Waste Diversion

The Issue - Climate Change

Global warming and the climate change which it will bring, with devastating effect, is amongst mankind's most imposing threats. The cause of global warming is increased greenhouse gases (GHG's) in the atmosphere, which have the effect of insulating the earth, causing raising temperatures. Greenhouse gas production is mainly as a result of the burning of fossils fuels, coal and oil for example, to produce energy. Energy we use to; extract, transport, manufacture, distribute and dispose of the items we consume.
Press Release detailing the connection between waste diversion and climate change.

Our Goal - Divert Waste, Save Energy to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Production

To reduce our greenhouse gas production we must, logically, reduce our use of fossil fuels. To do so we must reduce our use of energy through conservation. Proper waste management, together with the reduced use of the automobile as well as reducing the energy used to heat, cool and light our home and workplace, will all lead to reduced greenhouse gas production. Specifically by recycling we are conserving the energy used in the original extraction, transportation and manufacture of that item.

Waste Diversion vs. Disposal

Benefits of Maximum Waste Diversion

Increased Diversion beats landfill or incineration when environmental and human health costs are factored in.

According to Jeffery Morris Ph.D, recycling makes more sense than disposal for those discards that may be recycled and we should push the envelope to divert everything possible from landfill or incineration even when recycling appears expensive compared to disposal in simple price comparisons.

This is because when the full lifecycle of a product is measured the energy use and environmental burden from natural resource extraction and manufacturing - the social and human health cost of which are not reflected in conventional accounting - dwarf any presumed savings (from direct disposal).

Of particular interest to waste professionals are Morris's measurements and costing of the environmental and human health impacts of raw materials extraction and manufacturing which impute an economic benefit of US $517 per ton on material recycled vs. virgin production

This includes the cost of global warming ($100.44 US) acidification ($6.20 US) eutrophication (the degradation of the matter an energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity) human health effects from particulates ($12.68 ) and toxicity ($390.31 US) and ecological toxicity ($8.08)

For all the common recyclables, producing these products using recycled material saves between 35 and 90 per cent (average of 66) of the energy consumed to extract, refine and manufacture products from virgin material. Recycling thus substantially reduces the releases of pollutants and toxics associated with energy production and it's use.

And what about that last per cent that can't currently be recycled? Morris notes that municipal waste management should focus on the 3R's (including composting) to shrink disposal quantities down to about the 10 per cent level.

Present and future society will benefit more from spending scare resources on this task than it will from diverting hugh sums of money away from 3R's to build incineration capacity to dispose of the 40 to 50 per cent of waste that is currently no being recycled.

In the meantime waste prevention techniques products redesigned for easier reuse and recyclability and new technologies for recycling difficult to recycle wastes will continue to chip at even that seemingly obstinate percent.

Waste Composition

To truly appreciate the ease of successful waste diversion it is important to understand how simple the composition of the residential waste stream is. Over 40% is perfectly good recyclable material. Another component again of 40% is organic material.

Zero Waste - or pretty darn close

What is perhaps most significant about the article linked below is the author. Todd Pepper is the General Manager of the Essex - Windsor Solid Waste Authority the 9th largest in the Province of Ontario. In addition Todd is the Past President of MWIN the Municipal Waste Integration Network a group of the most senior waste management staff in the Province. Finally Todd is a significant player in the work conducted by the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) on issues of solid waste management.

3 "Stream Collection" is Key

This article is written by Guy Crittenden who is the editor of Solid Waste and Recycling Magazine. The article highlights the importance of 3 stream collection in successful solid waste management.