The first in the series of community forums presented by the League of Women Voters of Marion/Polk Counties and 8 other co-sponsoring groups regarding "Dealing with Waste in a Sustainable Community" was held on January 22 at Willamette University. About 45 people attended the Forum. The information shared in this first forum was very basic and focused on waste reduction, recycling and the creation of jobs through these efforts.
The next forum will be a more specific topic of the use of the incinerator at Brooks by Marion County/Covanta. Dr. Paul Connett a world renowned expert in incineration, waste products created by this process and zerowaste strategies will present on the topic of "Nanoparticles to Nonsustainablity". Jeffrey Hahn of Covanta will present the industry's perspective on why they think that incineration is a 'green' alternative to landfills and their future plans for their operations in Marion County.
The last forum will deal with the Marion County Solid Waste Management Plan that has been undergoing a review and includes recommendations for how to deal with waste that will go to the Marion County Board of Commissioners in April.
Included in that forum will be the League of Women Voters presentation of their own study of Marion/Polk counties municipal waste strategies. This will include their comments on the recommendations and observations about what was included or not included in the Marion County Plan.
Materials from the Marion County Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee (SWMAC) are on the County web site
The intent of the Forums is to stimulate community dialog about the issues of greater investment in prevention of waste and waste reduction verses investment in a long term commitment to the incinerator.
Spreading the word about the event and refer people to the websites of Marion County
The Forum was recorded by CCTV Salem for February 1, 2009
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Highlights of Solid Waste Forum #1
Cathie Davidson, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), spoke on Oregon DEQ Waste Reduction Strategies. Her key points: Recycling is up in Oregon but so is waste generation. Consumers and businesses need to develop new strategies for waste reduction. Her presentation was put together by David Allaway of DEQ.
Ms. Davidson listed the hierarchy for solid wastes:
1. Re-use
2. Recycle
3. Compost
4. Recover energy
5. Dispose in a landfill
The first four all contain an element of waste reduction, so they help to save resources, including energy. The goal is to reduce the amount of waste generated.
In 2007 (the latest figures available) the per capita waste was 8.4 pounds per day. Of that, 3.6 pounds were recycled and 4.8 pounds were disposed of as waste.
What wastes are increasing? Construction materials (wood, concrete, etc.) and consumer items (clothing and footwear, electronics, carpets).
Why are these items increasing? People build larger houses now than in the past, so more building materials are used and more stuff is purchased to go into the larger houses. Further, it is often cheaper or easier to buy a new item rather than repair an old one. So consumers should
• Buy more durable items
• Buy more recycled items
• Buy only what we need
Ms. Davidson said that, while consumers feel good about recycling items, the real savings in resources must come during the manufacture and transportation of items since the “upstream” is where the most pollution occurs and the most energy is used.
DEQ is, therefore, working to encourage
• “Green” building designs—Encourage builders to adopt waste-prevention best practices
• Change business practices—For example, much packaging is used by e-commerce retailers, so DEQ is working with them to use bags instead of boxes as much as possible since bags require fewer resources to make and transport.
• Consumers—DEQ researches why consumers do what we do in order to encourage better practices.
In addition, DEQ offers some grant money to local governments to help them implement waste reduction.
In answer to a question, Ms. Davidson said that builders are being encouraged to standardize the sizes of items so that it’s possible to replace a vent fan or other appliance without having to remodel the room. In answer to another question about smoke detectors, she said they contain a hazardous substance so old ones should be mailed back to the manufacturer; the address should be on the back of each smoke detector.
Alan Pennington, Waste Reduction Coordinator for Marion County Environmental Services, spoke on Recycling Efforts in Marion County. His key points: Marion County leads the state in the percentage of recycled materials, but more can be done. Population growth is putting pressure on existing facilities.
Mr. Pennington began by saying that there has always been garbage; archeologist dig in garbage pits to learn how earlier people lived. In about 500 BC the city of Athens dug a big hole outside the city and required people to take their garbage and dump it there. Not much has changed since then except that dumps are now covered, garbage is picked up and transported for us, and there are regulations to reduce pollution.
In 2007 in Marion County the recovery rate was 56.5%, which is considered to be very good.
Mr. Pennington showed with pictures what happens to the contents of each bin we put out at the curb—garbage, blue recycling, green recycling, and blue or red basket for glass and items which must be sorted. Used cooking oil may now be put back into its bottle and put into the basket for recycling.
The goal beginning this year, 2009, is for the total amount of waste to not increase in the future even as population increases. It is a big goal because buying stuff is part of the American model. Other countries have different models and produce less waste. Among developed countries, Japan produces half as much waste per person as does the United States.
To reach the goal of reducing waste per person requires constantly educating people. You have probably noticed the ads on buses, billboards, radio, etc. Marion County pays for a teacher to educate school children. Special efforts are made in apartment buildings since trash pickup is included in the rent so tenants aren’t aware of the cost.
The County also works with businesses to help them reduce waste and save money doing so. The County’s EarthWISE program is a free business environmental assistance program offered to all businesses in Marion County to get them started on recycling, reducing waste, and/or saving energy and water. Businesses that meet pre-established criteria in the EarthWISE focus areas earn the EarthWISE Certification, so consumers should look for that certification.
The County encourages the use of deconstruction teams to take old buildings apart and sell the materials for re-use (rather than to demolish old buildings and send the materials to the dump).
Residents of Marion County are fortunate that the county transfer station on Highway 22 east of Salem will accept all electronics. For Styrofoam, hazardous materials, or unusual item you can check the county’s website at www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal, click on “Find out how to dispose/recycle a specific material,” type in the name of the item, and the website will show you where to take it for disposal.
John Matthews, Garten Services, spoke on Creating Jobs and Saving Resources through Recycling. His key points: Garten has been recognized as a leader in recycling since the recycling industry first began to move mainstream in the 1970s.
Mr. Matthews said that less energy is needed to refine the materials from recycled products such as paper, glass, and metal, so businesses could save money by using recycled materials. This allowed Garten to develop a business of recycling. Unfortunately, with the economy now in recession, there is less demand for most recycled products.
Restaurants and other commercial sources of food wastes may soon be able to recycle food items; they must be recycled properly to prevent meat from drawing vermin. Along with other plant materials, these are composted and turned into new dirt.
Agriplas is a local company that has a new process being evaluated to take small plastic items (such as bottlecaps) and mixed plastics to separate them out and send the various plastics to where they can be recycled instead of going into the trash as at present. If all goes well, Agriplas will expand their process to a commercial level.
“Product stewardship” is the new standard for electronics. This mans that manufacturers pay the cost of all the materials that are recovered and reuse them in approved ways so that the discarded electronics are not sent to poor countries where people take out the valuable metals and burn the rest, with the accompanying toxic air pollution. By having manufacturers responsible for the costs of recycling electronics, they are encouraged to use fewer hazardous materials and make them easier to recover by making their products easier to take apart.
Electronics of all kinds—televisions, computers, peripherals, cell phones—are accepted at the Salem-Keizer Recycle and Transfer Station (SKRTS) on Highway 22 east of Salem. These are taken to Garten’s facility in north Salem where workers safely repair, sort or disassemble each item. All information on electronic devices is removed at Garten before the item is sold for reuse or for reformulation into another product.
Garten Services invites people who are interested to attend its First Friday Breakfast, a free continental breakfast and site tour held from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. First Friday Breakfasts will be held on March 6, April 3, May 1, June 5, August 7, September 11, October 2, and November 6. Reservations are required; contact Carolyn Bolton at 503-581-4472, Ext. 3117, or by e-mail at cbolton@garten.org.
In answer to a question about the feasibility of weighing trashcans at pickup in order to charge people for the garbage they set out, Jeff Bickford of Marion County Environmental Services said that it’s difficult to weigh accurately on the street, and there are governmental requirements for the accuracy of weights. However, since trash containers come in several sizes with the smaller ones costing less per month than larger ones, people are charged for the amount of trash they put out. Mr. Mathews added that there is a limit to how much can be charged for picking up someone’s trash before they will decide to do something that is more damaging to the environment, such as burning the trash in their fireplace or throwing out in the woods or along a road.
Mr. Matthews said that less garbage is thrown out during poor economic times (such as now). We need to take advantage of this phenomenon to show people that they can save money by not throwing away as much stuff, perhaps by using it longer or not buying it in the first place. Newspapers are smaller than they used to be with less paper used for advertisements resulting in a reduction in the amount of newspaper recycled.
To see the whole forum on CCTV, check the website at www.cctvsalem.org. Point to “Programs” and click on “Schedule.” In the list of programs on the left of the screen, look for this program on Solid Waste.
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