American Waste Management and Recycling - DOC

							Talking Trash: Waste and Recycling in New Jersey
By Brenda Holzinger, Conservation Chair
June 2006


        According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the
average American generates about 4½ pounds of waste per day. Although much of this
4½ pounds is recyclable, only about 1 pound actually gets recycled while the remaining
3½ pounds are discarded into the waste stream. As a result, solid waste generation in the
United States has nearly tripled since 1960, and Americans currently produce in excess of
230 million tons of trash every year
(http://www.solidwastedistrict.com/information/uswaste.html). Although the United
States is the biggest trash producer globally, other consumer cultures are feeling the
refuse pressure associated with increasing levels of consumption. For example, Canada
has a big problem with all the cups people discard after they drink their Tim Hortons
coffee. Tim Hortons cups comprised 22% of Nova Scotia’s waste stream in 2005
(http://www.cbc.ca/ns/story/ns-timhortons-trash20050706.html)! In China and other
Asian nations, disposable chopsticks have become the object of environmental concern.
Not only do they end up in the waste stream, but they are not recyclable and, because
they are wood, lead to deforestation and all its accompanying environmental
consequences. Japan is criticized because it uses about 25 million pairs of disposable
chopsticks annually, and almost all are made from wood originating in other countries.
South Korea actually banned the use of disposable chopsticks almost 6 years ago in
restaurants over a certain size in an effort to reduce waste
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-
dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A3296-2001Jan30).

        Globally and locally, waste stream reduction requires concerted action by all. In
the United States, citizens must educate themselves about the important issues so that
they can pressure government and industry to reduce waste and increase recycling and
reuse. Governments at the national, state, county and municipal levels must enact
legislation that encourages such action, and citizens must hold their governments
responsible for creating a “greener” stream of commerce. One of the most effective ways
citizens can demonstrate support or opposition for such government policies is by voting
regularly and voicing opinions to elected officials via email, telephone or letter. In fact,
when debating the Constitution, the Founding Fathers made clear the crucial role citizens
must play in the American government system—citizens must educate themselves so that
they can hold government officials accountable for their decisions. Citizens can also hold
industry accountable by choosing to buy greener products. Finally, all citizens--including
industry and government--must recycle and reuse as much as possible.

       Recycling in New Jersey is regulated by a mix of national, state, county and
municipal laws. The Bureau of Recycling and Planning, within the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), leads the state recycling effort by implementing the
New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act (MRA). The
MRA became part of the New Jersey Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) in 1987.
The SWMP has provided the framework for the collection, transportation and disposal of
solid waste in New Jersey since it took effect on May 6, 1970 (N.J. Stat. § 13:1E-1, et.
seq.) Under the SWMP, each county in the state must develop and implement a
comprehensive solid waste management plan that meets the needs of every municipality
within its jurisdiction (N.J. Stat. § 13:1E-2). This authority allows counties to determine
which materials must be recycled by residential and commercial entities within their
boundaries (Please see http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dshw/recycling/county_recy_list.htm
for county specific information). Layered on top of this regulatory structure is a
Performance Partnership between the DEP and the EPA, which specifies practices and
commitments made by the two agencies to increase recycling and reduce waste.

        The mission of the Bureau of Recycling and Planning is to recycle at least 65% of
waste overall, but specifically, to recycle 50% of NJ’s municipal solid waste (MSW)
stream (http://www.sate.nj.us/dep/dshw/recycle/mission.htm). The data for 2003, which
is the most recent provided by the DEP, shows that the overall recycling rate for the state
was 51.8%, but the MSW rate was only 32%. In fact, 1995 actually marked the highest
rate for MSW recycling when it hit 45%. New Jersey is in line with the national average,
which according to the EPA, was 30% for MSW recycling in 2003
(http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/pubs/msw05rpt.pdf). Cumberland county
had the highest MSW and overall recycling rates in the state at 44.7% and 65%
respectively. Gloucester (42.5%), Bergen (42.1%), Cape May (40.8%) and Burlington
(40.6%) round out the top 5 for MSW recycling in New Jersey in 2003. Hudson county
ranked 21 out of 21 counties with a statewide low MSW rate of only 16.9%, while
Hunterdon county ranked lowest for overall recycling with a rate of 31.9%. (Please see
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dshw/recycle/03munrts.pdf for more details)

        An effective recycling system includes collecting and removing materials from
the waste stream, manufacturing new products using recovered and recycled materials,
and the purchase of such products by consumers. Recognizing that successful recycling
requires concerted action by government, citizens and industry, the Bureau of Recycling
and Planning identifies 4 specific goals: (1) increase demand for recyclable materials and
recycled products, (2) increase the supply of high quality secondary materials, (3)
maximize the overall efficiency of the recycling infrastructure and (4) further recycling-
related job development in the collection, processing and manufacturing sectors. The
Bureau works to meet these goals through a combination of business incentives, technical
and regulatory assistance, data gathering and analysis, and education and training to
recycling professionals throughout the state. In January 2006, for example, New
Jersey’s elected leaders took a step to further push conservation in the state by adopting a
preference in state contracts for wood and paper products derived from sustainably
managed forests whenever possible (January 12, 2006, Chapter 367, 2004 Bill Tracking
NJ A.B. 1860).

         Managing solid waste is a crucial public policy challenge for New Jersey
because it is the nation’s most densely populated state with about 8.4 million residents.
Predictions put the waste generation level at 33 million tons in 2015 if the state continues
forward without further reducing the waste stream and increasing levels of recycling and
reuse. That’s less than 10 years! In order to meet this challenge, New Jersey is currently
revising, updating and readopting the Statewide Solid Waste Management Plan
(SSWMP), which was last reviewed in 1993. A working draft of the new plan was
released in December 2005 and is available at
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dshw/recycle/swmp/pdf/forward06.pdf. Take a look! Once
readopted, the new SSWMP will require all 21 New Jersey counties to revise and readopt
their own county solid waste management plans to meet their state mandated recycling
goals. In combination, the state and county governments must figure out why recycling
in New Jersey has decreased over the last 10 years from its high point in 1995 (60%
overall, 45% MSW), and how to reverse the trend. The SSWMP makes numerous
suggestions requiring legislative action to assist in reinvigorating New Jersey’s recycling
efforts.

        While the various government entities adopt new plans, we can take action now
by rededicating ourselves to recycling, reuse and conservation. Although we still have
much room to improve, the data shows that we are reasonably effective in recycling the
easy items like paper, metal and yard trimmings. But what about the harder items like
disposable batteries, household cleaners and other chemicals, used oil, computers and cell
phones? A good resource for locally recycling these and other items is
www.earth911.org, which is a comprehensive website with information about recycling
centers for all kinds of materials, green shopping, composting, energy/resource
conservation, household hazardous waste, and environmental education. In our roles as
citizen-consumers, we should educate ourselves about available products and choose to
purchase those that contain recycled ingredients even if they are more expensive than the
comparable products made without recycled material (For a list of recycled products
available in New Jersey, please see http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dshw/recyclenj/). For
example, next time you need to buy paper for your printer, consider purchasing paper
manufactured from 100% recycled materials. In order to offset the higher price of such
paper, you could print on both sides of each sheet or dedicate yourself to printing a few
less pages each week. Finally, if we reuse things as much as possible rather than dispose
them (paper cups vs. reusing glass, for example), we can further conserve resources by
reducing the need to manufacture certain products in large supply. Small actions like this
accumulate and will have a profound effect on our waste generation and recovery!