April 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 55

5 Things Your Agency Can Do
Now to Recycle Smarter
though we have been successful in
encouraging people to recycle, they
still don't know how to sort what
they throw away. "
Such confusion has led to " wishful recycling " or as it is sometimes
called, " aspirational recycling. "
People who are entirely well-intentioned, but don't know what trash
to put in what bin, throw all their
waste into the recycle bin and feel
satisfied they are doing their part
to improve the environment. What
they may be inadvertently doing,
however, is contaminating tons
of perfectly recyclable waste with
their mixed trash.
Separating consumer waste
sounds simple, but The New York
Times recently identified six items
that people incorrectly think are
recyclable, including greasy pizza
boxes (oil saturates the cardboard
and ruins it for recycling), disposable paper coffee cups (which are
lined with a non-recyclable polymer coating), yogurt cups (which
are made of non-recyclable plastic), plastic trash bags (which clog
trash sorting machines), oily plastic food containers (which are like
the aforementioned pizza boxes)
and dirty diapers (which need no
explanation). Even Amazon, the
biggest shipper of packages worldwide recently got it wrong when
it changed from using recyclable
cardboard to non-recyclable plastic mailers to reduce packaging
volume in trucks and planes. The
company claims it will release a
fully recyclable paper mailer at an
unspecified future date.
Single-use plastics, which constitute a large percentage of our
waste, are some of the most pervasive and long-lasting plastics in
our environment. These include
plastic utensils, beverage bottles,
food wrappers, plastic bags, coffee

cup lids, straws, six-pack holders,
cigarette filters and more. Banning
or taxing single-use plastics has
been a strategy for some cities, but
it requires strong public and elected support. Seattle has banned
plastic straws and single-use plastic utensils. Boston, Chicago, San
Francisco and Seattle have banned
plastic grocery bags. Other jurisdictions have taxed plastic bags
and direct the proceeds into environmental restoration funds. Some
park and recreation agencies have
required vendors to use only recyclable or biodegradable utensils
and packaging in concession operations but have not yet attempted
agency-wide bans.

There Are Solutions
China's decision to ban many
classes of materials may paradoxically have the net effect of stimulating innovation and competition
for recyclables in the United States.
Producing cleaner products with
less non-recyclable waste will be
at the heart of gaining competitive
advantage, says TOMRA, a Norwegian-based company that specializes in laser and optical sensors
for waste sorting. Uncontaminated recycled paper and cardboard
waste, for example, might still find
markets in China, but what's more
likely is that the United States may
develop local markets for such recyclables.
Technological improvements in
waste hauling and distribution are
already reducing costs of routing
trucks and optimizing hauling using fleet-based tracking systems.
Such technology can provide real-time interactions with municipal
and corporate customers, and reduce the cost of hauling, according
to WasteDive, an industry news
source. By linking individual ve-

Recognize the crisis and act now. Prepare for what is happening. If you haven't
formed a Green Team yet, now is the time.
Activate and empower employees to devise
better ways to improve recycling and reduce waste.
waste

Review your recycling contract. Look
for alternatives to current practices that
send recycled materials to a landfill or
incinerator. Consider consolidating contracts, building in greater flexibility to
meet changing
conditions and seek help for writing a
chang
smarter recycling contract.

Look to reduce waste at the source.
Set goals for reducing landfill or incinerator waste and track the amount of waste
you divert from landfills as you track the
amount of waste you recycle. Perform a
trash
t h audit
dit and incorporate findings into your sustainability goals. Improve purchasing procedures to
reduce packaging and eliminate unnecessary waste.

Consider a food waste composting program. You can start small but plan with
an eye to the future on how you can ramp
up. Organics composting is a great way to
partner with community organizations and
a great soil
soi amendment to use in your own gardening programs and landscaping, thereby reducing costs
and providing new ways to educate the public.

Make your recycling bins " future ready. "
If the labeling on current bins is not perfectly clear to the public, consider updating
and replacing graphics. If you are purchasing new bins, make them as adaptable as
possible
ibl for
f new waste-stream separation.

Want to hear more about recycling issues and solutions? Listen to a lively exchange by Chicago Park
District's Brendan Daley and NRPA's Richard Dolesh on NRPA's
podcast, Open Space Radio, Episode 034: fff]a_P^aVQ[^VXb
cWXbcWTT]S^UaTRhR[X]VT_Xb^ST " #.
Links:
Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN):
www.responsiblepurchasing.org/

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April 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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