January 12_002houston 12/15/11 7:35 PM Page 39
TALKIN’ TRASH AND CASH ON AVERAGE, EACH HOUSTONIAN PRODUCES 6.2 POUNDS OF SOLID WASTE EACH DAY ADDING UP TO MORE THAN A TON OF TRASH PER PERSON, PER YEAR. MOST OF THE TRASH GETS HAULED AWAY TO LANDFILLS WHERE IT’S BURIED. TO BUILD A LANDFILL, A HUGE HOLE IS DUG AND THEN LINED WITH CLAY OR HUGE SHEETS OF PLASTIC. WHEN A LANDFILL IS FULL OF TRASH, LAYERS OF SOIL AND CLAY SEAL IT INSIDE. “IT COSTS THE CITY $26 A TON TO DISPOSE OF TRASH AT A LANDFILL,” SAYS MARINA CORYAT, PUBLIC INFORMATION MANAGER AT HOUSTON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT. NOT TO MENTION THE YEARS IT TAKES FOR TRASH TO DECOMPOSE AND THE TOXINS THAT SEEP INTO THE GROUND.
6.2
TIP Why not use compostable bags for all your non-recyclable, non-compostable trash?
1,301,789 Diverting trash to recycling facilities saves the city money. “During Fiscal Year 2011, the department received $1,301,789 in revenue from recycling commodities and avoided $2,707,250 in disposal costs,” Coryat explains. That’s because the Solid Waste Management Department receives a profit from the sale of items such as paper and plastics.
36%
2.6 HOUSTON, THE LARGEST CITY IN TEXAS (BY POPULATION), ONLY RECYCLES 2.6 PERCENT OF ITS WASTE. IN CONTRAST, THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO (CA) RECYCLES APPROXIMATELY 69 PERCENT. (BASED ON A 2008 STUDY BY WASTE NEWS CITED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES JULY 29, 2008.) EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO CATCH UP.
A WHOPPING 36 PERCENT OF SOLID WASTE IN TEXAS COMES FROM PAPER. APPROXIMATELY 20 PERCENT COMES FROM LAWN/YARD CLIPPINGS. PLASTICS ONLY MAKE UP EIGHT PERCENT AND METALS MAKE UP FIVE PERCENT.
20,000 THE TEXAS RECYCLING INDUSTRY EMPLOYS ABOUT 20,000 WORKERS STATEWIDE. THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY ADDS APPROXIMATELY $2.9 BILLION TO THE TEXAS ECONOMY EACH YEAR.
january 12 | www.002mag.com .39