United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
EPA530-N-96-003
January/
February 1996
SEPA
REUSABLE
NEWS Bulletin
MSW Recovery Rate
Continues to Rise
In 1994, the United States recovered nearly a quarter (24 percent) of its
municipal solid waste (MSW) through recycling and composting—up
from 17 percent in 1990. Per capita generation rates are expected to
remain at 1994 levels (4.4 pounds per person per day) until the year
2000, despite a projected increase in certain types of waste. Per capita
rates will remain stable primarily because of a significant increase in
backyard composting and grasscycling (mulching) of yard trimmings.
These study results and others are presented in Characterization of
Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1995 Update, the latest in
a series of EPA reports on the status of MSW in the United States. The
7995 Update includes 1994 data on the amount of MSW generated, dis-
posed of, and recovered, as well as projections for the future.
The study indicates that in 1994, for the first time
composting of food scraps reached
measurable proportions at the national
level. In addition, source reduction is
expected to assume increasing promi-
nence as an MSW management tech-
nique in the years ahead.
Copies of the study's Executive
Summary (EPA530-S-96-001) can be
obtained for free by calling the RCRA
Hotline at 800 424-9346. The full report
(EPA530-R-96-001) is available on the
Internet through the EPA Public Access
Server at gopher.epa.gov and from the
National Technical Information Service
(NTIS) at 800 553-6847.
Learning the
Buy Recycled
Basics
To help state, local, and federal
governments and organiza-
tions close the recycling loop,
the U.S. Conference of Mayors and
EPA have launched The Buy
Recycled Training Institute. The
institute offers one-day workshops
around the country to teach partic-
ipants how to identify, purchase,
and learn more about products
made from recycled
materials. Each
workshop is limit-
ed to around 40
attendees and costs
approximately $50
per person. For
r— -i more informa-
^ ' tion, contact
Dick Kochan of
the Buy
Recycled
Training
Institute at
202 861-6773.
Investing in
Recycling's
Future
The Northeast Recycling Council
(NERC) is holding its first-ever
Recycling Investment Forum on
May 7, 1996, in Boston, Massachusetts.
The forum, funded by an EPA Jobs
Through Recycling grant, will bring
together recycling businesses seeking
capital for new ventures and interest-
ed investors and financiers. At the
forum, businesses will present their
plans for the upcoming fiscal year,
display their products, and have an
opportunity to meet with investors.
In addition, the Recycling Advisory
Council (RAC) of the National
Recycling Coalition (NRC) is produc-
ing an informational video that
explains how to organize investment
forums. RAC is also creating a primer
with more detailed information about
holding these forums and a brochure
that summarizes the primer.
For more information about the
investment forum in Boston, contact
Mary Ann Remolador of NERC at 802
254-3636. For more information about
the video or primer, contact Edgar
Miller of NRC at 703 683-9025.
Jobs Through
Recycling
Update
EPA is currently receiving pro-
posals for the 1996 Jobs
Through Recycling grants.
The Jobs Through Recycling pro-
gram was launched in 1994 to
expand markets for recycled prod-
ucts and create jobs in recycling
industries. Since the program's
inception, EPA has awarded more
than $4 million in grants to 29
state, regional, and tribal orga-
nizations to stimulate recycling
business development.
The 1995 grants are supporting
a variety of innovative recycling
initiatives across the nation, such
as the following:
• A construction business is being
established by the Hualapai Tribe
in Arizona, which will use recov-
ered materials in building projects.
• A three-person team of recy-
cling business development
experts is being created by the
Southwest Public Recycling
Association to help foster recy-
cling businesses in rural and
tribal communities.
• Fiberboard products made from
a mixture of waste paper and
waste wood fiber are being test-
ed and analyzed in Alaska to
determine their marketability.
For more information about the
Jobs Through Recycling program, call
John Leigh of EPA at 703 308-7896.
This issue of the
Reusable News
Bulletin is also
available on the
Internet. To access
EPA publications
through the World
Wide Web, type:
http://earth 1. epa.gov/OSWRCRA/
nonhw/recycle/reuse
Through Gopher, the address is:
gopher, epa.gov: 70/11/Offices/
Waste/OSWRCRA/nonhw/
recycle/reuse
® Recycled/Recyclable Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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Recycling
Hotline Goes
Nationwide
EPA and the U.S. Postal
Service have announced an
exciting new way to discover
where to recycle just about any-
thing. The Environmental
Recycling Hotline, which started
in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1991, has
expanded nationwide, thanks to
an environmental technology ini-
tiative (ETI) seed grant from EPA.
By calling 800 CLEAN-UP, recy-
clers can learn where to take old
newspapers and magazines, scrap
paper, aluminum cans, glass bot-
tles, tires, and other materials to
be collected for recycling. The hot-
New Guide for
Decision Makers
Are you a local official or communi-
ty leader in search of waste man-
agement ideas and technical infor-
mation? If so, EPA's fDeriimm iHMk&rs"
be for you.
The first four chapters of the guide
concentrate on issues common to
nearly all waste management efforts:
public education and involvement,
facility siting, and collection and trans-
fer. The final five chapters address
source reduction and reuse, recycling
and composting, and waste combus-
tion and landfilling. The guide discuss-
es each phase of these options, offer-
ing advice, real-world examples, and
pros and cons.
The guide is available free of charge
from the EPA RCRA/Superfund Hotline at
800 424-9346 or 703 412-9810 in the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
line also provides information
about source reduction and reuse
opportunities and community
environmental events.
For more information, contact
the hotline at 800 CLEAN-UP.
Backyard
Composting
101
To educate the public about the
benefits of composting organic
household material, the
Composting Council's Research and
Education Foundation has created
the National Backyard Composting
Program. The foundation intends to
hold 60 workshops across the coun-
try and train
more than
1,500 people
by the end of
1996. To com-
plement the
workshops, the
foundation is
also developing
promotional and training materials
that can be adapted for each com-
munity's needs. Outreach tools such
as clip art, resource database and
promotional layout designs will be
available on disk. A complete train-
ing manual and spreadsheet tool to
estimate program costs and diver-
sion rates will also be made avail-
able through the workshops.
For more information, contact
Rebecca Roe at the Composting
Council's Research and Education
Foundation at 703 739-2401.
Waste Prevention
at Your Fingertips
Y«
Jm>l KM contains the information
you need to set up a waste pre-
vention program in your home, school,
business, or community. Created by
the League of Women Voters'
Education Fund, the kit is a Windows™
application computer software pro-
gram. It provides tools for setting up
waste prevention programs as well as
forms and ideas for monitoring pro-
grams once they're underway.
For more information, contact Tift
Pelias in the Publications Department
of the League of Women Voters'
Education Fund at 202 429-1965.
MSW Facts and
Figures
The main section of the factbook,
MSW Facts, contains general MSW
information (such as descriptions of
waste components and waste genera-
tion data) and specific facts about
source reduction, recycling, combus-
tion, and land disposal. Two other
sections of the factbook include state
solid waste profiles and Subtitle D
regulations. The information in the
manual will be updated and expand-
ed regularly.
The factbook is available on disk as
well as on the Internet. For more
information, contact Steve Levy of EPA
at 703 308-7267 or via e-mail to
levy.steve@epamail.epa.gov
Managing Disaster
Debris
E
PA's updated Miamdiml SaH
it
• easy to find answers to your solid
waste questions. This electronic refer-
ence manual contains more than 200
pages of useful facts, figures, tables, and
other information about municipal solid
waste in the United States.
EPA's guide
Debris (EPA530-K-95-010) con-
tains information about how to
make long-term debris management
plans, case studies of communities
that have managed disaster debris
successfully, and lists of federal,
state, and local resources. For a copy
of the guide, call the RCRA Hotline at
800 424-9346.
&EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
401 M Street, SW. (5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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