Recycling and Waste Reduction Rules

During the past decade, the national recycling rate (including composting) has climbed to 27%. Hundreds of communities have surpassed this level. Dozens report waste reduction levels above 50%. What features are common to these successful programs? It is usually a combination of good rules that together help to achieve a high rate of recycling. Some of these strategies include:

• targeting a wide range of materials for recovery (yard trimmings, multiple paper grades, construction and demolition waste),
• encouraging or requiring participation (by using such strategies as making programs convenient, enacting madates, and instituting pay-as-you-throw trash programs),
• ofering service to multi-family dwellings
• augmenting curbside collection with drop-off collection.

This section will feature cities and states whose combination of regulations have created a successful recycling program, as well as model rules that can be used to improve one's overall recycling program.

More information about community development through reuse and recycling is available through ILSR's Waste to Wealth program.

RULES:

• Beverage Container Recycling and Reuse
  A unique coalition of industry, governmental agencies and environmental organizations released a study in January 2002 that, for the first time, provides baseline statistics on the costs, benefits and effectiveness of programs to recover discarded beverage containers for recycling. Find model policies covering beverage container deposit systems as well as model policies for refillable beverage containers. More...
• Cities That Have Cut Their Waste Stream in Half
  Dozens of communities across the United States have achieved waste reduction levels above 50%. And these high waste reduction levels are largely being achieved cost-effectively. This section has links to three case studies of cities that have done an excellent job in reducing their waste levels. More...
• Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling
  In 1996 an estimated 136 million tons of debris was generated from building, renovation and demolition projects across the United States. Through deconstruction and recovery, much of this material can be diverted from landfills and reused. Recovery and deconstruction support community development with environmental, economic, and social benefits, including: reducing pollution and the need for landfilling and incineration, and conserving energy and natural resources. More...
• Electronic Waste Recycling - e-Waste
  The proper handling and disposal of computer related equipment is critical to environmental protection. Millions of omputers will soon become obselete. These devices contain a selection of hazardous materials. As of March 2006, four states have taken action to encourage e-Waste recycling. More...
• Litter Tax on Fast Food and Convenience Store Outlets - Oakland
  In February 2006 the City of Oakland, California passed ordinance 12727, which enacts a fee on fast-food restaurants, gas stations, and convenience markets to cover litter and trash clean up.  The fee is expected to raise $237,000 a year, which will be used solely to fund the clean up program. More...
• Maine Auto Manufacturer Take Back Law
  In May 1997, the state of Maine started considering actions to control mercury emissions and discharges in response to increasing evidence of unhealthy levels of mercury in the Maine environment. After a series of detailed reports which identified sources and recommend specific actions to reduce future emissions, the state  enacted into law in April 2002 with passage of An Act to Prevent Mercury Emissions when Recycling and Disposing of Motor Vehicles. More...
• Ban on Non-Refillable Containers - Prince Edward Island, Canada
  The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island (pop. 136,000) banned non-refillable soft drink bottles in 1977, and soft drink cans in 1984. The island's government decided that in addition to preventing litter on the beautiful resort island and avoiding the use of plastics, the ban would preserve a local bottling business and the associated jobs. Today, the return rate on Prince Edward Island's soft drink and beer containers stands at close to 98 percent. This is the highest in North America and has not been seen elsewhere since the 1950s, when local bottlers and deposit-return systems were the norm. More...
• Zero Waste
  The national recycling rate (including composting) is hovering around 30 percent. Hundreds of communities have surpassed this level and dozens report waste reduction levels above 50 percent. Increasing numbers of cities, counties, states and private businesses are making commitments and goals towards "zero waste." More...

More:

• Recycling Coalition Calls for Moratorium on PLA Bottles - ILSR Press Release, October 20, 2006
• More information about community development through reuse and recycling is available through ILSR's Waste to Wealth program.
• Building a Deconstruction Company: A Training Manual for Facilitators and Entrepreneurs
  This May 2001 report provides an excellent resource for anyone interested in starting a deconstruction company. From setup and funding, planning, deconstruction, and material resale, this book is for you!Building a Deconstruction Company The report is $25 (plus S&H) and is available by contacting ILSR
• Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling, a project of Global Green USA, is a coalition dedicated to increasing the national recycling rate for used beverage containers to 80%.
• GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN)