Municiple solid waste management

The Sierra Club has long been committed to conserving natural resources and reducing waste. Excessive consumption of resources contributes to high levels of waste generation. In the interests of resource conservation and improved waste management, the problem of overconsumption should be vigorously addressed, with the goal of reducing the production and consumption of unnecessary goods, packaging and throwaways.

By analyzing the processes of converting resources into products that are eventually discarded and the consumption habits which create demand, methods may be developed to curtail the generation of waste at all states. These should involve industrial, commercial, and governmental planning; substituting appropriate materials; changing product standards and work practices; and increasing the efficiency as well as the environmental sensitivity of producers and consumers. Lifecycle analyses of the environmental impact of specific products would enhance public awareness of the effects of materials usage.

State, provincial, and federal laws should be promoted that will create new incentives for waste reduction, reuse, recycling, materials recovery and composting. Governments should eliminate subsidies for using virgin resources, promote the sale of recovered materials, and encourage, by subsidy if necessary, the repair and reuse of discards. Toxic materials used in products and packaging and produced as byproducts in production processes should be minimized. Waste management programs with these goals decrease the environmental costs of natural resource extraction, minimize pollution, conserve energy, and provide an framework for continued wise resource use.

Waste should be managed as close to the point of generation as possible. Export of wastes or incinerator ash to other countries is not acceptable because it poses significant health and environmental threats, and is unnecessary and unethical. Separated portions of the solid waste stream processed for recycling and reuse and organic materials made into compost are no longer considered solid waste, and are therefore not included in this transport restriction.

Effective waste management should be based on communities, industries, and individuals taking responsibility for their own wastes. Local governments should be empowered to develop their own solid waste management programs, subject to criteria established and administered by the state or province. Management plans should include, in priority order: waste reduction, reuse, recycling, materials recovery, composting and landfilling. Municipal incineration is not considered acceptable because of its adverse environmental and health effects and the destruction of materials that could be conserved while saving energy through other management methods.

The full range of waste management options should be considered, based on a comprehensive study of the total waste stream. These should be incorporated into the community's waste management plan and financed as integral components of the program. Quantities and types of waste to be managed through various methods in the hierarchy should be chosen to serve the objective of attaining the highest and best use of the discarded/recovered material. A complete assessment of environmental and health effects should be made for all waste-management processes considered.

Sierra Club members and the public are encouraged to participate in the development of state, provincial, and local solid waste management plans, planning and siting for solid waste facilities, and monitoring of projects in operation and following closure. Citizen advisory committees should be involved, and all information and documents should be easily accessible and available to the public well in advance of meetings.

As an organization, the Sierra Club should continually monitor its own waste generation and strengthen existing programs to maximize waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, and the use of recycled products. The Club should set an example for others to follow in the materials and products it uses, produces or offers for sale. More effort should be made to implement the Club's policy of avoiding the use of throwaway items at meetings and on outings.

Adopted by the Board of Directors March 14-15, 1992 [Replaced Municipal Solid Waste Management Policies of May and November 1986]


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Guidelines for Implementing this Policy

The Sierra Club policy on municipal solid waste management has established the following priorities for management for wastes: waste reduction, reuse, recycling, materials recovery, composting, and landfilling. Incineration is considered unacceptable. These guidelines provide further details for implementing the policy.

Source Reduction and Reuse


All solid waste management programs should be based on targeted goals for reductions in the region's waste streams and should provide incentives for decreased generation of wastes. Variable garbage collection rates, based on volume or weight, should be used to reward those who generate less waste and separate their recyclables at the source. The use of throwaway goods should be discouraged, regulated, or banned.


Products or packaging that are unsafe in production, use, post-consumer use, or that produce or release harmful products when disposed should be phased out. Excess packaging and packaging that is difficult to recycle should be eliminated. Manufactures of new products and packaging should be required to minimize waste and toxicity in production and to demonstrate environmentally sound post-consumer use and disposal.


Products should be made to last as long as possible by the use of durable designs and materials, and the availability of repair services and replacement parts. Consumers should repair, resell, exchange, or donate unwanted product as much as possible to avoid disposal. Sharing and rental of tools and equipment is encouraged.


The Sierra Club supports a national beverage container deposit law which includes a provision that unclaimed deposits be returned to each state to fund reduction, reuse, and recycling programs. Highest priority should be given to establishing standardized and refillable containers for beverages and other products. New beverage containers without the mechanism or market for reuse or recycling should be prohibited. Deposits should be required on products and packaging that are not practical to collect in curbside or other recycling programs to facilitate collection, reuse, recycling, or proper disposal.


Waste management programs should include strong public education campaigns in source reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting.

Recycling


Community solid waste management planning should be based on an analysis of the quantity and composition of the area's municipal and commercial waste streams to determine what can feasibly be managed by source reduction and recycling.


Curbside or other convenient recycling opportunities and sufficient incentives to recycle should be provided to all residents. Collection routes, schedules, and fees should be designed to promote efficient and economical collection of recyclable materials. Joint planning by labor/environmental groups to minimize contractual problems and other issues involving municipal personnel and to maximize environmental benefits is encouraged. Contracts and requests for bids should be structured to encourage fair competition by independent haulers and community and non-profit recyclers.


Economic considerations of recycling should include avoided disposal fees, the avoidance of future clean-up costs, the costs of future land acquisition, transportation, and facility development. Disposal cost savings of recycling programs should be publicized. Disposal surcharges may be used as means of financing recycling programs.


Legislation should require that recyclable materials will be recycled and should ban disposal of these materials by incineration and landfilling.


The establishment of stable markets for recycled materials is essential. Legislation should promote procurement of products containing a high content of recycled and recyclable materials, and require that government contracts specify products with the highest practical percentage of recycled content. Federal guidelines on the procurement of recycled materials should be prepared in a timely manner and followed by government agencies and their contractors and subcontractors. Government activities that could have an impact on recycling should be identified and modified to promote it.


Governmental regulations and policies that encourage the use of virgin materials through taxes, incentives, hauling rates, etc. should be revised to discourage the use of virgin materials and promote the use of recycled ones.


Products and packaging materials should be conspicuously labeled to indicate recycled content, including post-consumer content, recyclability, toxicity and appropriate disposal. Uniform governmentally approved standards should be applied to terms commonly used for product labeling and promotion, such as, "biodegradable," "recycled," "recyclable," "post-consumer waste," and others. Use of the term "recyclable" should be limited to items that are accepted for recycling in the region where sold.


Household and small quantity commercial toxic and hazardous wastes should be segregated, labeled and collected separately in community-level programs that recycle, treat, or otherwise safely manage those wastes. Product and disposal charges should be considered as means of funding these programs.


Land-use planning should provide for siting for recycling and other waste management facilities. Regulations should assure compatibility with surrounding land uses, minimal negative impacts on residential neighborhoods, and construction to minimize litter.
Building codes should be revised to provide properly designed and accessible storage space for materials to be recycled in both residential and commercial buildings.

Materials Recovery from the Water Stream


A comprehensive waste management program should aim to recover all useful materials, with zero trash the ultimate goal. After source separation of recyclables, remaining salvageable materials should be recovered from the waste stream. Materials recovery from mixed wastes should not be substituted for source separation programs.


Discarded tired should be recapped, reused as rubber, or reclaimed by processing into material for road surfacing or other uses. Burning of tires is strongly discouraged. However, if, despite strong objections, tires are burned for fuel, stringent measures should be taken to prevent emission of toxic or harmful substances and to dispose of all residues in a safe manner.


Components of the waste stream such as wood waste, construction and demolition debris, and white goods (e.g., stoves and refrigerators) should be removed and processed to recover the material. Refrigerants should be recovered and recycled.


Items which can be repaired such as furniture, tools and small appliances should be recovered and made available to the public through second-hand shops, charitable organizations or waste exchanges.

Composting


Composting of kitchen and yard wastes at the household and community level should be encouraged through public education and dissemination of information on composting. Grass clippings should be left on the lawn to provide fertilizer and help conserve moisture. Incineration and landfilling of yard wastes should be prohibited.


Organic materials such as kitchen waste, yard waste, and wet or soiled paper that cannot be recycled should be composted to produce a useful product. Curbside pickup of separated compostable materials should be encouraged as part of the waste management program. Community drop-off centers should be provided if curbside pickup is unavailable. If source separation is not used, appropriate materials should be separated from mixed waste for composting. Composting should serve to complement programs for recycling and reuse rather than substituting for these programs. Composting of mixed waste including recyclables and inorganics should not be used.


Standards should be established to set levels of inorganic materials, heavy metals, and organic chemicals in compost appropriate for the use of the compost. Strict control of the incoming waste and periodic testing should be used to insure that these levels are not exceeded.


Wastewater pre-treatment and treatment should be sufficient to make sewage sludge safe as a soil conditioner or for composting with food and plant wastes. Application of compost or sludge to the land should follow guidelines that will protect the environment and public health.

Landfills


Landfilling should be limited to materials that cannot be managed through preferable options. Materials entering landfills should be regulated and monitored to prevent the introduction of any harmful substances.


Existing land-disposal facilities should be upgraded to make use of improved technology in order to protect public health and the environment from toxic leachates, methane migration, and air emissions. New facilities should be built to meet these objectives. Facilities should be managed to extend their life as long as possible.


Siting criteria should be established well in advance of choosing a specific site. Landfills should not be located in undeveloped natural areas. Proposed sites should be buffered from residential neighborhoods, provide adequate access, and be geologically secure. There should be adequate time and process for the public to be involved meaningfully in siting decisions.


Siting and design should minimize groundwater, surface water, soil, and air contamination. Leachate should be collected, tested, and treated, if necessary. Methane should be collected and used as a fuel, if possible. On-site salvaging of materials from the incoming waste should be considered.


Landfill permits should be reviewed and upgraded periodically to allow for adoption of new technologies.


A portion of the disposal fee should be set aside for monitoring after closure and for future corrective actions. When completed, sites should be landscaped to approximate native conditions.

Solid Waste Incineration


The incineration of municipal solid wastes can cause adverse environmental and health effects through air emissions, toxic ash residue, and the destruction of materials that could be recycled. Thus, incineration is not an acceptable option for management of solid waste. As the infrastructure for management of wastes by environmentally acceptable methods is developed, existing incinerators should be phased out. Conditions stated below (6b-k) should be met within five years by any existing incinerators. If, despite strong objections, new incinerators are constructed or existing ones expanded, these conditions should be met at the outset.


The area to be served by the incinerator should manage at least 60% of its waste through waste reduction, reuse, recycling, material recovery, and composting; maximum possible recycling of each component of the waste should be achieved. Contracts should specify that these programs be continued aggressively after an incinerator is built.


The service area for the incinerator should be established and the size of the incinerator should be consistent with 6 b. Ordinances should not be enacted that allow wastes to be diverted to an incinerator that can be managed through preferable methods (see 6 b). "Put-or-pay" contracts that require delivery of a specified quantity of waste to an incinerator should not be allowed.


Toxic materials such as household and small business hazardous wastes, batteries, and wastes which produce or release toxic materials when incinerated should be removed from the waste stream at the source and then managed properly. The production of refuse-derived fuel from segregated combustible, non-recoverable portions of the waste stream may be preferred over mixed-waste incineration.


In reviewing proposed facilities, there should be a thorough analysis of local weather, topographic features, water quality and availability, air quality, and health impacts encompassing the area surrounding and affected by the proposed facilities. Both short-and long-term health effects should be assessed and communicated promptly to the public. Local governments should establish additional standards for siting appropriate to the area.


There should be full public participation in making decisions to use incineration and siting the incinerator. Technical assistance grants should be provided by the governmental agency or industry proposing the incinerator to enable citizens groups to evaluate plans adequately. Prior to contracting for construction of an incinerator, accurate assessment of full costs, including costs to electricity ratepayers and taxpayer subsidies, of construction, operation, closure, and post-closure monitoring should be provided by the manufacturer, consulting engineers, and responsible governmental agency.


The permit for an incinerator should require that optimum operating conditions be maintained. Parameters needed to assure optimum conditions should be monitored continuously. Operator training and certification in the necessary skills and knowledge should be required.


The pollution control equipment used should meet lowest achievable emissions rates (LAER) to minimize toxic emissions, heavy metals, organics, and acid gases. Standards to assure that public health will not be adversely affected should be in place. Pollution control equipment should be maintained and periodically upgraded to current LAER standards. The responsible agency should conduct unannounced inspections to check the accuracy of monitoring equipment and data. During the life of the facility, monitoring for toxics, heavy metals, organics, and acid gases should be continuous, with the data telemetered to the responsible agency. In addition, frequent periodic summaries should be furnished to the responsible agency or agencies.


Estimated amounts of bottom ash, fly ash, sludges, and waste waters that the facility will produce and their toxicity and costs of disposal should be considered in determining whether to site a facility. These materials should be tested regularly using adequate testing procedures, and managed as hazardous wastes if hazardous. Fly ash and bottom ash should be tested separately. Land disposal of toxic ash should be in secure monofills, with consideration given to methods to immobilize metals. Ash to be used for road building or other purposes should be required to meet stringent standards to assure that it is non-toxic. Management plans for ash disposal within the service area of the incinerator should be required.


Permits and contracts for incinerators should require shutting down those that fail to meet operating conditions, emission standards, or ash testing and management procedures. The public should have full access to all operating, monitoring, and testing results. Operation, monitoring, and closure of the incinerator should be subject to oversight by a citizens panel.


The federal government should establish and enforce strict specific national standards for all emissions from solid waste incinerators and for ash testing and management. States, provinces, and other jurisdictions should be allowed to establish stricter standards.