HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/12/1989 - Solid Waste Abatement Commission AGENDA
SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION
EAGAN, MINNESOTA
EAGAN MUNICIPAL CENTER CONFERENCE ROOMS A & B
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1989
11:30 A.M.
I. ROLL CALL AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
III. STAFF REPORT
IV. OLD BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
Action Item- Set 1990 compensation levels for
multiple dwelling recycling operations.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
VII. DISTRIBUTION
VIII. NEXT MEETING
IX. ADJOURNMENT
MEMO TO: CHAIRS HOEL AND MANN AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE SOLID WASTE
ABATEMENT COMMISSION
FROM: RECYCLING SPECIALIST HAGEMAN
DATE: DECEMBER 5, 1989
SUBJECT: EAGAN SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEETING OF
DECEMBER 12, 1989
A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission
will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 1989 at 11:30 a.m., in the
Eagan Municipal Center Conference Rooms A & B. The City will
provide a box lunch to those requesting one by noon, Monday,
December 11. Please contact Kris Hageman or Jane Helebrant at
454 -8100 to indicate whether you will attend and your luncheon
preference.
I. ROLL CALL AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA
The agenda, as presented or modified, requires adoption by the
Commission.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A copy of the minutes of the Solid Waste Abatement Commission
meetings of September 12, 1989 and November 14, 1989 are enclosed
on pages / 6 for your review. These minutes, subject to any
change require approval by the Commission. Please note: the
additional minutes from September 12.
III. STAFF REPORT
VI. OLD BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
Continued discussion and final decision concerning the 1990
compensation levels for the multiple dwelling recycling program.
After meeting with area refuse haulers on November 29th,
representatives present included; Jeff Gerhke, Knutson Rubbish
and Tom Moline, BFI Recycling) new program ideas and cost
evaluations were discussed. Gerhke provided the group with an
overview of the program costs for multi -unit collection in the
City of Bloomington. The numbers are as follows:
Operations (truck and driver) $70.00 /hour
1,100 units serviced which produce an average of #15 of
recyclable material each month.
3 K -carts are placed at each complex which totals 90 carts to
service 1,100 units. The cost for using the equipment is $3 per
cart for a cost of $270 /month.
The City (all complexes) is collected an average of 4.3 times
each month with the average truck time involved at 5 hours each
collection or approximately 20 hours /month.
20 hours x $70 = $ 1,500.00
$1,500 - 1,100 units = $ 1.37 per unit
Average cart cost per unit is $270 - 1,100 units, .25.
Add $1.37 + .25 (cart cost) = $ 1.62 per unit.
** #15 is equal to .007 of one ton or $ . 45. Subtract the avoided
tip fee for the weight of the recyclable material and discover
the break even point for collection costs.
In this scenario: $1.62 per unit
- .45 avoided cost
$1.17 per unit
We have asked for additional information, primarily for program
costs in Dakota County municipalities and for the same run
through of costs for the 1 -4 unit residential recycling program.
I have also rerun the numbers for the comparison of payment by
the ton versus payment per unit. In my first calculations I did
not include the townhome units which would bring the number of
units up to 4,813. Reworking the numbers the second time, I
calculated the average weights per unit (not per participating
unit). These numbers are as follows:
4,813 units.
Payment /Unit Payment /Mo. # /Unit Tons /Mo. $ /Ton
.75 $3,609 #15 34.8 $103 /ton
.75 $3,609 #30 69 $ 50 /ton
$1.00 $4,813 #15 34.8 $138 /ton
1.00 $4,813 #30 69 $ 69 /ton
1.25 $6,016 #15 34.8 $172 /ton
1.25 $6,016 #30 69 $ 87 /ton
Multi -unit recycling subsidy levels have also been discussed
during the regular staff meetings for Dakota County recycling
coordinators. A new idea has emerged which combines the current
"residential subsidy" of $20 /ton with a smaller subsidy per unit
to compensate for the multi -unit program activities. An example
would be to allow the multi -unit weights to be added to the
residential reports to receive $20 per ton, plus subsidize an
additional $.50 per unit to help with the overall multi -unit
program costs.
Additional information (figures) may be available for the meeting
on Tuesday.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
VII. DISTRIBUTION
Enclosed in your packet are the following materials.
1. An article from Newsweek, Nov. 27, 1989, "Buried Alive ".
This article looks at the solid waste problems facing the U.S.
and possible solutions to those problems,
2. Two StarTribune articles, December 6, 1989. A. Concerns
Pioneer Industries Inc. and their plans to start in the
recyclables collection business and at a low price. B. NSP's
proposed one stop garbage drop at it's Newport facility.
3. In the last month I have received a number of letters from
students from the Dakota Hills Middle School discussing the
garbage problems we have and their ideas for solutions. Some
additional comments were printed in an edition of Eagan This Week
a few weeks ago.
VIII. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission
will be on Tuesday, January 9, 1990.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting will adjourn at or about 1:00 p.m.
Recycling Spe9ialist
cc: Tom Hedges
Dale Runkle
Subject to Approval
MINUTES OF THE SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION
Eagan, Minnesota
November 14, 1989
A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission was
held on Tuesday, November 14, 1989 at 11:30 a.m. Present were Co -Chair Tim Hoel,
Co -Chair Tom Mann, Earl Milbridge, Darlene Bahr, Cindy Ista, Tom Moline, Todd
Gatz and Terry Schnell. Absent were Larry Knutson and Brenda Marshall. Also
present were Recycling Specialist Hageman and Assistant to the City Administrator
Hohenstein.
AGENDA
Upon motion by Schnell, seconded by Ista, all members voting in
favor, the agenda for the meeting was approved as presented.
MINUTES
Absent a quorum at the October meeting, no minutes reflecting action
were in order. However, the Chair acknowledged that notes had been prepared
reflecting discussion at that meeting.
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION TOTALS
Hageman reported that the City had received quantity totals for the
household hazardous waste collection held on October 7 at Unisys in Eagan. 885
households participated in the collection and turned in materials including 1430
gallons of paint, 730 gallons of aerosols and solvents, 221 gallons of
pesticides, 300 car batteries, 2,400 gallons of oil and 1,068 tires. In
addition, approximately 1,100 gallons of asphalt sealer and other reusable items
were recycled. She stated that the City Council would recognize Unisys for its
contribution in this regard at the November 21 Council meeting.
COMMERCIAL RECYCLING
Hageman distributed copies of the commercial recycling booklet which
had been prepared by staff using the St. Paul District 14 information in this
regard.
She further stated that the staff would be making a presentation to
the Eagan Chamber of Commerce on November 30.
COMPOST PROGRAM
Hageman stated that the compost program continued to receive
materials, but that it appears that yard waste has peaked for the season. She
stated that the site would close for the season on Saturday, November 18, 1989.
She stated that as of October 23, the site had received approximately 2,250 yards
of yard waste and 440 yards of wood wastes.
SOLID WASTE ORDINANCE REVISIONS
Hageman introduced and described the ordinance changes as presented
by staff. Various items were discussed including extension of recycling
requirements to multiple residential dwelling accounts no later than October 1,
1990, the availability of an exemption for multi - family recycling done in an
intermediate processing facility, requirements for storage of recyclable and
garbage containers, the extension of contract requirements for multi - family
hauling contracts and editorial changes. Following considerable discussion
concerning the intent of the various changes, a motion was made by Mann, seconded
by Ista, all members voting in favor to recommend the ordinance amendments to
the City Council for approval with the editorial changes indicated in the
discussion and omitting the proposed Modification Code Section 6.37, Sub - division
4.A.3.a., regarding the exemption for intermediate processing facilities for
multiple dwelling accounts. Direction was given to staff to develop a definition
for intermediate processing facility and return it to the Commission for
consideration at its December meeting.
MULTIPLE DWELLING PERFORMANCE FUNDING
Hageman introduced the topic and distributed information concerning
means by which multi - family recycling is conducted in other cities. Hohenstein
stated that the haulers workshops had indicated that they would prefer a per unit
payment to a tonnage payment because of the additional costs, equipment and labor
involved in multi - family collection. Bahr stated that she was very concerned
about the translation of per unit costs to tonnage costs. Moline stated that
it was BFI's experience that the cost of equipment, cost of containers and cost
of contamination resulted in such payments still not covering the costs of
collection. Floyd Hiar, 3720 Knoll Ridge Drive, suggested that the Commission
consider a direct charge to multi - family buildings per unit basis to offset the
costs.
Hoel stated that he did not understand why it costs more to do multi-
family recycling since all materials would be located in one location and many
households could be served by a single stop. He further stated that he prefers
to pay support payments on a performance basis and felt that additional
information was necessary such that the item should be brought back to the
December meeting. Hohenstein asked Commission members to identify specific
concerns which required additional information before the December meeting.
Members indicated that a justification of costs, a discussion of pros and cons
for per unit versus tonnage payments be prepared, and that relative cost figures
for current multi - family versus single - family collection disposal be identified.
Further comment was suggested that a discussion of the future of Dakota County
funding programs be discussed.
NEXT MEETING
Next regular meeting of the Solid Waste Abatement Commission will
be Tuesday, December 12, 1989 at 11:30 a.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Schnell, seconded by Mann, all members voting in
favor, the meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m.
JH
Date Chair
Secretary
11141.1.3
Subject to ADDroval
MINUTES OF THE SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION
Eagan, Minnesota
September 12, 1989
A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission was
held on Tuesday, September 12, 1989 at 11:30 a.m. Present were Tim Hoel, Tom
Mann, Larry Knutson, Terry Schnell and Tom Moline in place of Kevin Tritz of
BFI. Absent were Darlene Bahr, Cindy Ista, Brenda Marshall and Earl Milbridge.
Also present was Recycling Specialist Hageman, Assistant to the City
Administrator Hohenstein, Administrative Intern Weldon and Floyd Hiar, City
resident.
AGENDA
Upon motion by Knutson, seconded by Schnell, all members voting in
favor, the agenda was approved as presented.
MINUTES
Upon motion by Knutson, seconded by Hoel, all members voting in
favor, the minutes of the August 8, 1989 meeting were approved as presented.
HAULER DOCUMENTATION
Hageman indicated that the Dakota County cities were working on a
standardized documentation form to limit the amount of work necessary by the
haulers. It would also be consistent with the information put out by the
County's recyclables collection center. She stated further that haulers would
be allowed to begin submitting reports for payment monthly and that Dakota County
will install a scale at the recyclables collection center before the winter
freeze.
ADDITIONAL RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
Hageman stated that the County's recyclable collection center had
begun to accept food cans mixed with beverage cans. She stated further that the
County would require haulers to begin accepting such cans on February 1, 1990.
She stated that unless the Commission felt strongly, that Eagan should accelerate
that requirement, that staff would coordinate promotions with the haulers to
begin such collection on February 1.
Hohenstein stated that plastics as an additional material at the curb
presented special problems and that City staff had been pursuing the concept of
plastics deposit recycling with the League of Minnesota Cities and Association
of Metropolitan Municipals. He stated that a legislative initiative or position
would be considered by those groups.
Hageman also stated that tonnage reports indicated the City to have
1,032 tons of materials recycled in the first six months and that participation
was holding steady at approximately 50% on a weekly basis. She said this
information had been provided by haulers in their tonnage reports.
CONTAINER DISTRIBUTION
Hageman stated that she has delivered approximately 350 additional
sets of containers since the program was initiated in March. This number
indicates a significant penetration to new households. She further stated that
most people calling for containers had been informed of the program by their
haulers or City mailings.
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
Hageman stated that the City still required volunteers the October
7, 1989 household hazardous waste collection. Schnell suggested that the City
contact organizations such as the Sierra Club, Clean Water Project, Citizens for
a Better Environment and Green Peace for volunteers. Staff further discussed
the details of the collection and distributed a homeowners guide to household
hazardous waste that had been prepared by Dakota County.
MULTI - FAMILY RECYCLING WORK PROGRAM
Hageman and Hohenstein outlined some basic issues to be resolved to
formalize the Multi - Family Recycling Program for the City. These issues were:
1. Recycling requirements for commercial /multi - family licensees.
2. Ordinance modifications to require recycling services for multi-
family solid waste contracts.
3. Ordinance modifications concerning multi - family ..:yclable
scavenging.
4. Determination of funding levels /operational support from City /County
programs including:
a. Container funding- either buy or rent.
b. Increase per ton payments.
c. Per unit funding
d. Other?
The Commission discussed these work elements and defined two additional points
which included:
1. City requirements for fenced garbage and recycling storage.
2. Multi - family recycling publicity and education.
On motion by Knutson, seconded by Schnell, all members voting in favor, the
Commission accepted the modified six -point work program and directed staff to
return to the Commission with target dates for completion of the elements at the
October meeting.
DAKOTA COUNTY FUNDING APPLICATION
Hohenstein reported that the County funding application had been
prepared consistent with the Commission's earlier budget requests and that it
would be submitted to the City Council on September 19 for approval for County
consideration. He stated that the only modification staff was considering from
the earlier discussions was the possibility of replacing the current compost
program with a transfer station concept. He stated that the dollar amounts would
be comparable but that staff would have to negotiate details with the County
compost site and potential vendors.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Knutson, seconded by Schnell, all members voting in
favor, the meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m.
JH
Date Chairperson
Secretary
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1 66 NEWS‘kFEK NOVEMBER 27. 19S9
(
.I have only ourselves to blame for this
1 . We ha e o you ;/
N
i - i L ,, environmental crisis. Americans throw out about
- t' ) ', 160 million tons of garbage a year -3.5 pounds
i ,
.1 _ apiece each day. Where are we going to put it all?
' ' At a distance, the yellow, granulated ' land townships each spend an average of
• ' mounds rising 250 feet over Staten Island $23 million a year shipping garbage out of
F ° i '� m ight be mistaken for sand dunes —if not state. Increasingly, it incenses residents
,,- ..1 1 . for the stench. Fresh Kills is the largest city on the receiving end as well. "I'm all for
1 [' ', .i dump in the world, home to most of Goth - I taking care of our garbage needs, but New
1 ' ) am 's garbage, 24,000 tons each day brought Jersey can take care of its own," says state
;s; round-the-clock by 22 barges. "Ile get it all Sen .RogerBedfordofAlabama,whichhas
i . j her —your plastics, your S'vrofooms, even placed a two -year moratorium on accept- I
I -- 1 stoves and refrigerators." says supervisor ing garbage not grown at home.
• i i William Aguirre. 'I1 was a valley when it NIMBY (Not in My Backyard syndrome)
started (in 1948]. Now it's a mountain." By is breaking out all over, frustrating efforts
- the year 2000, Fresh Kills will tower half to build new landfills, expand old ones and
.-" .ms again as high as the Statue of Liberty and ! site incinerators, transfer stations and re-
—•j 00. * , i fill more cubic feet than the largest Great cycling centers. NIMBY has been joined by
T+` i ` l Pyramid of Epp —provided it lives that other acrimonious acronyms of the waste ;i
—' , , - F long. The State of New York claims Fresh wars: GOOMBY (Get Out of My Backyard),
a Kills is leaching 2 million gallons of con - i LULU (Locally Undesirable Land Use)and 11
,
1 t aminotrrr gunk into the ground uotereach NIAIEY (Not inMy Election \' ear). Greater
1 `
+ j ' day and has threatened to close the dump Los Angeles has suffered them all in recent
• ` 4 '�. s -.- } A, down in 1991. As a result, city sanitation years. Angry citizens have three times
-1. • Y _ _ ; i '� m
'' ' com er• ission Brendan Sexton left this blockaded the entrance to Lopez Canyon
r ° �:i message for newly elected Mu�•or David Landfill. hoping to close the last remaining
' , - i „, Dinkins. `Hi. Welcome to City Hall. By the city -owned dump. Officials of surrounding
•
t W , ; : 2 .0.- i - w you have no place to put the trash. " L.A. County say their canyons won't accept
• ' . any more of the city's trash and Mayor
f f '- J ! 1 either do many American i Tom Bradley helped scuttle the proposed
'' - ' 4 communities, from Philadel- $235 million Lancer incinerator when po- I
Nit " ' phia to Berkeley, Minneapo- 1 litical opposition to the project grew fern-
' , r ``°R s lis toJacksonville. More than cious. As a result, "we actually have
! , ; .%„ i
'� , �.• . i two thirds of the nation's - ; 41 y k• .- ' - -' landfills have closed since —
�
� :0„,.....,.. the late 1970s; one third of ■
those remaining will be full in the next five i Going U
;, sj - y ears. F law p rohibits dum
ill
fry' Federal I G arbage anthropologists say that
•• � '
r - . i, , _ f 1 trash into the ocean. Incineration is under I the averageAmericanhousehold
' =- i. attack on economic and environmental
r --
, f grounds. Recycling is gaining popul,lrity, ,
fig' ' I. but currently only 11 percent of U.S solid y
• • ' p ' " r waste lives again as something else. And One w eek 1 p
s .0.x.,• ` I still the volume of garbage keeps grow- 8.73 bags
. ; , , • 4 1' '•' r 1' ing —up by 80 percent since 1960. expected
r t s •
I to mount an additional 20 percent by 2000. p {
Not including sludge and construction ,,;3
wastes ,Americans collectively tcssont 160 Ili
Fetid cargo: A household haul in Miami million tons each year — enough to spread 1' f7) _4
30 stories high over 1,000 footba '•olds, �r;e.
111
enough to fill a bumper -to- bumper c••nvoy It s' "�°1
- �L
of garbage trucks halfway to the mo n. , . . 4
11
IV .
a ,
•
.'
Municipal waste haulers aren't tat; ing it • a �;�
there —yet. But as their own landfills close
and disposal - i •
. i 81 .5 '' �
a osal fees soar, man
P Y communities
re trucking their trash across state Wont
lines and into rural areas. Some 28,000 tons I c ,� c'
of garbage travel the nation's highways
each day; New York, Pennsylvania and SOURCE THEGARRAI7E II.LVSTR.ITIOVS BY !i
`
New Jersey export 8 million tons a year. rR'un r I ' l" P1111 `` " "'rR i
That practice can be costly, too • Lang is
NEWS \WEEK NOVEMBER 27. 1989 67
I
r ,. `„
S 0 C 1 E T Y - -- • i- .t ��-
� r l
How Much Time DO We Have?
li Havily populated Northeastern States will us•- p their existing landfill space , `
faster than those in other parts of the country. But even in states like California . , '
with seemingly plenty of room, individual cities are running out of places to bury 1 --- their trash. New York City's Fresh Kills dump (right) could be full by the year 2000. - . •
b ; -.."-i\ I . , . , ...
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ty
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y�`rt i .• I l., vj *r' 7.' 7 , , . t a r . v � a A� ,
. i. ::: .. 2 . ,.. _- i ''''' ' . -." ',1 f 1 .. Years to t s� j jt .� „_� t ,
Landfill Capacity , > S ' .., s EE
III Under - :}- {' .t - 1 ' - - Vi a ; , 4 g . - ,t. : -�i, ,,, .. -' ■
5 years ` . ,• 4 `_ ” " .." "� , • +0 :mss . x t = ; , r• it • •
r in 5-10 I years :r { ,^ t r = - .i . i t t
--.1 dears ' , ' - r .
i - ' , 1 0 ►ears f � . _ .
MAP SOURCE. NATI SOLID AST EC MANAGEMENT ASSOC
garbage trucks running around town ev- billion glossy mail -order catalogs each year feeling this ivay is when that barge
eryday without a place to dump," says local and annually buying some 1 billion individ- was stranded and you know, it was
environmentalist Will Baca. ual foil -lined boxes of fruit juice, complete going around the island and nobody would
That doesn't faze some unscrupulous with shrink wrapping and a plastic -en- claim it Opening lines of "sex, lies, and
drivers. As legal disposal grows more diffi- cased straw on the side (page 76). videotape," land
cult, some private waste haulers simply
unload their fetid cargo anywhere, from Ann: All I've been thinning about all
ghetto streets to forests. Even the Mafia is week is garbage. 1 mean. I just can't stop The saga of Islip's wandering garbage
concerned about the lack of landfill space. thinking about it. barge may have been to the trash crisis
was to
Law- enforcement officials say that two Psychiatrist: What kind of thoughts what td War I. Ports of te ar away as B elito
New York mob families, which own carting about garbage?
,) companies• are trying to gain control of Ann: I've just gotten real con.•er•ned over turned back the ship laden with 3,000 tons
valuable Pennsylvania dumps. Worse still, what's gonna happen ... 1 mean. we've got of Long Island filth in the spring of 1987,
some truckers who haul meat and produce so much of it ... The last time I started and nightly news stories starkly reminded
to the East in refrigerated vehicles are car- - - --
rying maggot - infested garbage back West Reincarnation, garbage style: Retrieving. McDonald's hamburger boxes in Brooklyn
in the same trucks. Congress is considering JACQUESCHENET— NEKSK'EEK
banning the practice, which carries serious 1 - -
health risks."Would you serve potato salad - .
fr.- ' your cat's litter box ?" asked Pennsyl- ,, • i..
State University food- science profes-
sor Manfred Kroger at congressional hear- ' ! ;�. '
' ings in August. ' •
Junk mall: The garbage crisis didn't ap- % 1 1 1
pear overnight, of course. Environmental- i � ' f , •
i tj
fists first warned of it in the 1970s, and some
citizens conscientiously toted cans, bottles -. I '.• ' i ` 1 - • • _ �, • ;
and paper to ragtag recycling centers. But �,� !'�' � r `i ;,: r-1-, i �
there were scant markets for the recycled z
material and enthusiasm faded like last ! u i ' 1 i • ; O Zee
year's newsprint. The urgency seemed to
. Or • a f;� _ :- � �-
wane as well: garbage, after all, isn't as i ,.4.-.7.7--; .r' ` ;
frightening as toxic waste or as photogenic E ' • ' r . ~`
■ as the burning Amazon. Meanwhile, the .1 _. _ - 4tt ' '�f .
throwaway society has grown ever more r �. v ' �+ _ '. ,1
disposable, substituting squeezable plastic ` . t f+l
ketchup bottles for glass, generating 12.4 y , .1. > ** r ; . -_ ^ •
88 NEWSWEEK NOVEMBER 27.1989 • ak � ' . Vi . ` ; •
• \... 1 •' .;.0,1 Vii`
r j t «
, . - 1 -.. _ \ .ir ! ! , -- - —
I 1 r ers, who are forced to do this because of
4 ti� . �� I l legislation. But you and I will be part of
i , .t. 1 J I �_ history when they degrade in landfills."
4-,_ a " - i + ! Perhaps no consumer item better sym-
�'� ' ' ° �: ; bolizes the crisis —and the contradi
� th -
c
_•- 1� j • tions —than the polystyrene foam contain
-.. i - 4 ' . :: ers that keep McDonald's hamburgers
` „I,,,, = a 1 ` �'^'�w' wa rm and litter roadsides
j ides with such ap-
- - - 1 palling frequency. McDonald's switched
�' 0.---- : ` from paper to the plastic packaging 10
4 1
� : °' . _ - ! _ - years ago amid concern over vanishing for -
} ; . ests and paper -mill pollution, and was a
1•. � ; �1 ;' '` i leader in eliminating ozone - harming CFCs
� �� .,l, . ` (chlorofluorocarbons) from polystyrene
' �;� :. _ �� a production. Now facing restrictions on the
1 ,' foam containers in nearly 100 communi- 1
_� 1 ? ': .,1 t : * it ties, the company is scrambling to recycle
'S , . • + .1. " , ? �.� the material. Last month 100 McDonald's
} ' - • � R '° , c in New England began asking customers to
_ �. ,;` - M toss their polystyrene into separate trash
, q : _ 1 "M i a, ,: P' cans; fledgling recycling centers then
.N ; A ` pound it into lactic
- `' t;, • t;: . ` \ 1— .! -. P pellets that can be
a3 + , � t used in such things as Rolodex file holders,
_ �_ •- . j cassette boxes and yo-yos. Someday, Mc-
„�: � � � 1
� � � . � � ci " '' +
r - Donald's envisions building whole restau-
!+ 0 "w rants out of recycled burger boxes. "This
. - •` 4! -- „ , rC f . � �; ; 4 material has many, many uses," insists
Ray Thompson, a spokesman for Amoco,
876PHEN FERRY—J8 PICTURES' I which makes the boxes. "It only makes
sense to enrich our waste stream with more
Americans that what they toss out must go datory municipal collection. In August the Polystyrene."
somewhere. Since then, 18 states and scores nationwide glut of newsprint stood at 'it's one of those great mysteries of life in
of municipalities have embarked on ambi- 1 million tons. Industry officials say mar- America," mutters the cartoon character
tious waste- reduction programs. Next kets have improved since then, but they Shoe as he puts his groceries away. 'in just
July, Minneapolis and St. Paul will ban all complain that too many cities launched one dad, how do two bags of ordinary gro-
plastic food packaging that won't degrade into newspaper collection before securing ceries turn into three bags ofgarbage ?"
or can't be recycled; Nebraska will ban purchasers. Washington, D.C., is among
most disposable diapers in 1993. With them: papers picked up in its two-month- Polystyrene makers insist that their
amazing speed, recycling has shed its tie- old recycling program are piling up in a big abandoned trays, coffee cups and contain- I
dyed image, attracted big- business invest- storage pit. If a buyer isn't found, all those ers comprise less than 0.25 percent of the
ment and political passion. "Nobody knew carefully sorted newspapers may simply be nation's trash. The biggest single compo-
what the heck curbside recycling was two hauled off to a dump or an incinerator. nent -41 percent by weight —is paper
years ago," says Gary Mielke of Illinois's Many other efforts to reduce the natio:n's products, and their share has grown steadi- # i
Department of Energy and Natural Re- trash volume are working at cross purposes ly, thanks in part to reams of computer
sources; now 500,000 households in his as well, leaving citizens who want to help printouts and competing regional ' ,
state alone set their glass, paper and alumi- wondering what to do and whom to believe. phone books. Yard waste is
num on the street in separate containers. Sales of degradable disposable diapers z.re _ i
Th e efforts seem to provide an outlet for a soaring; some communities now require de- F ' '� _
tt _
wide range of environmental angst. "Peo- gradable plastic '"
p grocery bags. Yet m <�st On e month . • ' ? `j `7�5
g
ple are so tired of hearing about oil spills experts dismiss such items as little more
and nuclear accidents and ozone—things than marketing ploys that won't do much 29 bags } ,
they can't do anything about," Mielke ob- to reduce volume in landfills. Photodegra- , "
serves. "Recycling is the way they can do dables decompose only in the presence of .. .t . ' '
their part." , �e 4 _ e
sunlight, which doesn't shine inside cov- L. �.,
Paper glut: Alas, it isn't that simple, as ered dumps. Many biodegradables rely on �'� "'
Minneapolis discovered last spring. Thou- microorganisms to digest additives like - , as ." �� 'a
sands of residents eagerly turned in their cornstarch, but disintegration takes place ` t '
glass, cans and newspapers. But newsprint very slowly in dr ox �'
# ` ' :. ` T1 T '' `
Y, Ygen sta rved land-
handlers were so inundated that rather fills. What's more, if degradables are min- r ?T?•.e,�
than buying it for $12 a ton, some started gled with recycled plastics, they can weak- • •sag ' - ' ;'-'4!
�
charging $20 a ton just to haul it away. en the resulting products: picture your i �
Success has threatened news a per -recy- fence r %� • •.. � ri, i , 1
p posts made of recycled plastic saggi ng M •
cling programs all over the ( oun try. Only in a couple of years. The rush to degradable
eq? rid to turn plastics "is a joke,"
eight U.S. paper mills are in says Jack Hogan, a iIC -1, : , „� . - %��' � K. ' -
.
old newspapers i nto new newsprint, and group vice president of Spartech Corp., 4. "
their capacity is still geared more to the which nevertheless makes the material.
scale of Boy Scout paper drives than man- "Our company is responding to our custom -
NEWSWEEK : NOVEMBER 27, 1989 69
I
•
s ) (' 1- E T . Y ,
the next biggest source by weight (18 per- happens. "Practically nothing decomposes solid- waste - disposal firm. "They are high -
cent before recycling), followed by metals in a landfill," says University of Arizona ly engineered excavations which have ex-
(8.7 percent), glass (8.2 percent), food (7.9 anthropologist William Rathje, who has pensive leachate- and gas - collection sys-
percent), plastics (6.5 percent) and wood made a career excavating dumps from Tuc- tems." In addition to taking in 2,500 tons
(3.7 percent). Toxic materials make up son to Chicago. Rathje has found recogniz- of trash each day, Waste Management's
about 1 percent of the a; stream. They able hot dogs, corncobs and grapes buried 397 -acre Settler's Hill landfill in Geneva,
' are : ,, pposed to be disp;"- -3 of separately in for 25 years, and readable newspapers dat- Ill., recovers enough methane to power
fact : i ties approved by t he Environmental ing back to 1952. The slow rate of degrada- 7,500 homes. The site will include two golf
Protection Agency and carefully moni- tion is actually a blessing, he says. If more courses, a driving range, ski slopes, trails
tored for leakage. But many hazardous of the contents did decompose, that would for horseback riding, jogging, biking, a
household products —from paint to nail- hasten the rate at which toxic inks, dyes lake and a picnic area. Still, NIMBY
polish remover —slip through the EPA's and paints mixed with the leachate, posing reigns supreme. Even when Waste Man-
guidelines. more of a threat to ground water. agement offered $25 million to Chicago's
Roughly 80 percent of all that stuff ends Landfill operators say that newer facili- Lake Calumet area for permission to ex- .
up in landfills. Some 6,000 remain nation- ties pose few environmental dangers. pand a landfill there, residents weren't
wide, from unruly city dumps to state -of- "These are not just holes in the ground," swayed. "No dumps, no deals," says state
the -art engineering marvels. Inside, some says Bill Plunkett, spokesman for Waste Rep. Clement Balanoff. "We have done
methane gas is produced but not much else Management, Inc., the nation's largest more than our share."
Teeing Off on Japan's Garbage baseball diamonds and a bicy-
cling course; there is also a
pool and indoor garden (both
ith their disposable warmed by heat from the gar -
■� chopsticks and triple- fist bage- to- energy plant nearby).
wrapped groceries, the Japa- fa - -.. = 3 . . AndnextautumnTokyoplans
• to
nese are hardly more virtuous : • u i T , - • X i J to Open a golf course, camp-
' than Americans when it __-' ground and picnic area atop
comes to generating trash: N Y-+,-.1 _ . more garbage piled in the bay.
each person roduces 1.9
Pe P a E' Theonlycluethatitisn'tterra
pounds a day, compared with - � - , • firma will be 70 12 foot pipes
3.5 pounds in the United es - 1 r - " 7 planted in the ground to carry
States. But since the tiny ,. $j' ,� ' -..-: _ ' off methane gas, from rotting t
f country has even less land- - 1 i • -* - • ,, kitchen waste.
r
i fill space than the United -. -• ` it e ; 1 ..� Yet Japan has not con -
States, necessity has inspired - 4i w ' c- — j' quered garbage. The overall
a sophisticated system for , = -:�• ` , - - '' P
� „ s r R .- recyclingratepeakedatabout
g trash. The ke y dif
handling 50percent; it has dropped dur-
ference is that while Ameri- 1 I_ " 1 • ing the 1980s. And thecountry
cans believe "there is a single ' 1 - still makes too much of the
solution to the garbage crisis, CLEAN ' "p"" CENTER stuff. Gleaming appliances
Japanese realize that burn- ways to sort year trash: Separating i t for collection and barely used furniture are
ing, burying, recycling and re- ; discarded, and it's impossible
ducing each has its place," j centofglassbottlesand66per States). Although the Japa - to buy even a pencil without
says William Rathje of the centoffoodandbeverag*cans. nese boast that their incinera- the salesclerk wrapping it.
� University of Arizona. Some towns go further resi- tors are clean, with waste gas- "Everythingis in this
For the Japanese, the so- dents of Zentsuji separate es scrubbed by electrostatic country," laments Yasumichi
lution of choice is recy trash into 32 categories, from precipitators, officials moni Yamamoto, an official of Chi -
cling. In Tokyo, enterpris- paper and glass to rags and tor only four types of ends- • ba City's Public Cleansing bu-
i ing firms have traditionally appliances, and haul it all to sions, and there is controversy reau. Partly as a result, Tokyo
toured neighborhoods, col- collection spots. over whether toxic dioxins and three neighboring prefec-
lecting newspapers, maga- Since the early 1970s, of- and furans — produced during tures will have an excess of
zines and rags in exchange for ficials have strict3 enforced combustion —are spewed out. 3.43million tons of garbage by
new b throom and facial tis- mandatory Dep.' Lion of Nonburrable garbage is 2005, and might have t� ship it
sue. B tton- shaped batteries, burnable f r o m n• combusti- separated, melted and refab elsewhere. Before that hap-
containing toxic mercury, are ble trash. $urhab ;waste, 72 ricated; ferrous metals are pens, the government will
returned to the store to be re - percent of the total L t er recy reclaimed. What's left, 24 per probably promote greater re-
cycled. And although only a !:ling, is trucked to incinera- cent of the total after recy- cycling and changes in con-
few years ago no Japanese tors, which reduce it in weight cling, becomes landfill at one sumption patterns to reduce
would touch used goods, the and volume by at least 80 per- of 2,411 sites —few bf which the amount of trash that its
latest trend is garage sales cent. Every Japanese commu- resemble the ugly mounds in citizens generate. Garbage is
and flea markets, which give hity has its own incinerator or the United States. The ver- one Japanese export without
secondhand wares new life. accesstoonenearby(thereare dant lawn# of one of Tokyo amarket.
About 40 percent of solid 1,899 garbage - burning plants, Bay's two "Dream Islands,"
SHARON s e C L Is Y OA
waste is recycled, including compared with the 155 large landfill that opened in 1957, H IDE80 TAaAYAYA in Tokyo and
half the paper, about 55 per- incinerators in ti nited are covered with asoccer field, MART MAGER in Washington
Imo
70 NEWSWEEK : NOVEMBER 27, 1989
•
T ,
1 1
1.
i ■ } I
The kind of ?erson who is most likely to , • ! , Y ,` . , i
oppose the siting of [a major incinerator] is y • 1 : � fi 11 � t - I
y�oungormiddle -aged, college educated and 1 " , , t' s 6
liberal. The person least likely to oppose a � I-5.. - fi . � '
facility i ., older, has a high schooleducation * �- .; `
or l ess... Middle and highersocio- econom• is ! ' ° p'' ,--elm ;•- '1 -.4 -k
1 1 ',E li + ( e R u 9 a --:
is strata 7eighborhoods should not fall .' � - ,: • ∎ , �; 1, - 1
within the one -mile and five -mile radii of 1 kit, i�
'he proposed site ...' '� ''' ,� ,. �� 1� =*
- -A report prepared by Cerrell Associates . .4' _ i ', • 1 " II , -Q =
for the California Waste Management .., " - i 1 tl , : • t:
Board, 1984 : _ = t 1 1:1
Incinerators draw even more ire than �`' 1
landfills these days. "Resource recovery" i •
plants were the bright hope of the 1970s l 4
'
ener crisis, promising to provide 'steam 1 a
find electricity while simultaneously re-
a uri,ig trash volume by 90 percent. Some DA.,oHntueac
"u5 incinerators are now in operation and Unearthed from a Phoenix landfill: A 1952 newspaper and corncob buried for 35 years
19 more are under construction. But an
-tdditiona164 have been blocked, canceled conserving natural resources. EPA has set • Plastics: The $140 billion -a -year plastics
'1r delayed. The problems are partly eco- a goal of recycling 25 percent of the nation's industry is at last waking up to recycling.
;■omic: construction costs can run as high waste by 1992. But success will depend Currently only 1 percent of plastics is
as $500 million, and the energy that incin- largely on finding markets for the recycled recaptured, but manufacturers are scram -
crators produce is not cost-competitive, products. "Most people think they put out bling to find new uses, from plastic "lum-
even though public utilities are required the glass, aluminum and paper and they've ber" to stuffing for ski jackets. Procter &
by law to purchase the power. But what recycled. In fact, all they've done is sepa- Gamble is making new Spic and Span
v orries residents more are the toxic air rate," says Edward Klein, who heads the containers entirely from recycled PET •
pollutants, including dioxins, that some agency's task force on solid waste. "Until (polyethylene terephthalate, the ' if?
incinerators release. Even the leftover ash those commodities are taken somewhere stuff beverage bottles are made of) ' -''j 1 i
ca be toxic and should be disposed of as else and used again, you haven't recycled." and hopes to turn even used Luvs and • -;t'1s '
hazardous waste. In Philadelphia's own What follows is a status report on the Pampers into plastic trash bags and • 10 1 A � t
•version of the Islip garbage barge, a ship potential markets for recyclable materials: park benches. There are still limita- 'st
carrying 28 million pounds of city inciner- s Aluminum: Turning bauxite into new alu- tions. The Food and Drug Adminis- A'.'-
ator ash was rejected by seven countries minum is 10 times more expensive than tration will not permit recycled --:...•
on three continents over a 22 -month peri- reprocessing used cans. That's one key rea- plastic to serve or store food, since ,:-
c.d. It was ultimately dumped last year, son more than half of all aluminum bever- it cannot be decontaminated. ;i:1•:
hut the ship's owners refuse to say where. age cans are recycled today -42.5 billion Some products —like squeezable . `l, r-,
i
Incinerator operators say that pollution annually. Even so, Americans still toss out ketchup bottles —have up to six ?1° b '
controls such as high - temperature fur - enough aluminum every three months to layers of polymers, which com- ; 1: Ka i
naces, scrubbers and bag houses virtually rebuild the nation's entire airline fleet. plicates separating. And some - -9 e,‘
eliminate harmful emissions. They and • Glass: Reusing old glass also costs less recycled plastic never looks I J
environmentalists have dueled with scien- than forging virgin materials. To date, only new again. Tom Tomaszek, 1 '--
Chic studies c.•er how dangerous trash- 10 percent of it is recycled, but markets are manager of Plastics Again, a 1 1 1 ''!`,
burring can oe. L.A.'s Lancer project was growing steadily. Glass bottles can li\e polystyrene recycling cen '{ "`�
stopped after one test found it might cause again as "glassphalt" (a combination of ter near Boston, says the 4 :; `
an additional .118 case of cancer per mil- glass and asphalt) and, of course, as other ':' '� I r 'i , : ,
!ion people. Detroit officials say thc, ash food containers. A California firm, Encore! -- ■ , .
az 1. -
from their new $438 million incinerator is has even disproven the old adage that new
:
ISixmon �` �
no more toxic than what remains in some- wine can't come in old vessels. It grosses 'E . . 2 :ft•
one's fireplace. YeL •,e Detroit facility has $3 million a year collecting and sterilizing 175 paps •. g ? °' 1 1
repeatedly failed state ash tests, and in 65,000 cases of empties each month and " 1 1
September it flunked air - pollution tests selling them back to West Coast wineries.
with mercury emissions four times Michi- ■ Yard waste: Composting America's fcr- 1 ' `l , el, gan's allowable level. Allen Hershkowitz, tile mounds of leaves and grass clippings T f +
senior scientist at the Natural Resources could eliminate one fifth of the nation's 1 i ;
Defense Council, believes that incinera- waste —and as much as one third of L.A.'s ; ' I i _ I. ~v I
tion can w safely. But he says too many total. But aside from backyard gardeners. i :. + 1
U.S. operators see the environmental con- there hasn't been much call for mulch. :4 E r i. �
c erns as public- relations problems rather Pesticides and lawn chemicals also pose ' t, - �
than serious calls for upgrading practices. toxicology problems in compost heaps. s q ' •' 1 -, y ` . - I
Meanwhile, says Hershkowitz, the fast Still, experts say that markets would V' + ` , ,. `
romises of incinerator o rators have �': •"' )
•
p pe grow if more municipalities followed Fair- �� _:���� ( (b � t .'i I , t'
"conspired to blind public officials to the field, Conn., which this fall opened a !
i/ '1 r.1 ^'- w. •
opportunities that recycling off $3 million composting center to create top- }-
Recycling also holds the edge in creating , soil for parks, playgrounds and public .
new jobs, protecting the environment and I landscaping. ,
NEWSWEEK : NOVEMBER 27, 1989 71
•
_; � - : > �4S 1388
, L... ,- :- . *,. . l ',, , ii i - '- si:> ;' z• - ' - - -
• _-7.-;-..,eA- - ---y - okilifir 1 ' i .
® -"' ' 4,.%.-„5,-,...P.. -t ' � �
• ' "� 11 1 "variable can rates" in the 1970s. Today '
w : - f r , 1 — --�` residents pay $13.75 to have a single can of " • + + •
lrIP ' : �: '-` r II�I5� i it trash pickedupfourtimeseachmonth ,and
`�► e r •.r..� $9 for each additional can. Faced with such 4.1%
. ; �' '•,. " - - ' fees, residents have been buying more re-
=7 _ • ; . cyclables, fewer packaged goods and more
� : I. •
' i0001' - �i � G • ' • �, Large -size boxes. Two thirds of Seattle
1 � _ �. ' households also si u to have p rivate
`r ?^ ! y . . haulers collect their recyclables and yard
r : '• i waste. Combined, those measures have cut 1 1,
N
s _; 4/41'' + j__ Seattle's trash volume by 25 percent. City � • � ; • � � i
officials are still considering building an
•;, ` : incinerator, but thanks to recycling, they {
' `"- �, a . �N C �� . r hope it will be a smaller, cheaper one. i -4
` .. , �-->' • '•'�' t ! G' s r Seattle's program is considered a model �� -
( ' " , �- I � ;\ of modern "integrated waste manage-
, .. k 1
� , ment —in short, reducing and recycling as — • r " , j
' r x ,• � t • - _ - 44 , a much trash as possible, then burning or rte;
",�„�; y„_t{ ° �_,,,, ',, ' burying the rest. Some local environmen- 1= ,
PAUL Si, +"sr,00 talists still bitterly oppose incineration, ;!1`% i
Will success kill paper collection? The intake yard at a St. Paul recycling plant but organizations from the Environmental
Defense Fund to the Office of Technolo- r .
pellets his plant produces come only in terials or packaging that can't be recycled. gy Assessment say that the nation will ,.'1 ,
"army green," while manufacturers want ; Deposits are another approach. One bill need a judicious mix of all four meth -
white or clear. "The biggest problem," To- before Congress would require anyone who ods to handle its trash in the future. Q, ,- '
maszek says, is getting people away from sells batteries t� take them back and re- Many experts believe that at best, the
the idea that new is better." turn them to an appropriate recycling fa- nation can recycle only about half of 77,
• Paper: Industry officials like to boast cility. "We need to get the upstream side to its garbage; recycling itself produces �:'' • -L
that nearly 30 percent of all paper products recognize that the end of the pipeline has some residues that need to go to i
consumed in this country are recycled -26 only so much capacity," says Lanny Hick- landfills. But those, too, can be used ■ __
million tons a year. turning up in cereal man of the Governmental Refuse Collec- more efficiently. One Long Island ,
boxes, toilet tissue, even bedding for faun tion and Disposal Association. firm, Landfill Mining Inc., has c . , - :';" -.; .
animals. Still, that leaves more than 40 come up with a technique to "recy- ti _
'ion tons clogging landfills and going up Receiving an evironmental award from cle" old dumps: digging through i '..
\ ,kestacks annually. Tree -poor nations George Bush last week for his comnluni- them to unearth reusable materi- ,
like Taiwan and Korea import some U.S. ty recycling program, high - school student al like metal and glass. That al- ' • -
wastepaper. But matchin supply, demand Allen Graves of North Hollywood, Calif, lows the landfills to be lined and `'': -� +
g f f c am,
and reprocessing capacity at home will asked the president, "Does your office leaves room for more waste —or
take time and coordination. U.S. recycling recycle ?" incinerator ash. "We can actual- ,- l
mills can actually use more high - quality •7 don't know," said Bush. ly recycle the space," says
white paper, like computer printouts, than 1 founder Robert Flanagan. 11,
communities are collecting. For newsprint Busy, distracted citizens also need incen- The nation has only begun to t ..
and magazines. the opposite is true. (Cur- lives to recycle. To that end, New York City focus its collective ingenuity -"%'� 1 s
rently, no U.S. mills turn recycled fibers plans to fine residents who don't comply on source reduction — gener- •Z. d into the kind of glossy, clay- coated paper with its nascent program: $25 for the first a. ting less garbage in the first ,'
that NEWSWEEK uses.) With burgeoning offense, $500 for four offenses in a six- place. For that, citizens will -
collection efforts, "we have the potential in month period, with landlords dunned up to need to rethink their priori- :;
this country to increase the supply [of $10,000 if their tenants don't cooperate. q
�- IN
wastepaper )overnight, "saysJ. Rodney Ed- San Francisco is relying heavily on puhlic �..
wards of the American Paper Institute. education, reminding residents that re•.v- '''f" x .
"But expanding the capacity to use it will cling one aluminum can, for example, can One yea :. e r
take three to five years." save enough energy to run a TV fcr three 350 bags . is K _ : I)
Historically, the American marketplace hours. Nearby Berkeley has even tried g im-
has been driven by demand for products, mickry. Under its Eco -lotto program, city r
; �
not supply of raw materials. But some officials selected one household b}' random _ , - .f� ,
lawmakers have concluded that the free each week, rummaged through its trash + ° Ai , ,1
market needs adjusting if recycling is to and promised to award the homeowner - A
significantly dent the nation's garbage , $250 if norecyclables had been discarded -If l ' " -'1 -fis
piles. Florida now taxes nonrecycled news- the lucky household wasn't careful, the - 1 °. �` f
print at 10 cents per ton. California and cash was rolled over into the next week's 1 h. ` E •,,-
Connecticut have passed laws to require prize. Sadly, the pot rose to $4,500 before I �: 'L:"..J iks
newspapers to use a rising percentage of the city found a winner. Si 4 ' - "� i � {'t.'
recycled paper in coming years. Elsewhere, Charging citizens directly for the . t .
`icials are looking for ways to force manu- amount of trash they throw out may prove ` t; t< L 550 . - • N !
urers to take more responsibility for more effective. In many communities, gar- } �� 9 4 - Ile tts 4 o p OE
the disposal of their products, long after bage removal still comes as part of a getter- ; r t : W.- -.
they have left the factory. Some states are al- service bill, so residents never know how '
considering taxing products made with ma- much it costs. Seattle changed that with
NEWSWEEK : NOVEMBER 27, 1989 75
I
- -- ----- •---- - - - - -- - - - - -- -------- - - - - -_ . — 1
S U C 1 E; T ; Y I, _ _ __
ties. It wasn't so long ago that Americans I Wrapping fast -food utensils in plastic cuts think about it at all. With rare exceptions
reused string and rubber bands, resharp- down on germs. Ketchup really does come during wartime, Americans have not been
ened razors, threw food scraps into the out faster when the bottle can be squeezed. adept at making individual sacrifices for
stockpttardmade grease into soap. (At the How much do those conveniences mean to the common good. That mentality will have
turn ofthe century, pigs were also part of us? Are they worth the price of a landfill or to change. Otherwise, the dumps will cover
waste management in many cities; 100 of an,i next door? the country coast to coast and the trucks
them could eat a ton of garbage a day, Unfortunately, the trade -offs aren't so will stop in everybody's backyard.
creating low -cost meat and fertilizer.) The obvious. It has been far too easy, when tak- MELINDA BECK with MARY HAGER
•
disposable society has brought many con- I ing out the sixth or seventh bag of trash in a in Washington, PATRICIA KING in Chicago,
reniences .Single - serving frozen dinners in week, to assume that the garbage truck will SUE HUTCHISON in Neu York, KATE ROBINS
In Boston, J E ANNE G O R D O N in Los Angeles
microwavable trays do facilitate mealtime. dump in someone else's backyard, or not to and bureau reports
•
The Supply-Side Theor of Garbage display on the store shelf.
Cookies come neatly arranged
i in plastic trays inside paper
. _. --+, -' ' ° .... - ' ' bags. The list is as long as a
+ . .- I - g ,it,' i ' , ; ;, a , supermarketaisle.
ao ,..45.11,15". ° Americans won't give up
: s o E- `'° ; �� , `" - { their disposable lifestyle easi I
i °` 'I '" ly, but a little old- fashioned
j ;� f Yankee ingenuity can help.
: =' n ,. t - Office workers might make
tt. ' . , �M► '"�_ ..� 1 4 ;e` ' =i photocopies on both sides
+ ,; : s. W, . ,•s:'' - ' ., ` "'`" of the paper, halving the
amount intended for the
al tray JAOQUESCHENEr— NER'SN'EEK memo tra as well as eventu-
•
1Ntap till yoi drop: Copious packaging for a hambu -and -soup Souper -Combo meal ally, the circular file. But
short of having the state set
A nother day, another 3.5 tic utensils account for still softener, reducing packaging wages, there is little hope of
pounds of garbage to gen- more: 1.6 billion disposable by 75 percent. P &G's dispos- making it cheaper to repair a
erate. Sound like a challenge? pen`s, 2 billion disposable able Pampers diapers now radio than buy a new one.
1 It's a snap to fulfill your quo - razors and 16 billion dispos- come in a thin variety that White -cloth gentility: What
ta. Brush your teeth, rinse, able ; diapers a year. "We does the job with half as much if consumers had to pay up-
I toss the papercup. Shave with have been a throwaway soci- I material. Aveda, a cosmetics front for their wastrel tastes?
a disposable razor. Comb your ety," says Norman H. Nosen- firm in Minneapolis, is design- The Environmental Defense
hair —oops. a couple of comb chuck, director of the New ing a metal makeup bottle Fund, an environmental re-
teeth snapped off; out it goes. York State Division of Solid that the consumer can take search and lobbying group,
For breakfast, a single -serv- Waste. "We simply have to back to thestore for a refill. has proposed a sales or user
ing cereal box and a juice -in -a- change our ways." Further reductions will re- tax based on the quantity of
box. There's no time to do 1 Thin diapers: Some changes quire more radical changes. packaging in a product, and a
dishes, so use a paper bowl j a re already here. In the last 20 All packaging exists for a national sales tax on dispos-
and plastic spoon. Off to work, I years, the soft -drink industry reason. Concerns about tam- able items like diapers, razors
buying a cup of coffee and has cut the plastic used in pering led to the plastic col- and plates. NYPIRG prefers a
newatoper on the way. And 2 -liter bottles by 21 percent, lars around products from as- deposit on packages, to induce
on through the day ... the aluminum in cans by 35 pirin to yogurt. Waxed -paper consumers to opt for minimal
Every American seems to percent and the glass in non- inner bags keep cereals in packaging or to at least return
i be doing his part; we're pro- refillable bottles by 43 per cardboard boxes fresh. But the containers for recycling.
ducing twice the solid wasti cent. Each cut saved money many products owe their ex- Rhode Island taxes fast -food
per person as the Europeans forthe manufacturer. McDon- istence to the quest for con- packages already; the reve-
1 This dubious achievement, . ald's now pumps syrup forsoft venience and to marketing nue is earmarked for a litter -
1 says Steve RoirraleRiki of drinks directly from delivery ploys. Today we use micro- cleanup program. None of the
the New York Public trucks ii1 o tanks in the res- wavable, throwaway trays of changes will be easy. Politi-
Research Group (NYPIRG), taurants, Yet that#:.,ship- frozen foods rather than cas- clans like taxes even less than
means that cutting down on ping it in disposable.- ,ard- wok dishi•s and buy micro- they do garbage dumps. And
trash is "a primarycompo- board containers. That - yes , -. cake mix complete with some family's livelihood de-
nent in a safe an*-sensible 68 million pounds of p a hrowaway baking pan. Our pends on hawking disposable
solutiontothegarbagecrisis." ing a year. Last week 1'" - k ids. tote juice boxes to the razors. But reducing garbage
The less there is, the less that &Gamble announced tli it is playground and play minia- at the source will lessen the
must be recycled, burned or test-marketing fabric- koften- , titre Helmut Newtons with burden on incinerators, recy-
i buried. Known by the; un- er,eoncentrate that th sh%p- their Kodak Flings or Fuji dis- cling programs and landfills,
glamorous name source re- :.,per purchases in sma11_pgper -posable cameras. Toothpaste to say nothing of bringing a
duction, its potential is huge. cartons, poursintoadisp # iser'• tubes come in boxes so stores little white -cloth gentility to
Packaging accounts for abg at home, adds water to►itnd can stack them easily; cereal theschool lunchroom.
one third of solid waste and shakes. Those steps - race boxes are bigger than needed
SHARON BEGLEY with
throwaway items such asplas- the plastic jugs of ready -made so they make an impressive PATRICIA KING in Chicago
76 NF WSWEEK NOVEMBER 27.19R9