I recall the first time I heard the term Zero Waste. I thought, wait, how is that even possible and if it can be done at what cost. Last week we looked into the big picture of why, but this week we need to get a better understanding of how.
It will take more then one article to identify the strategies that move towards zero waste, but they are actually fairly simple, practical, and cost-effective strategies. In fact it is likely that some are already being done you or those around you. The magic happens when you start stacking these strategies, as they can work in concert with one another and together can drastically divert the waste stream from landfill towards more productive end of use scenarios.
Source Separation
If you have recycling and landfill waste collection on site, chances are you have heard the term contamination, or more likely your checkbook or budget was negatively impacted by it. In order for discarded materials to be suitable for reuse or recycling, they need to be separated from non-usable materials, or contamination. No different then you do not want water mixed with gasoline in an internal combustion engine, the presence of non-usable material reduces (or eliminates) the potential of the discarded material from being reused or recycled.
There was a time that the separation of these streams was driven by the behavior of the individual looking to discard the material for recycling purposes. Separate containers were placed for separate materials, sometimes called “dual stream.” However, in the 1989 Phoenix, Arizona began experimenting with placing all recyclables in the same container and having it sorted at a “sorting center”, “sometimes called single stream.” The concept moved to a larger scale in the early 1990’s, with the advantage of simplifying the answer to “what goes where?” With simplification however came increased contamination. However, until China’s National Sword Policy in 2019, little attention was paid to contamination.
When properly sorted, source separation remains an important step on the path to Zero. With clean materials, the resource can be harvested and manufactured as a raw material for a new product. Value is created, and rubbish is successfully diverted from the landfill. We are on are way to Zero.
Door to Door Collection Systems
Potentially one of the most impactful strategies is door to door collection. This strategy takes many forms, from valet services servicing individual units in a multi-family community to cities that distribute different color bags intended to collect different waste streams and collected at each single family residence.
Both the multi-family and single family model provide the potential advantage helping insure that recycled materials are actually recycled and kept out of landfill bound rubbish.
Several cities in Italy and Spain combine the dual stream source separation with door to door collection, collecting multiple waste stream types and through a carefully designed program they are achieving diversion rates of 80-90%.
While less common in the United States, the same model provides an opportunity to reduce the impact of residential real estate.
Composting
You may recall in my blog last week, of the 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste collected each year, only 5.5% is composted. However food waste is potential more consequential then even recycling.
Food waste tends to contaminate any waste stream it is introduced to - recyclables become unrecyclable, re-usables become unusable, and land fill waste becomes fouled with odors as the food breaks down, emitting greenhouse gasses along with the odor. In addition, the presence of food waste results in trash containers being heavier and introduce potential rodent and insect issues.
In short, food waste that ends up anywhere other then composting is a problem. Yet, as compost, it can be an important nutrient that provides plants nutrients and other benefits such as fighting erosion and reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers.
In San Francisco, composting was successfully implemented a full scale compost collection program that is responsible for reducing 640,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions - the equivalent of the emissions of all vehicles that will cross the Bay Bridge for three and a half years, according to Recology, the company managing the Bay Area Composting Program.
There are distinct challenges associated with each of these three zero waste strategies, but also opportunities. If implemented in a smart and cost effective manner, these may be the foundation of impacting your diversion rate.
Have you implemented any of these strategies in Multi-Family Real Estate? What were the challenges? What are the opportunities? What needs to be remembered to get it right? Please continue the conversation below or contact me directly, I would love to hear your feedback and experiences.
Until next week, stay well!