Towards Zero Waste Newburyport

Presentation Agenda

• Why did we undertake this adventure?• How does it work?• What has it meant to the city?• What has worked and what hasn’t?

How this came about…

• San Francisco• Austin• Hammarby Sjostad• Numerous Swedish towns of our size

My year of Zero Waste

Since January 1, 2011

How does it work?

Organics Terracycle

Freecycle/ Facebook

Bulky/Hard

Textiles/ Shoes

NEW! Film plastics!

Composting –

• Backyard• Indoor• Curbside pick up

- ideally, municipal facility (EPA)

•tortilla chip bags•pretzel bags•pita chip bags

CHIP BAGS•bagel chip bags•soy crisp bags•salty snack bags

•pens•pen caps•mechanical pencils•markers•marker caps

Writing Instruments•highlighters•highlighter caps•permanent markers•permanent markers caps

•ANY BRAND

Candy Wrappers

•ANY SIZE *GUM wrappers separate!

•mascara tubes•eye shadow cases•shampoo bottles•conditioner•bronzer/foundation •body wash

Personal Care & Beauty*Oral care SEPARATE

•hand & face soap dispensers•lotion dispensers, bottles, jars•chap stick tubes & lipstick & lip liner•concealer tubes, concealer sticks•hair gel tubes, hair paste jars•eyeliner cases & pencils

ANY BRAND

•ANY BRAND

Cheese Packaging

•ANY SIZE

•Singles packages and individual wraps•All flexible cheese wrappers•Shredded cheeses•String cheese•Grated cheeses

•ANY BRAND

Oral Care

•ANY SIZE

•Toothpaste tubes and caps•Tooth brushes•Floss containers

•ANY BRAND

Cookie Packaging

•ANY SIZE

•Cookie wrappers•Cookie bags•Inner plastic trays

Plastic Cards•Expired credit cards•Used gift cards•Hotel room “keys”

CDs and DVDs•Must be out of case!

CD jewel cases•CD/DVD disk must be taken out!•All paper and labels must be removed

VHS &Cassette Tapes

Floppy Disks

All sizes and formats!

Cereal Bags•ANY brand or type

Cleaner PackagingANY brand or type

•Pumps, Triggers, Pouches and any other flexible cleaner product packaging

CORKSANY type –

synthetic and cork stops, too!

Energy BarsANY brand or type

•foil lined:• energy bar wrappers• granola bar wrappers• meal replacement bar wrappers• protein bar wrappers• diet bar wrappers

TapeANY brand or type

plastic tape dispensers and cores

Drink PouchesAny brand of: •aluminum drink pouches•plastic drink pouches

KEYS

Coffee bags

Reuse/Repurpose

On-Line Education and Opportunities

Film Plastics – Trex (MB and Shaws)PLASTIC BAG RECYCLING IN RETAIL STORES ONLY

NEVER PUT PLASTIC BAGS IN YOUR REGULAR MUNICIPAL RECYCLING BIN, OR PUT RECYCLABLES INSIDE PLASTIC BAGS.

YES - DO RECYCLE IN STORES ONLY:

Only bags that are empty, clean and dry. Remove receipts, coins,

and trash. Grocery bags, produce bags

Plastic newspaper bags (empty) Dry cleaning bags (no receipts/

staples) CLEANED, DRY sandwich/ Ziploc

bags and bread bags Any plastic bag labeled with:

, “HDPE,” “PE-HD”, “LDPE,” “PE-LD,” “LLDPE”

Retail bags (#2 or 4) with string/ hard plastic handles removed

Plastic wrappers from toilet paper, paper towels, diapers

Bags with sealed air for packaging (air cushion; deflate)

Case wrap from cases of water Stretch wrap from furniture or

electronics

NO - DO NOT RECYCLE: NO bag with food in or on it

NO garbage bags NO food or cling wrap (Saran) NO prepackaged food bags (frozen food or pre-washed salad)

NO chip bags or candy wrappers NO cereal bags NO bubble wrap

NO bags with paint or glue NO compostable plastic bags

NO bag with a recycling symbol or # other than those described in

the “yes” column

Clip this table and hang it over your plastic bag recycling collection at

home or in the office.For more about plastic bag recycling, visit

www.plasticbagrecycling.org.

Film Plastics – Lou’s!

Other:

• Mattress flow chart• Donation List• Books• EcoSmith (donation list first!)• New streams– Styrofoam– Bulky plastics

Is it Worth It?YES!!!!

Newburyport, Salisbury and Plum Island 1. Materials Management = Resource Management

2. Increases Awareness

On-Line Education and Opportunities

3. Composting Our pilot shows between 50-80% reduction in waste just through composting. That translate to an average of 65% reduction in disposal costs.

4. Textiles Increased awareness around all waste

Schools receive all funds generated from Eco Smith collectionMiddle School collected 1000 pounds in 2 weeks.

Newburyport Rubbish To Runway Fashion Show Creative ways to educate about textile and waste re-use and recycling

Successes and Failures • Successes

– Education- On-line, events, schools, eco-tours– Composting- Pilot shows 65% average reduction– Textiles- Awareness around all types

• Failures– Carpeting- No after market in New England

• Challenges– Bulk Items, furniture, mattresses…….– Terracyle-Little reward but fun!!

• Key to success – Start with recycling enforcement – Education and communication – Buy-in from the top

The Future