In collaboration with Galina Nelyubova and Unsplash
Current Problem
The U.S. has a recycling problem. There is widespread confusion over what can or cannot be recycled, infrastructure that is not up to date with the current waste stream, and a lack of markets for recycled materials.
Depending on where you live, there are a wide variety of rules for what you can or can not recycle. Sometimes these recycling standards vary even within cities and counties, making it confusing for residents to understand how to properly dispose of their waste.
Waste management facilities are often located in low income and minority communities, and they bring with them harmful health effects, lower property values, and decreased aesthetic and recreation values. This issue extends beyond our borders, as we export our recycling to other countries that do not have the systems in place to properly handle it. The United States ships one million tons of plastic to some of the world’s poorest countries, including Ethiopia, Laos, and Bangladesh, due to their cheap labor and lack of environmental regulations. The effects are appalling, including contaminated water supplies, respiratory illness from plastic incineration, and crop death.
This poor management of waste disposal ties into the fact that companies are not held responsible for the full life cycle of the products that they create. If producers were liable for the post-consumer stage of their products’ life cycles, they would be more inclined to create products that are longer lasting and more easily upcycled.
While better management of our recycling is important, it is important to address the root of the problem: we should first focus on limiting the waste we create, through prioritizing reuse and creating products that are built to last. Currently, we live in an economy that heavily relies on the creation of new goods, which is extremely wasteful. Products are designed with obsolescence built into them from the get go. Instead, we need to shift to a circular economy that is focused on keeping materials, products, and services in circulation for as long as possible.
Emerging Solutions
Los Angeles
In September 2022, Los Angeles adopted its Zero Waste Plan, aimed at reducing the amount of waste the city sends to landfills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions created by said waste.
Initiatives of the plan include:
- Source reduction of waste
- Extended manufacturer responsibility
- Increased recovery of food waste and other organic materials
- Diversion of construction debris, household hazardous waste, and e-waste
- Community education efforts
To accommodate these efforts, the city needs the necessary facilities and infrastructure. The plan outlines the creation of Sustainable Waste Management Facilities that “minimize impacts and maximize benefits for the communities in which they are located”. These facilities would convert waste into renewable, negative-carbon fuels, and electricity. The plan also includes the creation of Resource Recovery centers to promote waste reduction.
To incentivize businesses to shift to a more circular system, the Zero Waste Plan aims to promote the use of locally generated reusable and recycled materials through grant funding for green businesses and product certification standards for recyclability and compostability.
California
San Francisco diverts 80% of its waste from landfills, giving it the highest recovery rate of any major city in North America. But, still, half of the 444,000 tons of waste they currently send could be recycled or composted. To achieve their new Zero Waste goals of reducing landfill waste by 50% and reducing solid waste generation by 15% by 2030, the city plans to continue promoting reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting as well as advocating for state legislation to develop a producer responsibility system that works with producers to create better products and ensures responsibility for the entire life-cycle of products.
To make waste sorting easier for the majority of the city’s residents that live in apartments, the city government has implemented a policy that requires new apartments to provide 3 separate trash chutes to separate recycling, compost, and landfill material.
The city also does face-to-face outreach work with residents and businesses to ensure that materials are being put in the correct bins and to answer questions about proper recycling and composting.
National
Nationally, work is being done to update our recycling systems while working toward a more circular economy. In November 2021, the EPA finalized the country’s first National Recycling Strategy, focused on achieving a 50% recycling rate by 2030. The hope is to create a “stronger, more resilient, and cost effective domestic municipal solid waste system”. It is focused on the life cycle assessment of materials and addressing the impacts recycling has on low income and minority communities.
The strategy’s five objectives include:
- Improving markets for recycling commodities
- Increased collection and improved materials management infrastructure
- Reduced contamination of recycled materials
- Enhancement of policies to support recycling
- Standardized measurement and increased data collection
A large part of the EPA’s plan is working with communities and ensuring that they “have a seat at the table and are involved in developing the implementation plan”. The EPA plans on working with all levels of government, Tribal Nations, and public and private stakeholders to see this plan come into effect.
Global
Germany has the highest recycling rate in the world, with 66% of its waste being recycled. Their recycling system consists of several bins that sort items into: paper and cardboard; plastic and metal containers; organic waste; general household waste; and brown, colored, and transparent glass. Having residents thoroughly sort their waste reduces the need for extensive recycling sorting down the line and reduces contamination of recycled materials.
Legislation has helped the country become the leader in recycling that it is today. In 1996, Germany passed the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act, which states that “whoever produces, markets, and consumes goods is responsible for the avoidance, recycling, reuse and environmentally sound disposal of waste”. The result has thus been more products being produced with recyclable materials and an increase in low-waste products. The country’s Packaging Act of 2019 ensures that manufacturers are responsible for the recycling or return of packaging. They pay participation fees to join in a dual system that collects used packaging and sends it to be recycled. These products are denoted with green dots, showing to consumers that the manufacturer takes responsibility for the recovery and recycling of their products’ packaging.