumers" in their buying behavior and "Green Voters" in
their political activity.
Let me give you a few pieces of market research data we recently collected
to illustrate this "reality."
• Based on a series of questions we asked a national sample
this past summer, about one-sixth of the overall American
public identifies itself as strong environmentalists.
Importantly, this "green" market and political segment is distinctly upscale.
And they're changing their behaviors to accommodate their environmental
sensibilities:
• 57% of all Americans and 80% of the "green" segment have
made changes in their daily behavior because of
environmental concerns;
• 52% of Americans and 11% of the "green" segment say
they're willing to pay more for environmentally sound
consumer products.
Now, let me give you a few specific behaviors we've looked at. In each case,
there are two subcategories: First, the number of all Americans who say
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they've behaved in a certain way or done a certain thing; second, the
proportion of the "green" segment who say they've done that thing.
• 66% of all Americans say they've recently recycled cans,
bottles, or papers; 86% of the "greens" say this;
• 41 % of Americans say they are trying as much as possible to
avoid using products in aerosol spray cans; 65% of the
"greens" say this;
• 44% of Americans say they are trying to buy products made
with recycled materials; 74% of the "greens" say this;
• 30% of Americans say they are avoiding buying products
made by companies they think pollute the environment; 50%
of the "greens" say this.
One final point in this area: In all but one instance where I have trend data
on the questions I've just given you, the number of consumers saying'they
are taking the pro-environment action is today significantly higher than it
was 2 years ago.
Here, as before, I could give more data. But I think I've recited enough to
make my point. The pro-environmental concerns and attitudes of Americans
are increasingly being carried through to actual behaviors and actions that
will significantly alter the marketplace for goods and services, as well-as the
more intangible marketplace of ideas.
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#3. Within this rising tide of environmental concerns and changing
behaviors, solid waste disposal is increasingly seen as a crucial
environmental problem.
• Although opinion leaders are somewhat less likely than in
1988 to cite solid waste disposal issues as the nation's top
environmental priority, it still tops their list of environmental
concerns. And the general public is even more inclined than
in 1988 to name solid waste disposal issues as the most
important environmental problem;
• And solid waste disposal is essentially tied for second with
improved air quality and solving the AIDS epidemic as a top
local priority.
Thus, bear in mind that the American people and their leaders' views on
solid waste issues are rooted in broader and growing environmental concerns
and worries. These broader environmental attitudes, in large part, drive
perceptions of specific solid waste issues and reactions to proposed
solutions.
#4. Plastics are at the heart of Americans concerns about the solid
waste disposal problem. While plastic's safety, durability, and
convenience are widely valued, the perceived environmental risks are
increasingly feared and resented.
Let's look at the perceived benefits first. Americans clearly recognize the
importance that plastic products play in modern industrial societies like the
United States, and the ease and convenience that plastic consumer products
add to their lives.
• When asked about seven common plastic products, at least
half the population say these products add ease and
convenience to their household life. Plastic foam is the only
product that consumers feel adds little value to their lives;
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• It's worth noting as well that environmental activists-those
people who participate in or donate to an environmental
organization-are even more likely than the general
population to feel plastic products add to the ease and
convenience of their lives;
• Similarly, a growing plurality of opinion leaders and the
great majority of the general population hold a generally
favorable view of the plastics industry. The plastics industry
has not yet hit the low point that the chemical industry has
fallen to.
The bottom line: consumers, as we all know, use plastics and in many ways
accept and acknowledge the positive role they play in our society and
opinion leaders seem to be aware of this.
At the same time, when asked to consider the full range of issues-health and
safety, convenience, and environmental impact-plastic is clearly the less-
preferred material.
• By more than two-to-one majorities, Americans state a
preference for paper, steel, glass, and aluminum over plastic;
• More broadly, two-thirds of the population believe the
environmental risks and disposal difficulties of plastics
outweigh the benefits of convenience, safety, durability, and
inexpensiveness. And, notably, the group believing the risks
outweigh.the benefits was 57% in 1988 and 31% in 1986-a
dramatic reversal of opinion in just 4 years.
That plastics are at the heart of public concern about solid waste is perhaps
best typified by both opinion leaders' and the public's perceptions of the
causes of the solid waste disposal problem.
• In 1988, only about one in twenty people pointed to plastics,
nondegradability, or packaging as the chief cause of the
solid waste disposal problem. In 1990, one in five people
believe this to be the case. The lack of recycling is blamed
-------
by another one in ten people. By contrast, opinion leaders
are less likely to point to plastics, packaging, and
nondegradability and more inclined to point to the lack of
recycling as the leading cause.
Another series of questions reveals even more dramatically the strong
feelings that exist concerning the role of plastics.
• The American people are two to three times more likely to
feel that plastic plays a large role in creating their area's
solid waste disposal problems than they are to hold that view
of other materials, such as glass or paper;
• When we probed and asked consumers what it is about
plastic products that makes them such a source of concern,
32% cited their nondegradability;
• Growing pluralities of opinion leaders think specific plastic
products such as fast-food packaging and plastic wrap play a
large role in their community's solid waste problem.
Clearly, plastics and one of their key attributes-nondegradability-are seen to
be significant parts of the solid waste problem.
Now let's turn to some of the perceived solutions.
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#5. Recycling is seen as major part of the solution to the solid waste
problem and is far preferable to waste-to-energy incineration or
landfills.
Let's review some data in these areas. First, the rising support for recycling:
• Both opinion leaders and the general public overwhelmingly
favor mandatory recycling programs in their communities.
Indeed, support has increased in both groups between 1988
and 1990;
• There is a growing, and perhaps misguided, perception that
recycling substantially reduce the amount of solid waste we
generate. Between 1989 and 1990 the median response for
how much or our garbage we can recycled jumped from
27% to 57%.
• And the public is very receptive to recycling. The studies we
have done for the Council for Solid Waste Solutions in
Rhode Island and Milwaukee show that public response to
recycling is overwhelmingly positive and that all materials
are seen as "very easy" to recycle;
Let me briefly go over some data on waste-to-energy incineration that
reveals some significant shifts in attitudes.
• In 1988,63% of the general population and 76% of opinion
leaders said they would support the siting of an
environmentally sound waste-to-energy plant in their
community. Today, roughly a three-fourths majority of both
groups now support new incineration;
• There is considerable reluctance on the part of both opinion
leaders and the general public to fully embrace waste-to-
energy incineration, however. The group of opinion leaders
who think waste-to-energy incinerators would pose a
significant health and safety threat to their community rose
from just under half in 1988 to 60% in 1990;
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• The general public expresses even more reluctance. While
most Americans recognize that recycling alone will not
solve their community's solid waste problem-and thus
realize that new incineration capacity will have to be
built-they are nearly unanimous in agreeing that new plants
should not be built until a major effort to establish a strong
recycling program has been made.
And on landfills, here's our recent public opinion data:
• Public support for the siting of an environmentally sound
landfill has risen from 43% in 1988 to 49% in 1990. Yet, the
great majority of Americans are skeptical about whether it
currently is possible to build an environmentally sound
landfill.
#6. Equally important, recycling is not only seen as the best solution to
the solid waste problem, but participation in recycling programs seems
to encourage important behavioral changes in consumers.
* Substantial minorities of participants in both Rhode Island's
and Milwaukee's recycling programs claim to be avoiding
the purchase of excessively packaged products, composting,
not purchasing drink containers that are not recyclable or
returnable, and reducing their purchases of products, such as
paper towels, that are not reusable.
* And participation in community recycling programs
engenders a sense of commitment and involvement that can
create the kind of sentiment needed for even further
behavior changes. More than two in three Rhode Islanders
strongly agree that participation makes them feel like their
helping to solve an important community and environmental
problem.
So this is recent data on some of the currently discussed options for solving
the solid waste disposal problems in our country. To summarize, the
f
American people are dramatically more concerned about the environment,
the issue of solid waste, and the role of plastics in our country. And while I
-------
can't predict the future from past trends, I believe all of these levels of
concern will accelerate in the next few years. To alleviate their solid waste
concerns Americans are increasingly looking to recycling, both as a solution
to the garbage problem and as a means of altering their own behavior in
ways that are more in line with their environmental values.
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PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT PROPOSED HOST COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Clifford W. Scherer and Napoleon K. Juanillo, Jr.
Cornell University
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT HOST COMMUNITY BENEFITS
I. Introduction
The Not In My Backyard reaction to the siting of waste management
facilities has been observed for several years. Yet, little progress has
been made in overcoming public resistance to the location of waste
management facilities. Raymond1 notes that "the public is distrustful of
promises that new technology and management methods offer adequate
protection from groundwater contamination and other undesirable effects
that have occurred in older landfills. The community selected to host the
landfill feels it should not be required to carry the burden of long-term
unpredictable threats to the health and living condition of its residents
for the benefit of landfill users who live, work, and do business
elsewhere". One idea which is gaining popularity and appears to hold
promise is that of compensating residents living in the host community.
However, in spite of the promise of benefits or compensation to
communities selected as prospective hosts for a landfill or incinerator
site, citizen opposition from "affected" communities remains a delicate
Issue that confronts many municipal officials, solid waste planners, and
elected county or town officials. Lack of community Involvement,
Funding for the stud its reported in this paper caw from the Hewlett Foundation,
Cornell Wast* Hanagement Institute, Cornell Department of Communication and Ton**ins County. The
following Individuals played key roles In the funding design and collection of the data used In this
study, lyls Mymond, Water Resources Instituta; Dick Schuller and Kate Skelton, waste Management
Institute; David Allle, Agricultural Economics; and graduate students David Stizla and David Kay. We
greatfully acknowledge their valuable contributions.
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Inadequate communication about the benefits program, poor timing 1n Its
Introduction or unfavorable media coverage, among other factors, can kill
even the best-1ntent1oned compensation plan. This paper examines two
major viewpoints regarding the hindrances to as well as the possible
building blocks of a community compensation (or Host Community Benefits)
plan. It discusses the perceptions, opinions, and experiences of (a) 136
county officials, solid waste planners, and leaders of citizens groups from
58 New York counties and boroughs, and (b) 565 residents living within 2
miles of a proposed landfill 1n upstate New York.
The discussion revolves around two basic questions:
(1) What elements of a compensation package appear to be most
attractive to members of the affected public?
(2) How do public officials and other leaders view host community
benefits?
The study hopes to provide useful lessons and Insights as to what can
be done to facilitate the process of landfill siting.
II. Public Officials' Opinions on HCBs
During the fall of 1989, officials 1n all New York counties and
boroughs were surveyed by telephone concerning their awareness of, and
opinions toward host community benefits. Two or three officials in each
county were contacted. One hundred and thirty-six Individuals representing
58 counties and boroughs were interviewed. Interviews were conducted with
the officials responsible for solid waste management, representatives of
the planning offices, cooperative extension, recycling coordinators and
citizen groups Involved 1n solid waste Issues.
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In New York thirty six percent of the counties report that they have
considered host community benefits and 29% have some type of host community
benefit package either in operation or in the planning stages. The
remaining counties have not considered HCBs or brought them into public
discussion.
The officials interviewed were about equally divided concerning how the
public has or is expected to respond to HCBs. Officials in 24 of the 58
counties (including NYC boroughs) reported that the public has or is
expected to react favorably toward host community benefits.
Representatives from an equal number of counties believe that the public
has or will react negatively. The remaining counties (9) were less sure of
how the public may react and suggested that the nature of the compensation
package would be important.
Several practical suggestions are offered by public officials ill-
relation to landfill siting. Based on their experiences, it is their
belief that receptivity to the idea of hosting a landfill has usually been
spurred by involving community groups or their representatives from the
very start of the planning process. In lieu of the siting board, a
community-based solid waste authority, a benefit-sharing task force, or a
citizen advisory committee composed of community members is believed to be
an effective way to generate a more favorable attitude toward landfill
selection and hosting among community residents. Since solid waste
decisions have to be made at the local level, local communities are better
able to deal with community opposition and specific siting situations.
Such groups can also be made responsible for looking at a generic benefits
package (I.e. what might be of Interest to affected citizens). The same
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groups or committees can be asked to Introduce the concept to the public,
encourage debates, and discuss the possible elements 1n the benefits
package.
In terms of handling the compensation Issue to host communities, 1t
depends not so much on what 1s offered but how 1t 1s offered. It should
not be a situation wherein county officials come 1n and say, "We're going
to put this facility here and here's what we'll give you." Rather the
needs of the residents must be discussed first before the siting takes
place. It has been the experience of some counties that host community
benefits proposals which contain a lot of detail give the Impression that
everything has been arranged prior to community consultation. People feel
threatened that their Inputs are not considered 1n the process.
Some of the common community demands for compensation are In the form
of:
(a) Environmental guarantees. In Chenango and Fulton counties, there
was a specific demand for ensuring water quality or well water protection
within a defined radius of the site. Fulton county reportedly asked for
$100,000 a year for water quality testing and a baseline testing of wells.
In Cayuga county, there 1s a request for payment to the affected town for
environmental monitoring. Likewise 1n Tompkins, there 1s a water purity
protection program Initiated and supported by a citizens committee.
(b) Contingency funds. In Fulton, a $25 per ton compensation is
proposed as a possible contingency fund to help pay for bottled water and
help extend water lines in the event of contamination.
(c) Property value protection. Some communities seek tangible
fHiarantees that the value of their property will not be affected. This has
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been emphasized in Oneida county where the package includes demands for a
tax rebate on property, aid in selling homes, and the improvement of the
local infrastructure. In Chenango, part of the benefits package that has
been suggested is landscaping around the landfill.
Other items considered part of the benefits package include employments
for residents of the community, direct payments to the town, and the
provision of recreational, health or other facilities.
Community leaders also suggest that there is no one package that can
fit all communities. The fundamental notion behind host community benefits
is suitability to community needs and the extent to which they can be
considered as reflective of the community consensus that comes after
earnest consultation and deliberation.
III. The Public's Reaction to Host Community Benefits
A major rationale for citizen outcry against landfill siting is the
need for a more vigorous campaign for waste source reduction and recycling,
instead of cosmetic solutions. According to public officials, citizen
groups view as a bribe any form of "compensation" to communities.which art
being considered or have been selected as landfill or incinerator sites.
They believe that waste management efforts should emphasize public and
industrial education directed toward reducing the demand for products wh1#i
require unnecessary packaging or Inputs that generate large volumes of
waste, some of which may be hazardous 1n the first place. They also ar-gttt
that the economic benefits of providing "compensation" to prospective host
communities must be weighed against concerns about environmental effects.
Still, even among landfill opponents, there 1s agreement that it ts
ultimately the decision of the entire community. However, they believe
-------
that 1f an impasse 1s reached, 1t might exists for a good reason and ought
to be respected. Such a lack of consensus should serve as a signal that
the state does not have the power to come into a community and create a
landfill facility against community opposition.
Yet, even when there is opposition 1n a community, 1t is seldom
unanimous. And support for or opposition to HCBs 1s also seldom unanimous.
The study reported here examines the opinions of 565 residents living
within two miles of a proposed landfill 1n an upstate New York County.
Mail surveys were used to obtain a 66% response rate. What residents living
around this landfill site wanted for compensation was clear: (See table).
1) Environmental protection. Between 63 and 90 percent of all residents
felt that environmental protection was the most important consideration.
Ninety percent wanted free water tests, 84% asked for public reporting of
all monitoring well tests, 76% wanted landscaping to hide the landfill, and
63% wanted more groundwater monitoring wells.
There is a strong basis for the popularity of the concern for
environmental protection. Community residents want a full guarantee that
the environment continues to be free from any landfill-related risks. In
fact, the survey indicates that the primary basis for opposition to having
a landfill in the community 1s that technology does not provide adequate
protection from negative impact of the landfill. Information about plastic
and clay liners, collection of the leachet, baling of waste, etc. did not
help reduce their concern.
2) Environmental "safety net" guarantees. 90% of residents wanted a
water quality guarantee that quality drinking water would be provided If
contamination ever occurs. Only 57%, however, wanted a guarantee to extend
-------
the public water lines if contamination ever occurs.
3) Economic benefits. The demand for economic returns to
the community included a plan to pay present owners any property
value loss upon sale of the property (79% in favor); a plan which would
allow owners to hire their own appraiser if they disagree with the county
assessment (83%); and a plan which would pay future owners for value lost
at sale time (48%).
4) Controls over landfill operation. As part of the benefits package,
the community expressed the need to Impose measures as restricting the
landfill operating hours and days, restricting the number of trucks,
enforcement of speed limits, use of more than one entrance, limits on the
use of private trucks and more strict control over illegal dumping. (See
Table 1).
5) Direct compensation. Benefits that directly accrue to the community
was not a popular demand. Proposals included (a) establishing a special
fund to be used by residents and the community to address problems
resulting from the landfill, (b) additional support for roads, and (c)
extension of public water lines prior to opening of the landfill.
6) Environmental Improvement and unrelated compensations. Proposals
relating to this type of benefit were the least popular. Some of the
environmental improvements proposed included the establishment of fishery
and wildlife programs while unrelated compensations included such Items in
providing sewer lines, swimming pools, support for the fire or ambulance
service, low Interest loans for housing development, etc.
What 1s perhaps most striking about these findings 1s that the
compensation demands of residents appear to be extremely rational and
-------
logical. The major demand 1s for preservation of the existing
environmental and financial situation. Those compensations which could be
described as "bribes"--free garbage p1ck-up or swimming pools, were, for
the most part rejected by a majority of residents. It should be noted that
the study did not place any restriction regarding the number of measures a
respondent could select. In other words, residents could have indicated
that they wanted all of the compensations listed.
III. Implications
Successful introduction of host community benefits requires an adequate
understanding by both the public and local officials. Discussions of HCBs
in dialogue and 1n the context of "what is fair" will likely be more
productive than presenting HCB proposals for community residents to react
to. Experiences of solid waste planners, extension agents, and other
community leaders as well as the concerns raised by the communities
themselves point to the continual need to ensure the Involvement of the
prospective hosts.
For the communicator, a proactive strategy of providing balanced and
usable Information for both the public and county officials on the various
Issues related to landfill siting and hosting 1s a significant step to open
up a well-informed exchange or debate about the major issue at hand. This
process 1s further enhanced If the parties involved are guided through a
concrete program that eventually leads them to some form of consensus.
Indeed, while It 1s important to learn about what the current
perceptions are on host community benefits and what specific forms they can
-------
take, final decisions rest 1n the hands of the residents. When the
community 1s Involved 1n the process of planning and discussion, only then
will the concept of host community benefits have full meaning.
1 Raymond, L. S. (1989). "Living with Landfills: Host Community
Benefits," New York State Water Resources Institute, Center for
Environmental Research, Cornell University.
-------
Table 1: Citizen Opinion About Desired Host Conminlty Benefits
TYPE 6F BENEFIT Percent of
total sample
Environmental Protection
More monitoring wells 63
More public reports of
test results 84
Free water tests 90
Landscape to hide landfill 76
Environmental Safety Net
Water quality guarantee 90
Extension of Public water
if problem develops 57
Control over disruption
Restrict landfill hours 74
Restrict days 61
Restrict number of trucks 52
Enforce speed limits 83
Use more than one entrance 43
No private trucks 39
Control illegal dumping 70
Economic benefits
Pay present owners property
value loss on sale 79
Pay future owners property
value loss on sale 48
Allow owners to hire appraiser 83
Environmental Improvement
Establish fishery program 35
Create small ponds 39
Direct compensation
Establish special fund
for problems 62
Support roads 58
Provide public water lines now 39
Unrelated compensation
Donation to town 26
Low interest loans for housing 29
Support fire district 36
Support ambulance 36
Free garbage pickup 42
Provide sewer lines 29
Develop playgrounds 18
Build swimming pool 15
Contribute to community center 23
Support local festival 13
Scholarships for local youth 18
Hire locals for landfill jobs 28
-------
'.•¦a
SPECIAL WASTES
-------
A LOADED COCKTAIL - USED OIL IN YOUR BACKYARD
Janet Graham
Project R.O.S.E. (Recycled Oil Saves Energy)
The University of Alabama
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1493
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A LOADED COCKTAIL - USED OIL IN YOUR BACKYARD
Used oil is a special waste stream - one with a tremendous recycling
potential. It is a virtually untapped resource in our country with an
energy value equivalent to virgin oil. Yet every day citizens or
"Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) oil changers dispose of used oil in many ways that
eliminate this recycling potential.
Project ROSE has developed a program that can be adopted by
municipalities or states to initiate recycling programs to capture used
motor oil. These recycling mechanisms have been developed, assessed, modi-
fied, and utilized during the past thirteen years of Project ROSE service
to Alabama. The presentation today will examine the education component of
used oil recycling and discuss its importance in developing a sustained,
viable recycling program.
Project ROSE (Recycled Oil Saves Energy) began in 1977 as an energy
savings program for Alabama. Funded by the Alabama Department of Economic
and Community Affairs - Science, Technology and Energy Division, Project
ROSE is sponsored by the College of Engineering at The University of Ala-
bama. The program's goals since its inception are to conserve energy, pre-
serve the environment, and conserve a valuable, non-renewable natural
1494
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resource - used oil. Project ROSE has developed many service functions
that offer individuals and small businesses several beneficial services.
These are:
- education programs to schools, service/civic groups, and commu-
nity governments;
- collection center information and regulatory assistance to small
business;
collection assistance through the used oil waste information
exchange;
regulatory information provided to the used oil industry;
input provided on federal regulations and congressional action; and
- networking with other recycling programs to develop comprehensive
plans that can help communities achieve long-term recycling of used
motor oil.
There are three components of an effective used oil recycling program
that addresses the DIY oil changer. These are 1) a used oil management
network that can accept DIY used oil, 2) a market or markets for used oil,
and 3) education and public awareness of the hazards of improper used oil
disposal. The used oil management network includes businesses that
generate, collect and recycle used oil(s) and market the oil as an
alternative fuel source to other industries. The markets for used oil are
vital to the development of a used oil recycling program; however,
education is the key to sustained recycling. Just as a key that unlocks a
door, education is the tool that motivates the public and mobilizes
communities in a voluntary used oil recycling program. Without education,
a used oil recycling program cannot succeed.
1495
-------
Used oil is something we all generate - often in small, widely
dispersed quantities that create a collection and recycling problem. The
statistics of used oil generation echo this problem of recovery of DIY
oils:
- over 1.2 billion gallons of used oil are generated annually;*
- DIYs and small businesses dump approximately 400 million gallons
into the environment annually - the majority of the remaining 700
million gallons are recovered and recycled for marketing to
industry; 2 and
- Coast Guard estimates report that sewage treatment plants dis-
charge twice as much oil into coastal waters as do tanke-r acci-
dents 15 million gallons per year as opposed to 7.5 million
gallons from accidents with the major source of this pollution
stemming from dumping of oil by DIYs in storm drains and sewers;3
and
- only 14% of DIY used oil is recycled. ^
Prior to the 1960's virtually all used oil was recycled because
service stations routinely performed oil changes and collected this used
oil for recycling.5 The union of oil producing nations under OPEC raised
the price of oil (thereby cost of an oil change) to a level that encouraged
many automobile owners to change their own oil to lower their auto mainte-
nance costs. This shift of oil changing activity from service stations to
the individual auto owner went from 10% DIY activity prior to 1960 to over
60% DIY activity in the 1960s. 6
Equally alarming is the volume of used oil that "fell out" of the
used oil management loop as a result of the shift in oil changing prac-
1496
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tices. The Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Prince Wil-
liam Sound. Individuals and small businesses mismanage (mismanaged in a
variety of ways that eventually lead to land disposal or dumping!) or
improperly dispose of about 400 million gallons of used oil each year - the
equivalent of 35 Exxon Valdez spills!^
Education has been and continues to be the key for bringing used DIY
oils into the used oil management system (UOMS). Without a knowledge of
the problem and incentives for participating in a used oil recycling pro-
gram, DIYs will continue to haphazardly dispose of their used oil in envi-
ronmentally harmful ways! What are some of the problems created by
improper used oil disposal?
- used oil from one oil change can ruin over 1 million gallons of
o
fresh water - enough for 50 families for one year;0
- one pint of used oil creates an acre slick on waterand
- 1 ppm of used oil in water can be detected by taste and odor;
35 ppm creates a visible oil slick; and
50 ppm can foul a waste water treatment facility.10
Information to initiate Project ROSE was developed from a random
survey conducted in Mobile and Tuscaloosa in 1977 by the League of Women
Voters to identify the DIY population and disposal trends.11 This infor-
mation provided the framework for the development of appropriate educa-
tional programs for DIYs. Curbside programs were established. The success
of these programs spread to other areas of the state. Networking through
the twelve planning and development districts of the state, major metropo-
litan areas were targeted for establishment of voluntary collection pro-
grams utilizing existing oil change facilities to voluntarily participate
1497
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¦j 2
in the program-as collection centers.
Based on public education and awareness the program offers a safe,
convenient method for handling a waste that poses a difficult disposal
problem. Key factors utilized in program success are media to promote
Project ROSE locally with low cost and high visibility, and community
and/or civic leaders to embrace, promote and further the concept of DIY
recycling.
Experience gained during the past 12 years has shown that programs
with a strong, local support base; i.e. community leadership/sponsorship,
have the greatest likelihood of developing and sustaining a long-term used
oil recycling program. By giving the sponsorship role to local leaders,
these leaders are able to unify civic organizations, promote used oil
recycling, coordinate public education programs, and serve as a local ref-
erence point for used oil education and information.
Active participation at this local or "grass roots" level is an
essential element of the DIY collection program. By tapping this local
resource programs can be tailored that reflect local needs or constraints,
maximize community participation, and develop a program that becomes "the
Community's" program. Thus Project ROSE acts as a facilitator in program
development and design but the promotion and maintenance of the program
reside in the community. Many Alabama communities have adopted this
approach. Dedicated volunteers have accepted the lead role as Project ROSE
promoters maintaining the visibility necessary to provide the continuity
ensure program success.
Project ROSE targets both adults and primary/secondary students in our
state, especially driver education and automotive maintenance students,
1498
-------
many of whom are future DIYs. These students offer a tremendous
educational opportunity to alter their perceptions concerning the proper
management of used oil and other automotive maintenance products (i.e.
antifreeze, transmission fluid, brake fluids, etc.). By reaching these
students at an this age, positive behavior changes can be effected to
create life-long, conscientious consumers and recyclers of used oil.
What is the focus of the education program?
1. Must make the issue(s) relevant - provide information that
gets the DIY's attentions
a. energy savings were a key "selling point" in the 1970's; however,
the nationwide focus has shifted to environmental preservation
with the decline in oil values and gasoline prices;
b. environmental savings - the emphasis of the 90's is environmental
preservation; and
c. tell DIYs what environmental damage and risks to human health
arise as a result of improper disposal of used motor oil.
2. Explain the role of a conscientious DIYer.
a. Always recycle it; i.e., "Used oil never wears out -
it only gets dirty". It can be reused as a fuel or re-refined
motor oil.
b. Explain the importance of proper recycling. Drain used oil into
a clean container, seal it, do not mix it with anything else, and
take it to a used oil collection center.
c. Explain the importance of their role as an "environmental steward"
- someone who takes charge. Project ROSE emphasizes that "one
person can make a difference". By recycling used motor oil DIYs
1499
-------
can successfully enhance and protect our environment for future
generations!
What educational tools can you use? The footnotes reference several
sources of used oil recycling information which can provide additional
information. Utilize materials similar to the Project ROSE "Fact Sheets"
which continue to stimulate the greatest response for recycling used motor
oil. Brochures, PSAs (public service announcements aired by radio and TV),
and press releases to local newspapers are invaluable promotional tools
that can be developed and utilized by any program to organize local
recycling programs. One key to remember: "Recycling used oil is EASY."
Tap into your local or existing recycling network(s); utilize key community
leadership; and involve business, government and individuals in a program
that enhances the environment through community stewardship.
1500
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FOOTNOTES
1. Franklin Associates, Ltd., Composition and Management
of Used Oil Generated in the United States, Sept. 1984,
at 1-5.
2. Nolan, Harris and Cavanaugh, Used Oil: Disposal
Options, Management Practices an
-------
Table 1 Project ROSE Program Sponsors 1978-1979
E _
m r crS i c
JS
II.
o
M
o
o
•<
I I
I I I I I F I I ! I I I I I I I I
Project ROSE Program Centers
CIVIC / VOLUNTEER
Alabama Conservancy
American Legion
Audubon Society
Beautification Council
Boy Scouts
Clean Community Commission
Elks Club
Friends of the Earth
4—H
Girl Scouts
Jaycees / Jayceettes
Landmark Foundation
League of Women Voters
Lion s Club —
Local City / County Governments
Local Educators / Students
Locol Recycling Center
Neighborhood Improvement
PIONEERS (South Central Bell)
PRIDE Program
Sierra Club _
Senior Citizens
OTHERS
Council of Local Governments
Cooperative Extension Service
County Agents
County Commissions
Forestry Commissions
Local Oil Reprocessors
Rural Development Commission
State Planning Commission
~~~~¦¦~~¦~~¦nnnann
u
1502
-------
Graph 3 Projact ROSE Program Status 1982-1987
Project ROSE Collactlon Cantara (by county)
1503
A-l
-------
project
RIpSE
Yp~
reqrcled oil saves energy
FACT SHEET* 1986
...Alabama generates 17 million gallons of used automotive oil annually; if this were recycled, it
would generate the energy necessary to power 50,000 automobiles for one year; approximately
25% of this used oil is generated by do-it-yourself oil changers.
...50% of all oil generated is lost through dumping, land spreading, incineration or road oiling.
...In 1960 service stations performed 90 percent of the oil changes; today individuals perform 60
percent of the oil changes.
...Approximately six million gallons of used oil is dumped in our state each year; much of this
dumped oil is attributed to do-it-yourself oil changers; this dumped oil, if reclaimed, could provide
the equivalent energy to power 11,666 cars for one year.
...One pint of oil can produce a slick approximately one acre in size.
...Used oil constitutes the largest single source of oil pollution in our nation's streams and rivers.
The largest source of this disposition is practiced by do-it-yourselfers. It is estimated that 85 million
Americans change their motor oil.
...2 1/2 quarts of lubricating oil obtained from refining one barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil could be
obtained by re-refining ONE GALLON of used oiL
...Because of the West Germans' subsidized program 70 percent of all used oil is recovered. New
Mercedes-Benz automobiles use re-refined oil.
...Used oil is frequently a carrier of contaminants that are harmful to the environment and public
health.
...Crankcase oil drainings have been reported to account for more than 40 percent of the total oil
pollution of our nation's harbors and waterways.
...In Japan, the public is required to turn in their used oil in order to buy new.
...One part of oil per million parts of water (ippm) can cause taste and odor problems in drinking
water, 35ppm can produce a visible oil slick on the water which can damage aquatic life and 50
ppm can foul a waste water treatment process.
...Recycling used oil could reduce petroleum imports by 25.5 million barrels of oil per year, saving
1.3 million barrels of oil per day.
'Association of Government Oil Recycling Officials
P.O. BOX6373• TUSCALOOSA, AL 35487-6373*(205) 346-4678
ALABAMA ENERGY DIVISION • 1-800-392-8096 •
ALABAMA ENERGY EXTENSION SERVICE • 1-MIM52-5901
-A SERVICE MARK Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-
1504
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PROJECT
RASE
recycled oil saves energy
FACT SHEET* 1988
Of the petroleum-related pollution in the United States, 62% is
estimated to be used lube-oil, much of which eventually works its way to
ocean.
Surveys done by the U.S. Department of Energy indicate that people who
have heard about recycling programs, are three times as likely to dispose
of used oil by taking it to a gas station or giving the oil away for
recycling.
Do-It-Vourselfer's properly recycle only 14% of the waste oil they
generate.
Of the 821 million gallons of motor oil sold in the United States in 1985,
over 70% or 575 million gallons will be purchased by Do-lt-Yourselfers.
Based on Department of Energy figures, we can expect about 161 million
gallons to be burned or leaked, with the balance of 414 million gallons
to be drained.
Of the 414 million gallons only 56 million gallons will be recycled,
leaving 356 million gallons to be disposed of.
Another 21% or 87 million gallons will be put in the trash or garbage,
where if taken to a landfill, will end up in the nation's groundwater.
Another 25% or 103.5 million gallons will be used for miscellaneous
purposes such as spreading on roads to restrict dust or to kill weeds,
and may eventually end up contaminating the environment.
•Service Stations Dealers of America, Inc.
P.O. BOX 6373 • TUSCALOOSA, AL 35487-6373• (305) 348-4878
ALABAMA ENERGY DIVISION • 1-aOO-392-0O9B •
ALABAMA ENERGY EXTENSION SERVICE • 1-800-452-5901
-A SERVICE MARK OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA-
1505
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recycled oil saves energy
FACT SHEET 1990
...The Coast Guard estimates that sewage treatment plants discharge
twice as much oil into coastal waters as do tanker accidents - 15
million gallons per year versus 7.5 million gallons from accidents. A
major source of this pollution is dumping of oil by do-it-yourselfers
Into storm drains and sewers.
...If all used oil improperly disposed of by do-it-yourselfers were
recycled, it could produce enough energy to power 360,000 homes each year
or could provide 96 million quarts of high quality motor oil.
...One gallon of used oil used as fuel contains about 140,000 Btu of
energy.
...A gallon of used oil from a single oil change can ruin a millon gallons
of fresh water ~ a year's supply for 50 people.
...Used oil is the largest single source of oil pollution (over 40
percent) in our nation's waterways. Most is dumped by do-it-
yourselfers.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
P.O. BOX 6373 • TUSCALOOSA, AL 35487-6373• (205) 34M878
ALABAMA ENERGY DIVISION • 1400-392-8098 •
ALABAMA ENERGY EXTENSION SERVICE • 1-800-452-5901
-A SERVICE MARK Of THE UNIVERSITY OF AUBAMA-
1506
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ALTERNATIVES TO HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS
Kathryn Betzhold
League of Womtn Voters of Albany County
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1507
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Alternatives to Hazardous Household Products
Household hazardous wastes have increasingly been recog-
nized by communities as a segment of the municipal solid waste
stream that requires special handling. Because special collec-
tion is costly and not without risks, reduction of these wastes
is preferable.
Today I will be discussing alternatives to products which
are dangerous when used and which require special handling,
storage and disposal. My remarks are based on the book 1 co-
authored, Household Hazards: A Guide to Detoxifying Your Home.
This book grew out of a local study conducted by the League of
Women Voters in Albany, New York. While studying household
hazardous waste in 1963, we became aware of the lack of safe
options available to individual citizens for disposal of waste
products. We looked at the possibility of helping to sponsor a
local clean-up day in Albany County. The fear Df liability was
a major stumbling block at that time, and we were unable to find
a county agency to co-sponsor the event with us. The second
major problem was the enormous amount of time and effort required
to have a successful event. The League is a volunteer organiza-
tion and we just did not have the womanpower to sponsor a clean-
up day alone.
After investigating clean-up days, our League turned its
attention to citizen education. Uur main objective was to edu-
cate our members and the public about their role in environmental
health. Our focus has been on making that role a positive one
X508
-------
by using a nontoxic approach to activities in our households.
We have written a book outlining alternative living and buying
practices which will reduce the quantity of hazardous wastes
from each household. By focusing on alternatives, we followed
the State of New York's solid waste management hierarchy which
lists waste reduction first. The printing of our book was
subsequently funded by the New York btate Lnvironmental Facili-
ties Corporation, a state public authority.
~ur finished manuscript covers the following areas:
1) Toxics - definition, htalth issues, aerosol formulations,
safety precautions and disposal options 2) Alternatives -
basic ingredients, safety precautions 3) General home cleaning
4) Pesticides 5) Automotive products 6} Art and hobby materials
7) Paints and solvents B) Plastics 9) Indoor air quality 10) A
guide to citizen action. The book was well received by the pub-
lic, and distribution of the 1D,U0U copies printed was completed
in five months. A second printing is planned for distribution
within New York btate which is being funded by the btate Depart-
ment of Environmental Conservation.
The goal of alternatives is to reduce tht amount of toxic
substances being used and discaroed. Weaker acids and bases,
such as vinegar and baking soda, are substituted for commercial
cleaners. Soil-building, organic gardening techniques are rec-
ommended in place of pesticides, and in all household work, sol-
vents are kept to a minimum.
Just as with toxic commercial products, alternative mixes
1509
-------
are better used when understood. Switching to less hazardous
methods requires a change of mindset about appearances. For
example, bleach and a tuilet brush are excellent and effective
toilet bowl cleaners. This duo does not, however, bubble, foam
or turn blue. In the yard, some weeds with the grass are much
less deadly than the constant application of herbicides that a
perfect lawn requires. Making the switch from toxic chemicals
in the home requires first dispelling the advertising media's
image of perfection.
Most alternative products are quite simple to make. Many
household cleaning agents can be made once and stored, and do
not require mixing at each use. Others are made from single
ingredients and need no mixing. Homemade products allow for
individual control over ingredients. Not only can more toxic
formulations be avoidea, but irritating dyes and perfumes can
also be omitted. Frequently, alternatives to toxics are less
expensive as well.
Any homemade mix must be accurately labelled ana safely
stored away from pets or children. Remember that some alterna-
tive methods may still be slightly hazardous. Bleach is highly
reactive aith ammonia or toilet bowl and drain cleaners. The
resulting fumes are lethal. The advantage*of an alternative,
product, however, is that it contains ingredients fully..known .
to the user.. This option helps the consumer to control the
situation and eliminate substances if they prove ineffective or
risky.
1510
-------
The goal of alternative products is to reduce the amount of
toxics being used. It is hoped that this switch by consumers
will be noted by industry, who may respond by producing less
toxic products. buch modifications would protect workers in the
manufacturing process, and eliminate a portion of the hazardous
waste problem.
The following is an overview of some of the products which
are most hazardous along with specific recommendations for alter-
natives to these prooucts.
Cleaners
Drain Cleaners Becaust drain cleaners contain lye, a
caustic that burns, these are among the most toxic of house-
hold cleaners. Use a strainer if possible and never put grease,
hair, lint or coffee grounds down a drain. To keep the drain
open, put 7 cup baking soda and 7 cup warm white vinegar down
the drain. After 15 minutes, flush with boiling water to dis-
solve crystals.
Oven Cleaners These products also contain lye and come in
an aerosol formulation as well. The aerosol makes accidental
inhalation possible, and this can may explode if overheated. In
addition, the packaging is nonrecyclable. Instead of commercial
cleaners, fill a spray bottle with equal parts of ammonia and
water. Spray on oven walls, close the door and leave overnight.
Wash clean the next day, wearing protective gloves and with plenty
of ventilation.
Toilet Bowl Cleaners Acids are dangerous poisons, and are
1511
-------
one of several toxic ingredients in commercial toilet cleaners.
Chlorine bleach scrubbed in the toilet bowl is an effective
alternative. Or mix 1 teaspoon ammonia, 1 Cup hydrogen per-
oxide and.2 quarts of water, and scrub in the toilet.
Pesticides
5ynthetic pesticides and fertilizers are an integral part
of commercial food production. The scale of a kitchen or house-
hold garden, however, makes it conducive to organic gardening,
which relies on a variety of methods other than chemical sprays
and dusts to control pests. The primary aim of organic garden-
ing is to crfsate an environment for optimal growth by building
healthy soil.
There are many garduning practices for growing stronger
pest-resistant plants. Information is available through libraries
and garden clubs. The County Cooperative Lxtension can help if
.janic techniques are specifically requested. One organic
rdening cornerstone is the compost pile which produces a rich
rk crumbly substance that can be used for all types of plant-
gs as well as vegetable and flower gardens. Compost is made
decomposeo green matter, such as leaves, grass clinpings, and
tchen vegetable waste. Do not use animal products which take
nger to decompose, have a bad odor ana attract animal scavengers
e compost pile is a simple affair made of layers, beginning
th the green matter to be decomposed. Make sure it is in
ntact with the ground so that microorganisms which facilitate
composition can get in. A thin layer of manure adds nitrogen
1512
-------
and heats up the pile. Cover this layer with a shovel of dirt
and begin the layers again. bpray the pile with a host during
dry periods. Turning the pile once distributes the heat of
decomposition throughout the pile. bnoer optimal conditions,
in the summer heat, compost can be ready in two to six weeks.
The finished product from the compost heap is dark black and
crumbly with an earthy smell. It improves any soil type and
can be used both for new plantings and established ontb. Using
lawn waste in this manner removes it from the municipal solid
waste stream as well.
To manage specific pests be sure tu identify the pest
correctly, referring to the County Cooperative txtension if
necessary. In a small garden, simple handpicking may be enough
to reduce damage. A number of pests can be trapped or outwitted
with barriers. Nontoxic sprays can be easily made. Plain water,
for example, is effective against aphids. The following is one
all-purpose spray:
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 garlic bulb (whole head), chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 quart water
1 tablespoon liquid soap
Mix ingredients except soap and let steep one huur or as
long as three days before using. Add soap, bpray. Can be
storeo, covered, in the refrigerator up to one week.
1513
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Paints and 5olvents
For the purposes of this paper, the term solvent refers to
e group of hazardous liquids, used because of their ability to
dissolve something (like old paint) and because they are volatile,
evaporating readily. Thus, a solvent in paint makes it stay
smooth and dry quickly. Following is a sample of products which
contain solvents and
require
special handling:
Paint, oil-base
blues
Paint thinner
Paint strippers
Turpentine
Art supplies: fixatives,
Deglossers
rubber cement, permanent
Spot removers
markers
Wood preservativ
es
In general, the toxic
ity of
this type of product is greatly
reduced by switching
to wate
r-base formulations. Others can
be eliminated; for ex
ample,
instead of the deglosser known as
liquid sandpaper, use
the re
al thing - a medium weight sandpaper.
If oil-base paint products are unavoidable, minimize sol-
vent use during clean-up. Wipe spatters on skin immediately
using baby oil, then soap and water. bo not leave brushes
standing in open containers of solvent. This allows for the
continuous releabe of hazardous vapors.
Because most paints are nontoxic when dry (with the excep-
tion of lead-bearing point), the first uispos&l choice is to
use up the product completely, buy only what is needed and
share extra paint with a neighbor, theater, church or school.
1514
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3oth oil-based and latex paint can be allowed to harden in the
can (away from flame^, children or animals) and put in the trash.
To reuse thinner, turpentine and mineral spirits, allow paint
to settle to the bottom of the container. Puur off clear solvent
at the top and reuse. Dry and harden remaining sludge away from
flames, children and animals, then discard in the trasn.
Although many household pollutants art relatively new,
they are already viewed as regular purchases on consumer's
"must have" list of items. How can we live withuut toilet
bowl cleaner, weed killer or spray paint? The answer lies in
personal choice. Lach consumer needs to make funoamental changes
in thinking about purchasing habits and rtlateu lifestyle. Both
positive and negative comments about products should be shared
with manufacturers and store owners.
Consumers need information in order to identify and elimi-
nate the most hazardous substances from th& home and be able to
make responsible choices about the use of others. Tht use of
alternative products ana mixes will not remove the need for
household hazardous waste collections, but such individual ac-
tions may have an impact on the size and freijuency of collections,
as well as the health and safety of the huusuholc environment.
1515
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DOING IT BETTER:
MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT
IN
SWITZERLAND, WEST GERMANY AND SWEDEN
by
Allen Hershkowitz, Ph.D.1
Senior Staff Scientist
The Natural Resources Defense Council
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1517
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INTRODUCTION2
In 1988 and 1989 billions of dollars were lost by businesses in
coastal areas because people stayed away from closed or
contaminated beaches in Maine to the Gulf of Mexico and along the
Great Lakes. Mismangagement of medical waste was the reason.
In May of 1988 a garbage slick nearly one mile long containing
medical debris including needles, vials of blood, dead laboratory
animals, colostomy bags, used bandages, plastic tubing, and empty
prescription bottles began washing up on New Jersey beaches. In
July of that year nearly ten miles of Long Island, N.Y. beaches
closed often because of similar wash-ups. More recently, during
the summer of 1989, thirty-one people were injured by syringes on
public beaches in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Seven of
these people were children. Earlier, in June of 1987, twelve
children in Indianapolis, Ind., played with vials of blood, two
of which were contaminated with AIDS, that they found in a trash
bin outside a medical office. It was legal for the health clinic
to dispose of these wastes in the open dumpster.
Less noticed than these highly publicized events are the thousands
of substandard on-site medical waste incinerators that dot our
nation. These facilities, which also contribute to our
mismanagement of medical wastes, are usually concentrated in
1518
-------
heavily populated urban areas and each year spew forth tons of
toxic air emissions such as dioxin, heavy metals and acid gases at
much higher rates than well equipped facilities operating in other
parts of the world. In fact, according to the U.S. Congressional
Office of Technology Assessment, air emissions of dioxin and heavy
metals from on-site hospital incinerators are on average one to two
orders of magnitude higher per gram of waste burned than emissions
from municipal waste incinerators.
The Regulatory Context.
In response the beach wash-ups of medical wastes, Congress in Nov.
1988 passed the Medical Waste Tracking Act which required the U.S.
EPA to establish a temporary two year demonstration program for
tracking medical wastes in a few states (five states and the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico). Notwithstanding this
temporary and limited effort, the fact remains that in the U.S.
medical wastes are not regulated nationally although they may be
regulated on a state or local level.
Congress also mandated that the infectious potential of medical
waste be investigated by the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry, a federal Agency based in Atlanta, and the
results of this study have just been released. It points to the
major deficiency in medical waste management in the U.S., i.e. the
small medical waste generator, especially medical clinics and home
health care practitioners. Given the public concern about AIDS it
1519
-------
is crucial to note that ATSDR reports that the likelihood of
acquiring AIDS from medical waste in any context is extremely small
(at less than 0.003-0.01 percent of the total AIDS cases in the
U.S.) and the likelihood of acquiring hepatitis— which survives
longer than the AIDS virus— is only slightly greater. However,
ATSDR does point out that in-home health care and other small
generator sources of non-regulated medical waste could create
significant opportunities for infection. These sources remain
largely unregulated and indeed, account for the majority of medical
waste mismanagement. The situation in NYC is illustrative of this
problem.
Approximately 100,000 diabetics reside in the City. If these
individuals injected themselves just once a day with a disposable
syringe, 100,000 syringes would wind up legally in the NYC waste
stream each day. That amounts to approximately 35 million syringes
each year legally entering the NYC waste stream, with no program
of any sort in place to handle these in a safe manner, fromthis one
source alone. If only 10% of these syringes get flushed as toilet
litter, 3.5 million syringes would find their way into NYC's
obsolete combined sewage overflow system each year. During an
average seven hour rainfall as much as 560 million gallons of
combined sewage and stormwaters pour forth from almost 500 distinct
outlets around the city and, depending on tides and currents, the
syringes that get washed out could and do wind up on beaches.
Currently, neither the EPA's demonstration project nor any other
1520
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regulation on the State or federal levels is designed to deal with
this waste management issue. It is in large part for this reason
that the EPA itself, in issuing the Medical Waste Tracking Act
regulations in March of 1989, stated that the tracking program
"may not significantly reduce the amount of medical waste deposited
on beaches."
Unlike the current situation in the U.S. the three European states
under discussion here, Switzerland, W. Germany and Sweden, all
regulate medical wastes on a national level. And all provide
opportunities for the small generator of medical wastes to dispose
of these wastes with less risk to the general public. It is in
large part because of this that these countries have recorded few
incidents of medical waste mismanagement in the past decade.
Data and Medical Waste Routing.
Though data is in general difficult to obtain, it is clear from
discussions with professionals in the medical community that the
use of one-way disposable items has become more popular and the
generation of medical wastes has, in fact, doubled during the past
thrirty years. In part this is due to the accelerated use of
single use items as the concern about transmitting AIDS has
skyrocketed. Nevertheless, many environmentalists question the
need, even at hospitals, for disposable plates, forks and knives,
food trays, suture cutters, phones and bed pans linen, which all
add to the generation of non-recyclable plastic wastes. These all
1521
-------
contribute to the problems at our overburdened landfills and also
contribute to highly toxic air and ash emissions from hospital
incinerators.
As with the U.S., data on medical waste generation by category and
in general in all three countries being considered here are
incomplete and are virtually useless for setting national policies.
The actual amount of medical wastes generated in the U.S. from all
sources in not known. In Switzerland, pathologic and infectious
wastes comprise approximately 1.5% of the 300,000 tonnes of special
(hazardous) wastes generated in Switzerland and all medical wastes
generated by hospitals comprise about one-two percent of the 2.5
millions tonnes of municipal wastes generated annually. The amount
of wastes generated in Swiss hospitals ranges from 1 to 3.5 kgs
per bed per day although some estimates run as high as 6 kgs per
day per bed. This amounts to about 1 ton per bed per year.
Each category of any type of waste has its most environmentally
protective disposal route and Switzerland and W. Germany have
explicitly defined medical waste classifications as well as
designated disposal routes. (See Chart) In Switzerland, medical
wastes from hospitals and other medical establishments are divided
by Federal regulations into three categories.
1. General refuse and similar wastes;
2. Non-specific special (hazardous) wastes from hospitals;
1522
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3. Specific special wastes from hospitals and laboratories:
A. Infectious wastes
B. Pathological and anatomical wastes
The sorting of medical wastes at hospitals into each appropriate
management category is overseen by physicians or nurses and must
conform with the type of treatment required for each class of
waste. Once a waste is classified as infectious it must follow a
specific disposal route. Infectious and pathological wastes are
estimated to comprise about ten percent of all the wastes generated
by Swiss hospitals and all wastes classified as non-specific and
specific special wastes are classified as a "special" (hazardous)
waste, although three different treatment systems may be employed
to handle them depending on the nature of the hazard involved, (see
figure)
In the U.S. it is legal for infectious liquids to be introduced
into sewage systems under the unfortunately inaccurate assumption
that sewage treatment facilities have adequate capacity to treat
these wastes. Neither Switzerland, W. Germany or Sweden allow
medical wastes of any sort, (general, non-specific special wastes
pathological or infectious) to be introduced into sewers.
In Switzerland, general medical refuse, which includes non-
recyclable administrative office wastes and cafeteria wastes, is
considered part of the general municipal waste stream and is
1523
-------
usually incinerated in a municipal solid waste incinerator since
after recycling, 80% of all municipal wastes in Switzerland are
incinerated.
Non-specific special (hazardous) wastes include laboratory
chemicals, low-level radioactive wastes, expired medication,
batteries, fluorescent bulbs, Hg-thermometers, halogenated
solvents, etc. The approximately 1,000 t/year of these wastes go
directly to an appropriate special (hazardous) waste treatment and
disposal facility. In some cases the materials are incinerated,
(e.g. laboratory chemicals, expired medication, low-level
radioactive wastes) and in some cases the materials are recycled
(e.g. batteries and Hg-thermometers).
The 3,000 t/year of infectious wastes generated in Switzerland
include microbiological wastes (e.g. stocks and cultures of
infectious agents) and sharps, syringes, scalples, etc. These are
handled in two ways depending on a determination by a physician or
a nurse as to the nature of the hazard involved. These wastes can
go the sterilization-municipal incineration route or they can go
directly to a hazardous waste incinerator. In the former system,
the wastes are sterilized on-site and then burned in a municipal
waste incinerator. The costs of sterilization are not known
(though are comparatively low) and the cost of burning at a
regional municipal solid waste incinerator after sterilization, as
mentioned above, is SFr.50/t, not including transport, ash
1524
-------
disposal, etc. Should a physician determine that the wastes of
concern pose a particularly severe hazard, the infectious wastes
must be sent directly td a hazardous waste incineration facility.
Most of the hazardous waste incinerators in Switzerland tend to be
rotary kiln facilities that subject the wastes to long in-furnace
residence at temperatures in excess of 1200 degrees C. It costs
approximately SFr.l,000/t to treat wastes at these incinerators,
not including transport, ash disposal.
Pathological and anatomical wastes are defined as blood and blood
products, any other tissues or organs, communicable disease and
isolation wastes, animal carcasses, body parts and, sometimes,
laboratory wastes, surgery and autopsy wastes, wastes from dialysis
and contaminated equipment. The 500 - 1,000 t/year of these wastes
generated in Switzerland are usually sent directly to a hazardous
waste incinerator SFr.l,000/t, not including transported ash
disposal) or are cremated on-site at the hospital.
Germany. Probably no nation has to date investigated the medical
waste management issue more thoroughly than W. Germany. The system
for managing medical wastes was first put in place in W. Germany
in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1961 a federal law was enacted
(Bundesseuchengesetz) requiring specific disposal practices for
wastes generated from the treatment of epidemic diseases. This
was followed by specific federal waste disposal regulations in 1972
(Abfallbeseitigungsgesetz) and the first set of national air
1525
-------
emission regulations in 1974 (Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz).
Additional investigations specific to the issue of medical waste
management were conducted in the late 1970s. Currently, the
guidelines issued by the National Health Department in Germany has
established 4 categories of medical waste. These include:
A: General wastes (e.g. administrative, cafeteria, etc.)
B: "Awkward and ugly" (blood splattered but not infectious)
C: Infectious
D: Pathological (body parts, organs)
About 60% of Class A medical wastes go to a landfill and about 40%
go to a municipal solid waste incinerator. Class B wastes are not
technically infectious although they tend to be handled in the same
fashion as infectious wastes and virtually all of these wastes are
incinerated. (This "Ugly and Awkward" category was actually
established to prevent "aesthetic pollution".) Wastes in Class c
are designated as hazardous wastes and must go to special medical
waste incinerators and Class D medical wastes must go to a special
body parts crematorium. Disposal of class B and C medical wastes
is more than ten times the cost of tipping general municipal solid
wastes (because these waste are incinerated in furnaces classified
and designed similar to hazardous waste facilities). Tt is now
illegal to send regulated Class C medical wastes municipal solid
waste incinerators or landfills. Infectious liquids cannot be
introduced into sewer systems.
1526
-------
In Germany, if a doctor decides something actually infectious is
not infectious and it is discovered, he can loose his license if
someone is injured. Simple inadequate handling is punishable by
fines up to 1,000 DM or jail.
Pharmacies.
Although most sick people are not in hospitals, no regulations
exist in either the U.S., Switzerland, W. Germany or Sweden to
manage the substantial amount of wastes generated by in-home health
care users. Nevertheless, Switzerland, W. Germany and Sweden all
require pharmacies to accept old medicines for appropriate
disposal. The pharmacies are also required to maintain records
of these collections. No similar return system for old medicines
exists anywhere in the U.S. In 1988 pharmacies in the Swiss Canton
of Basel collected 83 tonnes of old medications including,
cytostatic drugs, heavy metal medications (Hg), and antiseptics
e.g. chlorophenol. These old medicines are then incinerated as
special (hazardous) wastes. One Swiss firm is now attempting to
design a process to extract and recycle the heavy metals out of old
medicines. In Germany, old medicines are also collected by
municipalities during household hazardous waste collection days.
According to regulatory officials, old medicines get returned
because "of our concern to prevent children from getting at the
medicine."
1527
-------
INCINERATION.
Most infectious waste generated by U.S. hospitals is incinerated
and perhaps 67 percent of all U.S. hospitals host on-site
incineration facilities. The Medical Waste Tracking Act
regulations issued by the EPA actually encourage the use of on-site
incineration by excluding wastes incinerated on-site and the toxic
ash residue that remains from regulatory tracking requirements.
However, substantial differences exist between the use of on-site
hospital incineration and the use of state-of-the-art high volume
incineration technologies now in use throughout the world.
No federal regulations now exist in the U.S. to control the high
levels of heavy metals, acid gases and dioxins that hospital
incinerators facilities spew forth. In Switzerland, medical waste
inicnerators are tightly regulated and there are no small generator
exemptions or variances of any sort from the national medical waste
management regulations. With the sole exception of wastes
generated by providers of in home health care, which are not
subject to any statutory management requirements, medical waste
management laws apply equally to all waste generators regardless
of size and include veterinary hospitals, funeral homes, nursing
homes, medical labs etc.
In Germany, there are also no small generator exemptions or
regulatory variances for air emissions regulations. The Germans
1528
-------
have also concluded that medical wastes contain higher volumes of
plastics, perhaps four times as much as general municipal solid
waste and that this could cause problems for the incinerators which
are relied upon for treatment. For the non-administrative, non-
cafeteria hospital wastes it is estimated that as much as 60-70%
are plastics, being comprised mostly of the rigid plastics
containers and syringes. According to a senior official at the
Bavarian Ministry for Regional Development and Environmental
Protection "We have problem with plastics in hospital wastes and
recommend separation at hospital of plastics." Such a beneficial
separation scheme could assist those entreprenuers in the U.S. now
seeking to sterilize such plastics and recycle them. This could
reduce the volume of materials going to landfills and reduce as
well the toxic emissions that these materials cause in
incinerators.
Despite the wide range of toxic pollutants emitted by the
combustion of infectious medical wastes, including toxic organic
compounds such as dioxins and furans, heavy metals and acid gases,
no federal regulations exist to prevent on-site hospital
incinerators from being operated by inadequately trained janitorial
staff. Moreover, most of the currently operating facilities are
technologically substandard and host only the most rudimentary air
pollution control technologies, if at all. To optimize air
emissions control at any on-site incinerator would require acid gas
scrubbing devices and, at least, multi-field electrostatic
1529
-------
precipitators or baghouses. Given the small amounts of wastes
requiring disposal by any single hospital (especially when viewed
relative to requisite capital outlays for the installation of the
necessary air pollution control devices (APCDs) and the training
of personnel) this requirement makes high efficiency on-site
incineration' less economical. Because of this, these facilities,
when tested, have been shown to emit hundreds of times more toxic
emissions than state-of-the-art commercially operated high volume
waste combustion facilities now operating in certain European and
Japanese cities. This situation is made all the more problematic
by the high volume of plastics (which may contain chlorides and
metallic compound additives that produce highly toxic emissions)
in the incinerated medical waste stream. These facilities are also
usually located in heavily populated areas (for example, NYC hosts
about 57 of these facilities) and are therefore more likely to have
a greater adverse impact on human health because peak concentration
of air pollutants are often greatest near emission sources,
especially for facilities with low stack heights found in areas of
high precipitation.
By contrast, all medical wastes in Switzerland, W. Germany and
Sweden are directed to regional incineration facilities to optimize
the cost effective use of advanced air pollution control
technologies. In Switzerland all infectious medical wastes are
incinerated in regional municipal garbage burning plants or
regional hazardous waste facilities. On-site incineration in
1530
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Switzerland at hospitals with facilities capable of generating only
350 KW of heating capacity or less has been made illegal to prevent
the incineration of garbage or special (hazardous) wastes in a
large number of small, uneconomical plants. In fact, all types of
on-site incineration at hospitals, including facilities capable of
generating more than 350 KW of heating capacity,(<2t/hr.) has also
been phased out (though not necessarily made illegal) through
stringent national air emission standards that provide no small
generator exemptions. Because air emission and incineration
regulations in Switzerland are national all generators of medical
wastes are subject to the same requirements when they treat their
wastes in an incinerator. This policy stems from a desire on the
part of the Swiss government to meet their stringent national air
quality standards in the most cost effective way. As everywhere
else in the world, a dearth of comprehensive information on the
health effects [toxicological information] means that regulations
are instead based combination of technical assumptions about what
lowest pollutant emission rate is most achievable.
The actual amount of infectious/special wastes incinerated at even
regional facilities can be very small since infectious material is
only a fraction of the total amount of medical wastes generated.
For example, the City of Basel's regional hazardous waste
incinerator treated only 12 tonnes of infectious wastes in 1988.
On-site hospital incineration of medical wastes in Germany is not
1531
-------
explicitly prohibited per se, but has been made impracticable (too
costly) to design by the stringent regulations, which offer no
exemptions or variances for any medical waste generators,
regardless of size. The W. German Green party, ordinarily very
critical of plans to incinerate wastes, was not opposed to the
construction of a regional hospital incinerator in Munich since it
meant closing down numerous other substandard facilities. Since
1984 all medical wastes in the City of Munich have been sent to
this specially designed furnace which is located at the Munich
North municipal solid waste incinerator.
Ten years ago roughly 200 on-site hospital incinerators operated
in Bavaria, but stringent air regulations forced the closure of
most of these facilities. Currently, about 50 on-site incinerators
remain in the German state of Bavaria but these will close as well
when the regional facility at Augsburg comes on line. Thus, in
the near future, two regional facilities, one in Munich and one
under construction in Augsburg, will handle all the infectious
medical wastes for the entire state of Bavaria. In fact, according
to an official an the Bavarian Ministry for Regional Development
and Environmental Protection, it is the position of the German
government to "prefer central incineration facilities. They have
better control of the flue gases and, in general, better
operations." For this reason facilities similar to the Munich
North incinerator are being considered for other German cities
which also have large municipal waste incinerators at which a
1532
-------
smaller medical waste facility can be co-located. These cities
include Coburg, Burgkirchen and Augsburg in the state of Bavaria
and another is being considered for the state of Schleswig-
Holstein.
Given the infectious and pathological nature of the material
incinerated at the Munich North furnace# the city felt it was
prudent to install an additional, back-up furnace to assure that
these wastes could always be expeditiously incinerated.
Because of high cost of meeting W. Germany's stringent air
regulations is too costly for any single on-site hospital
incinerator to justify both of the small medical waste furnaces
serving Munich's medical community channel their pollutant laden
flue gases through the sophisticated air pollution control
equipment of the adjacent and much larger Munich North municipal
solid waste incinerator (which uses a dry scrubber and a two field
electrostatic precipitator calculated to operate at 99.7%
efficiency). Neither of these medical waste incinerators are used
for energy recovery and both are designed as a hazardous waste
incinerator.
The Munich North Infectious Waste incinerator: A Case study. The
medical waste incinerator operates 16 hours/day 5 days a week. Its
operation is professional and sophisticated. Certified Professional
Engineers get additional training on-site and may then take two
1533
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months of voluntary work at a school run by the Technical Oversight
Organization (TiiF) to review procedures related to controlling air
emissions and worker safety. Most workers apply for this
supplemental, voluntary training. Additional training for selected
or interested workers is provided by a school operated by the
Boiler Manufacturers Assn. at Essen in North Rhine Westphalier.
Schooling at Essen lasts for 2 years. These highly trained workers
are aided in controlling facility emissions by continuous emissions
monitors located in the control room for the medical waste
incinerator. Continuous monitoring includes measurements of HCI,
HF, S02 , 02, CO, NOx, particulates and temperature. Normal
operating temperature at the facility is 1000 degrees C, which is
similar to temperatures maintained at hazardous waste facilities.
Although the heat generated by the Munich North medical waste
incinerator is not recovered for energy use, heat values of the
waste are estimated to have increased from the 2000-3000 kcal/kilo
in the 1970s to 4,000 kcal/kilo in 1985. Thus the heating value
of medical wastes is twice as high as general municipal wastes.
This will affect the rate at which medical wastes can be introduced
into a furnace. The high heating value of the medical waste has
been attributed to an increase in the use of plastics. The W.
Germans estimate that plastics content in medical wastes is four
times higher than ordinary MSW. The facility generates
approximately 7-10% ash by volume, which is less than that usually
generated by municipal solid waste inicinerators and substantially
less than tht generated by U.S. medical waste incinerators.
1534
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Sweden has not explicitly outlawed the use of on-site incineration.
However, new regulations in Sweden, among the strictest air
emissions regulations in the world, make the continuation of on-
site incineration untenable. Air emission regulations issued in
Sweden in 1986 provide no exemption or variance for small
generators and this has resulted in the closure of many hospital
incinerators and the expected closure of many more.
Sweden has also found that toxic air emissions are at unacceptably
high levels at small on-site facilities. In fact, Swedish
regulators estimate that, the SO small incinerators now burning
6,000 tons a year of infectious wastes will, if not closed, emit
about twice as much highly toxic organic dioxins than all of
Sweden's high volume municipal waste incinerators, which incinerate
half of that nations entire waste stream each year (about 2.5
million tons). For this reason, regulatory officials, such as
those in Uppsala, Sweden, are permitting the use of high volume
municipal waste incinerators for the coBfcustion of infectious
wastes. Alternatively, smaller facilities, such as the two 600
kg/hr infectious waste incinerators planned for Avesta, Sweden, are
co-locating at high volume waste incinerators and channeling their
flue-gases through the high efficiency air pollution control
equipment of the larger unit.
A variation of the Avesta medical waste incineration system is the
1535
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system used in Uppsala. This facility, which was designed to
accept 1,500/t/y of both general municipal wastes and medical
wastes, (but actually accepted only 1055 tonnes in 1988) including
very low level radioactive wastes (less than 20 micro Sv/hr
Barium). To protect workers this facility also has a distinct feed
system for the medical and radioactive wastes, although all of
these wastes are incinerated together in the same furnace. As with
all medical wastes in Sweden, these must be delivered in specially
packaged cardboard and plastic cartons. The facility which has
been serving as a regional medical waste incinerator since 1971
accepts no body parts, which are instead sent to a crematorium at
Ultuna. Body parts require a longer residence time than that
usually maintained at municipal solid waste incinerators. The
workers at the Uppsala facility have received no training specific
to the incineration of medical wastes, underscoring Sweden's belief
that the incineration of medical waste and general municipal wastes
are not fundamentally different. Although the inicineration of
medical waste may require no distince training, the handling of
these wastes do. This is one reason why Uppsala, like the medical
waste incinerator in Munich, maintains a separate feed line for
these wastes.
Transportation of Medical Wastea.
Unlike the situation in W. Germany and Switzerland, which have
established national regulations for the transportation of medical
wastes, in the U.S. the transportation of medical wastes is not
1536
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governed by any nationally applicable federal statute and practices
vary state by state. Indeed, unlike the situation in these
nations, in the U.S. it is legal to transport medical wastes in
the same refrigerated trucks that carry produce or other food
items, and it is legal as well to ship medical wastes through the
mail.
Switzerland mandates a four part manifest form for medical wastes
transported and disposed of within Switzerland, a six part manifest
system form for medical wastes exported from Switzerland and a
seven part manifest form for medical wastes imported into
Switzerland for disposal. All infectious and pathologic waste must
go into special containers that comply with specific labeling
requirements.
Enhanced and extra-protective procedures for handling medical
wastes distinguish the handling of these wastes from the handling
of general municipal solid wastes. For example, all medical wastes
are collected by private, licensed haulers who operate specially
marked vehicles. Truck operators transporting the infectious
wastes roust inform the incineration facility in advance that a
shipment of waste is on its way. The trucks are provided with a
special entrance lane at the incineration facility to allow for
expeditious tipping. The trucks themselves are dedicated only to
the transport of medical wastes and are clearly marked on the
outside indicating this. Medical wastes are packaged in specially
1537
-------
designed rigid plastic containers that cannot be re-opened once
they are closed. Infectious sharps must also be placed into
special containers. These specially packaged medical wastes are fed
by rolling stock onto a separate conveyor which feeds the wastes
onto dedicated feed shafts (elevators) which then tip into the
medical waste furnace.
W. Germany also requires manifest tracking forms for medical
wastes. A six part form is designed to gather data about who
created the waste and what type of waste was generated, who
transported the waste and who treated and disposed of the waste.
The generator fills out the form (at hospitals this is done by the
waste treatment supervisor, a non-existant staff position at most
U.S. hospitals) indicating the classification code of wastes,
(every type of medical waste has been given a code, another
practice absent in the U.S.) . One part of the of the six part form
is retained by the generator and one copy of this form must then
be sent to the State environment agency within ten days. Three
copies of the form are then passed on to the transporter who keeps
one copy for himself and then passes on two copies to the disposer.
The disposer signs one copy and then sends it back to the generator
indicating that the waste shipment has arrived. A final copy is
then sent to the environment agency where it is matched with the
form originally sent by the generator. The form is signed at each
step in the process. Hospitals are also required by federal law
to inform the cities in which they operate about how much and what
1538
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types of wastes they generate.
In Sweden each container of infectious waste gets labeled in the
hospital by the on-site waste supervisor. The label indicates
which department generated the material and its composition. Head
nurse (or users) must assure where the material goes. Serums and
syringes get put into closed red plastic (HDPE) containers.
Thermometers and all batteries containing batteries are handled as
hazardous waste and go to Sakab, Sweden's only hazardous waste
facility. Scalpels are re-used after autoclaving. In the U.S.,
mercury laden batteries are routiniely introduced into incinerators
and landfilled, where they pollute the air and the land.
Conclusion.
Based on the information I have obtained in Europe, in combination
my assessment of deficiencies in how medical wastes are now being
managed in the U.S., I should like to recommend for consideration
a ten part regulatory program to help put in place a workable
medical waste management strategy at the national and state levels.
What is required is a national regulatory program or State plans
mandating that the following minimum criteria for managing medical
wastes:
1. Medical composition analyses that, at minimum, assesses
materials for their infectious or grotesque nature, toxicity,
recyclability, combustibility and moisture content?
1539
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2. Waste reduction audits;
3. Recycling of, at least, non-direct patient care wastes
based on the following breakdown: After sorting food and
landscaping wastes for composting, materials need to be
directed to their proper disposal route by in the following
way based on the waste composition analyses: non-combustibles
[e.g. glass, metals, plastics containing metals, batteries,
etc.] and combustibles. Then recyclable combustibles need to
be sorted [e.g. paper, plastics, wood, batteries, etc.]; This
will reduce the amount of wastes generated by the medical
facility, reduce the amount of wastes requiring treratment and
may also reduce the costs of disposal as well.
4. Require on-site waste managers to oversee sorting, etc. at
generator facilities that produce more than a certain amount
of waste per day [need to talk with hospital folk to get the
appropriate amount to serve as a cutoff];
5. Six part manifest system designed to gather data about who
created the waste and what type of waste was generated, who
transported the waste and who treated and disposed of th#
waste. The waste generator should fill out the form (at
hospitals this should be done by the waste treatment
supervisor) indicating the classification code of wastes,
1540
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(every type of medical waste should be given a code). One part
of the of the six part form is retained by the generator and
one copy of this form must then be sent to the Environmental
Protection Agency within ten days. Three copies of the form
are then passed on to the transporter who keeps one copy and
then passes on two copies to the disposer. The disposer signs
one copy and then sends it back to the generator indicating
that the waste shipment has arrived. A final copy is then sent
to the Environmental Protection Agency where it is matched
with the form originally sent by the generator. The form is
signed at each step in the process. Hospitals and other
generators of medical wastes should also be required by
federal law to inform the states in which they operate about
how much and what types of wastes they generate to assist in
the planning of treatment and disposal capacity;
6. On-site incineration of medical wastes by hospitals should
discouraged and phased out while regional collection and
treatment facilities need to be promoted. Were U.S.
incineration units not so universally substandard, it might
be possible to use these for medical waste treatment as well.
These regional facilities must offer no exemptions for small
generators of any sort and incorporate safe and standardized
waste packaging, professionalized and licensed collection and
transport services that rely on transport vehicles that are
dedicated only to the movement of these special wastes.
1541
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Treatment capacity must be provided at these regional
facilities for small generators such as medical labs, funeral
homes, nursing homes, medical clinics, veterinary clinics and,
especially home health care providers or home medical supply
users. However, participation in this regional system,
including participation by small generators must be contingent
on satisfying issues #s 1, 2 and 3 above. Any replacement of
on-site incinerators with regional incineration of infectious
wastes must include:
a. optimal and comprehensive air emission reductions for
all the pollutants of concern (including, acid gases,
heavy metals and toxic organics);
b. worker training programs that include specific
schooling, certification and re-certification;
c. safe ash handling at the facility;
d. ash disposal in landfills that are designed with, at
least, composite liner systems;
e. special feed systems to keep materials away from
workers;
f. no small generator variation of any sort for air
1542
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emissions or other regulatory requirements to encourage
the reliance of more economical regional systems;
g. consideration of the use of municipal solid waste
incinerators to reduce the required siting of facilities,
paying due regard to all the worker protection and
specialized transport and packaging requirements
mentioned above [and not including radioactive wastes];
h. strict annual emissions and ash testing protocol; The
only exception to this might be allowances for servicing
the home health care practitioner with walk in service,
in combination with;
7. Incorporation of pharmacies as collection centers for old
medicines or used syringes;
8. Distribution by the regional treatment facility owners of
returnable syringe containers for acceptance and disposal by
pharmacies or other medical supplies distributors;
9. Prohibit landfilling of direct patient care wastes without
prior disinfection or thermal treatment, except body parts or
other disgusting wastes, which should never be allowed to be
directly landfilled without thermal decomposition first;
1543
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10. Upgraded regulatory enforcement, including more severe
civil and criminal penalties for violations.
1. The author is a Senior Staff Scientist at the Natural Resources
Defense Council and served on a peer review panel for the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's Report to Congress on
The Public Health Implications of Medical Waste.
2. All exchange rates are as of March, 1989. Tonnage and other
measures are in metric units.
1544
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FULL SERVICE REGIONAL
MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS
John E. Joyner
Consumat Systems, Inc.
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1545
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INTRODUCTION
The medical waste disposal market is the fastest growing
segment of the waste services industry. A recent study
(Find/svp) projects that the market may reach five billion
dollars by 1994. The same study estimates that the market was
750 million dollars in 1989. Public concern, media attention,
concern for hospital liability and more stringent regulations
will continue to drive this market for the next three to five
years.
There are five general solutions available to medical waste
generators:
1. New individual on-site incineration systems that
meet new environmental regulations.
2. Retro-fitting and rehabilitating existing on-site
incineration systems to meet new regulations.
3. Participation in regional medical waste management
systems.
4. Contracting with private haulers for disposal at
an off-site location.
5. A variation of autoclaving, grinding and/or
treatment with eventual landfilling.
1546
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Private industry's challenge is predicting the "mix" of
these solutions. We estimate that ultimately 50% of the medical
waste generated in the U.S. will be disposed of off-site at
regional disposal facilities. We are recommending the
development of full service integrated medical waste disposal
facilities is the preferred approach. We believe that industry
experience gained in the design, financing, construction and
operation of municipal waste-to-energy facilities can and should
be brought to the medical waste segment of the industry.
Regional facilities need to be financed by experienced bankers
and attorneys, designed by experienced engineers and operated
by experienced operators.
The full service integrated approach to medical waste
disposal is being demonstrated in Baltimore, Maryland for the
Maryland Hospital Association. Under the full service approach,
an association of hospitals contract with an experienced company
to design, finance, construct and operate a system that will
dispose of all medical waste from the hospitals. The system
provides each hospital with a disposal service that includes
collection, transportation and disposal of non-segregated
medical waste. A proprietary reusable cart system and an
automated materials handling system is used to provide this
service. The approach is modeled from the set of goals and
objectives discussed in the following section.
1547
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
6QA1,
To develop a privately owned medical waste disposal system
that provides cost effective, environmentally safe disposal
within a project structure that provides for suitable
permitting, financing and long-term operation.
Objectives
Economic
1. To control disposal costs.
2. To minimize risk for change in environmental law.
3. To minimize internal hospital costs associated
with waste disposal.
4. To provide an opportunity for revenue sharing with
the hospitals.
Environmental
1. To assure proper disposal of all hospital waste.
2. To reduce total air emissions from the
incineration of medical waste.
1548
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3. To provide for environmental monitoring.
4. To minimize human contact with infectious waste.
THE BENEFITS OF THE FULL SERVICE INTEGRATED APPROACH
Economic Benefits
Controlled Disposal Costs
Hospitals in various parts of the country are
experiencing dramatic increases in their disposal cost.
Medical waste generators that use outside disposal service
are experiencing rapid increases from haulers providing
pickup and disposal. This is primarily due to limited
disposal capacity causing high spot market fees to haulers
and high transportation costs due to long transports.
Generators with on-site incineration are facing expensive
retro-fits for gas cleaning systems and monitoring
equipment. They will experience an increase in operating
costs due to operator certification required by some
states. Some hospitals have paid costly fines for small
amounts of infectious wi&ste being mixed in the non-
infectious waste stream and delivered to landfills and
waste-to-energy facilities.
1549
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The full service approach provides for a long term
contract with a price adjustment based on a known set of
variables and adjustment indices. The collection,
transportation and disposal are controlled within the
system.
Reduced Risk for Change in Law
Individual hospital incinerator system owners are
exposed individually for changes in environmental law. For
example, an individual hospital will be responsible for the
total capital and operating cost increase for a new
emission control system. However, if the hospital is part
of a regional project under the full service approach, that
hospital will only pay for a small fraction of the increase
cost since the costs are spread over a larger amount of
tonnage in the collective service agreements.
Reduced Internal Operating Costs Within the Hospital
The integrated full service approach allows for
combined collection of infectious and non-infectious
medical waste through a reusable cart system and trailer
transportation system. This allows the hospitals to
eliminate staff associated with the segregation of waste.
The system reduces waste packaging materials and labor for
hospitals in states where containerization (boxing) is
1550
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required. If the hospital incinerates on-site, the
operating cost for their incinerator can be eliminated.
Revenue Sharing
An important incentive of a large regional facility is
the potential for sharing of revenues back to the
participating hospitals. The most likely opportunity for
this is the sharing of revenues from the waste generated
energy sales. A regional medical waste facility can
generate in excess of 40,000 pounds of steam per hour. At
a price of $5.00 per 1,000 pounds that can generate over
$1.7 million per year. There are several regional
facilities in the planning stage that are contemplating
generating steam for commercial laundries.
^yyPONMENTAI. BENEFITS
Considered separately from the economic benefits, the
environmental benefits provide a compelling reason to pursue the
regional integrated full service approach.
REpucep Air Emissions
Most existing hospital incinerators do not have modem
gas cleaning systems. Any new regional facility must meet
the requirements for BACT. This will result in a net
1651
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reduction of air emissions. It will also lead to the
closure of obsolete incinerators.
A regional facility will be staffed by trained
operators, technicians and maintenance staff. This will
promote better operation of both combustion systems and gas
cleaning systems.
Environmental Monitoring
Numerous individual systems strain the ability of
regulatory agencies to monitor and enforce environmental
regulations. Regional facilities provide for a single
location.
The cost of remote monitoring can be justified with
large regional facilities. Remote monitoring capability
can be provided for at the regulatory agencies. Continuous
monitoring systems can typically monitor key parameters
such as:
• Temperature
• Opacity
• °2
• so2
• HC1
• N0X
• h2o
1552
-------
Proper Disposal of Infectious Waste
A regional facility system facilitates a computer
based waste tracking system that can be electronically
transmitted and filed by medical waste generators and
regulatory agencies. The regional system allows closer
control and tracking of waste generated within a geographic
area. A single party is responsible for and controls
collection, transportation and disposal insuring for more
secure disposal of the waste.
snrrESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF A regional medical waste system
The full service regional approach improves the chances of
successful state and local permitting. The system design
philosophy recognizes the requirements for local acceptance and
successful marketing to the hospitals.
The following ingredients must be present for successful
implementation of the system:
f?IfpPsaL Emblems
The waste generators must be aware that they are facing
problems related to disposal. These problems typically include:
rapidly escalating off-site disposal cost, concern over
liability for improper off-site disposal, fines for infectious
1553
-------
waste found in the regular hospital waste stream, expensive
retro-fits for an existing incinerator, etc. A local public
understanding of problems associated with improper disposal and
high costs for hospitals is also helpful. A perception of a
serious disposal problem is extremely helpful.
Site Opportunities
A physically and politically suitable site is the most
important ingredient in the successful permitting of a facility.
Political acceptance is deeply entangled with the other
ingredients discussed in this section. However, a number of
potential sites must be available for consideration. Preferred
sites should be greater than five acres in size, properly zoned,
either extremely industrial or rural in character, accessible
from major roads without travel through residential areas and a
maximum of 35 miles from hospitals using the integrated waste
handling system.
Political Presence
A developer of a regional medical waste project will not be
successful without local presence. Local presence can be
acquired through local attorneys, engineers, bankers, real
estate developers, etc. These local contacts need to be made
part of the project team. Local political support is required.
1554
-------
Knowledgeable Regulatory Agencies
State permitting is eased by a knowledgeable and competent
regulatory agency. Experience with the public hearing process
and the technical issues through previous similar projects is
extremely helpful.
Concentration of Waste Generation
The regional integrated waste system that supports the full
service approach is more economically viable where enough
hospital beds are concentrated within a 35 - 40 mile radius to
generate a minimum of 30 TPD. However, since the integrated
system handles total hospital waste the bed requirement is
minimized. At a waste generation rate of 20 pounds per bed per
day, approximately 3,000 beds are required in a 40 mile radius.
Most metropolitan areas around the country meet this
requirement.
Enforcement of Regulations
The enforcement of regulations controlling the disposal of
medical waste is important to the development of the project.
Stopping the disposal of medical waste at landfills and
municipal waste-to-energy facilities through substantial fines
and negative publicity provides an incentive to change disposal
practices. Limiting the operation of obsolete and poorly
1555
-------
maintained hospital incinerators will demonstrate the reality of
changing regulations.
Hospital Association Participation
The strong pro-active participation of the Hospital
Association is critical. The Hospital Association needs to take
the typical role of a solid waste authority, a county or a
municipality in a municipal solid waste disposal project. The
Hospital Association needs to conduct an objective review of
alternate disposal methods. The Hospital Association must be
involved during the public hearing phase of the siting and
permitting process. The Association must establish the need for
the project to the general public. The Hospital Association
staff and legal council can be helpful during the waste supply
contract negotiation process. The waste supply contracts and
service agreement tend to be complicated documents. A
coordinated development of these documents avoids individual
negotiation with each hospital. The Hospital Association
provides a structure for the ongoing administration of the
service agreement. It provides an entity for economic
participation with the owner/developer of the project. This can
range from sharing energy revenues to equity in the project.
1556
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Conclusion
The full service integrated medical waste disposal system
provides an approach that meets the economic and environmental
requirements established by hospitals and other medical waste
generators. The system provides cost control through a formula
based on long term service agreements. It minimizes hospital
risk for change in law. The integrated materials handling
system provides for the collection, transportation and disposal
of infectious and regular hospital waste. It minimizes internal
hospital costs. It provides for waste manifesting and tracking
to document proper disposal. The disposal facility provides
state-of-the-art air emission control equipment and professional
operation and management.
1557
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HOUSEHOLD BATTERIES AS HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
Marie Steinwachs, Assistant Director
Household Hazardous Waste Project
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1559
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Household batteries as household hazardous waste
Household batteries are major contributors of heavy metals in the solid
waste stream. Depending on the type of battery system they contain mercury,
cadmium, nickel, silver, zinc, manganese, and lithium. While negative health and
environmental effects have been connected to each of these metals, mercury and
cadmium warrant the highest concern. It has been estimated that up to half of all
the mercury used in in this country is used in batteries 1. A 1987 report to the EPA
by Franklin Associates shows that batteries account for 54% of the cadmium in the
solid waste stream2
Americans own an estimated 900 million battery-operated devices and use
approximately 1.6 billion batteries per year to power them^. Several states are
testing methods to reduce the hazards associated with batteries including
collections, limits on mercury content, and requirements on battery-powered
product design. As safer methods of solid waste disposal are pursued around the
country, household batteries will come under increasing scrutiny.
Complications of heavv metals in the solid waste stream
Municipal incinerators reduce the volume, but not the metal content, of
solid waste requiring landfllling. Heavy metals remaining in incinerator ash are
in a more teachable form. Fly ash and bottom ash from municipal incinerators
frequently contain excessive levels of heavy metals (especially cadmium)
requiring special handling and burial in ash landfills.
Of equal concern are the significant amounts of mercury released through
incinerator stack emissions. Mercury vaporizes at extremely low temperatures.
1560
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Consequently, efforts to control mercury emissions through technologies used in
this country have not been successful. Mercury travels and changes form in the
environment resulting in the potential for mercury from incinerators to be
converted into a form which can bioaccumulate in the food chain^. Mercury
emissions from municipal incinerators have necessitated recent fish
consumption advisories in Florida and Minnesota. In response to increasing
citizen alarm over mercury, EPA proposed mandatory removal of batteries prior to
combustion of solid waste in its draft performance standards for municipal waste
incinerators^. Several communities which rely on incineration of solid waste
have already initiated battery legislation and/or collection programs.
Solid waste composting facilities, which turn the waste into a finished "soil
amendment," are gaining popularity as a management option. Communities
operating or considering composting facilities are also concerned about batteries.
Concentrations of heavy metals in the finished compost determine how this
product can be used: lower metal content allows the compost to be used for
practical applications such as landscaping; higher concentrations of metals raise
concern about the potential for uptake by plants or leaching into the
environment, and prohibit the end use of the compost.
There have been few studies on what happens to batteries when they are
landfilled. How quickly batteries decompose seems to depend on many factors
including the amount of charge remaining in the battery, the type of battery
casing, and to how much oxygen and leachate the battery is exposed in the
landfill. Conclusions from these studies indicate that it may take several decades
for the batteries to decompose, but that eventual leaching of metals into the
groundwater is possible**.
1561
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Where solutions are being sought
The battery industry, recognizing the growing concern over mercury in
the waste stream, is striving to reduce mercury levels in batteries. Manufacturers
claim a 6% to 90% reduction in mercury over the past few years, depending on
battery type and manufacturer. In Europe where public concern over mercury
has brought restrictions on the mercury content in batteries (and spawned many
battery collection programs), up to a 98% reduction in mercury has been
achieved^. There are even mercury-free alkaline batteries on the European
market.
Recent legislation from Connecticut and Minnesota may serve as templates
for the rest of the U.S.:
Passed in 1989, Connecticut House Bill 6641 requires that rechargable
appliances be designed to allow the removal of the nickel-cadmium battery, that
the product or the battery be labeled to indicate special disposal, and that nickel-
cadmium batteries be recycled. These requirements should be in effect by July
1993.
Legislation recently passed in Minnesota is the most comprehensive in the
country and combines elements from the Connecticut law and from new European
standards on batteries. By August 1990, manufacturers must provide collection,
transportation, and disposal for all mercuric oxide, silver oxide, nickel-cadmium,
and lead acid batteries generated from industry. By January 1991, mercury button
batteries must be labeled in a way that allows consumers to distinguish them from
other types of batteries. Reductions in the mercury content of alkaline batteries
are required with standards of no more than .3% by January 1991, and .025% by
1562
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February 1992. Furthermore, under the Minnesota law, rechargable appliances
must be designed for battery removal and both the appliance and the battery must
be labeled by July 1993.
Both Minnesota's and Connecticut's legislation pave the way for future
removal of batteries from solid waste by simplifying the identification and
collection processes. The EPA decision on whether to mandate the removal of
batteries from solid waste prior to combustion, expected later this summer, will
have a great impact on how quickly collection and separation programs will
develop in the U.S. While "mass-burn" incineration of batteries has drawn the
most concern, battery removal is also being considered by refuse-derived fuel and
composting system operators. Facilities already employing presorting techniques
(using a combination of hand sorting, mechanical, and magnetic separation)
have achieved metals reduction in the end product.
An overview of U.S. battery collection nrograms
In response to public pressure in parts of Europe and Japan, a variety of
battery collection programs have been developed and implemented there over the
past decade. In the U.S., concern about batteries in the waste stream seemed to
emerge only recently, probably as a result of increasing awareness about
household hazardous wastes. Before this, collection of mercuric oxide and silver
oxide "button" batteries had been practiced by the American Watchmakers
Institute, the Optimists, and other organizations and businesses, purely as an
economic venture. But in early 1987, the first battery collection programs began
in the U.S. as an attempt to reduce heavy metals in the waste stream.
1563
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In southwest Missouri, the Household Hazardous Waste Project sought the
cooperation of businesses already collecting button batteries (jewelers, hearing
aid stores, and pharmacies) in accepting batteries from the public.
Approximately fifty participating businesses were identified on recycling lists
which were widely distributed throughout the area.
The Environmental Action Coalition in New York City collected button and
nickel-cadmium batteries in a 1200 unit apartment house and 180 retail stores.
The batteries were collected at a central location and then shipped to recycling
facilities in the U.S. and Europe.
The New Hampshire/Vermont Solid Waste Program working with Allied
Signal, and the town of Bellingham, Washington in conjunction with Thermal
Reduction Company are two programs that began as a direct attempt to reduce
metal emissions from incinerators. Both collect all types of household batteries in
containers at participating retail stores. Collected batteries are then hazardous
waste landfilled.
The most comprehensive battery collection program (and the best data
keeping) was in Hennepin County, Minnesota. They tried different methods of
collecting batteries in retail stores and through curbside programs, for both
button battery and all battery types. Collected batteries were sorted, counted, and
weighed by composition type. Data was also recorded on storage and handling (eg.
recording the mercury emissions from stored batteries of different types).
Hennepin County plans to expand the program in the future and provide training
to retailers on leaking batteries and emergency information. Minnesota's button
batteries are being recycled in New York; nickel-cadmium battery recycling is
being explored; the remainder are being temporarily stored at a county facility.
1564
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Problems With rnllgctions
There are many obstacles facing communities that wish to implement a
battery collection. State and local ordinances may prohibit collection and storage
of batteries. Collection programs require either a funding and maintenance
commitment from the coordinating organization, or a great deal of volunteer
labor. Public education is necessary to alert the public to the potential hazards of
batteries, sorting requirements, and proper storage. Physical hazards including
explosion, corrosion, and the release of mercury vapors are involved when great
numbers of discharged and partially charged batteries are accumulated
There are limited markets for household batteries in the U.S. and many of
these have minimum shipment standards that require major collection efforts.
Only mercuric oxide and silver oxide battery markets offer a slight return to the
collectors. Other battery types (lithium, nickel-cadmium) are recycled,
neutralized, or hazardous waste landfilled at a cost to the collectors. At a time
when waste management costs are soaring, additional cost associated with battery
programs and proper disposal are often seen as prohibitive. Finally, there is
concern over the environmental track record of the companies that accept
batteries. The fear of becoming contributors to a site that may someday require
remedial action has prevented many interested communities from proceeding any
further with battery collection programs.
Conclusions/trends
In spite of the obstacles, I am speculating that the trend toward removing
household batteries from the waste stream will continue. Other states will be
1565
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closely following the programs in Connecticut and Minnesota and possibly we will
see the emergence of more battery legislation in the near future. The battery
industry's efforts to eliminate the mercury content in household batteries will be
driven by increased legislation and rising consumer concern. Research will
continue into the feasibility of recycling the metals from other types of batteries,
including alkalines. Any future restrictions on how batteries can be disposed,
especially those proposed by the EPA, will create a greater incentive for the
recycling of all batteries. Markets for household batteries will be stimulated as
more battery collection programs arc developed. We may only be at the very
beginning of a new national policy on household batteries, but I think it is
possible to look ahead to major reductions of heavy metal pollution, and safer solid
waste management in the U.S.
1 Allied Signal. "Source of Heavy Metals in Municipal Solid Waste." Oct. 1986.
2FrankIin Associates. Ltd. Characterization of Products Containing Lead and
Cadmium in Municipal Solid Waste in the United States. USEPA. Washington, D.C.,
Oct. 1989.
3Seeberger, Donald. "A Study of Two Collection Methods for Removing Household
Dry Cell Batteries from a Residential Waste Stream." Hennepin County, MN, 1989.
4MPCA. "Household Batteries in Minnesota: Interim Report of the Household
Battery Recycling and Disposal Study. St. Paul, MN 1990.
5 Federal Register. Vol. 54, No. 243. Dec. 20, 1989.
6MPCA.
7MPCA.
X566
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BATTERY CONTACTS:
cmr,moNS
Southwest Missouri - Marie Steinwachs, HHWP, 901 S. National, Box 108,
Springfield, MO 65804 (417) 836-5777
New York City - Contact Timothy Forker, Environmental Action Coalition, 625
Broadway, NY, NY 10012-2611 (212) 677-1601
New Hampshire/Vermont - Carl Hirth, NH/VT Solid Waste Project, Moody Bldg.,
Claremont, NH 03743 (603) 543-1201
Washington State • Lisa Schnebele, Thermal Reduction Company, Inc., 1524
Slater Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 (206) 384-1057]
Minnesota - Donald A. Seeberger, Div. of Environment and Energy, Hennepin
County Dept. of Public Works, 822 South Third St., Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN
55415 (612) 248-6157]
RESEARCH
The First International Seminar on Battery Waste Management - Dr.Sumner P.
Wolsky, President of Ansum Enterprises, 2836 Banyan Blvd., Cr. NW, Boca
Raton, FL 33431
David Hurd, South Bronx 2000 Local Development Corporation, 1809 Carter Ave.,
Bronx, NY 10457 (212) 731-3931
Carnegie-Mellon University - Indira Nair, Dept. of Engineering and Public
Policy, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA 15213
MANUFACTURERS OF HOUSEHOLD BATTERIES
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
2101 I St.. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Duracell USA
Berkshire Industrial Park
Bethel, CT 06801
Rayovac Corp.
601 Rayovac Dr.
Madison, WI 53711
Eveready Battery Company
1280 W. 73rd St.
Cleveland, OH 44102
ttTTYFRS OF HOUSEHOLD RATTFR1FR
Bethlehem Apparatus, Hellertown, PA (215) 838-7034.
~industrial quantities of mercury batteries
Mercury Refining Company, Latham, NY (SI8) 78S-2623 or (800) 833-3505
•mercury, silver, some nickel-cadmium, and lithium
1567
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Quicksilver Products, Brisbane, CA (415) 468-2000
~mercury
Alexander Battery-Co., Mason City IA (515)423-8955
~mercury/zinc, nickel-cadmium
Inmetco, Ellwood City, PA (412) 758-5515
~industrial quantities of nickel-cadmium
Kinsbursky Bros. Supply, Anaheim, CA (714) 738-8516
~nickel-iron, silver-zinc, carbon-zinc, industrial quantities of nickel-
cadmium
Universal Metals and Ores, Mt. Vemon, NY (914) 664-0200
~nickel-cadmium
SabNIFE, Greenville, NC (919) 830-1600
~sealed nickel-cadmium, nickel-iron, carbon-air
BDT, Clarence, NY (716) 634-6794
~disposal of lithium batteries
Environmental Pacific, Lake Oswego, OR (503) 226-7331
~many types
-The list of battery recyclers was adapted from information by the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency
1568
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INCENTIVES FOR SOLVING THE SCRAP TIRE PROBLEM
THROUGH EXISTING MARKETS
Haynes C. Goddard, Eh.D
Department of Economics
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0371
513/556-2621
and
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
513/5697685
Presented at First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1569
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INCENTIVES FOR SOLVING THE SCRAP TIRE FKDHUM
THROUGH EXISTING MARKETS
Haynes C. Goddard, Hi.D1
abstract
The nature and causes of the scrap tire problem are examined from
an economic rather than a technological perspective. State responses to
the problem and commonly proposed remedies are briefly reviewed and the
nature of the tire market's failure to prevent the scrap tire problem is
examined in order to gain insight into effective and efficient correc-
tions, without involving governmental participation in funding of recy-
cling, market development and technology selection. Those functions
remain in the private sector. A completely market based mechanism
involving a tire disposal fee that remains wholly in the private sector
is developed for dealing with new scrappage and a method is suggested by
which to calculate a cost-effective disposal fee.
1. Haynes C. Goddard is Associate Professor of Economics at the Univer-
sity of Cincinnati and Director of the Latin American Studies program.
He has served as Chairman of the Scrap Tire Task Force for the State of
Ohio, has advised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the scrap
tire problem, is author of the EPA publication An Economic Evaluation of
Technical Systems for Scrap Tire Reuse, 1976, and of Managing Solid
Wastes: Economics, Technology, Institutions, Praeger, 1975. The opin-
ions expressed herein do not represent the position of any group or
organization with which he is associated.
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iNTRcrocrroN
In contrast to many years of inattention, the scrap tire problem in the
United States seems to have finally ccmmanded the serious attention of the
ration1 s lawmakers and environmental protection officials. In recent years
there have been several major tire fires, most notably in the states of
Virginia, New Hanpshire arri Washington. In addition, the arrival of the Asian
Tiger mosquito and the dengue fever which it spreads has state health
officials throughout the nation very concerned, as this mosquito can winter
over and therefore is likely to spread to the entire continent. This
mosquito, lite its encephalitis bearing cousins, finds scrap tires a congenial
breeding habitat; consequently, the widespread dumping and littering of scrap
tires means that the mosquito will find appropriate habitats throughout the
nation.
Even a cursory examination of the current and potential uses for scrap
tires under existing economic and market conditions indicates that the scrap
tine problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Rubber reclaiming
has been in secular decline because of the rise of plastics based substitutes
and because of the shift to radial tires which use little to no reclaimed
rubber in their formulation. Other technologically feasible and/or premising
uses are in large measure underutilized because production cost conditions are
unfavorable; these principally are asphalt rubber and energy recovery. In
short, cost savings or profit opportunities associated with scrap tire reuse
are too small or nonexistent for private markets to recycle the percentage of
tires they once did.
It is important for policy makers and legislators to recognize that the
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barrier to increased scrap tire recycling and reuse is not the lack of
technology, since in addition to the currently vised technologies, there are a
number of technologies "on the shelf" that are technically (but not
economically) feasible. Economic conditions have been controlling.
Furthermore, the problem cannot be easily solved simply through governmental
participation in market development. Rather, the scrap tire problem is the
consequence of an absence of correct institutional "rules of the game":
market incentives are lacking or inappropriate. A consequence of inadequate
incentives in private markets to manage scrap tires properly has, as in the
case hazardous wastes, given rise to unscrupulous "tire jockeys" who are
implicated in illicit dumping along roadsides and in riverbeds, creeks and
ravines throughout rural America. In addition, the seemingly ever elusive
promise of future riches has led to market speculation in which landowners
accumulate enormous piles of tires—it is these that are primarily duplicated
in the recurrent fires. If proper market incentives were instituted,
appropriate technological and market development would folic*/ with little or
no direct assistance from government, simply because technology is readily
available and the attempts to recycle tires are continuous.
Genesis of the Scrap Tire Problem
The scrap tire problem as we know it: fires, dumping, littering,
extensive habitat for disease vectors, has been in the making for at least the
last 25 years and is due to two principal factors. First, the large increase
in the automobile population and the increased flow of scrap tires has been
coupled simultaneously with the introduction of radial tire technology in
tire fabrication, greatly reducing the use of rubber reclaim in the
formulations of sidewall compounds. Secondly, prices of petroleum based
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substitutes for reclaimed rubber (e.g. plastic instead of rubber mats) have
declined relative to the price rubber reclaim, a function of the declining
relative cost of energy, further diminishing the market for rubber reclaim.
Real energy prices are today at the level they were in the 1960's. Both have
made tire recycling today only marginally profitable at best.
These two facts have provided the motivation for the current state-level
policy approaches to the scrap tire problem: 1) the raising of funds through
taxation to provide a subsidized offset to the lack of profit opportunities in
private tire reuse and recycling markets and 2) development of new markets for
tire derived materials. A method does need to be found to restore
profitability in the scrap tire industry, but we argue here that tax based
approaches are both inefficient and ineffective, and governments are almost
never well positioned to develop new markets. Both approaches represent fairly
direct interventions in the scrap materials markets, but are misdirected
because they carry strong possibilities of being inefficient and ineffective;
governmental simply does not have a good track record with these
interventions.
States should direct their efforts to correcting the defects in the
institutional structure within which scrap markets operate: the
price and market system. While states normally do not intervene directly in
markets, governments everywhere set the "rules of the game" for market
transactions by providing the legal framework within which transactions may
occur and are regulated; ensuring competition and preventing price
discrimination are tvro exanples. Some new but wtwpl rules of the for
the scrap tire problem are explained in the following pages. There are several
reasons to believe that correction of defects of the tire market will
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eliminate the scrap tire problem as we knew it.
The Economics of the Scrap Tire Problem
The set of problems associated with scrap tires has ample precedent in
many other sectors of the economy; a typical scenario starts with a shift in
demand conditions leaving a formerly vibrant sector of the economy in decline.
The affected communities demand that the government assist theni in dealing
with the new adversity, frequently in ways in which governments do not perform
well. Usually governmental programs are developed to assist impacted
communities through various kinds of programs to make under- or unemployed
resources productive again. For the visual market good or service, the negative
effects of the original shift in the economic base eventually diminish or
disappear altogether through industrial change and/or labor migration. The
case of the shift frcm textiles to electronics in New England is a case in
point. Such change, hewever, often takes decades.
Because of the changes in the demand for scrap tires, tires now also go
"unemployed", and this unemployed or underemployed resource is capable of
causing social problems, just as is unemployed labor. The question is hew to
"reemploy" the tires effectively and efficiently. To do this we must first
have an appropriate conception of the cause of the problem and that will in
turn suggest appropriate kinds of solutions. For that purpose we made use of
the substantially well developed body of economic thought on waste problems
and solutions to them.
Why a focus on economics instead of technology? Wastes are after all
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production and cansunoptian residuals, and so the bod/ of economic thought
known as "environmental eoananics" and "externality theory" can provide us
with the guidance for devising effective and efficient public policies for
solve this problem. Technology, of course, will always remain part of the
solution.
Scrap Tires and Externalities. Materials used in production and
consumption that are unwanted become wastes. As prices and technologies
change and structural economic change ensues, materials nay go from being
wastes to becoming valuable products and vice versa. Asphalt was once a
refinery waste? now it is quite valuable. Tires were once virtually completely
recycled; new they are nearly worthless in today's markets. In this sense,
tires are like virtually any other waste, such as air and water residuals,
wherein the potential market value of a transformed waste determines the
effort exerted and expenses incurred to recover it.
Tires are solid wastes, however, and there are some important technical
or physical differences peculiar to solid wastes (as apposed to air and water
pollutants) that suggest different policies for their control. That is, it is
not appropriate simply to adapt some of the control mechanisms developed for
air and water pollutants directly to tires or solid wastes.
<
The basic difference lies in the relative size and immobility of solid
wastes—they are not as easily dispersible as air and water pollutants. Tires
require more handling for "disposal" whereas air and water contaminants are
fairly easily released to the environment. This has always meant that the
assimilative capacity of the local environment (i.e., the microenvironment
immediately contiguous to the location of the discharger) has been much less
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for solid wastes that for air and water pollutants, and the majority of
conmunities have had to organize proper solid waste collection and "disposed"
long ago. In contrast, this is a relatively recent phenomenon for air and
water pollutants, with same exceptions, e.g., Pittsburgh's former steel plant
emissions.
The implication of the foregoing is that market mechanisms and/or
governmentally supplied solid waste management services are already in place
and well established, although not necessarily well managed. This means that
tires are already collected by dealers who contract with haulers for
"disposed"—proper or improper. In additional, a tire recycling industry
exists, although not in the greatest of economic health: rubber reclaiming,
rubberized asphalt, energy recovery and a few other relatively minor uses.
Thus, the important elements for recycling these wastes already exist—the
problem is that the incentives (profitability) are inadequate to medce
recycling a significant use of waste tires.
For edl wastes, an externality exists whenever each handling or emission
of wastes inflicts costs or damages an other parties; when that damage is
greater than the costs of control, then pollution control is economically
warranted. Of course, pollution control is often instituted in circumstances
where the benefits to the ccramunity are less than the costs of control; in
those cases the justification must be based an equity or fairness grounds.
It is increasingly understood that externalities in which damages are
greater than the cost of control exist because the assimilative capacity of
the environment is exceeded and because unregulated or free markets fail
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ration this scarce assimilative capacity so that it is not exceeded or
overused. If environment services (assimilative capacity) were properly
priced, waste generators would take the environmental costs into account in
business and consumption decisions and would be forced to pay a price to use
this capacity in production and consumption just as business must pay for
labor services and consumers for goods and services.
For air and water pollution control, in contrast to solid waste
management, because of the fact that air and water borne wastes are not
received by any economic agent in the normal course of market exchange, and
because of their properties of easy dispersion, finding methods to "close" the
market system for these residuals is more difficult, but possible, through
marketable pollution permits, e.g.
However, in the case of solid wastes and tires in particular, all of the
elements of exchange are in place. The only problem preventing greater use of
recycling mechanisms is the economic one: a profit cannot be made in tire
recycling, mainly because of the cost of tire preparation: collection,
shredding and grinding. It is to this problem that much of recent state
scrap tire policy has been directed. However, this policy has not been
directed to closing the market system, but has been more focused an direct
interventions and subsidies as methods of offsetting the effects of the tire
market failure.
In the economic analysis of externalities, it is not enough to assert
that there is market failure and therefore conclude that whatever measure is
required to correct the problem is economically justified. For it could
occur, and frequently does, that the cost of control is much greater than the
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benefit, arxi that the proper action is no action. For example, this situation
occurs very frequently over the addition of step lights at intersections. More
accidents could be prevented if there were far more stop lights installed, but
it is expensive and if overdone, may in fact create disrespect for stop lights
in general, leading to a more serious problem. The short of the story is that
the perceived benefits have to be at least as great as the costs of control
for the action to be justified economically.
In the case of scrap tires, there is no empirical information available
on whether the benefits of control are in fact greater than the costs of
control. An initial attempt by the U.S EPA in the early 1980's to assess the
benefits of control suffered frcro of lack of data in general. The best we can
do at present is to note that state governments have and most probably will
continue to act to control scrap tire problems; we might infer from this
"revealed preference" for control that the benefits must be greater than the
costs. This is a weak inference at best, since the state actions could be
inadequately founded. There still are no mechanisms in economic analysis that
allow us to assess this collective willingness to pay for environmental
control.
Thus, of the two ever present questions for environmental control that
each society must answer in one way or another: l) do the benefits outweigh
the costs? and 2) what is the oost effective method of control?, we cannot
provide a definite answer for the first with presently available information.
We can be more definite about the second, and that is the focus of this
analysis.
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This analysis then is a contribution to the search for the most
efficient way to "close" the tire market.
Commonly Proposed Remedies and State Responses
Common Remedies. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
researched a number of technologies to prcmote increased recycling of tires
over the years, it has not developed programs to increase scrap tire
utilization. Beginning in 1980, solid waste management problems were declared
to be "local problems" and were essentially left to the states, counties and
municipalities to resolve. After a several year lag, several states have
begun to act.
State and local governments are frequently handicapped in dealing with
environmental problems in that they typically have little in-house analytical
and research expertise for policy analysis, and as a consequence, they
frequently turn to engineering consulting firms for studies and suggested
solutions. Shis is on the surface a quite logical choice as scone form of
technology is nearly always involved in one way or another in environmental
control. Perhaps more controlling is the fact that engineers usually play a
quite prominent role in environmental protection agencies. It is, then, the
source of little surprise to find that environmental consultants tend to
propose "end-of-the-pipe" methods for environmental protection, to borrow an
analogy frcro the water pollution field. This is what they know best.
End-of-the-pipe controls are frequently warranted, and will play an
important role in resolving the scrap tire problem, but such a focus, sane
would say a bias, leads to a failure to consider the pollution problem
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systemically. Usually neglected is the economic behavioral context in which
decisions about waste handling are made and why the unregulated marketplace
seems to be biased toward pollution, ihis is a serious error of amission only
gradually being appreciated today.
As mentioned, the typical result of the study process is that
technological solutions are recommended, which in the case of tires means
energy recovery, shredding, asphalt rubber, etc. Since state study
commissions nearly always recognize early that these cannot be profit making
activities in today's market conditions, it is usually recommended that the
state raise revenues to subsidize the technology (ies). To be sure, sis we
shall argue, tire recycling activities are indeed only marginally profitable
today, and so some additional source of revenue to support tire recycling
needs to be found. We will argue, however, that states should not be in the
business of choosing which technologies to support because they tend not to
choose well, nor should the usual subsidy process be followed.
State Responses. Several states have enacted or are considering tire
legislation: Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina, California
and Maine, among others. The typical state program involves the "tax and
subsidy" approach to public provision of services by raising funds through a
fee or tax on vehicles on or smother vehicle related tax base, such as
vehicle transfers, and using these revenues to fund activities to
reduce the problem: mostly energy recovery or shredding with landfilling.
For example, the recently enacted North Carolina program operates with
a one percent sales tax an new tire sales, requires the counties to establish
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places for proper disposed and distributes the tax revenues to the counties to
fund the expense, if the sales tax generates insufficient revenue to cover
county costs, then the counties are authorized to levy tipping fees at the
disposal sites.
Another is the California program. legislation there authorizes a $0.25
disposal fee per tire to be levied on new tires; tire retailers retain 10% of
the fee to cover their fee collection costs and the balance goes to the state
treasury to be deposited in the California Tire Recycling Management Fund.
These revenues will be used to dean up tire piles, fund research, subsidize
shredding and landfills and transfer stations and to subsidize the purchase of
materials manufactured fron recycled tires.
Still another variant is that of Maine, where tire consumers will pay a
$1.00 disposed fee upon a new tire purchase to be used to clean up tire piles
and to make grants and loans for tire recycling.
Oregon was perhaps the first in the nation to deal with its scrap tire
problem. It has levied a $1.00 fee on new tire sales. Eighty-five percent of
the revenue collected from tire dealers is deposited in a Waste Tire Recycling
Account to be distributed to recyclers for partial reimbursement of recycling
costs and for clean-up of sane existing tire piles.
To the extent that such legislation is designed to deal with past
accumulations of tire piles, there really are no alternatives but to using
state revenues to subsidize the clean-up, although as we will see below, such
programs need to be integrated with programs designed to handle the flew of
"new" or recently scrapped tires.
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A shortcoming common In these responses to the tire problem is that they
do not develop effective responses to the continuing flow of tires (new
scrappage) and to the tire market failure that is the continuing source of the
problem. In part, this is due to the circumstance that state and local
governments typically possess limited ability to undertake good diagnostic
analysis of a) the economics of environmental problems (benefits, costs and
institutional arrangements) and b) why private markets create these problems.
Furthermore, they have been hampered by the lack of conceptual frameworks in
the published literature on the problem within which to formulate and on which
to predicate appropriate policies to deal with the problem. States are usually
poorly equipped to make independent assessments of the feasibility of new
technologies, and neither are they good at identifying and evaluating good
business risks. Further, state bureaucracies find it much more comfortable
and convenient to employ traditional tax and subsidy approaches to the
provision of public services. It is for these reasons that the tax and subsidy
approach is usually chosen.
Nonetheless, there have been difficulties with some of these programs;
the most notorious has been Minnesota's venture with "TireCycle", which
declared bankruptcy. Economists generally indicate that an important effect of
such approaches is that whatever level of recycling does occur will tend to be
at a higher cost than necessary, which in turn may lead to less recycling than
is economically warranted if legislatures and the public balk at the costs.
Also, taxation and subsidy schemes, requiring periodic legislative and
continual administrative attention, tend to became heavily politicized,
leading to program distortions and ineffectiveness.
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Our purpose hare is emphasize that while it is true that state action is
required to "close" the tire cycle, direct state involvement in the funding of
tire reuse and recycling activities for the continuing flow of tires is not
necessary, although it is for past tire accumulations. In fact, there are good
reasons to indicate that direct state involvement should be avoided because of
the inefficiencies and perverse incentives that typically characterize public
production of services. What is recommended here instead is that state
governmental efforts be focused on setting the correct "rules of the game" for
the tire market and letting the set of economically efficient technologies and
solutions be generated by the marketplace. The role of the federal government
in resolving the scrap tire problem should be directed to providing the states
with appropriate incentives to act and to underwrite the needed background
analyses for proper state actions.
Fortunately for the tire problem, it is relatively sinple for state
governments to "close" these open ended markets and internalize the costs in a
manner that is more efficient and effective than through direct subsidies and
market development.
A Market Based Solution
Making a Market for Scrap Tires: A Proposal. Virtually all of the
components of the market system required to increase levels of tire recycling
are already in place, and those that have fallen into can be easily
resuscitated. Existing tire dealers provide the point of collection of vised
tires; tire haulers already exist (but need to be licensed), and there are a
number of reduction and reuse technologies already in use, albeit at modest
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levels: rubber reclaiming, energy recovery, asphalt rubber, etc.
The lack of inoentives to deed, with the scrap tire problem caused by the
new flow of tires can be easily eliminated by a simple change in the rules
that govern the operation of this market: a legislative mandate that all vised
tires shall be returned to dealers upon a new tire purchase and that for each
tire purchased, the consumer shall pay a non-refundable environmental
disposal fee of, say, $1.00 to $2.00 per tire or another appropriate amount,
to cover the cost of transport, size reduction if needed and any "tipping fee"
required to restore profitability in the using industries: rubber reclaiming,
highway construction using asphalt rubber, energy generation, etc. The dealer
would be obligated to accept tires from the purchaser of new, retreaded or
used tires only, not from others. Hew this amount should be calculated is
discussed below. This much of the proposal appears in existing legislation, in
that of California, e.g.
The new aspect of this proposal is contained in the requirement that the
dealer will in turn be required to contract directly with licensed haulers
and/or with scrap tire processors (retreaders, rubber reclaimers, asphalt
rubber processors, energy recovery firms, etc.) or with approved landfills for
recycling. The tire dealer will have to negotiate with these "end" users over
what portion of the environmental disposal fee is to be paid by the dealer to
them in order to ensure subsequent proper disposed or recycling of the tires
and how much of the fee he is allowed to keep to cover his processing and
paperwork costs, as seme form of manifesting will be required to ensure that
"midnight dumping" does not occur. Tire manufacturers are not involved in this
process.
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A major advantage of this system is that the financing of the mechanism
stays wholly within the private sector—no taxes are levied, no state
collection of revenues is involved, no continuous lobbying influence is
involved in legislative or administrative rule making as new technologies
appear—in short, none of the usual governmental inefficiencies will impinge
upon the recycling. All that is required is for the state environmental
authorities to calculate the cost of the least-cost reuse option or disposal
and set the disposal fee at that level. This charge could conceivably vary
regionally within a state. Periodic inflation adjustments could be avoided if
the fee were tied to an appropriate cost index. Uiis actually is important in
order to avoid the "regulatory lag" that always results with governmental fee
setting- (as with public utility commissions), avoiding periodic politicizatian
of the process.
A further important advantage of this mechanism is that by restoring
the needed profitability to recycling and reuse technologies, it will then be
possible for existing and prospective recyclers to negotiate equity or debt
financing for their projects directly from the financial sector of the
ecancnry; state recycling grants are unnecessary. The leaves the evaluation
and financing of business proposals wholly within the private sector, where it
is done best. This was a serious problem in the Minnesota experience.
It should be noted again, that this proposal applies to the new flow of
scrap tires, not to accumulated backlogs, which are indeed a rerious problem
in many areas. This accumulation reflects the results of past market failure
and the failure of government to deal with the problem. This problem can best
be dealt with through general appropriations until the problem is resolved
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and/or through a temporary fund created by revenues from a surcharge on
1 •! 1 is which would expire once the backlog is eliminated. Ihis is of course
what has been proposed in a number of states.
Policing and Enforcement. All markets, to function properly, have to be
policed, and environmental "markets" are no different. Certainly licensing of
haulers and perhaps end users mail be required to avoid fraud. Fraud can
still ,be a potential problem in which those managing the scrap tire flew might
collude to retain the environmental disposal fee and still dump the tires
illicitly. Further, there is the question of hew the enforcement will be
financed. Licence fees could help to cover this cost. A better solution is
to integrate this enforcement activity with that for all environmental
problems. It is clear to this observer that there will have to be
environmental police with arrest powers, and this police function is best
funded out of general revenues, much as are current state police functions,
landfill surcharges are another potential source of revenue for this function.
Setting the Disposed Charge. Because the tire and secondary materials
markets will continue to fail to set a market clearing price for scrap tires,
due to insufficient demand, an approximation to that price must be calculated
by environmental authorities in each state. The question then is how to do
this.
Ihe exercise is rather straightforward. While the relevant economic
theory tells us that the charge should be set to reflect the damages
improperly managed tires cause, as indicated above, present knowledge does not
enable us to set the disposal charge based on tire caused damages or external
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costs. The best we can do at present is to base the disposal charge an cost-
effectiveness considerations, as follows.
The available technologies for scrap tire use must be identified and the
cost of employing them over the full range of potential output for each
technology needs to be calculated. These technologies then need to be ranked
along the cost dimension for all the relevant levels of scrap tire
utilization. The normal case is that one technology will be the least cost or
dominant technology over a low level of output, another over the next range of
output, still another over the third range of output and so on. This exercise
will ensure identification of the cost-effective methods of scrap tire
disposed and reuse at all levels of scrap tire flew.
Each state could commission a stud/ to determine what represents the
lewest cost alternative for that state. Alternatively, the U.S. EPA could
develop a decision maker's guide (guidance manual) which could provide for
quick determination of the likely least cost alternative in a give
jurisdiction. Using this information, each state then could determine the
charge necessary within its borders to solve its scrap tire problem, which may
or may not be complete utilization of the current flow, depending on state
preferences. With this information, each state can be sure that with whatever
level of scrap tire reuse that state sets as its objective, the incentive
offered (the environmental disposal charge) will the minimum required to solve
the problem.
The market based incentive mechanism here described will lead to
efficient (cost-effective) tire recycling. The bidding and negotiating
process that results with this mechanism will ensure that tires will go to the
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recycler with the lowest costs. It will also ensure the appropriate
allocation among competing recycling alternatives, and when all of these are
too costly to ccrapete with landfilling in remote areas, it will provide the
means by which proper landfilling can be financed.
An additional important factor favoring this approach is that it
involves an important element of fairness for the business community, in that,
to use a popular phrase, it establishes a "level playing field". That is, it
involves no prior state selection of the favored technology to employ and thus
eliminates state involvement in business decisions, something at which
governments are notoriously inefficiecient and ineffective—again the
experience in Minnesota is an example. It also eliminates the perpetual
lobbying by would-be tire recyclers for state grants to fund their proposed
technology.
With this approach, there is no presumption that the technologies will
necessarily be constructed within the borders of any particular state, but
simply that the charge to set high enough to resolve its problem, which many
simply mean transporting the material to a facility in another state.
Tire Piles
As was mentioned earlier, this proposed deals with the new flow of scrap
tires, not the. accumulated backlogs. Separate financial provisions need to be
made to deal with this cost. It would probably be best to vise scsne other
mechanism than a tax on tire sales, in order not to confuse the tire consumer.
Perhaps a tax on vehicle transfers or annual license renewal would be best in
states without constitutional provisions against it or a surcharge on
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landfills as was suggested above.
If a state moves aggressively against tire accumulations, the resultant
flew of material will conpete with that being generated by the annual flew
being handled under the environmental disposal fee mechanism. It would seem
that without proper coordination of the two flows, the market mechanism could
be upset.
Fortunately, the presence of the environmental disposed, charge mechanism
will facilitate rather than impede the elimination of the tire accumulations.
This is because that mechanism will provide the needed market incentives
(prices) for increased recycling and then lead to an expansion of processing
facilities. State governments need only to offer the same price as is being
generated by the market mechanism to provide the needed incentive to reduce
the tire piles. As in the case of the current flew of scrap tires, once a
price is clear and long term contracts have been written, it is a simple
business proposition to obtain long term financing from the financial sector
of the economy, avoiding the use of public monies for capital equipment
acquisition as was done in Minnesota.
Conclusions
We have examined the economic basis of the scrap tire problem and our
diagnosis has led us to suggest a market based incentive system that should
solve the problem generated by new scrappage and avoid the difficulties and
inefficiencies inherent in govemmeritally sponsored recycling, market
development and technology selection. Since all of the elements save the
suggested changes in the rules of the market game are in place, once that
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change is made, there is reason to believe that the market will respond
quickly to the new profit opportunities. It would be necessary to have the
usual legal provisions to prevent fraud: licensing of all participants if not
already licensed and perhaps manifesting of the tires to ensure that they
remain in the disposal and recycling loop.
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Subject: Innovative New Technology for the Treatment of Hospital Wastes
This paper will ri-tcmigg scute of the considerations involved in deeding
with infectious hospital refuse and its disposal, especially in regard
to how this program is being approached in West Germany and other parts
of Europe and the united States, and how a new technology has been
developed, the Vetoo Sanitec Microwave Disinfection and Treatment
System, to provide a cost effective and environmentally acceptable
solution to the problem.
The paper will discuss the process in detail and ocnpare it with other
existing methods of treatment of clinical waste, as well as addressing
other factors such as storage, transportation, disposal of final
residues, protection of operating personnel and fixed locations, as well
as mobile facility options.
Details of the performance of the system in various installations will
be discussed, as well as the performance relating to emissions and other
environmental legislation in Europe. Operating ooets are expected to be
40-50% less than far an equivalent incinerator, with capital costs 25%
lower than similar sized incinerators. Regulatory delays will be
minimized since this system will not be subject to incineration type air
quality permits since it is not a combustion process.
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LATEX PAINT RECYCLING
Christine Luboff
Seattle Solid Waste Utility
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13 - 16. 1990
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LATEX PAINT RECYCLING
Christine Luboff, Senior Planner
Seattle Solid Waste Utility
INTRODUCTION:
The City of Seattle Solid Waste Utility's commitment to waste reduction and recycling extends to all its
waste streams, including household hazardous wastes. Seattle has had Household Hazardous Waste
collection programs for several years. Since October, 1988 household hazardous wastes have been collected
at a permanent facility located at one of our transfer stations. The experience at our collection programs is
similar to that at collection programs throughout the country: the majority of the wastes brought in are
paints, especially latex paint. In 1989 latex paint represented 43% of the total gallons of wastes collected.
Seattle's policy is to handle all household hazardous wastes as regulated hazardous wastes for purposes
of disposal. In other collection programs mercury and lead have been identified in latex paint at levels
requiring disposal as hazardous waste. Lead is found in old lead-based paint, and mercury is a component of
fungicides often added to paint. Latex paint is chemically stabilized and disposed of in a hazardous waste
landfill. The cost of disposal as hazardous waste is high. In 1989 latex paint accounted for 44% of
Seattle's total household hazardous waste disposal costs.
The latex paint recycling project was designed to identify belter ways to manage this latex paint stream
which would both move us up the waste management hierarchy from disposal to recycling, and which would
be more cost-effective. The goals of the project are:
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* to see whether discarded latex can be reprocessed into a recycled paint product which
meets acceptable industry standards;
* to evaluate the marketability of the recycled product;
* to determine whether all discarded latex need be handled as hazardous waste;
This project is being performed by our consultant Philip Morley of Morley and Associates. Local paint
manufacturers and the Puget Sound Paint and Coatings Association have also been closely involved. The
state Department of Ecology has provided partial funding.
The project involved collecting and sorting the paint into recyclable and non-recyclable portions. The
recyclable portion was reprocessed by a paint manufacturer, and tested to determine whether it met industry
paint standards. The paint was canned and labeled and distributed to 19 local retain outlets for a marketing
trial. Meanwhile, the non-recyclable portion was sampled and analyzed for hazardous constituents. Based
on the results the paint is solidified and disposed.
COLLECTING AND SORTING:
Five thousand gallons of latex paint were collected from a collection event in June, 1989, and from the
household hazardous waste collection shed. The paint is received from residents in numerous cans. The
first and most critical step in the recycling process is sorting. This is the step responsible for quality control.
Sorting is carried out according to a protocol which first sorts out hazardous constituents, and then sorts the
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remaining paint into recyclable and non-recyclable portions. The protocol is designed to enhance the paint's
marketability, technical performance, and safety.
In order to exclude hazardous constituents, labels are examined to ensure that no solvent based paints,
stains, lacquers or unknowns are included. Lead is excluded by rejecting old lead-based paints, which are
usually labeled, as well as white primers and old orange and yellow paints. Mercury is excluded by
rejecting mildew-resistant paints.
After potentially hazardous paints are sorted out for disposal as a hazardous waste, the remaining paint
is sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable portions. Non-recyclable paint includes dark and bright colors,
and paint which has frozen or spoiled. The remaining group of recyclable paint is light colors with good
consistency. Both these batches are bulked into 55-gallon drums. The recyclable paints are transported to a
paint manufacturer for reprocessing.
REPROCESSING:
The recyclable paint is mixed and filtered by the paint manufacturer. WE used Martec, Inc. in Seattle.
The paint is tested for the presence of selected metals and organic volatiles to ensure compliance with
labelling and product safety laws. It also undergoes standard paint industry laboratory tests for viscosity, dry
time, odor, sag, scrub resistance, opacity, and so on. The reprocessed paint was found to meet all industry
standards. It was classified as a flat, interior painter's grade latex.
Because we collected and sorted at four separate locations, we had four batches of paint each of which
were a slightly different shade of beige. In order to produce a standard product, the batches were tinted to
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a consistent color, which is called "Seattle Beige". Finally the paint was packed into one- and five-gallon
cans, and labeled.
This phase of the project confirmed that discarded paint can be reprocessed into a paint product that
meets industry standards. This is an important conclusion, as industry chemists were originally doubtful that
discarded paint from multiple producers, designed for different purposes, could be reprocessed into an
acceptable product.
MARKETING:
The recycled paint is called "Community Pride". It underwent a 3 month marketing trial in 19 stores in
the Puget Sound region. These were retail outlets belonging to 5 local paint companies: Parker,
Preservative, Daly's, Jarvie, and Daniel Boone. The main targets of our promotional campaign were
professional paint contractors, and designers/architects who specify paint. Promotion for the marketing
phase included brochures at paint stores, training for store sales staff on the particular qualities of the paint,
and press coverage. The paint was on sale for $5.00/gallon. This price was decided after a review of paint
costs in several stores, and was intended to slightly undercut the price of other similar quality paints. The
brochure identified several tints that could be obtained. Tinted paint sold for $6.00/gallon.
The results of this three month trail were a little disappointing.
We have identified several reasons: the trail period was very short for a new product, the target audience
was not approached aggressively enough, and the selected target audience was too limited. But above all,
the beige color was too dark to sell well and fast. Some of the paint that was sold was mixed with white
paint to make a lighter blend.
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I paint recycling is to be implemented as part of a long term program, it is important that we find and
demonstrate a market for the material. We are going to try to sell the remaining 'Seattle beige' paint by
contacting government agencies, and reaching out to the general public. In Seattle recycling is quite a
source of civic pride, and we think that the public may be interested in this recycled product if we promote
the paini more widely. The question of the color may still be a problem. In the long run, we will consider
ways of producing a lighter paint, or selling it as a blend.
LABORATORY ANALYSIS:
The non-recyclable paint was sampled and sent for laboratory analysis to determine whether it is a
hazardous waste. An extensive series of analyses were performed to cover all possibilities: EP Toxicity
metals, total halogenated hydrocarbons, volatile organics, and semi volatile organics. An analysis of the
results indicated that this paint is not a hazardous waste, according to Washington slate regulations.
We have received permission from the regional solid waste landfill to dispose of the paint there in a
solidified form. The barrels of non-recyclable paint have been solidified using alum and hydrated lime:
about 171bs alum and 501bs lime are added to a SS gallon drum filled about three quarters full with paint.
The paint, alum and lime were mixed with a paint mixer attached to a fork lift. The paint set up hard within
a couple of days.
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ECONOMICS:
An economic analysis of paint recycling, and municipal landfill disposal as a non-hazardous waste was
performed for an earlier 300 gallon pilot project. A further analysis will be performed based on new
information received during this larger demonstration project.
The results of the earlier analysis showed that recycling could be a cost-effective option. Sorting,
sampling, solidification and disposal as a municipal solid waste was less costly than disposal as a hazardous
waste, our current strategy. Recycling appeared to be less costly than either of these disposal options. In
the long run,' therefore, a combination of recycling and municipal landfill disposal, with hazardous waste
disposal for the small amount containing hazardous constituents will probably turn out to be the best strategy
for future management of this latex paint waste stream.
CONCLUSION:
We have clearly demonstrated that discarded post-consumer latex paint can be collected and reprocessed
into a paint product that conforms with industry paint standards. We have developed a sorting protocol to
remove hazardous and non-recyclable materials. We are still in the process of identifying a market, and
modifying the paint product to please the consumer. When these final marketing issues are resolved, we
will prepare to implement a paint recycling program for all the latex paint we collect as household hazardous
waste.
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MARKETS FOR SCRAP TIRES
Hope Pillsbury
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and
Jacob E. Beachey
Franklin Associates, Ltd.
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
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INTRODUCTION
About 234 million tires are scrapped in the United States
each year. It is estimated that 13.3 percent of the scrapped
tires are currently being recycled into new products or
converted to energy. Over 82 percent are being landfilled,
stockpiled, exported, or illegally dumped, with the remainder
being exported.
In addition, we estimate that between 2 and 3 billion tires
are stockpiled in the U.S. at present, with at least one
stockpile over 30 million tires. Tire stockpiles are fire
hazards, and they are excellent breeding grounds for
mosquitoes as well.
To aid in improving the reuse and recycling rate for tires,
EPA has performed a market study for scrap tires. This paper
presents information, analysis, and conclusions from EPA's
Market Development Study for Scrap Tires, to be published in
the latter part of 1990. This paper is divided into five
sections. The first section provides background data on the
generation, source reduction, and disposal of waste tires in
the United States.
In the second section a snapshot of current tire utilization
methods in the United States is presented. Included are
discussions of recycling methods for tires and thermal methods
(incineration and pyrolysis) for recovering the energy
available from tires.
The third section of the paper presents the major market
barriers to waste tire utilization and discusses incentives
for improving utilization rates. It also develops conclusions
as to which uses of tires have the greatest potential for
making significant dents in the scrap tire problem. It
concludes that the two uses of scrap tires with the greatest
potential for expansion are: (1) rubberized asphalt for
paving (e.g., roads), and (2) combustion.
In the fourth section, the paper presents options for
mitigating the waste tire problem, both from the state and
local, and the national perspective. These options include
education and promotion, taxes or fees on tires, grants and
loans to tire processors, and procurement strategies. The
final section summarizes conclusions of the paper.
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BACKGROUND
Generation of Waste Tires
It is commonly accepted in the tire industry that about one
tire per person per year is discarded. Since there is no
industry group or governmental agency that monitors tire
disposal in the United States, the best estimates that can be
made are based on tire production.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association records the number of
replacement car, truck, and tractor tire shipments (1). If
one assumes that one tire is discarded for each replacement
tire shipped, making corrections for imported tires and tires
removed from scrapped vehicles, then about 234 million tires
were discarded in 1987. This is a generation rate of 0.96
tires per person per year. The per capita generation rate has
been growing about 2 percent per year from 1984 to 1987.
EPA's report, The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for
Action, lays out EPA's national strategy for managing
municipal solid waste (MSW) (2). It sets out a three-tier
hierarchy for management of municipal solid waste, with source
reduction ranking first, followed by recycling, then
incineration and land disposal. Interestingly enough, over
the last 4 0 years, tires have been somewhat of a success story
for source reduction. The advent of the 4 0,000-mile tire
means that tires last longer before they wear out.
Figure 1 shows the estimated disposition of the 234 million
scrap tires generated in 1987. Of that amount, 4.1 percent
were recycled, 9.2 percent were incinerated for energy
recovery, 4.3 percent were exported, and the final 82.4
percent were landfilled, stockpiled, or illegally dumped. In
this flow diagram, retreads (37 million tires per year) and
reused tires (10 million tires per year) are not counted as
scrap tires.
Disposal of Waste Tires
Some disposal of tires is performed by tire users, tire
dealers, and retreaders. The majority of the 193 million
tires that go to dumps or stockpiles, however, go by way of
the tire jockeys, or haulers, who are paid by the dealers to
remove waste tires. State governments may hold haulers
accountable for the number of tires and how they are disposed.
Haulers may be paid $0.35 to $5.00 per tire to haul away the
tires. If they then dispose of the tires legally, they must
pay a fee at a landfill or processing facility. If
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they stockpile the tires or illegally dump them, the tires
create potentially serious health hazards.
Whole Tire Disposal. There are no known whole tire disposal
methods without adverse effects. Disposing of the tires above
ground creates the hazards of mosquitoes and fires. The
alternate disposal method is landfilling or burial, which is
also not without problems. In landfills, tires require a
large volume because about 75 percent of the space a tire
Occupies is void. This void space provides potential sites
for gas collection or the harboring of rodents. Some landfill
operators report that tires tend to float or rise in a
landfill and come to the surface, piercing the landfill cover.
The primary advantage to whole tire disposal is that
processing costs are avoided. However, landfills' bad
experience with whole scrap tires has led to extremely high
tipping fees or total bans on whole tires. Landfill fees for
small quantities range from $2.00 per passenger tire to $5.00
per truck tire. For mass quantities, tipping fees range from
$35.00 per ton to over $100 per ton, depending on the region
of the country. These fees are generally at least twice the
fee for municipal solid waste.
Scrap tire legislation is increasing rapidly on the state
level. Several states have or are considering legislation
that would ban whole tires from landfills. Minnesota has
banned all tires from landfills. Florida and Oregon have
required that the tires be reduced in volume by some method
such as shredding.
During 1989 the number of states with scrap tire laws
increased from five to 18. Seventeen of the remaining 1990
state legislatures have been or will be presented with
measures to regulate the recycling or proper disposal of
tires. Another landfill restriction method being considered,
in addition to banning or requiring shredding, is to require
that tires be disposed of in tire monofills, either whole or
shredded. This allows burial precautions to be taken that
will keep the tires buried.
Shredded Tire Disposal. Shredding or splitting of tires is
becoming increasingly common as part of the disposal process.
Shredded tires stored above ground pose less of a hazard than
do whole tires. If they are buried, they stay buried and
require less volume. This volume reduction can also reduce
transportation costs 30 to 60 percent simply because fewer
trips are reguired and maximum hauling weights may be achieved
more easily.
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Shredding costs for car tires are generally in the 20 to 25
cents per tire range. Costs may vary up or down 10 percent
nationally, depending on labor and fuel costs. When shredding
costs are added to solid waste tipping fees, it reflects the
cost of landfilling shredded waste tires.
In the northeast region of the United States, where landfill
costs are highest, $38.00 per ton can sometimes be saveql by
shredding tires before landfilling them. In other areas of
the country, disposal costs may increase by as much as $3.00
per ton by shredding before landfilling.
It becomes apparent through these comparisons that as
landfill.spaoe is used up, shredding will become more
beneficial, not only in terms of reducing hazards, but also in
terms of saving money.
Source Reduction
Source reduction measures that have limited potential for
reducing the number of tires to be disposed include:
- Design of extended life tires
- Reuse of used tires
- Retreading
Great strides have been made in the last 40 years in tire
manufacturing that have more than doubled the useful life of
tires. Further increases in life would require higher
pressure, thicker treads, or less flexible materials. All of
these methods would result in more gas consumption, more cost,
and/or rougher rides. Currently steel-belted radial passenger
tires last about 40,000 miles. If these tires are properly
inflated, rotated, and otherwise cared for, 60,000 to 80,000
mile lifetimes may be achieved. It is not expected that any
major design changes will occur in the near future that will
significantly increase tire life.
Frequently, when one or two tires of a set are worn out, the
entire set is replaced with new tires. Useful tread may
remain on two or three of the tires removed. Many tire stores
and tire haulers sort out the usable tires for resale.
Although the reuse of partially-worn tires can not by itself
be expected to solve the scrap tire problem in the USA, it can
reduce the number of tires scrapped each year. Based on
industry contacts, it has been estimated that on average about
10,000 miles of additional tire life can be realized out of 25
percent of the tires removed from vehicles. At this time an
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estimated 50 percent of those usable tires are being scrapped.
Reusing those tires would reduce the number scrapped by about
three percent.
The third source reduction measure which can extend the
useful tire life, and therefore reduce the number of tires
scrapped, is retreading. Retreading is the application of a
new tread to a worn tire that still has a good casing. There
are currently approximately 2,600 retreaders in the United
States; however, that number is shrinking because of the
decreased markets for passenger retreads. Truck tires are
often retreaded three times before being discarded and the
truck tire retreading business is increasing (4). On the
other hand, passenger tire retreading is declining. This
decline is primarily due to the low price of new tires and the
common perception that retreads are not as safe as new tires.
The price of inexpensive new passenger tires ($50 to $60) is
often at or near the price of guality retreads.
EPA promulgated procurement guidelines on November 17, 1989,
that promote the retreading of tires by government agencies
and entities funded by the government (5). If the retread
markets could be developed to double the 23 million passenger
tires retreaded in 1987, then 23 million fewer replacement
tires would be sold and that many fewer tires would be
scrapped each year, a reduction of almost 10 percent.
In EPA's waste management hierarchy, source reduction and
recycling rank higher than disposal. For tires, reuse of
rubber in tires would be initially the most logical response.
However, even though more than 50 percent of the nation's
rubber is used to make tires, new tires are only one to 2
percent recycled rubber. This helps explain why the problem
has become so large.
Below, we describe ways to recycle rubber and other
materials from tires.
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TIRE UTILIZATION METHODS
In this section, tire recycling methods are described.
These include whole tire and processed tire product
applications. The recycling discussion is followed by a
discussion of tire utilization methods that capture their
energy value. These are incineration and pyrolysis.
Applications of Whole waste Tires
Whole waste tires can be used for artificial reefs,
breakwaters, erosion control, playground equipment, and
highway crash barriers. Cape May County, New Jersey has a
goal of using 100,000 tires per year for artificial reefs, by
combining tires with concrete and placing them in the ocean
(6). Breakwaters of scrap tires for reducing the impact of
waves on shorelines, have been found by the Army Corps of
Engineers to be effective on small-scale waves and they are
occasionally used for this purpose. In some locations in
California, tires are being used for erosion control. Truck
and passenger tires are used in many community parks for
playground equipment. In the late 1970s the Texas
Transportation Institute studied the use of tires as crash
barriers. They were found to have excellent absorption
characteristics, but are cumbersome to erect and dismantle.
The total number of tires being used in whole tire
applications may be locally important, but on a national
scale, less than 0.1 percent of the scrap tires are used
whole.
Applications of Processed Waste Tires
Tire processing includes punching, splitting, or cutting
tires into products; processing tires into crumb rubber for
use in rubber or plastic products, railroad crossings, rubber
reclaim, or asphalt paving; and chopping tires into small
pieces or chips for use as gravel or wood chip substitutes.
Splitting/Punching of Tires. Tires may be either split,
punched, or stamped to yield shapes suitable for fabrication.
Products from the splitting of tires include floor mats,
belts, gaskets, shoe soles, dock bumpers, seals, muffler
hangers, shims, washers, and electrical insulators. The
market for this type of product is very limited. Estimates
for the U.S. market are about one percent of the total scrap
tire generation (7).
Manufacture of Crumb Rubber from Scrap Tires. Crumb rubber
is made by either mechanical or cryogenic size reduction of
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tires. Because of the high cost of cryogenic size reduction
(at liquid nitrogen temperatures), mechanical size reduction
by chopping and grinding is used most often. Rubber is ground
down to approximately 600 to 800 microns. A significant
portion of the crumb rubber market demand is met by buffings
and peels from retread shops. This rubber may be used in
rubber or plastic products, or processed further into reclaim
rubber or asphalt products.
Crumb Rubber in Rubber and Plastic Products. Crumb
rubber may be incorporated into rubber sheet and molded
products such as floor mats, vehicle mud guards, and carpet
padding or into plastic products, including plastic floor mats
and adhesives. About 2.3 million tires (1 percent) go into
these uses.
Crumb Rubber in Railroad crossings. OMNI
Products,Inc., a subsidiary of Reidel Environmental
Technologies, Inc., has a patented process for using crumb
rubber in railroad crossings (8). Currently only buffings
from tire retreading operations are being used, but the
company is testing the use of crumb rubber that still contains
the fiber.
Rubberized crossings compete with crossings made of asphalt
and timbers. The installed cost of the OMNI product is about
35 percent higher than timber and about 100 percent higher
than asphalt. OMNI claims that the life cycle cost of
rubberized crossings can be lower than competing materials
because they expect their product to last about 10 to 20 years
compared to 3 to 4 years for asphalt, depending on the
traffic.
Last year OMNI used over 16 million pounds of crumb rubber
and is expecting to use 20 million pounds this year. This is
equivalent in weight to about a million scrap tires.
Rubber Reclaim. For the traditional rubber "reclaim,"
crumb rubber is mixed with water, oil, and chemicals and
heated under pressure, thus rupturing the carbon-sulfur bonds
that cross-link the molecular matrix. The resulting partially
devulcanized rubber may be formed into slabs or bales and
shipped to manufacturers who process and vulcanize it for use
as an alternative to virgin rubber to use in tires or to make
mats and other rubber products.
Reclaim rubber tends to lose its elastic properties during
processing and, therefore, is no longer extensively used in
tires because of the flex needed. That is, it does not become
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like new rubber. However, new tires routinely contain one to
2 percent crumb rubber (9).
Approximately 3.4 million tires per year (1.5 percent) are
used for rubber reclaim (10). The production capacity for the
reclaim industry is estimated to be 5 to 7 million tires per
year or between 100 and 144 million pounds per year. Only
fifty to sixty percent of the industry's capacity is currently
being utilized due to limited market demand.
Crumb Rubber Additives for Pavements. Crumb rubber can
also be used in asphalt. There are two main types of
processes for doing this. Both types increase the durability
and flexibility of asphalt pavements. One application,
referred to as Rubber Modified Asphalt Concrete (RUMAC), or
the dry process, involves the displacement of some of the
aggregate in the asphalt mixture with the ground whole tires.
For this application the tire crumbs or chips may still
contain some of the reinforcing materials such as polyester,
fiberglass, and steel. PlusRide™ is the commercial name by
which one kind of RUMAC is marketed. The TAK system is
another form.
The second application of crumb rubber in asphalt involves
the blending/reactivating of a certain percentage of the
asphalt cement with a ground rubber that is free of other tire
constituents such as polyester, fiberglass, or steel. This
application is referred to as the Asphalt-Rubber Binder System
(Arizona process) or the wet process. While asphalt-rubber
uses less rubber per mile of pavement than RUMAC, it has been
tested at more locations of the United States over a longer
period of time. In the following pages, the technology and
uses of RUMAC are described, then the technology and uses of
asphalt-rubber. This is followed by a brief summary of
research on each type of rubber containing pavement.
Rubber Modified Asphalt Concrete. This process
typically uses 3 percent by weight (60 pounds per ton of total
mix) of granulated coarse and fine rubber particles to replace
some of the aggregate in the mixture (11). Wire and fabric
must be removed from the tire crumb. The granulated rubber is
graded to specifications and in the PlusRide™ system, the
aggregate is gap graded to make room for the rubber to be
uniformly dispersed throughout the paving mixture. TAK, the
other RUMAC system, uses a uniformly graded rubber crumb, and
therefore does not require gap grading of the aggregate.
The asphalt binder used in RUMAC is the same as used in
conventional asphalt. Therefore, no modifications or
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additional equipment are needed to mix the final product. The
formula for PlusRide™ was invented in Sweden in the late 1960s
and was patented in the United States under the trade name
PlusRide , and is marketed by PaveTech Corporation located in
Seattle, Washington.
PlusRide™ modified asphalt has been used in highways,
streets, bridges, and airports. PlusRide™ and TAK use all the
rubber in waste tires, including the sidewall interliner and
tread portions, recycling all but the steel and fabric. . Chief
advantages over conventional asphalt are increased flexibility
and durability, which make it suitable for rehabilitating road
surfaces with severe cracking.
Each year the United States consumes approximately 450
million tons of asphalt. At 60 pounds of rubber for each ton
of mix and 12 pounds of usable rubber per tire, there is
enough capacity to consume about 10 times the annual supply of
scrap tires.
Asphalt-Rubber. Asphalt-rubber was developed in
the late 1960s and was used primarily in the City of Phoenix,
Arizona. Asphalt-rubber involves the blending of granulated
used rubber into standard asphalt to improve the material's
qualities as a pavement surfacing substance. For the more
than 20-year history of asphalt-rubber, most applications have
been used for testing or experimental projects. The exception
has been the wide use and success of asphalt-rubber in Arizona
and other southwestern states, including California and Texas.
Most states that have not used asphalt-rubber extensively in
the past are awaiting material and application specifications
to be established. For this reason, asphalt-rubber has been
mostly contained to the southwest. It consumed 1.9 million
tires in its U.S. production in 1989 (12). Procurement
guidelines for the use of asphalt-rubber were proposed by the
U.S. EPA in 1986, but have been tabled since that time because
many state highway departments felt that not enough research
had been completed at that time to justify promotion of this
technology nationally through procurement guidelines. Table 1
compares the cost and life extension of asphalt-rubber as
reported by five states.
The longer pavement life claimed for asphalt rubber can be
attributed to higher viscosity and impermeability of asphalt-
rubber. These properties have decreased thermal cracking,
potholing, deformation, and reflective cracking in most states
in which tests were performed. Studies by the Alaska
Department of Transportation showed decreased stopping
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distances as a result of asphalt-rubber being more flexible
and preventing ice formation (13).
The Asphalt Rubber Producers Group (ARPG) suggests that the
doubled life of asphalt-rubber pavements provides two options
for departments of transportation. In one case, an
inexpensive application of asphalt-rubber applied to severely
deteriorated pavements can extend that pavement's life. For
new pavements, they suggest a long-term cost benefit by
performing more than twice as long as a standard pavement even
though its original cost was less than twice as much.
Table 1
COMPARISON OF ASPHALT-RUBBER COSTS
AMD STANDARD ASPHALT COSTS
Study
New York Department of
Transportat ion
California Department of
Transportat ion
Washington State
Phoenix
Ratio of
Asphalt-Rubber to
Standard Costs
1.50
2.0
1.05
2.00
Estimate of
Life Extension
1.5 to 3 times
3 times
2 times
Wisconsin Department of
Transportat ion
1.3 to 2.1
No improvement
to slightly
worse
Source: Franklin Associates, Ltd.
Research in RUXAC and Asphalt-Rubber. Research on
RUMAC in the United States, beginning in 1981, has been
conducted by a number of institutions and states, including
the University of Oregon, the University of Idaho, and the
California, Alaska, and New Jersey Departments of
Transportation, and the Colorado Department of Highways.
Tests are still underway, although most test results to date
indicate improved durability and skid resistance and less
cracking.
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At this time PlusRide™ is being tested by several states.
Because the initial cost of PlusRide™ is higher than
conventional asphalt, it is not being used routinely at this
time. Since 1979, this application has been used in over 60
test applications in the United States.
Asphalt-rubber has been tested in at least 25 states over
the last 2 decades. These data, if analyzed and summarized,
would together yield a substantial body of research and
conclusions on asphalt-rubber.
One of the concerns regarding both RUMAC and asphalt-rubber
highways is their recyclability. Old asphalt is typically
heated and mixed with fresh material to create new asphalt.
There is concern that when the rubber modified asphalt is
reheated, it may catch fire or produce noxious smoke. The
industry claims that this will not occur, and that recycling
of rubberized asphalt has been successfully done in Sweden.
Lightweight Road Construction Material. The State of
Minnesota has been using chipped tires as a lightweight fill
material where roads cross marginal subgrade since 1986. In
some areas of the country, this technology has potential for
recycling a large number of tires. This technology was
developed when the Department of Natural Resources, Division
of Forestry, was interested in developing low cost means for
crossing peat and other soft soils. Wood chips are often used
for this purpose. Because wood chips and rubber chips are
lightweight compared to gravel, settling of roadways is
greatly reduced.
Rubber chips for this technology are coarse shredded to four
to six inches in diameter, steel may be left in the shredded
tires. The cost of these tire chips is very competitive with
wood chips.
Minnesota has used close to a million tires to date for road
fill. In one 100-foot section north of the Twin Cities, where
the road crosses a peat bog, 3,000 cubic yards of tire chips
were used. This is equal to about 81,000 tires.
In late 1989, Minnesota tested tires for leachate and found
that leaching of heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons, and total petroleum hydrocarbons from tire chips
could not be completely ruled out (14). Now the preferred
method is to use wood chips below the water table and tire
chips above the wood chips. This is expected to extend the
life of the fill over using just wood chips, since wood chips
degrade in the unsaturated zone.
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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency estimates that about
20 to 30 percent of Minnesota's tires that are recycled will
be used as lightweight roadway fill. At this time other
states are not using this technology. Wisconsin, however, is
planning to evaluate it soon.
Playground Substitutes. At least two companies make a
playground gravel substitute from chipped used tires. This
may be made from radial tires, by chipping the tires down to
one-fourth to one-half inch, then using magnets to remove all
the pieces containing steel. Alternatively, the chips may be
cut from nylon tires, with the steel beads removed. Chips may
be dyed different colors.
.Advantages of the tire chips are that they provide a better
cushion than the standard materials such as asphalt, stone,
and wood chips. Its ability to drain water, stay clean, and
its long life are also attributes.
Playground tire chips are sold for $285 to $320 a ton plus
transportation. These chips are much more expensive than
alternate materials, which range from $15 to $35 per ton. As
a result it is not likely that large quantities of scrap tires
will be used for this technology.
Sludge Composting. Another use for tires that have been
shredded is as a bulking agent in the composting of wastewater
treatment sludge. The two-inch square chips are mixed with
the sludge to maximize air flow through the compost pile. The
chips are then removed from the compost and recycled prior to
its sale or use.
Tire chips have some disadvantages in sludge composting over
the most common alternate material, wood chips. The initial
cost of tire chips is about $60 to $80 per ton; whereas wood
chips are around $15 to $20 per ton. Another disadvantage is
that any possible dilution of contaminants in the sludge
(particularly heavy metals such as lead and cadmium) by wood
chips is lost (15). Since rubber does not decompose, none of
it stays with the compost as wood chips do. Another concern
that has been expressed is that zinc from the tires may
somehow adversely affect the compost. It is not clear at this
time whether these are valid environmental concerns.
Since tire chips don't degrade they can be completely
recycled; whereas, about 25 to 35 percent of wood chips are
lost to degradation with each batch.
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Shredded tire chips have been used successfully for five
years for sludge composting in Windsor, Ontario and the
technology has been considered in Columbus, Ohio; Nashville,
Tennessee, and several other U.S. communities. At this time,
however, no facilities in the United States are known to use
this technology on a routine basis.
The primary barrier to using tire chips for sludge
composting is the initial cost of the chips. Generally, no
Equipment modification is required. The U.S. capacity for
wastewater treatment plants that currently compost is 7,600
dry tons of sludge per day (16). If tire chips were utilized
to the same extent as Windsor, Ontario, then approximately
300,000 tons would be used per year. This is 30 million tires
per year. This type of usage is not likely to happen because
of the capital outlay required and the marginal benefits
received.
Combustion
Tires may also be utilized for their energy value, as they
have at least as high a Btu value as coal. This section
describes the ways tires are being used for fuel in the United
States.
In the past three years there have been major increases in
the utilization of waste tires as a fuel. Applications have
included power plants, tire manufacturing facilities, cement
kilns, and pulp and paper production. These applications have
demonstrated the capability to extract energy value from the
tires in an environmentally acceptable manner, while at the
same time alleviating tire disposal problems in their
communities.
Waste tires make an excellent fuel since they have a fuel
value slightly higher than that of coal, about 12,000 to
16,000 Btu per pound. On a national basis, they represent a
potentially significant energy source of .07 quadrillion Btu
per year, since there are roughly 234 million tires discarded
per year, each weighing about 20 pounds with 15,000 Btu per
pound. This is about 0.09 percent of the national energy
needs. As such, tires compete with other solid fuels—coal,
petroleum coke, and wopd wastes (hog fuel).
The most economical way to use tires for fuel is to burn
them whole. This obviates the need for expensive shredding
operations. However, the burning of whole tires requires a
relatively sophisticated high temperature combustion facility
to keep emissions within environmental limits. It also
1614
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requires equipment capable of handling the whole tires and
feeding them into the combustion chamber.
Most of the plants currently burning tires for fuel do not
have the capability to burn whole tires. Instead they must
burn tires that have been shredded into chunks. In this form
it is known as tire-derived fuel (tdf). The size of the
pieces can vary from 2 inches to 6 inches, depending on the
shredding operation. Typically, the rubber chunks also
contain steel wire from the tire beads and steel belts.
Removal of the wire involves an expensive process, which
requires fine shredding and the use of powerful magnets.
Wire-free tdf is considerably more expensive.
In the sections which follow, the use of tires and tdf in
various combustion facilities is discussed:
Power plants
Tire manufacturing plants
Cement kilns
Pulp and paper plants
Power Plants. Only one company in the United States is
burning whole tires in a power plant. This company, Oxford
Energy, headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, built a 14 MW
power plant in Modesto, California that uses whole tires as
its only fuel. They have operated it since 1987 (17).
Oxford Energy has pursued a strategy of developing an
integrated waste tire utilization system (18). Their
philosophy is to collect and sort the waste tires, utilizing
them for fuel or other applications, with no tires going to
landfills. This approach includes culling out the tires in
best condition, which can be sold as used tires or retreadable
casings. The vast majority of the tires are used in a whole-
tire-to-energy plant. Other tires are shredded for fuel for
cement plants or pulp and paper plants. Some tires are
selected as raw material for manufacturing processes involving
stamping, peeling, or buffing.
The technology used at the Modesto plant allows for all the
by-products to be recycled. The steel slag from the
incinerator, which contains the steel from the tire belts and
beads, is being sold for use in cement production or road
base. The zinc oxide from the baghouse can be used in zinc
production or as part of a fertilizer. Currently all of the
zinc oxide is being sold for zinc production. The gypsum
generated by the scrubber is used as a soil conditioner.
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The power generated at Modesto is sold to Pacific Gas and
Electric Company (PG&E). Oxford has a long-term agreement
with the utility to provide electric power. Currently, the
buy-back rate is 8.3 cents per kilowatt hour.
The factors that are important in developing a successful
whole-tires-to-energy plant are:
Market for energy
Proximity to waste tire supply.
In addition to the Modesto plant, Oxford Energy has begun
construction of a second plant in Sterling, Connecticut,
planned to incinerate 9 to 10 million tires per year. The
company is considering plants in Lackawanna, New York and
Moapa, Nevada, near Las Vegas. With the completion of the
Sterling, Connecticut plant, there will be capacity in the
U.S. to turn 14 million tires per year into electricity.
Tire Manufacturing Plants. Two Firestone tire plants have
installed pulsating floor furnaces to dispose of scrap tires
and other solid wastes (7). The two Firestone tire-burning
furnaces are located in Des Moines, Iowa and Decatur, Illinois
and each has the capacity to burn approximately 500,000 tires
per year. They were built in 1983 and 1984, respectively.
Currently, only the Decatur incinerator is operating. The
Des Moines incinerator was shut down in 1987 for exceeding
opacity limits. The Des Moines plant produces very large
agricultural tires which are much more difficult to burn
without opacity problems than the passenger tires produced at
Decatur. Reopening the Des Moines incinerator would probably
require the addition of a baghouse, which the Firestone
Company reports is not economically feasible.
The incinerator configuration used by Firestone at these two
plants appears best suited to a tire manufacturing operation
with capability to use the process steam. Each of the
incinerators has the capacity to handle approximately 500,000
tires per year. No additional tire-burning incinerators using
the pulsed hearth design have been built since these two
plants were constructed.
Cement Kilns. Cement kilns are ideal furnaces for disposing
of waste tires because they operate at very high temperatures.
Kiln temperatures, which are typically around 2,600 degrees
Fahrenheit prevent the formation of dioxins and furans, a
primary consideration in solid waste incineration. In
addition, the cement production process can utilize the iron
1616
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contained in the tires' steel beads and belts. The steel does
not change the quality of the cement product, since large
quantities of iron ore are already present as one, of the main
ingredients.
At present there are only three cement plants utilizing tdf
in the U.S. This is in sharp contrast to other countries,
where tires have been used extensively as fuel in cement
plants for many years. In particular, cement plants in West
Germany, Austria, France, Greece, and Japan routinely burn
tires. The slower adoption of this means of tire disposal in
the U.S. is probably due to the relative economics—fuel
prices are lower here and there are still some landfills that
will accept tires at fairly low tipping fees. Also, some
feedstock configurations are more compatible with tdf than
others. In addition, some kiln owners are hesitant to start
using tdf because it necessitates re-entering the permitting
process.
Pulp and Paper Production. There are many furnaces at pulp
and paper plants which are configured to burn wood waste,
which is also known as hog fuel. Often these furnaces can be
fed tdf without major capital equipment changes. Sometimes a
pulp and paper plant will choose to burn only wire-free tdf,
with all the pieces of steel beads and belts removed. This
type of tire fuel usually costs about 50 percent more than
ordinary tdf, because of the extra processing costs involved
in finer shredding and removing the steel pieces by magnetic
separation. The choice of the more expensive wire-free tdf is
indicated in cases where the feed system for hog fuel has a
tendency to get plugged up by pieces of wire. There are alsp
pulp and paper plants that sell their furnace ash to farmers
for agricultural uses. Sometimes the farmers want the ash to
be free of iron, a condition that can only be met by using
wire-free tdf.
Use of Tire-Derived Fuel. Measurements of emissions from
burning tdf with hog fuel in furnaces in the pulp and paper
industry indicate levels generally similar to those measured
from burning hog fuel alone, with some increase in
particulate. Tests on two hog fuel furnaces run by the State
of Washington Department of Ecology found that they both were
capable of burning tdf as auxiliary fuel without significantly
increasing the emission of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
(PNA) (19). They did, however, find some increase in
particulate emissions—29,000 grams per hour with tdf versus
21,000 without for the first furnace and 7,000 grams per hour
with versus 5,000 without for the second furnace. As
expected, there was an increase in zinc emissions—22,200
1617
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grams per hour with tdf versus 1,400 without for the first
furnace and 1,400 grains per hour with tdf versus 210 without
for the second furnace. The levels of vanadium, nickel, lead,
chromium, and cadmium were found to be much higher in burning
oil than in burning tdf.
Experience in the pulp and paper industry has shown that hog
fuel boilers can use tdf for up to 15 percent of their fuel
value. At higher percentages emissions of particulates may
exceed environmental limits. The percentage can be adjusted
to meet operational and environmental limits (20).
Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis of tires involves the application of heat to
produce chemical changes and derive various products such as
gas, oil, and carbon black. Although several experimental
pyrolysis units have been tried, none has yet sustained
commercial operation. The oil produced by the process would
have to compete with oil conventionally produced from crude,
at its current relatively low prices. There is also the
problem of marketing the char by-products, which often require
upgrading before they can be sold.
MARKET BARRIERS TO WASTE TIRE UTILIZATION
There are substantial barriers to the utilization of waste
tires. These barriers can be classified into two main
types—economic and noneconomic.
Economic barriers refer to the high costs or limited
revenues associated with various waste tire utilization
methods which make them unprofitable. No tire
processor will invest time or capital unless there is a
sufficient rate of return to justify the efforts.
Noneconomic barriers refer to attitudes of consumers,
processors, and regulators, such as a reluctance to
employ new approaches or technologies. Other
noneconomic barriers include administrative procedures
and regulations.
The difficulty of these barriers is evident from the
continuing buildup of tire stockpiles and dumps over the last
several years.
This section will address the barriers affecting the two
categories of waste tire utilization that have been identified
as having the greatest potential for using a considerable
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proportion of scrap tires generated. Both of these uses
depend on proven technologies and both have the potential for
being used in many areas of the country.
Crumb Rubber Additives for Pavements
Asphalt-rubber for pavement use is currently experiencing a
rapid growth. The Asphalt Rubber Producers Group (ARPG)
claims a 67 percent growth in 1989 over 1988, and is expecting
a 100 percent growth for 1990. Many states have tested
asphalt-rubber for roads, with about a half dozen leading the
way.
RUMAC has been tested in the United States since 1979.
Questions on longevity of the rubber modified mix are being
answered. Results of laboratory testing and field performance
observations by the Federal Highway Administration on a 1983
demonstration project at Mt. Saint Helens in Washington showed
PlusRideTH has two to seven times higher fatigue life than
conventional asphalt pavements.
Economic Barriers. The economic barrier for asphalt-rubber
and rubber modified asphalt concrete for pavements is the high
initial cost to the highway departments. It is difficult to
obtain good data on the capital investment necessary to
convert an asphalt operation to add rubber. But, the net
result for both asphalt-rubber and RUMAC is that incorporating
rubber into the asphalt costs the states about two times as
much as standard asphalt. Although the test results for
pavements containing asphalt-rubber are not complete yet, in
most cases a factor of two or more in pavement lifetime is
achieved. RUMAC has not been tested as long in the United
States as asphalt-rubber; but again, claims and projections
are that lifetimes will be extended by a factor of 2 or more
over conventional asphalt. Therefore, if transportation
departments evaluate costs over the life of the roads, the
overall costs are the same or less for pavements containing
rubber. The ARPG says asphalt-rubber roads are cost effective
on a life-cycle basis.
The entities responsible for highways and roads are usually
the state and local governments. It is difficult for them to
justify doubling the initial highway repair investment
especially if the state is not quite convinced yet what the
expected road life is. in addition, governmental officials
may be trying to meet goals of a certain number of road miles
paved per year. It may be more difficult for them to make
decreased life-cycle cost their main goal.
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Noneconomic Barriers. One of the major noneconomic barriers
to the use of asphalt-rubber and RUMAC in the past has been
the lack of long-term test results. Some of the asphalt-
rubber roads installed 15 to 20 years ago are still in
excellent condition. Many of these results are now available
and more states are looking toward asphalt-rubber.
Some testing in Wisconsin indicated that asphalt-rubber,
when blended with recycled asphalt, may actually crack before
recycled roads without rubber. This temporarily halted
activities in that state. However, after re-evaluating their
results and results from other states, Wisconsin has just
installed 30 miles of asphalt-rubber roadway and is planning
three new projects in 1990.
There is a need to summarize the results of asphalt-rubber
and RUMAC research and establish guidelines that would help
states use this process. Texas has already passed procurement
guidelines.
Another potential barrier, the ability to recycle pavements
containing rubber, needs to be tested. Given the similarity
of the substance to conventional asphalt, however, it should
be a matter of how, not whether, it can best be recycled.
Another barrier is the lack of national specifications for
pavements containing rubber. Some states appear to be waiting
for specifications to be written. The American Society for
Testing of Materials (ASTM) has developed a standard
specification (ASTM D-04.45) for asphalt-rubber to be voted on
by its members in 1990-91.
Some states have expressed concern that, because several
forms of rubberized asphalt are patented, prices for this
material may be higher than they would be if the material were
not patented. The patent for asphalt-rubber expires in 1991.
After that time ARPG expects more companies to become
involved. The TAK process is not patented, but also has not
been tested as long as some other types of rubberized asphalt.
Combustion
Economic Barriers. The economic barriers for combustion of
tires relate primarily to the limit of the revenue for
electricity or tire-derived fuel (tdf) by the tire processor.
These are explained for both power plants and plants using
tire-derived fuel.
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Power Plants. The key economic factor for a tires-
to-
energy power plant is the buy-back rate granted by the
utility. Tire-to-energy power plants can only be considered
where the buy-back rate is high. This rate, determined by the
Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA), reflects the
avoided cost, which is the cost per kilowatt-hour that the
\itility would incur if they purchased power from another
utility or built a plant themselves to generate additional
power. Generally, avoided costs are highest in California and
the northeast, where oil is the major fuel, and lowest in the
northwest, where hydro-power is available. For Oxford
Energy's Modesto power plant the rate is 8.3 cents per
kilowatt-hour.
Utility investors generally expect a pay-back period to be
less than seven years for projects such as a tires-to-energy
facility. Existing whole-tires-to-energy plants (operating
and in the process of being built) appear to have a pay-back
period which is somewhat less than seven years. The utility
buy-back rate is the critical economic barrier in determining
whether a plant is economically feasible. Tipping fees, of
course, also are a factor.
Tire-Derived Fuel. In analyzing the economic
feasibility of a tire-derived fuel venture, the main economic
barrier is the price of the competing fuel. For instance, the
cement plants in Texas and Louisiana are often able to obtain
petroleum coke locally, a waste product from the petroleum
refining process. Petroleum coke is a cheaper fuel than
tires? therefore, tdf can not capture this local market.
Similarly, tdf must often compete with coal as the fuel for
cement plants. If tdf is only slightly cheaper, it is hard to
justify any capital costs for new equipment that might be
necessary to burn tdf. Obviously tdf becomes more attractive
if energy prices rise.
For a cement kiln operator, if coal costs $50 per ton and
the same Btu value can be obtained from tdf for $20 per ton,
then of course the operator has saved $30 per ton using tdf.
If the cement kiln operator has to make capital investment of
$1.5 million to set up the feed system for the tdf, the pay-
back period might be two to three years, given a burn rate of
65 tons of tdf per day.
If, on the other hand, coal was available at $35 per ton,
the pay-back period would be over four years and the
investment in new equipment for processing tdf would not be
economically attractive.
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For pulp and paper plants, generally very little equipment
modification is necessary to burn tdf as they are already
equipped to burn hog fuel. A pulp and paper plant can often
burn tdf economically. The annual cost savings can justify
minor modifications to the equipment to handle tdf.
Noneconomic Barriers. There are two main barriers to tire
combustion facilities—and they are related. The first is
environmental concerns and the second is permitting and
siting.
Power Plants. Tires-to-energy power plants are large
facilities that cost from $30 million to $100 million. Those
produced by Oxford Energy, have a scrubber, a thermal de-NOx
unit, and a baghouse. The high temperature reciprocating
grate technology also helps prevent formation of pollutants,
such as dioxins, during combustion. The by-products, fly ash,
gypsum, and steel slag, are or can be used rather than needing
disposal.
Public concerns regarding the siting and permitting of such
facilities also delay their development. Concerns regarding
tire storage at these sites, potential environmental
pollution, and also the not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) syndrome,
can all be factors that delay siting, permitting, and
operation of such facilities.
Tire-Derived Fuel. A switch over from coal, to the use
of tdf in cement kilns, generally requires test burns with air
pollution measurements. Many plant operators would rather not
bother with the disruption and delay, which can eat into their
projected cost savings from the switch from coal to tdf.
There is a similar situation with pulp and paper mills
attempting to burn tdf. Generally, state and local
environmental permits require test burns of the new fuel.
Since tdf burned in pulp and paper mills tends to increase the
particulates emitted, the permits sometimes restrict the
percentage of tdf that can be burned. Again, concerns
regarding possible regulatory delays or siting can prevent an
operator from converting to tdf.
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OPTIONS FOR MITIGATING THE SCRAP TIRE PROBLEM
There is now a general public awareness throughout the U.S.
that a waste tire problem exists. However, there is still
controversy about the best solution to the problem and how we
get there from here. This section provides options for
addressing the problem. Due to space limitations, all
solutions are not mentioned here. But due to the limits of
each particular solution, it appears that every solution will
need to be utilized to a greater or lesser extent, in order to
solve the scrap tire problem.
Taxes or Fees for Transferring Vehicle Titles
The State of Minnesota has been levying a title transfer tax
on motor Vehicles for several years and using the money to
work on solving the waste tire problem. Only a few states
have this type of fee because it is difficult to pass the
required legislation.
Refundable and Nonrefundable Fees on Tires
As of January 1990 at least 5 states have this type of tax
or fees and 9 have proposed it. Some people claim that it is
fairer than a title transfer tax, since it is paid only by
those buying tires. Tire dealers generally prefer the title
transfer tax so that they do not get involved administratively
with the tax collection.
The State of Oregon pays a bounty of one cent for every
pound of tires recycled or used for energy. Currently, pulp
and paper mills are taking advantage of this incentive.
Regulating Tire Stockpiles
Fifteen states have regulated tire stockpiles. Generally
regulations limit the size of stockpiles, limit the length of
tire storage, require fire lanes, require stockpiles to be
fenced in, and may also require permits for stockpiles over a
given size. In addition, some states require owners of
stockpiles to establish financial responsibility—in other
words, prove they have the funds to completely remove and
dispose of the tires, if necessary.
Identify and Clean up Tire Damps
Most of the states that have developed tire funds,
(generally from the taxes or vehicle transfer fees) are using
them to identify and clean up the dumps.
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Grants and Loans
Some states also provide funds, in the form of grants or
loans, to entrepreneurs as seed money to businesses that
utilize scrap tires. The State of Michigan is one of the
states that has been actively pursuing this approach.
Both states and the federal government have sponsored
research. There has been continuing federal research on the
waste tire problem for many years. Much of the research has
been funded by EPA and the Department of Energy. Presently
the Department of Energy is funding Air Products & Chemical
Company for the development of a fluorine surface treatment of
tire rubber so that it can be used in making composites.
Both the Federal Highway Administration, and in the 1970s,
the EPA, have funded research on the use of rubber in
pavements. Many states' highway departments have also funded
research.
Research on the use of crumb rubber in asphalt paving needs
to be intensified and brought to a conclusion. Research on
newer forms of rubber and asphalt mixtures, some without
patent protection (thus available at lower cost), needs to be
continued. Some research on how asphalt-rubber and rubber
modified asphalt concrete can best be recycled should be
performed.
Procurement Strategies
The Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act of 1976
mandated that EPA prepare guidelines for the purchase of
retreaded tires for federal agencies. The final rule was
issued November 17, 1988 and became effective November 17,
1989. Since then General Services Administration (GSA) has
developed specifications for retreaded tires and is developing
test protocols for testing tires.
On February 20, 1986 EPA proposed procurement guidelines for
asphalt-rubber, however, they were not made final because many
state highway departments felt that not enough research had
been completed at that point to justify promotion of this
technology nationally through procurement guidelines.
Procurement guidelines for materials such as asphalt-
rubber, reprocessed rubber, and rubber railroad crossings are
all potential means of helping to encourage these uses of
scrap tires.
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Encourage Coordination Among states
States and communities, with the help of EPA, can work
together to address tire problems. They can pool resources so
that studies of the use of rubber in pavements, and studies of
other uses of rubber from tires, could be performed on a
larger scale leading to more useful results. In addition, the
states that feel they have invested in the results are more
likely to take positive action based on the results.
Tires tend to migrate to the least expensive legal use.
Neighboring jurisdictions should work together in planning
their policies so that there are consistent economic
incentives to send the tires to a location where they can be
utilized, such as a tires-to-energy power plant or a tdf
production facility. This can help ensure the success of the
facility. For instance, if one town has a tires-to-energy
power plant, it is counterproductive for a nearby city to set
up a municipally subsidized landfill with a shredder that will
accept tires at a lower tipping fee. In this case, most of
the tires would gravitate toward the lower tipping fee and be
landfilled rather than go to the power plant to be utilized.
Education and Promotion
Providing information to states and local governments on
tire pile cleanup and best management practices for tire
stockpiles is important. In addition, dissemination of
information on potential uses of tires, both for the
constituent rubber, fabric, and steel,'and for energy
recovery, is crucial. Promotion of source reduction
alternatives such as the use of retread tires is also an
important aspect of the solution to the tire problem.
Tax Incentives
Tax incentives were utilized as part of the financing
package to build the Modesto tires-to-energy power plant.
Tax-free municipal bonds were issued to borrow money from
investors to build the plant. Utilizing tax-free municipal
bonds allowed borrowing the money at a lower interest rate.
However, these were industrial development bonds, a type that
can no longer be issued since the 1986 tax reform act was
passed.
Entrepreneurs are clearly responsive to tax incentives in
building a major waste tire processing facility such as this
one. If a state or local government deemed it especially
1625
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desirable to site such a facility they could enact legislation
to award appropriate tax breaks.
The utility buy-back rates paid to tires-to-energy have an
effect similar to tax incentives. The difference is that the
money ultimately comes from the utility customers rather than
the tax payers. No state has yet attempted to increase the
buy-back rate for tires-to-energy plants using state funding.
Landfilling of Tires
Finally, landfilling of tires, though not the preferred
option, must be retained as an alternative for states or
counties that lack the capacity to recycle or incinerate all
their scrap tires. Many states require that tires be split
(Florida requires at least eight pieces), before landfilling.
The State of Ohio is considering tire monofills and monocells.
It is important not to restrict tire management options
prematurely, before there is enough source reduction and
utilization capacity to be able to preclude landfilling.
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CONCLUSIONS
Each year about 234 million tires are scrapped. Current
trends indicate that only 13.3 percent of these tires are
being recycled as fuel or products. The rest are being
landfilled, stockpiled, or dumped illegally.
EPA wishes to encourage tire recycling, with special concern
for reducing the number of tires in uncontrolled stockpiles or
illegal dumps. These tires are often sites of mosquito
infestation, with the potential for spreading dangerous
mosquito-borne diseases. Large tire dumps can also lead to
fires with major releases of air pollution and hazardous
liquids, as well as high costs for clean up.
Recycling rubber from tires for use in asphalt pavements is
a promising technology. Asphalt pavements with rubber added
can have twice the lifetime of ordinary asphalt, but they can
cost twice as much. Pavements with crumb rubber additives
consume over one million tires per year now, and both asphalt-
rubber and rubber modified asphalt concrete have considerable
potential for expansion. If federal, state, and local
governments promote much broader use and demonstration of this
technology, perhaps the jury can finally be called in and a
decision made on the viability of this technology.
Recycling whole tires as fuel in reciprocating grate power
plants appears to be economically feasible in some situations,
and can meet environmental permitting requirements. One such
plant in Modesto, California, is currently consuming 4.5
million tires per year. One more power plant is under
construction in Connecticut and is expected to consume an
additional ten million tires per year.
The replacement of coal by tire-derived-fuel appears
economically feasible for cement kilns using whole tire and
shredded tire technology for the feed. Three such kilns are
currently operating in the U.S., consuming the equivalent of
about five million tires per year between them. There is
potential for this use to expand further, particularly for
those cement kilns whose feed systems are compatible with the
use of tdf.
Tire-derived fuel is economically feasible for use in hog
fuel boilers in the pulp and paper industry. It is estimated
that the equivalent of 12 million tires is consumed annually
in this way in the U.S. There is potential for this use to
expand further.
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Other technologies and options are promising on a smaller
scale, but also are important to the overall solution.
Increased retreading could utilize an additional 23 million
passenger tires per year, thus delaying their disposal. This
would result in 23 million fewer tires being disposed of per
year.
Rubber railroad crossings, though a small portion of the
current market, could expand greatly (particularly if
supported by government procurement guidelines). Other-uses
are important locally. Cape May County, New Jersey uses
100,000 tires per year, which is 100 percent of its scrap
tires, for artificial reefs. The State of Minnesota has used
about a million of its tires since 1986 for roads in swampy
areas.
The markets for most other products made from tires have
potential, but appear to be relatively small. These include
artificial reefs, playground equipment, erosion control,
highway crash barriers, playground gravel substitute, sludge
composting, and rubber mats. Each of these products has the
potential for using some portion of our waste tire stockpile.
Collectively, they are all important parts of the solution to
the tire problem.
162B
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REFERENCES
National Petroleum News Fact Book, 1988. Reporting
data from December 1987 Monthly Statistical Report of
the Rubber Manufacturers Association.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid
Waste. The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action.
February 1989.
Scrap Tire News. Volume 4, Number 1. January/February
1990.
Letter from E.J. Wagner, Technical Consultant.
American Retreaders1 Association, Inc. July 1989.
Federal Register. 40 CFR Part 253. November 17, 1988.
Scrap Tire News. Volume 3, Number 3. May/June 1989.
Sladek, Thomas A., Ph.D. and Demos, E.K., Ph.D.
Disposal Techniques with Energy Recovery for Scrapped
Vehicle Tires. City and County of Denver. 1987.
Telephone conversation with Ron Nutting. OMNI
Products, Inc. July 1989.
Telephone conversation with Jack Zimmer, Goodyear.
Akron, Ohio. 1989.
U.S. Department of Commerce. Current Industrial
Reports. MA30A(87)-1. June 1988.
Telephone conversation with Mike Harrington, Pavetech
Corporation. March 1990.
Letter from Russell Schnormeier, Asphalt Rubber
Producers Group. April 1990.
Alaska Department of Transportation. Asphalt Pavements
Modified with Coarse Rubber Particles, Design,
Construction, and Ice Control Observations. August
1984.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Waste Tires in
Sub-Grade Road Beds. February 19, 1990.
1629
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STATE INCENTIVES FOR PRIVATE SECTOR SCRAP TIRE RECYCLING:
THE OKLAHOMA PROGRAM
Thomas E. James
Science and Public Policy Program
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma 73019
and
Richard Brooks
Solid Waste Division
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152
Presented at the
First U.S. Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management
June 13-16, 1990
1631
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STATE INCENTIVES FOR PRIVATE SECTOR SCRAP TIRE RECYCLING:
THE OKLAHOMA PROGRAM
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM
Approximately two billion automobile and truck tires have
been discarded in the United States and about 250 million
tires are added each year (Houston 1988; U.S. Congress, Office
of Technology Assessment 1989). Automobiles and light trucks
account for about 80 percent of the scrap tires, with the
remainder coming from buses, medium and heavy duty trucks, and
off-road vehicles. Only 2 5-3 0 percent of the discarded tires
are reclaimed, most for recapping; the remainder are stock-
piled, placed in landfills, or illegally dumped (National
Solid Wastes Management Association 1989). At least 34 stock-
piles, each containing at least 100,000 tires, have been
identified in the U.S. (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology
Assessment). In Oklahoma, approximately three million scrap
tire are generated each year and an estimated 30 million tires
have been illegally dumped across the state. Tire stockpiles,
as estimated by surveys conducted by county sanitarians, range
from many small piles of less than 100 tires up to a single
stockpile containing four million tires.
Discarded tires present a serious solid waste management
problem. When placed in a landfill, tires do not degrade and
tend to work their way back to the surface due to the buoyancy
created by trapped air and landfill gases. When the buried
1632
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tires reach the surface they can break through the landfill
cap, exposing the buried waste to precipitation and increasing
the production of leachate that could threaten water supplies
(Sladek 1989). This makes permanent closure of the landfill
extremely difficult. The problems caused by landfilled tires
can be addressed by chopping or shredding the tires prior to
burial, but few landfill operators have this capacity. Conse-
quently, more and more landfills are refusing to accept tires,
or charge significantly increased tipping fees in order to
discourage use of the landfill as a disposal option.
Due to the shrinking number of landfills that will accept
tires and the high tipping fees from many that do, above
ground storage and illegal dumping has increased. Both can
pose significant threats to the environment and public health.
For example, air, water, and soil pollution from burning tires
can be a serious problem. Although tires are not easily
ignited, once on fire (from arson or lightning), they are
extremely difficult to extinguish. Long-burning tire fires
have occurred in Virginia, Texas, Florida, Washington, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and
Connecticut. A scrap tire fire in Winchester, Virginia burned
from October 31, 1983 until June 14, 1984. The fire consumed
seven to nine million tires and produced a thick black smoke
and 250,000 gallons of oil that contaminated the dump. The
1633
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cleanup cost exceeded $3 million (Stark 1989; U.S. Congress,
Office of Technology Assessment 1989).
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, at
least 87 significant tire fires occurred in the United States
last year, twice the number of two year ago (Schneider 1990).
The U.S. is not the only country facing problems associated
with tire disposal. On February 12, 1990, a 17-day fire
consumed most of the 14 million tires stockpiled at an 11-acre
Hagersville, Ontario site. The tires were stacked in piles 30
feet high; approximately 158,000 gallons of oil produced by
the burning tires has been collected and processed at a nearby
refinery. About $1.5 million was spent to fight the fire and
it could take an estimated $3 million more for clean-up and to
assess the environmental damage (Schneider 1990).
Large stockpiles of tires also serve as breeding grounds
for disease-carrying animals and insects. Rats and skunks
(freguent carriers of rabies) often are found in and around
tire dumps. The stagnate water held in the tires is an ideal
environment for encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes. In an
effort to stem the spread of the Asian Tiger mosquito, the
Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted a rule which requires
commercial accumulations of more than 50 tires be kept dry,
covered, shredded, or sprayed with approved pesticides (Unive-
rsity of Illinois 1989). The U.S. EPA estimates that the
1634
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annual health cost associated with scrap tire related enceph-
alitis amounts to $5.4 million (as cited in Stark 1989).
SCRAP TIRE DISPOSAL ALTERNATIVES
A wide range of options have been suggested as solutions
to the disposal of scrap tires, including: building fish
reefs; river embankment construction and erosion control; as
an additive to asphalt; industrial fuel (e.g., cement kilns
and paper production); as a feedstock for waste-to-energy
facilities; recycled into household items (e.g., doormats,
garbage cans) or other commercial products (e.g., crash bar-
riers, mats for animal bedding); and pyrolysis to recover oil
and gas (Schnormeier 1988; Rautenberg 1988; Sladek 1989;
Misner 1990; Sikora 1990). Many of these alternatives have
met with less than encouraging results due to economic and/or
environmental constraints such as transportation costs, compe-
tition with fluctuating prices for virgin rubber, and the
substantial investment required to build an environmentally
acceptable facility (Rautenberg 1988).
Perhaps one of the most attractive options for tire
disposal is their use as a fuel or to produce fuels (Sladek
1989). The Oxford Energy Company operates the first tire-
fueled electric power plant to burn whole tires, exclusively.
The Modesto Energy Project, located in Westley, California,
burns 800 tires per hour, produces 14.4 megawatts of electric-
1635
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ity, and is expected to meet the needs of 15,000 homes for the
next 15 years (Mattheis 1988; Rautenberg 1988). The Connec-
ticut Siting Council has given approval to Oxford Energy for
the construction of a similar facility in Sterling, Connec-
ticut. However, because of the significant cost of large
tire-fueled plants and the transportation cost associated with
developing and maintaining a stockpile sufficient to supply
such a plant, the location of these facilities will likely be
limited to areas with large population concentration.
In November, 1989, Waste Recovery Inc. began shipping
fuel to paper mills in Georgia from its tire processing plant
in Atlanta. The plant is expected to process the equivalent
of five million passenger tires the first year with a capacity
to handle 8-10 million tires a year. Tire shipments are being
received from Ohio, New Jersey, Florida and North Carolina
(Recycling Today 1989). However, the Waste Recovery tire
processing plant in Baytown, Texas may shut down due to poor
demand for tire-derived fuel (Resource Recycling 1990).
STATE POLICY INITIATIVES
In spite of the growing use of scrap tires in a wide
range of products and processes, the piles continue to grow.
State governments are increasingly developing initiatives to
address the problems associated with this hard-to-dispose-of
1636
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waste.1 The directions taken by these initiatives are varied.
For example, North Carolina has levied a one percent sales tax
on new tires which will be allocated to the counties to prov-
ide disposal sites. Illinois has added a $2 fee to vehicle
titles and Maine has imposed a $1 per tire fee to be used to
fund disposal and recycling programs. Rhode Island imposes a
tax of 50 cents per tire to be collected by wholesalers upon
sale of the tire to retailers. An additional $3 per vehicle
is levied on the title of new cars and trucks. The funds are
to be used to establish educational and technical assistance
programs for reuse and safe disposal, to establish state owned
and operated regional collection centers, and for grant-in-aid
research programs to study handling and disposal (the tire
program is part of a larger program for hard-to-dispose-of
materials). Florida, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington, also
have imposed special taxes on tire sales to raise funds to
deal with scrap tires.
Maryland, and Texas are among the states that have set
restrictions on the size of storage areas for scrap tires or
the number of tires that can be stored at a single site with-
out processing. Under the Maryland law, tires may be stored
States with scrap tire initiatives include: California,
Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota,
North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode
Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.
1637
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for up to 90 days, at which time the collector must show proof
of a secured market. Minnesota established a fund for financ-
ing construction costs of tire recycling facilities through
contract controlled privatization. Florida, Illinois, Michi-
gan, and Wisconsin have grant and loan programs for scrap tire
processing and recycling (Lueck 1989? Naber 1989; Sladek
1989) .
THE OKLAHOMA WASTE TIRE PROGRAM
Although many programs have similar components, no two
state programs are exactly the same. Where agreement does
exist on general provisions, the specifics of implementation
often differ. For example, scrap tire legislation generally
provides for funding through a fee or surcharge on tires.
However, disagreement exists with respect to the point of
collection (e.g., as part of vehicle registrations and title
transfers or on new tire sales).
The Oklahoma Waste Tire Recycling Act (HB 1532), became
effective July 1, 1989 with a goal of cleaning up existing
tire dumps across the state and providing an alternative for
the disposal of current and future scrap tires. The Act
combines many of the provisions found singularly in the prog-
rams of other states, including: (1) the establishment of a
Waste Tire Recycling Indemnity Fund through a $1.00 fee on
each tire purchased for an automobile or light truck (laden
1638
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weight of 10,000 pounds or less); (2) specifications for
characteristics of the material that results from scrap tire
processing; (3) permitting and certification requirements for
waste tire facilities; and (4) restrictions on the size of
tire piles.
Of the $1.00 collected on each new tire sold, $0,025 is
kept by the tire dealer and the remainder goes to the Waste
Tire Recycling Indemnity Fund. Four percent of the Fund is
available to the Oklahoma Tax Commission and four percent is
available to the State Department of Health for the purpose of
administering the requirements of the Act. The remaining
money in the Fund supports a provision that is unique among
scrap tire programs. In order to promote the development of
scrap tire processing facilities, such facilities are compen-
sated at the rate of up to $.50 per tire for processing to
make scrap tires available and accessible for recycling,
reuse, or energy recovery. In order to qualify for compensa-
tion, at least 25 percent of the tires processed by the facil-
ity must be collected from tire dumps identified on a priority
enforcement list developed by the State Department of Health.
The State Department of Health also must verify that the tires
have been processed into particles not larger than four square
inches.
1639
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It is unlawful for any person to own or operate a site
used for storage, collection, or disposal of more than fifty
discarded tires without a permit. Exceptions are provided for
tires used for agricultural purposes; the use of tires for
erosion control, bank stabilization, and other conservation
projects; and manufactures, retailers, wholesalers, and re-
treaders who store 2,500 or few used tires at their place of
business or designated off premise storage site.
In order to qualify for reimbursement from the Indemnity
Fund, a tire processing facility must secure a permit from the
State Department of Health. The major provisions of the
permit include:
Types of Facilities
o Permanent Facility—permanent facilities must be
designed and constructed to be capable of storing no
more than 250,000 whole tires. A closure bond based
on storage of 250,000 whole tires and the projected
amount of processed material will be established
unless the permit provides for fewer whole tires.
o Mobile Operations—mobile units must process waste
tires directly into a truck or moveable container
which is transported daily to a permitted facility.
Facility Construction Requirements
o Fire Protection—a signed document indicating that a
fire protection plan has been approved by the respon-
sible fire fighting official must be included with the
permit application.
o Fire Lane—at least a 50 foot fire lane must be main-
tained around the perimeter of each tire pile or tire
pile and shredder. The lanes must be unobstructed.
1640
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o Buffer Zone—a buffer zone of at least 75 feet in
width must be established between adjacent property
and stored tires or processed material.
o Visual Screening—visual screening shall be provided
to improve the aesthetic compatibility with adjacent
land uses. Trees and plant materials are the prefer-
red methods to achieve screening.
o Vector Control—procedures must be established to
monitor and control vermin. Mosquito monitoring
devices must be installed to determine population and
whether action is warranted for control.
o Surface Drainage—each tire pile must be bounded by a
berm to prevent surface water runoff. Collected
runoff shall be diverted to an evaporation pond. No
water which comes in contact with waste material shall
be discharged off the site into a sewer system without
consent of the owner, nor discharged to surface or
ground water without discharge permit from the Depart-
ment.
o Borings Plan—at least three shallow bore-holes for
each 20 acres or less shall be drilled to determine
the depth to ground water. More holes may be required
if deemed necessary by the Department. The bore-holes
must be drilled to a depth of 25 feet and a log kept
indicating the type of material drilled and the depth
to any moisture.
Facility Operation Requirements
o Daily Log—for each load of tires received, the log
shall reflect: the identification of the hauler, the
number of tires from each waste tire source, and the
identification of each waste tire source. The log
also must document the number of tires processed each
day and.the use of the processed material.
o Reports—the facility must report the number of tires
received each month and provide mosquito monitoring
reports to the county health department by the 10th
day of the following month.
o Volume—no more than the permitted amount of whole
tires may be stored at a facility at any time. No
tires shall remain unprocessed at the facility for
more than one month.
1641
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o Working Face—Tires shall be placed in orderly piles
with a base not to exceed 200' by 150'. Tires await-
ing processing must be maintained at a height not to
exceed seven feet and with side slopes no greater than
two horizontal to one vertical slope. Processed
material must be maintained at a height not to exceed
20 feet, with a sustainable slope, and a base not to
exceed 200' by 150•.
o Air Quality—when necessary, facilities will be re-
quired to apply for and be issued a permit for air
emissions and otherwise comply with the Oklahoma Clean
Air Act.
o Intended Use of Processed Material—this plan must
describe the intent of the facility to make the mater-
ial available and accessible for recycling, reuse, or
energy recovery.
o Secondary Plan of Disposal—a second plan is required
in case the original intended use ceases to be a
viable option.
Waste Tire Transporters
o Proof of Valid Acceptance—all transporters of waste
tires shall furnish proof of a valid acceptance agree-
ment with a permitted waste tire facility or other
approved disposal site. The agreement must include a
delivery schedule which insures timely delivery of the
tires and the agreement or a copy thereof must be
presented to the person from whom the tires are ob-
tained.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
Five facilities have received approval for operation or
are in the application process. The following briefly sum-
marizes information about these facilities.
Facility 1; This facility intends to stockpile the maximum
number of tires allowed (250,000) and accumulate the equi-
valent of four to five million shredded tires before imple-
1642
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menting a crumb rubber process. Approximately 2,000 to 7,000
tire per day will be processed and the crumb rubber will be
used an asphalt additive in Texas. Discussions also are
underway with a facility that would use the processed material
as feedstock in a tire-derived fuel operation. During the
first quarter of 1990, this facility process 140,770 tires of
which 31,311 were from sites on the State Department of Health
priority list.
Facility 2: Up to 24,000 tires will be stockpiled and shredd-
ed for use as a fuel in a cement manufacturing plant in Texas.
The ash residue will be used as a component of the cement.
Facility 3: No ongoing stockpile of tire will be maintained
at this facility. Tires will be shredded daily with no ac-
cumulation of whole or shredded tires. The shredded material
will be monofilled off site in a permitted landfill until a
market is found. About 3,000 to 9,000 tires per day will be
processed depending on the number of shifts (one to three)
working.
Facility 4: This facility will stockpile 12,000 whole tires
and 77,000 shredded tires. The shredded material will be
feedstock for a pyrolysis process to convert the material to
oil, ash, carbon black, and gas. The steam will be sold to
local industry and the other products marketed.
1643
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Facility 5: This facility is located in a former silver
recovery plant and will process about 5,000 tires per day at
the indoor facility. Tires will never be stored or staged on
the open ground. The facility is on a 13-acre site which the
operators hope will attract industries that can use the raw
material.
GUIDELINES BASED ON OKLAHOMA'S EXPERIENCE
Oklahoma1s scrap tire program has only been in existence
for 10 months. It is too early to determine how successful
the program will be in dealing with the scrap tire disposal
problem through its private sector emphasis; however, early
interest from private operators is encouraging. This section
provides general guidelines for developing a scrap tire prog-
ram that are based on Oklahoma's experience.
1. Address the Need to Clean-Up Existing Dumps as Well as to
Provide a Disposal Option for Current and Future Scrap
Tires.
A primary concern of tire disposal programs is to provide
an alternative to illegal dumping and landfilling; stockpiling
tires at designated sites has been used an alternative.
However, if tires simply are stockpiled, one problem has been
traded for another or displaced to another location. Stock-
piling does not deal with disease-carrying insects and rodents
or the problems associated with fires. Thus, options need to
be developed which clean-up existing tire dumps and provide
1644
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alternatives to illegal dumping or landfilling for current and
future scrap tires. Oklahoma does both by mandating that, in
order to qualify for reimbursement from the Indemnity Fund, at
least 25 percent of the tires a facility processes must come
from a tire dump on the State Department of Health's priority
clean-up list.
2. Educate the Public and Potential Program Participants
About the Need for Safe Tire Disposal and the Operation
of the Scrap Tire Program.
A public education campaign (e.g., newspapers, TV, radio,
brochures, call-in information line) should provide clear
information about the environmental and human health conse-
quences associated with disposing of tires in landfills and
tire dumps and the benefits of a scrap tire program designed
to address these threats. In association with an alternative
to problem practices, public education can help build support
for and compliance with the program. It also provides an
opportunity to explain, in general, how the program operates.
After passage of the Waste Tire Recycling Act, many Oklahoma
landfill operators refused to receive any more tires because
they were misinformed that landfilling of scrap tires was
against the law under the new Act.
If a fee or surcharge on tire sales or car titles is
collected to fund or promote clean-up activities, every effort
should be made to make it clear how the money will be spent.
1645
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Following the enactment of the tire recycling legislation,
many tire vendors made inquiries regarding the use of the fee
and had the impression that the fee was to pay for their scrap
tire disposal costs. Actually, the fee is used to provide a
financial incentive for private sector tire facilities that
will process scrap tires and clean-up existing illegal dumps.
About 90 percent of the $1.00 per tire fee is targeted to
clean-up the problem. The public often will agree to a fee if
they are convinced it is needed and it will be spent to deal
the specified problem.
3. Involve Potential Participants in the Development of
Program Specifications.
When developing the scrap tire policy and promulgating
regulations necessary for implementation, solicit input from
potential program participants (i.e., tire vendors, haulers,
and processors, and recyclers) about their concerns and sug-
gestions with respect to the type and level of incentives most
likely to promote participation and requirements for partici-
pation and daily operation. Some extra effort to develop
support for the policy during its formulation will greatly
alleviate potential problems with implementation and will
likely lead to a program that has a greater chance of success-
fully accomplishing its goals.
1646
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4. Consider the Appropriate Scope or Coverage for the Scrap
Tire Program.
Requiring that all tires eventually be cycled through a
scrap tire processor or that all tire stockpiles be secure a
permit may not be appropriate. Some direct uses exist for
tires (e.g., fishing reefs, erosion control, crash barriers)
and the tires may not necessarily pass through a processor.
In other cases, limited stockpiles might be necessary for
conducting business (e.g., manufactures, dealers). The time
necessary for issuing permits to small tire storage piles
(less than 50 tires in Oklahoma) would likely resifit in an
overwhelming burden for most state programs and is not cost
effective.
In Oklahoma, tires from off-road vehicles and trucks
over 10,000 pounds laden weight also are exempt from inclusion
in the scrap tire program (i.e., they are not subject to the
$1.00 fee added to new tire purchases). This was done for
practical and political reasons. Tires in this class comprise
a relatively small proportion of the total tire population and
exempting them does not create major disposal problems or
significantly dilute the intent of the program. In addition,
the semi-truck lobby is very influential and not always sup-
portive of scrap tire disposal programs that are funded by
fees or surcharges. The exclusion of semi-truck tires is a
1647
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trade-off in order to avoid opposition which could weaken the
program or Kill it completely.
5. Link the Scrap Tire Program Directly to Recycling. Reuse.
or Energy Recovery.
Providing incentives for facilities to process tires into
soma reduced form is not sufficient- Although this deals with
health and environmental threats associated with mosquitoes,
rodents, and fires, something must still be done with the
processed material. Exchanging stockpiles of whole tires for
piles of processed material or placing this material in land-
fills is not a complete solution. Requiring that tire proces-
sors secure markets for their material in order to participate
in the program promotes the benefits gained from recycling,
reuse, or energy recovery and avoids the problems of stock-
piling or landfilling (use of valuable space that is rapidly
diminishing in many states). This requirement also provides a
stable supply of processed material that should help stimulate
the development of recycling, reuse, and energy recovery
opportunities.
6. Help Develop Markets for Processed Tire Material.
As with any effort to recycle some commodity, a "chicken
or egg" dilemma exists with scrap tire programs that promote
or reguire recycling—do you generate supply in the hope that
a market will develop, or wait for signs of a market and then
provide a supply. Operators of Oklahoma facilities have
1648
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indicated that securing a market for the material is critical
to the viability of the facility. If a state scrap tire
program promotes recycling of the material, it should be
included along with state efforts to develop markets for other
commodities (e.g., paper, plastics, yardwaste). If the tire
program is not part of a larger effort which includes market-
ing or market analysis functions, some effort should be made
to help processors develop markets for their materials. At a
minimum, the state could consider procurement guidelines that
would include uses for processed tire material (e.g., rub-
berized asphalt). It is important that the scrap tire program
be sensitive to market conditions, particularly in the early
stages, and allow sufficient time (e.g., three years) for
market development. During this period, restrictions on the
amount of processed material that can be stored should be
flexible and options for monofilling considered.
7. Pav Attention to the Timing of Policy Development and
Implementation.
Obviously, it is advantageous for the program to demon-
strate results as soon as possible. However, it takes time to
promulgate the regulations, institute the permitting process,
develop priority sites for clean-up, and get the facilities
into operation. In Oklahoma, the fee on new tire purchases
was instituted with passage of the Waste Tire Recycling Act
and money began to accumulate in the Indemnity Fund. It took
1649
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time for the remaining steps to unfold and $1 million had been
deposited in the Fund with no request for reimbursement from a
private sector processor. The surplus funds gave the tire
vendors the impression that the program was not active. They,
in turn, obtained support from some members of the legislature
who introduced legislation to repeal the Waste Tire Recycling
Act on November 8, 1989. On March 29, 1990, almost nine
months after the effective date of the Act, the first request
for reimbursement ($62,000) was submitted. Although the
repeal attempt is now a dead issue, criticisms of the program
as ineffective could have been avoided if the timing of the
implementation of the fee had been delayed until later in the
program process.
8. Provide Funding Mechanisms That Ensure Continuity.
The continuity of state funds is extremely important to
the development of private sector processing facilities; it
reduces the level of risk and increases their ability to
secure financing from lending institutions. Funds to imple-
ment scrap tire programs can come from a state's general fund
or from special fees or surcharges levied on tires, titles, or
registrations. Allocations from the general fund are subject
to too many factors to ensure that money will be available on
an ongoing basis; fees and surcharges appear to be the prefer-
red method for funding scrap tire programs. Most programs
1650
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then allocate these funds through grants and loans to public
and private sector interests. Oklahoma chose to focus on
private sector processing facilities by providing a financial
incentive that would be ongoing (rather than a one shot grant
or loan) through reimbursement for a portion of the expense
($.50) of processing each tire. As long as people in Oklahoma
continue to buy tires from Oklahoma dealers, the Indemnity
Fund will be continually replenished and processors will be
able to count on reimbursement to help defray the cost of
operation. According to operators who have submitted permit
applications, this continuity of funding from the program was
a critical factor in their decision to enter the tire process-
ing business and in securing startup funding from lending
institutions.
9. Do Not Overbuild the Industry.
Caution must be exercised so that the availability of
incentives for private sector development do not result in too
many tire processing facilities. Estimates should be made of
the backlog of tires to be processed and the time it would
take to clean-up existing dumps. Once the tires from existing
dumps have been processed, the supply for processing facili-
ties will be generated by the ongoing replacement of tires on
current and future vehicles. If the industry has been over-
built, some facilites may go out of business due to lack of
1651
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supply. It may be useful to limit the number of processing
facilities that can qualify for participation in the program
on a regional basis and linked directly to projected supply.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Support for this work was provided from the federal Exxon
Oil Overcharge Settlement Fund through a contract administered
by the Oklahoma State Department of Commerce.
REFERENCES
Houston, Patrick. 1989. "A New Way to Get Rid of Old Tires,"
The New York Times. (September 28): D8.
Lueck, Guada. 1989. "Scrap Tires Near Top of EPA List."
Recycling Times. (December 19): 8.
Mattheis, Ann. 1988. "How to Make 40 Million Tire Disap-
pear." Waste Aae. (January): 46-52.
Misner, Michael. 1990. "Old Tires Used for Animal Mats."
Recycling Times. (February 13): 4.
Naber, Tom. 1989. "R.I. Law Designed to Find 'Home' for
Problem Wastes." Recycling Times. (October): 11.
National Solid Wastes Management Association. 1989. Recy-
cling in the States: Update 1989. Washington, DC: The
Association.
Rautenberg, Carla. 1988. "Rubber Recyclers Find Tires Un-
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USED MOTOR OIL RECYCLING IN NEW JEREMY:
DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT APPROACH
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ellen Bourbon
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protect, i or
Office of Recycling
According to the American Petroleum Institute, over ^ million
gallons of used motor oil are generated each year by New Jersey's
residents who change their own oil. The improper disposal of used oil by
the?e "Do-It-Yourselfers" is widely believed to be a significant
contributor to the non-point source pollution of ground *nd surface water
throughout the State.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protect ion has developed
a comprehensive strategy to address the problem of illegal used motor oil
disposal. This strategy will focus on the twin goals of public education
and the provision of additional used oil collection sites
Used oil is regulated as a hazardous waste in New Jersey. Existing
regulations require service stations and reinspection stations with used
oil collection tanks on the premises to accept up to 5 gallons of used
motor oil per day, from any person. Compliance with the law is spotty,
however. In addition, many Do-It-Yourselfers remain unaware of the
requirements for proper collection and recycling of user) nil. These
regulations are now in the process of being revised, to incorporate
enforcement provisions and reporting requirements.
The Office of Recycling is working closely with several industry
groups that have indicated their willingness to participate in the used
oil recycling campaign. They will be assisting in the development and
distribution of promotional and educational materials. The Department is
also working with county and municipal officials in disseminating
information on used oil recycling.
The Department has put together guidelines for sit ing used oil
collection tanks, for those counties and municipalities that wish to set
up used motor oil recycling programs. The Office of Rer.yrH.ng has worked
with the enforcement, engineering and legal elements wfhin the
Department in developing these guidelines.
•Two New Jersey municipalities are now participating in an EPA-funded
used oil recycling pilot project. The project will Include the provision
of used oil collection tanks, educational materials and technical
assistance. Information obtained from the pilot project will be used to
assist other municipalities in the State in setting up 'heir used oil
recycling programs.
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