Can I just get a little recycling around here?!?! I
live in Phoenix, Arizona which is currently the sixth largest city in the
United States. We have sprawl, sunshine and some stuff to sort out when it
comes to our recycling initiatives and waste diversion goals.
Across the country (and world) cities, people and industry
are ramping up their recycling initiatives for a myriad of reasons:
· To
help curb greenhouse gas emissions.
· To
conserve precious land.
· To
earn revenue.
· To
turn waste to energy.
· Or
simply to be good stewards to the earth and because it’s the right thing to do.
Looking at the lifecycle of a product- from natural resource
through end of product life- should help make the importance of recycling (and
reusing) even more apparent.
* Check out TheStory
of Stuff Project for good perspective on this.
Many cities, including Phoenix, have set waste diversion
goals. When we throw something “away,” that place “away” is
most likely a landfill. A place where we bury our waste, where it then slowly
breaks down and contributes to climate change by emitting Methane (CH4) which
is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the U.S. attributed to
human activities. According to the EPA: “Landfills are the third largest source
of CH4 emissions in the United States.” So the less we throw
“away,” the better…
About a year ago, Phoenix launched its 40 by 20 campaign
(40% waste diversion by the year 2020) along with a nice new logo and
educational/outreach campaign called Reimagine Phoenix. And just in case you’re
wondering, yes, I can reimagine Phoenix in more ways than one, but
that’s a story for another day.
Phoenix’s waste diversion rate for fiscal year 2011-2012 was
a meager 13% which is far below the national average.
About one year prior to the Phoenix 40 by 20 launch (in
early 2012) I discovered something that was very disturbing to me, especially
with our embarrassing waste diversion number. I learned there was/is a city
ordinance (27-21 Residential collection) that says:
“The City does not provide solid waste collection service
to commercial or industrial establishments or to any building with more than 30
multi-family dwelling units, except as provided in subsection A.2 of this section.
*1”
In case you’re curious, here’s what subsection A-2 says: “The
City will provide solid waste collection service to all dwelling units
including: *1 - All buildings with less than five dwelling units, including
duplex, triplex and four-plex units, and all buildings with five or more units
that have been receiving City solid waste collection continuously since May 30,
1979. Multiple buildings on one lot cannot be aggregated to avoid the
provisions of this chapter. *1
Phoenix does provide solid waste collection
(along with recycling services) to residential customers, and of course those
“less than five dwelling units.”
What I really want to know though, is where the seemingly
random ‘continuous service since May 30, 1979’ date came from? I can’t help but
picture a group of private solid waste company bigwigs sitting around a table
saying “Hey Johnny, throw a date into the hat!”
What the hell?! It’s no wonder Phoenix was at 13% waste
diversion rate when the customers who could contribute the largest amounts to
the bulk of recycling (and thus revenue for our city) – commercial business and
apartment dwellers- were purposefully, and probably strategically, being
excluded. “Away” is big money in case you didn’t know. The solid waste industry
is a multi-billion dollar industry, and Phoenix, with all of our sprawl, has
lots of open land to bury it.
Just after this time, I was informed the Phoenix
Environmental Quality Commission had made a recommendation to City Council to
change the city ordinance banning the city from offering services, including
recycling to commercial businesses and multi-family units.
I created an online
petition to lay on some community pressure to make this happen.
Well, nearly two years has gone by, it still hasn’t
happened, and the only way Phoenix businesses or apartment buildings get
recycling is if they pay the private solid waste company to provide it.
I think this is bullshit.
On the flip side of this, I will say I personally know
several people in the Phoenix Public Works Department who are fantastic humans
doing good work and their hearts are in the right place. What they’ve done so
far is a step in the right direction, albeit a tiny baby step when compared to
other cities, but we’ll delve into that a little deeper below.
I believe this city ordinance is more of a political power
play than anything else, and would love to see the list of political
contributions made to City Council member campaigns from private solid waste bigwigs.
So how does the 6th largest
city in the United States compare with the 5 bigger cities with regard to waste
diversion goals? Let’s start with Phoenix and count down from there.
#6 – Phoenix, Arizona – Population: 1,488,750 (2012
estimate)
Goal: 40% by 2020
2011-2012: 13%
#5 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Population: 1,547,607
(2012 estimate)
Goal: Zero Waste
2011: 77%
#4 – Houston, Texas – Population: 2,160,821
(2012 estimate)
Goal: 75%
2013: 14%
#3 – Chicago, Illinois – Population: 2,714,856 (2012
estimate)
Goal: Zero Waste
2009: 45%
#2 – Los Angeles, California – Population: 3,857,799
(2012 estimate)
Goal: Zero Waste
2012: 76.4%
#1 – New York, New York – Population: 8,336,697 (2012
estimate)
Goal: 30% by 2017 & 75% by 2030
2012:15%
* If anyone has data more current than what I found, please
don’t hesitate to share.
So, what I’ve learned from this, is that Phoenix is at the
bottom of the barrel with regard to where we are currently with our waste
diversion rate, as well as our goals for the future. Especially when you keep
digging and looking at cities like the ones outlined here in this article.
I understand the need to set achievable goals,
because hey, who likes to fail? But when I see our closest rival in population,
Philadelphia, hitting a 77% waste diversion rate in 2011 with a goal of zero,
what the hell is our excuse in Phoenix?
Oh yeah. There’s that pesky city ordinance prohibiting us
from playing catch up.
And given the fact the city of Phoenix has a $38 million dollar deficit wouldn’t it
also make sense for the city to take over and ramp up the recycling for
business and multi-family dwellings to save itself money, and even potentially
earn some? Other cities have benefited.
So where does your city stack up?
Are you a die-hard recycler, or do you not give it much thought? Are there
things your city could be doing smarter to reduce waste? I’d love to hear your
comments!
Further reading on Zero Waste:
Onward with fingers crossed for a more sustainable Phoenix!
Love and laughter,
“The case for recycling is strong. The bottom line is clear. Recycling requires a trivial amount of our time. Recycling saves money and reduces pollution. Recycling creates more jobs than landfilling or incineration. And a largely ignored but very important consideration, recycling reduces our need to dump our garbage in someone else’s backyard.” – David Morris
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