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Reduce Waste (Waste Prevention)
Consumer Resources
| Consumer Handbook for Reducing Solid
Waste Campaign Additional Publications |
Reduce Waste: If not you, who?
Environmental Footprint Calculator |
Related Topics |
Business Resources
Community Resources
| Pay-As-You-Throw | Waste Prevention Publications |
| Source Reduction Program Potential Manual | State Waste Prevention Resources |
Overview
In 1998, Americans generated 220 million tons of garbage, or about 4.5 pounds of waste per person per day. Managing this large waste stream burdens our environment and our economy. Although the amount of solid waste generated each year has been increasing since 1960, the rate of growth recently has slowed, a result of source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.
While recycling the materials in the waste stream is a better option than disposal, preventing the waste in the first place is the best option. Waste prevention, also known as source reduction or pollution prevention, includes activities that reduce the volume and/or the toxicity of wastes that are generated. This can be as simple as doing more double-sided copying and as complex as redesigning products to use less material (i.e., less packaging) and/or less toxic material in the production process.
More on Waste Prevention (Source Reduction) can be found on the EPA National Web Site
Consumer Resources
Consumer Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste, This web site describes how people can help solve a growing problem . . . garbage! Individual consumers can help alleviate America's mounting trash problem by making environmentally aware decisions about everyday things like shopping and caring for the lawn.
Reduce Waste: If not you, Who? Campaign
The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance began this statewide education campaign in January 2000. When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you don't have to worry about disposing of waste or recycling it later. Changing your habits is the key — think about ways you can reduce your waste when you shop, work and play.
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This comprehensive website includes the sections on:
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Take the pledge. Show your support for reducing trash
and conserving resources. Take the pledge
to reduce waste.
| FUN
FACTS TIPS FOR A Waste-Less School Year |
Ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires? This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. Earth Day Network and Redefining Progress have teamed up to create the most-advanced on-line Ecological Footprint Quiz yet as part of their Ecological Footprint Campaign.
Additional Publications, Learn how you can reduce, reuse, and recycle materials and consequently decrease the amount and toxicity of the waste produced in and around your home. Learn about waste management programs and opportunities to help you get involved and make a difference in your community.
Business Resources
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2006 Jackson County Missouri - Local Government Honorable Mention 2005 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. – Hall of Fame 2004 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. – Very Large Business Partner of the Year Jackson County Missouri – Local Government Program Champion Spartech Plastics, Inc. – Large Business Honorable Mention 2003 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. – Very Large Business Program Champion Spartech Corporation – Large Business Honorable 2002 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. – Very Large Business Partner of the Year Jackson County Missouri – Local Government Partner of the Year Spartech Corporation – Large Business Honorable Mention 2001 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. – Very Large Business Program Champion |
WasteWise , is a voluntary partnership program that helps businesses, government agencies, institutions like schools or hospitals, and nonprofit organizations save money by reducing their waste. Partners agree to implement three waste prevention activities, one recycling collection activity, and one buy-recycled activity. WasteWise has developed case studies and an extensive library of information, which is now available online, to assist organizations and individuals implement waste prevention activities.
Waste Minimization Program - National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP)
EPA works with industrial organizations, government agencies, and communities
to find ways to help individual companies reduce the amount of waste
they generate, particularly if the wastes contain one or more Waste Minimization
Priority Chemicals. In April of 2004, we changed the name of our program
from the National Waste Minimization Partnership Program (NWMPP) to the
National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP). We made this
change to reflect the expansion in scope of our program to address Priority
Chemicals whether they are used in products and processes or found in
water, air, or waste emissions. The National
Partnership for Environmental Priorities Program (NPEP) encourages
public and private organizations to form voluntary partnerships with
EPA that reduce the use or release of any of 31 Priority Chemicals (PCs). 
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Additional Voluntary Partnership Programs
In addition EPA has established other partnership programs that focus on other environmental areas such as energy and water conservation and/or specific business sectors such as agriculture, hospitals and laboratories. Links to all these programs can be found on the Region 7 Pollution Prevention Program Pages
The General Motors Corporation coined the “Resource Management” (RM) term in 1997, to reflect its position on non-product output: “there are no waste streams, only wasted resources.” To date, GM has executed RM contracts at over two-thirds of its North American facilities with impressive results: plants with RM in place for a year or more have realized a 20% reduction in overall waste generation (30,000 tons), a 65% increase in recycling (from 50,000 tons to over 82,000 tons), a 60% decrease in disposal, and a 30% decrease in waste management costs.
The EPA WasteWise program prepared a special report Finding Resource Efficiency in Solid Waste Contracts , which is available on-line and provides comprehensive information on the subject.
Building on GM’s success with RM the States of Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri has been leaders in sponsoring research and demonstration projects to evaluate Resource Management’s potential in municipal, commercial, and institutional settings. All of these projects have similar objectives: 1) stimulate demand for RM service by developing best practice RM contracting procedures; 2) to develop supplier capacity to provide RM services. Projects include:
- “Advancing RM Contracting in Nebraska” was sponsored by the Nebraska Environmental Trust. RM potential was evaluated in terms of waste and cost reduction in diverse organizations throughout the state, including: ConAgra, one of the nation’s largest food processing companies; the City of Omaha; the Omaha Public Power District; and Metro Community College.
- “Executing a RM Contract for the West Des Moines School District” was sponsored by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. RM bid specifications, a Request for Proposal, and contractual terms were developed.
- “Demonstrating the Potential for Cost-Effective Diversion through RM Contracting in Missouri” is being sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Existing and potential RM contracting techniques will be demonstrated in industries and institutions in the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas.
The Kansas City
Environmental Excellence Business Network ,
was launched through an EPA grant to Bridging the Gap. The network meets
four to six times a year to share nonproprietary information, techniques
and benefits of environmental improvements and stewardship. Throughout
the year, members host workshops, seminars, and facility tours.
WasteCap of Nebraska ,
promotes waste reduction and recycling within the State of Nebraska.
It provides businesses with the technical assistance necessary to recognize
and act upon opportunities for solid waste reduction and recycling. In
addition, it promotes businesses helping other businesses through a voluntary
network of established waste reduction specialists, who conduct free,
confidential, on-site waste assessment services.
The Pollution
Prevention Regional Information Center ,
was also established with EPA support. The web site maintained by the
University of Nebraska, Omaha, includes a searchable data base of environmental
technical assistance providers in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.
Since 1988 the Iowa Waste Reduction Center
,
(IWRC) at the University of Northern Iowa, helps small businesses comply
with federal and state environmental regulations. By incorporating on-site
reviews, applied research, and hands-on training into its free and confidential
assistance program, the IWRC offers complete compliance assistance that
small businesses can understand and apply.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources Pollution
Prevention Services ,
provides pollution prevention (P2) information and on-site assistance
to Iowa businesses is through its Waste Reduction Assistance Program and
the Regulatory Integration Program.
The Kansas Small Business Environmental
Assistance Program ,
provides small businesses with technical assistance to achieve environmental
regulatory compliance. The program supports companies in their effort
to prevent pollution and to improve the bottom line by improving the company's
environmental performance.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources Environmental
Assistance Office ,
is a non-regulatory program whose purpose is to inform people about
environmental issues and foster compliance with environmental requirements.
The program helps business, farmers, local governments and individuals
control or prevent pollution.
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental
Assistance Division ,
consists of several programs: Small Business Assistance, Public Advocate,
One-Stop Permit Assistance, Pollution Prevention, SARA Title III –
Community Right To Know, and Nebraska Environmental Partnerships.
Waste Exchange and Re-use
Programs
Materials and waste exchanges are markets for buying and selling reusable and recyclable commodities. Some are physical warehouses that advertise available commodities through printed catalogs, while others are simply Web sites that connect buyers and sellers. Some are coordinated by state and local governments. Others are wholly private, for-profit businesses. The exchanges also vary in terms of area of service and the types of commodities exchanged. In general, waste exchanges tend to handle hazardous materials and industrial process waste while materials’ exchanges handle nonhazardous items.
This EPA site has a national
listing, of exchanges that are searchable by State. .
Nebraska Materials Exchange
Iowa Waste Exchange
Missouri cooperates with Illinois
Industrial Materials Exchange
Pollution Prevention Resources
Links to additional resources for business are found on the Region 7
Pollution Prevention
pages. These links include a wide variety of programs that provided
technical support to support to business, government, and institutions.
Community Resources
Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT), is a system where households pay for garbage collection by the amount of trash discarded, rather than a flat fee. This provides a financial incentive to recycle and reduce the amount of waste discarded. Under traditional solid waste collection and disposal systems, residents pay indirectly for the service through their property taxes or a flat fee attached to their water bill. With a Pay-As-You-Throw program, residents pay directly for collection services based on the amount of waste thrown away. This system provides direct financial incentives to residents to reduce the amount of waste thrown way. Some communities that have instituted PAYT systems have seen their overall waste disposal rate decline 25-45 percent. EPA has developed a number of tools that local solid waste managers can use to consider whether PAYT will work in their communities.
The Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) Helpline -
1-888-EPA-PAYT, (1-888-372-7298) - provides information and tools to support
this ongoing effort. Several of the state agencies
link below also have additional resources and support.
Source
Reduction Program Potential Manual: A Planning Tool ,
This 27-page manual was written to help local solid waste planners determine
the potential impact of various source reduction options. The manual examines
program potential, or the portion of a waste stream category that could
be addressed by a specific source reduction program. Analyzing program
potential helps solid waste managers decide whether to include source
reduction in their integrated solid waste management plans. To make it
easier to calculate program potential, companion
software, is also available.
The following is a sample of the publications available on the national web site:
- Complex Recycling Issues: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste
- Cutting the Waste Stream in Half: Record-Setters Show How
- Don't Throw Away That Food - Strategies for Record Setting Waste Reduction
- It's Easy Being Green: Planning and Conducting Environmentally Aware Meetings and Events
- Making Source Reduction and Reuse Work in your Community
- Multifamily Recycling: A Golden Opportunity for Solid Waste Reduction
- Source Reduction: A Snapshot of State Initiatives
- National Source Reduction Characterization Report for MSW in the United States
- Source Reduction Bibliography
- Source Reduction Environmental Fact Sheet
- Source Reduction and Your Community
- Spotlight on Waste Prevention: EPA's Program to Reduce Solid Waste at the Source
- Use Less Stuff Report
- Will a Source Reduction Program Work in Your Community?
