Advisory, October 2008 Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Advisory
The Zero Waste Committee is developing advisories, recommendations and fact sheets about getting to Zero Waste. This advisory addresses the reality of landfills during the transition to Zero Waste, that is, to a "cradle-to-cradle" future in which products are designed to be cycled back into products, organics are cycled safely back into soil, toxins that cannot be safely recycled are banned, and discards that cannot be recycled are specially treated and buried in ever-diminishing landfills. Read more.
Zero Waste: A Definition
The only peer-reviewed internationally accepted definition of Zero Waste was developed by the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) to assist businesses and communities in defining their own goals for Zero Waste:
"Zero Waste is a goal that is both pragmatic and visionary, to guide people to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health."
Measures of success for achieving the goal of Zero Waste have been detailed in Zero Waste Business Principles developed by the GrassRoots Recycling Network. Learn more.
Zero Waste Cradle-to-Cradle Principles for the 21st Century
The Sierra Club adopted a landmark policy on Zero Waste at its Board Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on February 23, 2008. The new Zero Waste policy provides governments at all levels with a leading-edge plan that links environmental health with economic prosperity: a win-win for business and the environment. The plan proposes specific roles for government, manufacturers, and consumers to address the waste crisis facing our country.
Governments are obligated to protect public health and the environment, but present waste management practices are not protective. In contrast, this Zero Waste Policy fosters an economic system that fully values people and the environment. The Sierra Club's Zero Waste policy addresses not only the quantity of waste we generate, but also its toxicity, and its important links to climate change and corporate responsibility. Most importantly it aims to prevent waste by design rather than manage it after the fact.
Zero Waste focuses on reducing waste and reusing products, then recycling and composting the rest. A key component of Zero Waste is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The familiar example of EPR is the refillable bottle. The producer takes the bottle back and reuses it with minimal use of energy and natural resources. This idea can be extended to other products, including appliances designed to be easily disassembled for repair or reuse.
The Sierra Club policy would require businesses (producers or first importers) to recover, at no cost to taxpayers, their products when consumers are done with them, as a condition for sale in a jurisdiction. If brand-owners are responsible for channeling their products safely back into the environment of the marketplace, they will start making products differently, so that they can be reused. Designing products for waste reduction, reuse, or recycling is called the "cradle to cradle" approach. The focus on Extended Producer Responsibility lends additional momentum to a growing movement in US to tackle waste at its root cause and develop policies that prevent waste rather than just managing it at the end-of-pipe.
Two other key components of Zero Waste are (1) land-use policies and zoning that encourage
development of reuse, repair and recycling businesses in business districts and (2) local government management of food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic materials. Diverting organic materials dramatically reduces waste, eliminates the problem of methane produced in landfills, and provides compost needed to restore depleted soil.
For consumers, the adoption of Zero Waste plans will make "green living" much simpler and easier, with products that can be repaired, disassembled, and conveniently dropped off where purchased, and reuse, recycling and composting services for people at home, at work and at play.
