Extended producer responsibility (EPR), based on the “polluter pays” principle, entails making manufacturers responsible for the entire lifecycle of the products and packaging they produce. These are some of the tools being employed by EPR advocates. Continue reading
In the last 15 years, recycling has come of age. The number of curbside recycling programs has climbed to 9,349 and the national recycling rate for municipal discards has reached 28%. At the local level, many communities are setting new records, surpassing 50%, and even 60% waste diversion levels. Continue reading
The future of garbage is not what it used to be! The era of cheap energy and disposal is over. Garbage generation and management are both changing rapidly in an economy with too little oil and environment with too much carbon dioxide. Heather Rogers describes thoroughly the new circumstances as they are reflected in the waste stream. Using her engaging, skillful prose, suitable for the professional and the novice alike, she makes garbage her context for examining our lives. Continue reading
Neil Seldman Waste to Wealth Program Institute for Local Self-Reliance Washington, DC 20005 12 March 2005 Common sense is taking on a radical tone in the community environmental defense arena as the public is asking why can’t we have clean industry in the US if the same companies that pollute here are operating clean facilities… Continue reading
The author of Getting to Zero Waste is angry at the lack of progress in moving toward what he sees as a readily achievable industrial economy based on zero waste, since he first introduced its theory and practice over 30 years ago. Paul Palmer’s book provides a timely critique of the government and corporate barriers to achieving universal reuse. Continue reading
NEWS RELEASE July 2, 2004 For Further Information: Institute for Local Self Reliance Neil Seldman President(202) 898-1610 ext. 210 ZERO WASTE DEFEATS INCINERATOR IN FRANCE Within one month of its introduction in France, the concept and details of Zero Waste were selected as a cost-effective and environmentally sound solid waste management alternative to disposal… Continue reading
by Brenda Platt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance for GAIA (Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance/Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) Download the Press Release (PDF) Decision-makers in any community considering a waste incinerator will find Resources up in Flames essential reading. Pitfalls such as high capital costs, tonnage shortfalls, expensive pollution control equipment, and hampering least-cost options such as… Continue reading
Recycling, composting and waste reduction have been a basic precept of sustainability . It is essential for a sustainable industrial economy. Continue reading
When we think of great popular movements of the last century, the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the women’s rights movement quickly come to mind. The recycling movement deserves to be added to this illustrious list, for it may be the largest multi-ethnic, multi-class, and multi-generation movement in American history. Continue reading
Published originally in BioCycle American Alchemy: The History of Solid Waste Management in the United States Forester Press, Santa Barbara, 2003 By Neil Seldman, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Washington, DC* H. Lanier Hickman, Jr. is one of the nation’s leading experts on solid waste handling. His textbooks are justifiably on the bookshelves of many solid… Continue reading
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