Agenda - Council - 04/23/1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I )t is likely, however, that waste reduction efforts will expand somewhat with- out legislation oF major advances in technology. Waste reduction will occur if ]) the opportunities for conservation are recognized and 2) there are economic incentives to do so. lo promote such efforts, the regional strategy emphasizes reduction methods that are administratively simple to implement. Such programs include consumer education and awareness, office paper reuse, yard-waste mulching and govern- mental purchasing practices favoring reduction. Particular focus should be on awareness and education programs that emphasize th6 benefits of waste reduction. Historically, almost all recovery has taken place by hand-separating the wastes where they are generated (such as households and offices), then transporting and selling the recovered materials. Technologically, this process is rela- tively simple and has a good potential for dealing with a substantial percent- age of the region's waste. The main obstacles to implementing source separation have been economic. Separ- ation programs simply have not been able to compete with land disposal with its artificially low costs. Moreover, source separation programs have always depended on the voluntary participation of waste generators, and any cost sav- ings have usually not been large enough to encourage most generators to partici- pate. In addition, there has often been a lack of coordination among different recycling efforts and sometimes unreliable service. Immediate priority should go to separating yard waste that can be composted and recyclable materials from mixed municipal waste. Indications are that source separation programs could be available throughout most of the region within two to three years. Within five years, enough households and businesses.could be participating in waste separation programs to achieve a very substantial reduc- tion in wastes otherwise destined for landfills. CENTRALIZED PROCESSING The options available through use of centralized processing facilities include materials recovery, waste combustion and co-composting (the composting of mixed waste with a material that is high in nitrogen such as sewage sludge). Central- ized processing is generally referred to as a high-technology approach, because compared with other methods, it uses more expensive equipment and facilities; its operating costs are typically higher; it requires long-term financing and commitments for waste supply, and is less flexible to convert to other technol- ogies. The major advantage of the approach, though, is the ability to reliably process large quantities of waste in a short period of time. The technology of recovering materials at centralized processing facilites is well established. Shredding, magnetic separation of metals, air classification (using a blast of air to separate materials according to their weight) and simi- lar techniques have been successfully used for a number of years. This tech- nology can extract recyclable materials, process recyclables previously sepa- rated at the source and reduce the total volume of waste. It can also be adapted to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for combustion or supplemental material for co-composting.