Building the Infrastructure Beyond Recycling
GRRN National Zero Waste Action Conference
Saturday, July 30, 2011
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Ruth C. AbbeNational Practice LeaderHDR Engineering, Inc.
Agenda• Barriers to Zero Waste
– “Legacy Discards”– “Design for the Dump”– “Mistakes”
• Zero Waste Infrastructure– Physical Infrastructure– Social Infrastructure
• Culture Change– Alameda
• Technical Assistance– Stopwaste.org– San Francisco
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Barriers to Zero Waste
“Legacy Discards”
“Design for the Dump”
“Mistakes”
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Disposable Espresso Capsules Targeted for Redesign
Barriers to Zero Waste
4
Divertable, 25%
Compostable, 32%
Potentially divertable,
12%
Problem materials,
30%
Composition of Discarded Materials
Legacy DiscardsDesign for the DumpLegacy DiscardsDesign for the Dump MistakesMistakes
Zero Waste InfrastructurePhysical infrastructure• Universal access to recycling and composting collection services
– Residential– Commercial– Institutional
• Processing capacity– Recycling– Full spectrum organics
• Self-haul– Resource recovery park – Facility Use Fee (San Luis Obispo)– Scavenging prior to landfilling – Urban Ore style (Berkeley)
5
Recyclables Processing Facility
Tons per day 50-600
Cost per ton Pays $10-30
Acres required
5-10
Phoenix North Transfer Station and Material Recovery Facility
Curbside Processing
Composting - Large Scale and Small Scale
Lamont Composting Facility, Kern County
Tons per day 100-1,000
Cost per ton $35-60
Acres required
15-60
Griffith Park Composting Facility
WindrowIn-VesselAerated Static Pile
Resource Recovery Center
Tons per day 1-10
Cost per ton $50-100
Acres required
2
Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Construction and Demolition (C&D) Facility
Downtown Diversion C&D Facility, Los Angeles
Tons per day 50-500
Cost per ton $30-40
Acres required 10
C&D Processing
Anaerobic Digestion
Tons per day 200-500
Cost per ton $100-130
Acres required
5-10
Dranco, Brecht, Belgium
Valorga Process, Barcelona, Spain
Products/By-Products
Biogas for energy Digestate for
compost
Addressing “Mistakes”
Mixed Material Processing
Tons per day 200-400
Cost per ton $40-60
Acres required
5-7
Rainbow Disposal, Huntington Beach
Mixed Material Processing
Products/By-Products
RecyclablesCompostables
Conceptual Design for San Francisco Zero Waste Facility
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Facility Costs Per Ton
Facility Cost per ton (net)
Recyclables processing Pays $10-30
Composting $35-60
Resource recovery park $50-100
C&D processing $30-40
Anaerobic digestion $100-130
Mixed materials processing $40-60
Local landfill $35-50
Remote landfill $80+
Zero Waste Infrastructure
Social Infrastructure• Alignment of Goals
– Local Government– Generators– Service Providers
• Rate Structure Signals• Community-Based Approaches• New Rules and Mandates• Culture Change• Technical Assistance
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Miss Alameda Says “Compost!”
Community Based Approaches
Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda
• Local Action Plan for Climate Protection• Zero Waste Implementation Plan• Alameda Green Schools Challenge –
comprehensive recycling and composting at all schools (public, private, parochial)
• Miss Alameda Says “Compost!” – targeting restaurant food scraps
• Faith-Based Outreach Program – greening faith-based organizations (churches, temples, mosques) and their congregations
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Commercial Technical Assistance
Stopwaste.org Metrics• Stopwaste Partnership $270,000 per year
– Targets large businesses (50+ employees or 15+ cubic yards per week of service)
– 800 active clients (30% of countywide total)– 50 new clients per year– 150 clients served per year– Goal is to divert 10,000 tons per year– New diversion costs less than $30 per ton for technical assistance
• Restaurant technical assistance $60,000 per year– Diverting 500 tons per month or 6,000 tons per year– New diversion costs about $10 per ton for technical assistance
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Commercial Technical Assistance (cont.)
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San Francisco Metrics• Technical assistance contract for $330,000 per year• New diversion from 60 to 80 businesses per month• Goal is to divert 44,000 new tons per year• New diversion costs less than $20 per ton for technical assistance