Noon - A. Germain SWANA Caribbean

Anne Germain October 2012

RECYCLING

The Waste Hierarchy

Why recycle? 

Conserve natural resources



Reduce environmental impacts



Energy savings



Other

Potential jobs creation Potential cost savings

Why not recycle?  Inconvenient  Not

always economical

 Environmental

apparent

 Status

quo

benefits not always

What is recyclable?

Commonly recycled  Aluminum & steel cans  OCC & paperboard  Office paper  Newspapers  HDPE & PET bottles  Glass containers  Used oil & antifreeze  Tires  White goods & scrap metal

Increasingly common  Yard waste  Other organics including food waste  Electronic goods  Paint  Film plastics  EPS  Asceptic containers  Other plastic containers & Plastics #3-7

Comparison Aluminum  High value  High energy savings  Limited resource (for bauxite ore)  Mining & production environmental impacts

Glass  Heavy  Single-stream cullet?  Color-segregated collection?  Transportation to market  “Downcycling”

Glass recycling

Bauxite waste foam from refinery

Bauxite mine pollution

Waste to US GDP

Waste to US GDP

USEPA: MSW Generation

USEPA: Recycling rates

USEPA: MSW composition

Recycling rates of various commodities

State recycling goals New recycling goals: •US EPA 40% by 2011 •California 75% by 2020 •Florida 75% by 2020 •Massachusetts 80% landfill diversion by 2050 •Rhode Island 35% recycling/50% landfill diversion by 2012 Source: September 2004 Trash Facts

Biocycle’s 2010 State of Garbage

Managing recyclables  Source-segregated  Dual-stream  Single-stream  Mixed

waste

Single-stream MRFs in the U.S.

Single-stream MRFs in the U.S.

Lightweighting

Which factor is the most important to recycling rates?  High

disposal fees or other economic disincentives  Public education & outreach regarding the environmental benefits of recycling  Convenience  Mandatory recycling  Peer pressure

Determining the best recycling practices for an area Understand current MSW collection and management practices including both formal & informal recycling  Understand regulatory & economic considerations  Perform life cycle analyses on targeted recyclables  Determine recycling practices to adopt: 

 Drop-off or curbside  Commingled or source separated 

Establish consensus – including major stakeholders such as hospitality industry

QUESTIONS?