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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