Resource Management in the New Millennium Richard V. Anthony.

Resource Management in the

New Millennium

Richard V. Anthony

Why Resource

Management

??

Ancient Culture

Code of Hammurabi

Old and New Testament Rules

Early Civilization

American Culture 1800

American IndianPioneer EthicQuilting BeesRefillable Glass

Containers, Mason Canning Jars

American Culture 1900

Junk Yards, Yard Sales

Hog Farms and Collection of Putresables

Required Source Separation prior to the End of WWII

It Should be the Law

Navigable Rivers Act, Late 1800

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Open Burning Dumps, Untreated Sewage and Industrial Discharges into Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, and Air

Clean Air and Clean Water Acts

Federal Law Solid Waste Management Act, Resource Recovery Act

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976) Hazardous Waste

Standards for Land DisposalSpecial Wastes (Medical, Tires)Resource Recovery and Recycling Education

and Training

International Law

Montreal Protocol

Kyoto Agreement

California Law

Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act (1974), Integrated Waste Management Act (1989)

Establish Hierarchy of Waste: Source Reduction, Recycling, Composting, Transformation and Land Disposal

Required 50% diversion of base year waste generated by year 2000

AB 2020 (Beverage Container Recycling Act) AND AB 322 (Expanded Beverage Container Recycling Act) Requires deposits on beverage containersRequires redemption centersProvides a grant program

It Makes Good Sense

Thomas Malthus the consequences of the increasing gap between rich and poor

Karl Marx the ultimate result of the gap is revolution and the redistribution of wealth.

Club of Rome Study, Meadows

Mend our ways or nature will force us

Managing Our Resources

Old Way extracts from environment and dump waste back into the environment.

New Way is to close the loop and make environmental dumping illegal or expensive

Close the Loop

Black Hole

Close the Loop

Black Hole

Efficiency in Managing Resources

Matter and energy are constants E=MC2

There is no “away”No such thing as a free lunch

Zero Waste

Zero Waste goals (efficiency)Create Jobs from DiscardsEnd Welfare for Wasting (level the playing

field)

Responsibility

Consumer Responsibility (what you buy)

Producer Responsibility

New Millennium Rules

6 “R’s”Reduce (source reduction)

RedesignRepair (fix)

Reuse (durable vs. Single use i.e., cameras, napkins)

Recycle (everything else)

Regulate

A Zero Waste Approach to Jobs and Sustainability

A Zero Waste System has a Place for Everything

VesilindWorrellReinhart, Solid Waste Engineering

“For Proper Resource Management and Public Health, Industry Needs to Redesign Products and Packages for “Reuse, Repair and Recycling”

Black Hole

All Materials Found Today at the Incinerator or Landfill can be Sorted

into 1212 Categories

1. Reusable 2. Paper 3. Plant Debris 4. Putrescibles 5. Wood6. Ceramics

7. Soils8. Metals9. Glass10.Polymers 11.Textiles

12.Chemicals

These categories and the following definitions have been developed by Dr. Daniel Knapp, Urban Ore, Berkeley, California 94710

Reusable Goods….

….are discarded materials that are useful in their present form.

Examples are doors, windows, furniture, lighting, household goods, clothing, bricks, live plants, etc.

Reuse operators need covered space, and enough room to organize, display, and sell all reuse items coming to the facility. They will also need to dismantle, clean, upgrade and store unsaleable merchandise for recycling.

Reusable Goods….

Reusable Goods….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

6 $400

Paper….

….is one of the largest commodity sub flows, comes in many forms, from newsprint to cardboard, all valuable for their fiber content.

Paper collection and processing requires warehousing and sorting facilities, a baler, a forklift, and trucking.

Paper….

Paper….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

21 $100

Plant Debris …. ….is another large sub flow, plant debris includes tree limbs and tree rounds, brush, weeds, grass clippings, and leaves. Plant debris operators need room to store green

materials until they are dry enough to be fed into a grinding process.

After grinding, plant debris may be screened, windrowed, turned, watered, and eventually blended with other nutrients and minerals into various types and grades of soil amendments.

Composting plant debris and tilting it into soil is a carbon sink, a potential remedy to global warming.

Plant Debris ….

Plant Debris ….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

3 $35

Putrescibles ….

….are similar chemically to plant debris, but differ in their high nutrient value, which makes them a magnet for scavenger species of birds, mammals, and insects. Special handling requirements may include

rapid mixing and dispersing with plant debris, containerizing for aerobic or anaerobic decomposition, and odor control.

This includes food and sludge.

Putrescibles ….

Putrescibles ….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

26 $35

Wood….

….may initially be divided into three streams: reusable/resalable, recyclable/ unpainted, and painted.

Reusable wood includes, doors, cabinets, dimensional lumber, furniture and plywood.

Recyclable wood is usually chipped or ground, manufactured into particleboard, or blended with other ingredients into compost.

Painted and treated wood may require special handling due to entrained metals and other toxins.

Wood….

Wood….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

2 $15

Ceramics….

….are hard, brittle materials such as stone, concrete, china tile and asphalt.

Ceramics….

Ceramics….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

10 $15

Soils….

….are generated by road and foundation construction and by dredging.

Clean soils can be sold for fill or added to compost blends to produce a more mineralized product.

Soils contaminated by petrochemicals can often be cleaned up through bioremediation.

Soils….

Soils….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

6 $15

Metals….

….have been recycled for thousands of years; so the metals recycling industry recognizes hundred of subcategories, most based on complex alloys of two or more elemental metals such as iron, aluminum and copper. Metals have a very large and varied reuse

component. Metals are also recycled extensively: most new

steel for example is recycled from old steel.

Metals….

Metals….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

9 $80

Glass….

….comes to disposal facilities in two major sub flows: plate glass and container glass.

Plate glass may be used as if, if unbroken, or recycled into fiberglass or sand.

Container glass may be color sorted, then ground up and made into new containers or simply made into sand.

Glass….

Glass….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

4 $25

Polymers….

….are carbon-based compounds manufactured into films or rigid forms such as containers or computer cases. By comparison with other master categories,

polymer recycling is a very young industry experiencing multiple growing pains.

Resin complexity and incompatibility, contamination, and “heat” history are primary limiting factors.

Polymers….

Polymers….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

9 $150

Textiles….

….are fabrics woven from natural or synthetic fibers into objects such as clothing, bedding, carpeting, draperies, and upholstery.

The textile reuse and recycling industry is very old and well developed, with worldwide markets for everything from old Levis to wiping cloths and paper.

Textiles….

Textiles….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

3 $20

Chemicals….…. includes unused paints, used oils and solvents, cleaners, acids and bases and the like. Deemed safe for their designated used, they become major pollutants when land filled or burned. Reuse is a preferred disposal option for many

chemicals. Recycling requires filtration, distillation,

mixing, or other refining operations to produce useful products

Chemicals….

Chemicals….

Average % of Total

Market Price per Ton

1 $200

Master Category Clusters and Processing Centers

Master Category ClustersPaper and Containers

Paper, metals, glass, polymersOrganics

Food, vegetative debris, food dirty paper, paper, plant debris, putrescibles, wood

Discarded items Furniture, appliances, clothing, toys, tools,

reusable goods, textiles

Special discards Chemicals, construction and demolition materials,

wood, ceramics, soils

Processing Centers Recyclables: Papers, plastic, glass and metal containers Organics: Food, vegetative debris, food paper,

putrescibles, untreated wood and sheetrock Reuse & Repair: Reuse, repair, dismantling,

reconditioning, re-manufacturing and resale of furniture, appliances, electronics, textiles, toys, tools, metal and ceramic plumbing fixtures, lighting, lumber, and other used building materials

Metals: Scrap metals and auto bodies Inert: Rock, soils, concrete, asphalt, brick, land clearing

debris, and mixed construction and demolition materials Household Hazardous Wastes: Used motor oil, paint,

pesticides, cleaners, and other chemicals

Master Category Clusters and Processing Centers

Job CreationType of Operation Jobs per 10,000 TPY

Product Reuse

Computer reuse 296

Textile Reclamation 85

Misc. Durable Reuse 62

Wooden Pallet Repair 28

Recycling-Based Manufacturers 25

Paper Mills 18

Glass Product Manufacturers 26

Plastic Product Manufacturers 93

Conventional Materials Recovery Facilities 10

Composting 4

Landfill and Incineration 1

Source: Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Washington DC, 1997; “Wasting and Recycling in the United States 2000”; GrassRoots Recycling Network, Prepared by Brenda Platt and Neil Seldman

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