Zero Waste - the alternative to landfills

We campaign for recycling, and we fight against expansions of landfills and incinerators, but at the end of the day, the problem remains: what do we do with the garbage?

One answer to this question is the emerging Zero Waste movement. Of course, literally speaking, Zero Waste is a utopian goal, always to be sought but never totally attainable.

But more importantly - and realistically - as defined by the Grass Roots Recycling Network, Zero Waste is a design principle for the 21st century that seeks to redesign the way resources and materials flow through society. Zero Waste requires eliminating subsidies for raw-material extraction and waste disposal, and holding producers responsible for their products and packaging `from cradle to cradle'. The goal is to promote clean production, prevent pollution, and create communities in which all products are designed to be cycled safely back into the economy or environment. We would still need to pay attention to our buying habits and our disposal practices, but the old mantra of "reduce, reuse, recycle" would be not just a reminder for individuals but a key principle of our manufacturing and marketing system.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939) established the goal for each jurisdiction in the state to divert 50% of its waste. Currently, the statewide diversion rate is 48%. In its strategic plan, the California Integrated Waste Management Board envisions a future without landfilling and sets an ultimate goal of Zero Waste to landfills. Communities across California have begun to establish higher diversion goals.

• In 1990, Alameda County voters passed a countywide initiative (Measure D) establishing a 75% diversion goal and directing the county Recycling Board to establish future goals to ensure sustainability. The Recycling Board has developed plans and programs to reach 75% diversion by 2010.
• In 2002, San Francisco adopted goals of 75% landfill diversion by the year 2010, and Zero Waste by 2020.
• In 2003, Sonoma County and each city in the county set a goal of 70% diversion by 2015. In response to its current inability to expand the publicly owned Central Landfill, the county is now considering moving up that deadline and establishing further goals to reduce landfilling, including Zero Waste.
• In 2005, faced with the inability to site a new landfill, Santa Cruz County set a long-term goal of Zero Waste, including a milestone of 75% landfill diversion by 2010.
• Berkeley recently established a Zero Waste goal, and is in the process of redesigning the Berkeley Transfer Station to accommodate the programs that will be needed to reach 75% diversion.

WhatYouCanDo

The Club is forming a regional Zero Waste Committee to engage local jurisdictions and encourage them to sign on to a Zero Waste future. For more information, contact David Tam at (510) 472-5723 or email daviditam -at- gmail.com; or Ann Schneider at (650) 962-0404 or email scheiderann -at- juno.com

Ruth Abbe