21st Century Policy Project

Future Search Conference Issue: Integration of Solid Waste/Materials Management Systems

Issue Definition and Scope

It is important to identify the barriers and disadvantages associated with integrating the independent elements of waste/materials management into a comprehensive system. Each element of collection, which includes trash, recyclables, green waste and source separated materials, is a separate segment which could include four to six activities. Elements of processing could include: source separated materials cleaned up for delivery to an end user facility; commingled sorting; shredding and mixing of green waste for composting or alternative daily cover; "dirty" material recovery facilities that sort through most of the delivered wastestream; and finally, disposal of residual wastes in a landfill or at a transformation facility.

In addition to the operational components of waste management elements locally, the public education, waste prevention and source reduction components must be considered.

Integrating waste management saves landfill space, conserves natural resources and preserves the integrity of the regional system. There are, however, pitfalls associated with how integration might be approached. For instance, if local decision makers evaluate each component as a separate piece of an integrated system and compare the current value and cost of that particular element against a low dump fee, it would be extremely difficult to persuade people that an integrated approach today will benefit them in the long run.

Another reality an integrated system faces up to is local landfill capacity, which for many jurisdictions will be fully absorbed at some point. The cost to transfer and dispose of waste outside the region will most likely shock residents and decision-makers. Will integration of the system now bring greater stability in the future and relieve the economic distress of escalating disposal costs?

Background

Through the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, management of the waste stream and recovered materials was a process encapsulated in the collection stage at a residence or business. Today, we administer each component of solid waste and materials management separately: collection of trash; garbage; recyclables; green waste; materials recovery; disposal, and so forth. The acceptable market rate for each of these services is debated separately.

Product design, packaging, transportation and manufacturer responsibility – market development, of course – must be parts of an integrated system. Whether they truly are is a question that must be explored.

Issue Questions

• How do we get the price right? "True Cost"; value of disposal; resource conservation (the "true cost of a barrel of oil" as Ray Anderson put it); materials management.
• How can government/others remove barriers to integrated waste management systems and still protect public health, safety and the environment?
• Is the issue of decompartmentalizing waste management systems tied directly to market development success? Technology? Public education, etc.?
• How can we ensure that decisions regarding waste management are based on the following factors, without excessive emphasis on any one of them: politics, economics, good science, impact on future generations?
• Should there be a national "plan" or "roadmap" to integrate waste management?
• How would changes in the wastestream affect the current system or an integrated system (population changes, waste materials, diversity of population, decentralization of workforce, shift from urban to rural)?
• How can a comprehensive, timely, waste management data system be established to support decision making and an integrated waste management system or plan?
• The global marketplace has enhanced our ability to provide services and products anywhere at anytime. What role will transport packaging efficiencies play in this new marketplace? How and what can we do to initiate change based on bottom line profits?

Last updated: October 18, 2007