Global Recycling Council/California Resource
Recovery Association
INTERNATIONAL DIALOG
San Francisco, California August 26 & 27, 2004
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 ActResource Conservation and Recovery Act
(1976) Hazardous WasteStandards for Land DisposalSpecial Wastes (Medical, Tires)Resource Recovery and Recycling Education
and Training
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
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)
New Millennium Rules
6 “R’s”Reduce (source reduction)
RedesignRepair (fix)
Reuse (durable vs. Single use i.e., cameras, napkins)
Recycle (everything else)
Regulate