Resource Conservation Challenge
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/index.htm
Cradle to Grave Approach
Cradle to Cradle Approach
Basis for the RCC programs
The Solid Waste Disposal Act directs us to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to conserve valuable material and energy resources.
Solid waste Disposal Act (42USCA§§6901 et seq.)
RCC: Four Pillars
MSW Municipal Solid Waste IMR: Reusing and Recycling Industrial Materials Green Initiatives: Electronics and Green Building Priority and Toxic Chemical Reduction
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/priorities.htm
Municipal Solid Waste Generation in 2007 254 Million Tons
Food Scraps 12.5% Other 3.2% Yard Trimmings 12.8 % Wood 5.6% Rubber, leather, and textiles 7.6%
Paper 32.7% Metals 8.2%
Plastics 12.1% Glass 5.3%
EPA 2007 Facts and Figures
Life-Cycle Approach
Energy-Waste Connection
Energy Savings per ton of material recycled
Energy Savings Per Ton Recycled (Million Btu)
Aggregate 0.6 Textbooks 0.7 Magazines/third class mail 1.1 Glass 2.7 Fly Ash 5.3 Office Paper 10.2 Phonebooks 11.9 Corrugated Cardboard 15.7 New spaper 16.9 Steel Cans 20.5 Personal Computers HDPE PET LDPE Copper Wire Carpet Aluminum Cans
44.0 51.4 53.4 56.5 83.1 106.1 206.9
Million Btu/ton
How to accomplish the RCC?
Non Regulatory Seek partners with a common mission Focus on results: accomplishments count
Key Programs
Waste Wise GreenScapes Plug-In to e-Cycling Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) Pay As You Throw (PAYT) National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP)
The Benefits
• MSW Recycling (2007), Recycling Rate = 33.4%
– Conservation of 1,343 trillion BTU (or the energy equivalent of 10.7 billion gallons of gas)
• equivalent to nearly 13% of US annual residential site energy consumption.
– GHG emission reductions of 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E)
• equivalent to the annual emissions of 35 million passenger vehicles (14% of passenger vehicles registered in the U.S.)
•
WasteWise (2006)
– partners reduced/recycled 16 million tons of waste – reduced GHG emissions by 40.7 MMTCO2E
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of 7.4 million passenger vehicles
•
Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) (2007)
– partners diverted 148,000 tons of carpet from landfills. Of this,137,550 tons of carpet was recycled – Conservation of 14.6 trillion BTUs of energy
• enough energy to power 77,000 homes for one year
– GHG emission reductions of 994,000 MTCO2E
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of 182,000 passenger vehicles.
The Benefits
• National Electronics Recycling (in 2005)
– 345,000 tons of electronics were recycled. Of this, more than 173,000 tons of CPUs, CRT monitors, LCDs, notebook computers, and cell phones were recycled. – Reduced emissions of 557,000 MTCO2E attributed to CPU, CRT, LCD, notebook and cell phone recycling
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of more than 102,000 passenger vehicles
– Conservation of 6.6 trillion BTUs of energy
• equivalent to 52.7 million gallons of gasoline
• Plug-In to E-waste (2007)
– partners collected more than 47 million pounds of electronics – Reduction of approximately 131,000 MTCO2E
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of nearly 24,000 passenger vehicles.
– Conserved approximately 2 trillion BTUs
• equivalent to approximately 16 million gallons of gas.
The Benefits
• C2P2 (2006)
– Recycling rate = 43%, or more than 54 million tons – Using 15 million tons of fly ash in place of portland cement saved nearly 80 trillion BTUs
• equivalent to the annual energy consumption of more than 420,000 households
– Reduced GHG emissions by 13.6 MMTCO2E
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of nearly 2.5 million passenger vehicles
– CCP recycling results in reduced water use, reduced particulate emissions, reductions in emissions of lead and mercury, and reduced waterborne pollutants (e.g., suspended matter, biological oxygen demand, copper, mercury).
•
Flue-Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Gypsum
– 8.2 million tons of FGD Gypsum recycled into wallboard – 98 trillion BTUs were saved
• equivalent to 781 million gallons of gas
– Reduced GHG emissions by 634,000 MTCO2E
• equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of 116,000 passenger vehicles
The Benefits
• Priority Chemicals
15 million lbs of Priority Chemicals and other chemicals have been taken out of the environment since the NPEP’s inception More than 55 million pounds of future PC Reductions (including lead-free wheel weight reduction commitments)