The waste management business isn't what it used to be. Once upon a time, haulers simply collected a household's or a businesses' trash and took it to a landfill. Done.

Today, communities and businesses are seeking to divert more and more material from landfills. “There are many recycling trends underway today,” says Ted Neura, senior director of sustainable business planning and development with Phoenix-based Republic Services. “Six Sigma programs emphasize lean organizations and part of getting lean is squeezing waste out of the system. Legislative initiatives are setting up producer responsibility rules about taking back e-waste, for instance. Renewable energy and climate change initiatives are swirling around. Cities and businesses are setting zero-waste goals for themselves. All of this is driving us toward more granular approaches to waste management.”

Sigma programs emphasize lean organizations and part of getting lean is squeezing waste out of the system. Legislative initiatives are setting up producer responsibility rules about taking back e-waste, for instance. Renewable energy and climate change initiatives are swirling around. Cities and businesses are setting zero-waste goals for themselves. All of this is driving us toward more granular approaches to waste management.”

According to Neura, a more granular approach means changing the destination of components of the waste stream to material recovery facilities (MRFs) and waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, for example. Also, increasing amounts of e-waste are making their way back to manufacturers.

Industry experts say the push toward increased waste diversion should only increase in the years ahead. With less and less material ending up in landfills, how should haulers respond?

Flatlining

Half a century ago, trash was trash. Back in 1960, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publication “2008 Facts and Figures,” 88.1 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated in the United States. Only 5.6 million tons — about 6 percent of the total — were recycled. In those days, waste companies didn't collect recyclables. If someone wanted to recycle something, he or she had to deliver it to a facility.

In 1980, the United States generated 151.6 million tons of MSW, almost double 1960's total. Likewise, the amount of material that ended up in a landfill surged from 82.5 million tons to 134.4 million tons. About 14.5 million tons — nearly 10 percent of the material — was recycled, and 2.7 million tons were sent to waste-to-energy facilities.

The growth trend between 1960 and 1980 suggested that both the amount of waste generated and landfilled would grow dramatically in subsequent years. However, while 249.6 million tons of MSW were generated in 2008, “only” 135.1 million tons of that material was disposed of in landfills. “Disposal at landfills essentially flatlined for the past three decades,” Neura says.

Before long, the amount of landfilled trash will actually start to decrease. “Sometime over the next 10 to 15 years, solid waste generation will begin to decline,” says Bryan Staley, vice president of environmental programs at the Alexandria, Va.-based Environmental Research and Education Foundation. “Eventually, [the amount of landfilled material] will decline to the level produced in 1970: about 112.7 million tons.”

Since 1980, the waste stream has stratified into material that is disposed, recycled, sent to a WTE facility or composted. Additionally, the definition of recyclables has expanded, as construction and demolition (C&D) debris, tires and e-waste have joined paper, glass, metals and plastics.

In 2008, according to EPA, 114.5 million tons of the waste stream were recycled (60.8 million tons), composted (22.1 million tons) or incinerated to generate energy (31.6 million tons).

In the midst of all this, more communities and businesses have adopted zero-waste programs, meaning, at least in theory, that they intend to divert all of trash they generate from landfills. When asked for a definition of San Francisco's zero-waste initiative, Mark Westlund, a program manager with SF Environment, the city's environmental department, says, “Zero waste means nothing going to landfill.”

While that may sound unreasonable, San Francisco's diversion rate increased from 35 percent in 1990, when the city first started tracking those numbers, to 72 percent last year. According to the SF Environment Web site, the city aims to get to 75 percent next year and 100 percent by 2020.

In 2005, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart adopted the goal of eventually sending zero waste to landfills. Last year, the retailer diverted more than 57 percent of the waste generated by its stores and Sam's Club facilities. “As more companies, municipalities and other organizations research zero waste, they are going to find out what we've learned,” said Mike Hagood, senior director of store innovation and operations development for Wal-Mart, in a written response to e-mailed questions. “Reducing what is sent to a landfill reduces costs while benefiting the local community and environment.”

For example, Wal-Mart's deli pizza boxes are made of recycled cardboard supplied by Wal-Mart itself. That program redirects the equivalent of 8,600 tons of waste from landfills, reduces Wal-Mart's costs and even creates more durable boxes. “We are always looking for similar solutions with our products and packaging,” Hagood wrote.