For years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has advised waste disposal operations to use landfills only as last resorts. Today, some municipal solid waste departments are taking that advice to heart and have introduced zero-waste initiatives — programs that aim to winnow waste streams down until virtually nothing is left. “This has been an important mental shift,” says Andy Schneider, recycling program manager with the Berkeley, Calif., Public Works Department.

Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Austin, Texas, are some of the cities that have implemented zero-waste goals. While the zero-waste movement started in the West, where the most mature programs have been developed, it has moved east in recent years. As you will see, “zero waste” means something different in each of these communities, but the essential goal is the same: dramatically reduce the amount of landfilled waste and benefit the environment.

A Number of Factors

Schneider attributes the increased interest in zero-waste goals to several current trends. First off, available landfills are reaching capacity, he says.

Manufacturers also are realizing that it costs more to manufacture with virgin materials than to rehabilitate and reuse or recycle post-consumer products. At the same time, governments taking aim at global warming have begun to regulate industrial carbon dioxide emissions, raising costs in various industries, including those that produce virgin materials. As a result, recycled feedstock looks even more economical.

In addition, landfilled organic materials such as paper, green waste and food waste generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Consequently, governments have begun to ban these organic materials from landfills. Composting facilities will have to take up the slack. “These are some of the core issues leading state and local governments to set zero-waste goals,” Schneider says.

What Does It Mean?

Schneider says that, in Berkeley, “zero waste” simply means “as close to zero as possible.” Since implementing its zero-waste program in March of 2005, Berkeley has boosted its diversion rate from 52 percent to 61 percent. The city hopes to reach a 75 percent diversion rate next year.

Berkeley's techniques for reducing landfilled waste include regulating packaging used in retail stores and restaurants. The city has enacted a ban on certain kinds of polystyrene foam packaging, says Schneider. Berkeley also operates commercial composting and residential recycling programs, and runs a strong public education program designed to teach residents and businesses how to recycle and reuse. For instance, educational materials promote the use of re-usable canvas shopping bags instead of the plastic and paper bags distributed by retailers and supermarkets.

In 2006, Los Angeles adopted its own zero-waste initiative. The Recovering Energy, Natural Resources and Economic Benefit from Waste for Los Angeles Plan aims to divert 90 percent or more waste by 2025, leaving only inert residual materials to be landfilled.

A 20-year master plan called the Solid Waste Integrated Resources Plan (SWIRP) is guiding the implementation of the zero-waste goal. Since 2006, SWIRP has moved the city's diversion rate from 62 percent to 65 percent. The next milestone is 2013, when SWIRP calls for 70 percent diversion.

“The city's zero-waste plan includes upstream and downstream policies,” says Reina Pereira, the city's SWIRP project manager. Upstream efforts include lobbying for state legislation aimed at reducing product packaging, Pereira continues.

Downstream, SWIRP provides incentives for recycling and reuse businesses, while requiring all businesses to recycle. SWIRP also calls for the construction of new facilities for composting, resource and material recovery that will be needed to process additional diverted tonnage.