A Message from Tommy Wells, Director, Department of Energy & Environment
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Much Accomplished, But Much More to Do
s we approach Earth Day 2022, I pause to reflect upon our work over the past five or six years at the DC Department of Energy & Environment. It is a privilege to work with so many smart and dedicated people devoted to restoring and protecting the natural health of our city. And there have been some surprises along the way. The first is the prediction of a rapidly changing environment due to global warming has happened far faster than I could have imagined. Our city is experiencing unprecedented flooding and high heat for longer periods putting many of our residents and Important city assets at risk. While I am proud DC is leading the nation in implementing innovative programs to mitigate climate change, there is always a sense that it is not nearly enough. It is clear we must focus on adaptation and resilience in the face of major environmental change. The climate has already changed for the world and our city must prepare for what is to come. The team at DOEE has made this task its primary focus. The second surprise is found in the results of all the efforts we are making to restore streams, eliminate toxic pollution, prevent our sewer systems from overflowing and restore natural habitat throughout DC. We have seen nature do its part meeting us more than halfway in repairing natural habitats. Eagles, ravens and other species of birds not seen in nearly 100 years have returned to the city. Beavers and other wildlife are returning to our rivers as well. This is a miraculous phenomenon to observe as we restore nature to DC. We have made substantial progress as a city implementing new green infrastructure, deploying solar energy and cleaning up our waterways. Much of this has been accomplished because of the support of our residents and the resources made available through our tax dollars. On this Earth Day we know we have done much to lead the nation, but we also know there is so much more to be done.
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ping room floor) that has more than 20 percent contamination, the entirety of that load will be moved to the trash pile, as recycling facilities can’t handle an infinite amount of contamination.” said Dreizen. All trash is later placed on another DPW truck for a trip to either one of the city’s landfills or the Covanta waste-to-energy plant (incinerator) on Furnace Road, in Lorton, VA. “Typically, they (DPW employees) see loads that are pretty good, though there are no official agency numbers,” Dreizen said. “A couple of times a day if a load of recycling comes in at 50 percent contamination, the contract with WM dictates that WM can reject it. So rather than taking it to Elkridge and wasting money on time and gas, plus polluting the air with the truck’s emissions, they just throw it in the trash.” To that point, Neil Seldman, director of the Waste to Wealth Initiative for the Washington-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) estimates that 20 percent of recyclable loads tipped out on to the floor at Fort Totten are found to be contaminated. DPW was unable to confirm Seldman’s and Dreizen’s statements. However, statistics of recycling can be gleaned from the DC Council’s Committee on Transportation & Environment’s Oversight Committee’s DPW hearings: In particular, the agency reported the recycling diversion rate for DPW residential collection for the past four fiscal years. The rates were: • FY 18 – 25.24% • FY 19 – 25.1% • FY 20 – 25.0% • FY 21 – 23.9% The recycling diversion rate is defined as the weight of diverted waste (recyclables) divided by the weight of all waste then multiplied by 100. So, over the last four fiscal years the diversion rate for residential trash pickup has fallen 1.34 percent. Not a positive trend. (https://zerowaste.dc.gov/sites/ default/files/dc/sites/zerowaste/CY%2018%20Diversion%20 Report%20Final%203%2010%2021.pdf ). DPW has not published an Annual Waste Diversion Report since 2018 (see the adjacent table). In that year, DPW collected 140,987.45 tons of solid waste from the curbside and at community drop-off locations. The largest portion of this, 18.79 percent, were “single stream recyclables.” Singlestream recycling is a system wherein recyclables, including newspaper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, etc., are placed in a single bin for pickup by a truck to be sorted later. At the time of its most recent DC Council performance hearing, the agency testified that 2021 Diversion Report had been completed, but not been released. The report had not been published at the time this article was written. At a late March 2022 roundtable presided over by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh (D), Seldman and other veterans of the DC recycling industry all expressed frustrated by the DPW’s lack of transparency when dealing with the community. The national average recycling diversion rate is somewhere
