An article in the December issue of MSW Management titled Rethinking Sustainable Organics included a quote from Henry Wallace, secretary of agriculture to President Franklin Roosevelt. The quote is:

“[n]ature treats the earth unkindly. Man treats her harshly. He over plows the cropland, overgrazes the pastureland, and overcuts the timberland. He destroys millions of acres completely. He pours fertility year after year into the cities, which in turn pour what they do not use down the sewers into the rivers and the ocean… The public is waking up, and just in time. In another 30 years it might have been too late.”

United States Department of Agriculture’s Soils and Men: Yearbook of Agriculture, 1936

In 1936, we already knew that through unsustainable management of cut trees, shrubs, and spoiled or leftover food we were depleting fertile soil of carbon and other nutrients. These materials can be managed to provide a soil amendment that returns minerals and carbon to the ground so that a piece of land will remain fertile despite years of cultivation that would otherwise depleted it. Bob Shaffer, an agronomist, says that only 10% of the planet has land that is suitable to raise crops and fortunately, over time, compost made from recycled food scraps has been embraced by farmers.

Recology has been working for 15 years with the City of San Francisco to make food scraps recycling possible. Now, 60% of what we at Recology touch in San Francisco stays out of landfills. One way we do this is through advanced composting processes, technology and the knowledge we’ve gained over 15 years. Greg Pryor, manager of  Jepson Prairie Organics has mastered the process through testing all kinds of technologies and techniques at the composting facility, which opened in 1996. Jepson Prairie Organics is located among agricultural lands in Northern California, and has created 1,100,000 tons of compost since it opened. The composting processes that Recology has developed have resulted in VOC emissions that are far below state minimum requirements, prevent the creation of methane gas, and create a specially-blended compost and compost teas that are useful to biodynamic farmers.

Closing the loop on sustainable farming is possible when communities that consider sustainability issues  as they plan their garbage programs–or resource recovery programs in the case of San Francisco–are willing to partner with companies like Recology in this great experiment of human social and ecological survival. We are glad that more and more cities are catching on.

It’s not just in San Francisco. All along the Peninsula you can find companies and organizations offering to rent and sometimes deliver a Christmas tree for the holidays. The idea may seem quaint but the implications are an important signal of American’s changing attitudes.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, 25-30 million pine and fir trees are sold each year during the holidays. These trees take between 7 and 15 years each to grow to six or seven feet–the height which makes them acceptable to most Americans.  And while there are as many as 4,000 Christmas tree recycling programs across the country, the status quo is that most of the 25-30 million trees end up in a landfill. In the Bay Area, Recology would compost Christmas trees but due to their high acidity, they are being made into biofuel. 

In addition, there’s the question of which is the more sustainable solution: a tree that’s been cut down or an artificial tree? To get at an answer, we would need more detailed information than is currently available to us. Where were the real trees grown and under what conditions? The top producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington. And how were they trees transfered to their final destination? How were they disposed of? As for artificial trees, we know that 80% of those sold world wide are made in China. Most are made from plastic and metal and are most likely not recycled at the end of their use as decoration. 

Renting a live tree bipases these questions. The trees are never cut, and the transportation to and from the point of purchase would be about the same under any scenario. But there are other benefits. According to Mercury News, for about the same price as a high-end precut tree, families can enjoy the smell of a tree for the entire season, reduce the risk of fires, and we would add, have to do a little less vaccuming after the holidays. 

If you celebrate Christmas, consider a real tree that you can use over and over again. If you did get a pre-cut tree, visit Recology San Francisco‘s, Recology San Mateo County‘s or Recology Auburn Placer’s websites, call Recology Butte Colusa Counties or Recology Vacaville Solano to see how you can recycle your tree.

In California, 10% or nearly 3.5 million tons of the 34.9 million tons of material that were disposed of last year (including what was landfilled in California, imported and exported) was alternative daily cover, or ADC. According to CalRecycle, ADC is:

CalRecycle-approved materials other than soil used as a temporary overlay on an exposed landfill face. Generally, these materials must be processed so that they do not allow gaps in the face surface, which would provide breeding grounds for insects and vermin. Public Resources Code section 41781.3 stipulates this practice is recycling, not disposal, and authorizes Cal Recycle to adopt regulations, such as Title 27 California Code of Regulations, section 20690. Approved materials include processed green materials, sludge, ash and kiln residue, compost, construction and demolition debris, and special foams and fabrics.

In other words, ADC is material that actually goes to the landfill, and for all intents and purposes is landfilled, but ADC is counted as landfill diversion because it prevents clean soil from being imported and then contaminated at a landfill. That’s not so bad right? Instead of using clean soil to cover an exposed landfill on a day to day basis, why not use other materials that serve the same function? Well, a closer look at what was actually used as ADC may be enlightening.

Much of what was used for ADC in California in 2008 was auto shredder waste, sometimes called “auto shred” or “auto fluff.” According to the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology, “Auto fluff is waste left over from shredding old cars for scrap metal. It can contain heavy metals and poly-chlorinated biphenyls.” Although this material would probably have been landfilled anyway, it counts towards the diversion rate.

So, now that you know that ADC can be counted towards landfill diversion, how are the diversion leaders in California using ADC in 2008?

Oakland used 202 thousand tons of ADC that year. San Jose used 159 thousand. San Francisco used 63 thousand.

In 2008, city of Oakland reported a diversion rate of 66%, but nearly 25% of that was achieved through ADC. Without ADC, it’s diversion rate would have been 41%!

San Jose diverted 65% that year, and 10% of that diversion was through ADC. Without ADC, it’s diversion rate would have been 55%!

San Francisco achieved a 72% diversion rate, but only 3% was from ADC. Without ADC, it’s diversion rate would have been 69%.

The important point here is that many cities across California are getting diversion credit without doing the heavy lifting. There are many cities that do not really divert materials from landfills. They may not create programs to educate people about reducing their consumption, programs to make it possible to reuse materials, and certainly don’t work to create robust recycling and composting programs. It means that although cities are achieving relatively high diversion rates, they are still landfilling valuable materials but getting the credit for landfill diversion by abusing the leeway CalRecycle has given them to count ADC towards their diversion rate.

Until there is a level playing field regarding what material can be used as alternative daily cover, and how landfill diversion is calculated, we will have to keep pounding the drum of resource recovery and insisting on the concept of WASTE ZERO. It is the only real and permanent way to make a positive impact on our natural world, our children’s future, and create the jobs that are so badly needed right now.

Crafty and creative people are always looking to repurpose the things around them, but for us here at Recology, upcycling holds a special place, and we are glad it is catching on. Sites like Etsy are helping. Through it, people can set up their own store fronts. Found*Ling, is one example of a store where new things are made from old things. Other examples of upcycled products range from table lamps made from recycled circuit boards to neckties made from cassette tapes. (See Mashable Tech for a full list).

This week, the Sierra Club Green Home reported on the Recologized Tote bag, a brainchild of a Recology San Francisco employee. The bag, made from the old or unused uniforms of Recology San Francisco employees, were created with the idea of utilizing landfill-bound items as “up-cycled” goods for sustainable living. The tote bag can be used as a shopping bag at your local farmers’ market, to run errands or for a day at the beach. The bag was made in collaboration with UPsicle, an SF-based designer who is a member of SFMade. UPsicle specializes in creating unique, water resistant, washable and reusable bags.

Recology has also been working with SFMade, which was founded in 2010, and has as its mission to build and support a vibrant manufacturing sector in San Francisco. It is the only organization of its kind focused on building San Francisco’s economic base through these means, and currently supports more than 200 local manufacturers who collectively sustain more than 2,500 jobs in San Francisco. This month, SFMade and the Banana Republic are launching the first SFMade Pop-Up shop at the Banana Republic’s flagship store on Grant St. Their collaboration supports independent, San Francisco-based apparel and accessories companies.

With our 90+ year roots in reusing and recycling what others have thought of as “garbage” we are excited to continue to recover everything we can from landfills. This is what we mean by WASTE ZERO.

Over twenty years ago, the California legislature mandated that 50% of landfill-bound materials had to be diverted to other uses. San Francisco, with its growing population opted for the higher goal of 75% several years later. The year 2020 is the target year for proving what can be accomplished in three generations. The idea of zero waste has gained momentum here in the United States because, whether aspiration or not, the technology, know-how, public will and information is now available for us to make it happen. Yet, according to CalRecycle, although some places in San Diego County are on their way to meeting the 75% recycling mandate, there are many places within that county and throughout California where cities, towns, municipalities and unincorporated areas struggle to divert even 50% of their landfill-bound materials.

Percent Diverted from Landfills, San Diego County

So what is zero waste?

Zero waste is the perspective that no materials are sent to landfills or incinerators. At Recology we believe in WASTE ZERO, which means making the best and highest use of all resources. There is a slight distinction. It is not enough to aspire to send nothing to landfills. Rather, the idea of WASTE ZERO is that the materials that are diverted from end-of-life destinations should be used in smart ways.

Raising the bar on mandated recycling isn’t just about the destination of landfill-diverted materials. Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation not only to save our natural resources, but also to create jobs. Assembly member Chesbro, who authored the bill, said that the original 50% mandate helped to create 125,000 new jobs since 1989 and provide $4 billion in yearly salaries. Members of StopWaste.Org mentioned that for every job lost at a landfill, three more were created in recycling. Here’s to more jobs! Let’s keep recycling!

Recology coordinated the sustainability component of this year’s Bite of Oregon, a benefit for the Special Olympics Oregon held in Portland on August 12th, 13th and 14th of this year.

The zero waste event was a success. 99% of the materials discarded over the three day period were diverted from going to a landfill. Last year’s diversion rate was 81%, which is not bad at all. Achieving 99% diversion is more impressive though because this year’s Bite had over 40,000 visitors from both near and far.

What does a zero waste success mean?

It means only 260 pounds of true waste were generated and sent to a landfill. Among those materials were soiled shrink wrap, soiled aluminum foil, wrappers, non-compostable packaging and baby diapers. It means the event was clean from start to finish, facilitated by great communication, education and effort.

It means that beyond the 99% diversion, over 1,200 people took the Recology pledge to reduce, reuse, recycle and Recologize™! There are now 1,200 more people who understand what we mean by WASTE ZERO.

At our company we really value team work. It’s what makes it a great place to work. Besides being a great team-building experience, there were several people who took leadership roles at the Bite who deserve a shout out. Steve P., Dan Van D., Leo A., Mike D., and Robert Ro. are rock stars.

Get in touch with us via our Recology Portland website to learn more about what we can do together!

Last week the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) awarded Recology their Partner of the Year Award at their annual meeting at the California Resource Recovery Association’s Conference. CPSC recognized Recology for its belief in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), contributions to EPR educational outreach and participation in local, regional and statewide efforts to expand the implementation of EPR.

EPR, or product stewardship, is a strategy to place a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management on the producers, and all entities involved in the product chain. It is an approach to product and materials management that improves their utilization and promotes waste minimization. Under product stewardship, the consumer, the product designer, the manufacturer and the recycler are called upon, as environmental stewards, to take responsibility for the design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, use, and recycling of the product. This method removes the sole responsibility, for end-of-life management, from the general public and instead encourages changes in product design that reduce waste and the negative impacts on human health and the environment at every stage of the product’s lifecycle.

Currently 28 California counties, in addition to dozen of cities within these counties, have individually passed EPR resolutions, together these total 121 resolutions supporting product stewardship. Every other remaining county is a member of an association that passed an EPR resolution or policy statement. These resolutions support phasing out the end-of-life management that is free to manufacturers of problem products like carpet, paint, batteries, electronics and pharmaceuticals, to name a few. However the only current statewide programs are carpet and paint. Now that local governments are setting the goals, the next step is to develop a statewide EPR framework policy for all applicable products, so that individual legislation isn’t needed on a product by product basis. When this type of progress occurs, California can, through successful EPR programs, rapidly decrease the waste production of these products and effect changes to require better product design.

As a part of Recology’s product stewardship work, Recology provides educational programs in the communities it serves, gives first hand presentations and explanations of how to appropriately recycle difficult materials, works on state legislature to allow for the creation of EPR programs and participates in regulatory packages to allow for existing EPR programs to thrive.

Recology has long expressed its excitement about the direction recycling and composting efforts are moving in California, and a big part of those efforts is the growing support and expansion of EPR programs. With a rallying cry of “WASTE ZERO,” Recology looks forward to the future successes of more EPR programs. Recology is well-deserving of this recognition and together with organizations like CPSC, by promoting improvements in product design, appropriate end-of-life product management and overall environmental sustainability, goals like “WASTE ZERO” can be achieved.

The partnership between CPSC and Recology is a great way to continue the support of product stewardship and continue the movement toward finding the highest and best use for every resource.

Are you planning to attend the Connoisseurs’ Marketplace this weekend in Menlo Park? It’s their silver anniversary, and it’s going to be their GREENEST event yet!

Menlo Park’s Chamber of Commerce has pledged to make this a Zero Waste event while showcasing top artists, music, chefs’ demos, fabulous food and drink, fun for kids, artisan specialty food purveyors, a collector car show, home and garden exhibits, health and wellness displays, an organic and green products showcase, and the new Cuda Lounge.

July 16-17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Santa Cruz Avenue.

Admission is FREE–don’t miss it!

Learn more about the event and how Recology is helping out with their greening efforts.

Recology Sunset Scavenger and Recology Golden Gate, in partnership with the San Francisco Department of the Environment, invite you to attend a lively discussion centered around reducing waste at your business. By maximizing recycling, composting, and reuse options, you can help reduce your impact on climate change, save natural resources, and improve your company’s bottom line.

This interactive panel discussion will focus on the meaning of zero waste, how to take effective steps to reduce waste at your business, and will also provide you with information about the many free resources available help your business go green.

Panel
Bob Besso, Recology
John Hanscom, LEED AP, ESA, Renewable Resources Group
Alex Dmitriew, San Francisco Department of the Environment

Moderator
Chris Levaggi, Recology

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Session 4, 3:20-5:00pm

Sign up for this workshop

Small Business Conference 
SF State Downtown Campus

Photo by David McLeish via flickr.com

What is “being green”? Does it mean you dye your hair green or wear green clothes?

Or does it mean you are reducing your environmental footprint? We hope so!

“Being green” can be as simple as turning the water off when you brush your teeth! Are you green when you donate your clothes to a local non-profit? Yes! What if the switch broke on my vacuum cleaner? If I take it to the repair shop to get it fixed? Without a doubt!

Being green doesn’t mean you need to save the world (all at once). It just means doing the small things that collectively can have a huge impact on our planet.

Check out RecycleWorks of San Mateo County’s website for things you can do at home or in the community.

Make Every Day Earth Day! Take the Earth Day 2011 Pledge.