The Importance of Waste Diversion in Routt County

Transcription

1 The Importance of Waste Diversion in Routt County Prepared by Yampa Valley Sustainability Council with Support from Routt County Department of Environmental Health YVSC PO Box Steamboat Springs, CO p

2 Table of Contents I. Executive Summary... 2 II. Introduction... 2 III. Why Waste Diversion?... 5 IV. Waste Diversion Goals... 8 V. Challenges VI. Meeting Challenges VII. Conclusion... 13

3 Introduction This white paper has been prepared to provide a broader context for the discussion of waste diversion in Routt County. The Routt County Department of Environmental Health requested Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC) prepare this paper to examine the importance of waste diversion in Routt County as it relates to the broader regional and statewide landscape. For clarity, waste diversion is defined as the sum of recycled, composted, and donated or reused materials. Executive Summary Like many rural communities in Colorado, Routt County struggles with low waste diversion rates and lacks well developed recycling and composting programs. Low volume, long distance to markets and lower costs to landfill challenge the economic viability of rural waste diversion programs. Despite these challenges, increased diversion is possible and several Western mountain resort and rural communities provide good models for sustainable recycling and compost programs. Yampa Valley Sustainability Council (YVSC), with support from Routt County Department of Environmental Health (DEH), researched the importance and relevance of waste diversion in Routt County as it relates to the broader regional and statewide landscape as well as successful waste diversion programs to better understand how the challenges of rural recycling can be overcome. The value of waste diversion in Routt County is discussed not only at the local level, but also has larger regional, state and even global relevance: Cultural Heritage and Community Identity: Resource conservation and waste diversion has been part of Routt County s cultural heritage since the beginning. Our community views preservation of natural resources as an integral piece of our character and believes that waste diversion is one of the fundamental pieces. Economic Stability: Our local economy is dependent on jobs and tax dollars associated with nature-based/outdoor activity tourism. Visitor experience is enhanced by local efforts to preserve and protect the environment, consistent with other resort communities. If visitors do not sense this commitment, they may go elsewhere. Therefore, the preservation and enhancement of the environment and our image as stewards is critical to local economic stability. State Plans and Goals: On August 15, 2017, the Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission voted to adopt a resolution that sets statewide diversion rate goals. Adopting waste diversion goals, at the state level, sets a benchmark that all stakeholders can work towards by improvement in recycling, composting, and waste reduction. The result will be an THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

4 increased awareness of Colorado s waste diversion rate and a mechanism to motivate and improve materials management services, and access to those services, statewide. It s the Law: Waste diversion is not only important as part of Routt County s character and economy, it is required by law. In the last five years, State laws have passed that require recycling of electronics, tires, and paint. In addition, with the approval of the statewide waste diversion goals, it is predicted that additional rulemaking will be enacted to promote waste diversion. Preparation and planning are required to comply with current and future laws effectively. State Environmental Health regulations also assert that County DEHs must take appropriate steps to ensure the proper storage, collection, treatment, and disposal of garbage, refuse, and solid and hazardous waste. In addition, they must promote programs to minimize the amount of solid and hazardous waste and maximize the amount of recycling and reuse. Climate Action: For communities dependent on our natural resources, like Routt County, the impacts of climate change could be devastating. To counter these impacts, climate action is being addressed at state and local levels, through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Waste diversion is one of the simplest ways to reduce GHG emissions. Although the importance of waste diversion for Routt County is clear, it is not without its challenges. Barriers to waste diversion, specific to Routt County, were documented in the Routt County Recycling Study, conducted in The challenges of waste diversion in rural mountain communities are also well documented in the 2016 Colorado Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. Despite these challenges to waste diversion, other Mountain region and rural communities have been able to establishing strong waste diversion programs. Successful components of other programs provide suggestions on how Routt County can move forward. Changing Perspectives: Waste diversion programs struggle to be economically successful in rural communities as stand-alone programs. Current markets for recyclable materials, distance to processing centers, and lack of secondary markets in Colorado make for a poor business model. Mountain communities with strong programs value waste diversion in a broader community context: it is important to community; it is important to stay competitive in a tourist-based economy; and it is important for climate actions to reduce GHG emissions. Build Strong Partnerships: For successful waste diversion in other communities, there are strong partnerships between the community, government entities, large waste generators (i.e. local ski resort), nonprofits, landfills, haulers and other waste diversion businesses. Buy-in from all stakeholders allows for consistent policies and educational messaging. The result is a stable and predictable program into which all stakeholders invest. THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

5 Regionalize: In rural areas of New Mexico, successful waste diversion programs were established through a regional approach with the formation of Solid Waste Authorities (SWA) and rural recycling cooperatives. Long-term Planning: Communities with long-range waste diversion goals (i.e. Vail s goal of 10% reduction in landfill contributions by 2014 and 25% by 2019 years) have higher diversion rates (25% diversion rate for Eagle County in 2014). For these communities, longterm goals indicate a commitment to waste diversion, which results in a stable and predictable program. Waste diversion is a key piece of an economically sustainable community, especially one that thrives on outdoor tourism. Cultural heritage, resort guest expectations, State mandates and climate action all include a need to prioritize best practices in waste diversion. With strong government leadership and local collaboration, Routt County can model successful waste diversion programs from other rural communities, to put our community in a unique position to both protect and promote our natural resources in an economically feasible way. THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

6 Why Waste Diversion? Opinions vary when it comes to recycling, and Routt County is no exception. Some believe it is critical to keep us economically competitive with other resort communities. Others say there is no recycling; that it all eventually goes to a landfill. Many think recycling should be a free service provided by local governments. Others see it as a feel good activity and question the practicality and cost of transportation to distant processing centers. Recycling, specifically, and waste diversion, in general, is complicated. Because of the struggle to make waste diversion viable, the value is sometimes questioned. Why support and promote waste diversion in Routt County? The following details why waste diversion is valuable to our community. Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Resource conservation and waste diversion has been part of Routt County s cultural heritage since the beginning. Rarely do materials on a ranch get used only once. In addition, recycling farm and animal organic waste into fertilizer has also been a common sense agricultural practice that s good for soil health and reduces the need for irrigation; particularly important considering our dry climate. Heritage and community identity are reflected in both Vision 2020 and Vision 2030 ( As outlined in the introduction to Vision 2030, these documents identify a community s core values so incremental decisions can ultimately ensure the things that really matter are enhanced and retained for future generations and have been used in policy and decision making processes since their inception in the 1990 s. Both of these documents reflect sustainability, in general, and waste diversion, specifically, as a large part of our community character. In fact, the Vision 2020 process led to the very formation of Yampa Valley Recycles. The community respondents of Vision 2030 identified environmental protection as the most important community character. They believed that, as a community, we must find new avenues for keeping our heart and soul alive for future generations. That means healthy, clean air and water; respectful land-use practices; green building and living; and a lifestyle that leaves our neighborhood better than we found it. Recommendations specifically provided for waste diversion included, but were not limited to the following: THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

7 o Reduce the use of raw materials, re-use materials that can be used and recycle other materials which can be used to create new projects. Encourage source separation and recycling of waste materials on new and demolition projects. o Address the recycling barriers of an isolated community. o Provide for appropriate local recycling and/or disposal of hazardous materials. o Determine ways to reduce and re-use food, yard, beetle kill, manure and other compostable waste through Green Waste programs. While these recommendations are neither regulated nor required, they clearly reflect the values and expectations of the community. YVSC receives between 5 and 10 calls per week from residents and businesses asking how and where to recycle. People will wait in long lines at the annual Community Recycling Drop-off Day to ensure proper recycling and disposal of their hard-to-recycle items and household hazardous waste. The loss of food waste recycling this spring caused great frustration and concern with many, from the Food and Beverage Department at Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp, for whom composting was a critical piece of their restaurant operations and public relations, to individuals attending community events such as the Free Concert Series, upset by the loss of zero waste stations at the event. Our community views preservation of natural resources as an integral piece of our character and believes that waste diversion is one of the fundamental pieces. Economic Stability Sustainability and its critical relationship with tourism is now recognized on a global scale. In December, the United Nations General Assembly approved the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The declaration by the UN of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development is a unique opportunity to advance the contribution of the tourism sector to the three pillars of sustainability economic, social and environmental, while raising awareness of the true dimensions of a sector which is often undervalued ( The importance of the sustainability-tourism relationship is also documented more locally. With an increase in visitors comes a greater awareness of impacts and the expectation of tourists to experience beautiful surroundings and pristine settings when visiting. The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) determined that threats to natural and human-made resources, among other concerns, put the Colorado visitor industry at risk. In spring 2017, the CTO published a Roadmap to identify and prioritize opportunities to maximize both the economic and lifestyle benefits of tourism ( for the next three to five years. As part of the Roadmap, the CTO highlighted the need to integrate sustainability THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

8 concepts into tourism infrastructure as well as protect the integrity of Colorado resources through sustainable tourism. Our local economy is dependent on jobs and tax dollars associated with naturebased/outdoor activity tourism. Visitor experience is enhanced by local efforts to preserve and protect the environment, consistent with other resort communities. If visitors do not sense this commitment, they may go elsewhere. Therefore, the preservation and enhancement of the environment and our image as stewards is critical to local economic stability. As the global environment becomes more physically degraded and polluted, natural resource-rich recreation destinations that protect their environmental integrity will prosper. - Whistler Blackcomb Sustainability Report 2008/2009 One of the easiest and most visible ways to integrate sustainability concepts into tourism infrastructure is through waste diversion. This strategy has been recognized and embraced by many Colorado mountain communities. Pitkin, Eagle, and Summit County all have rigorous waste diversion programs and goals. In addition, these communities, as well as Telluride, Crested Butte, and Jackson Wyoming, despite their remote locations, require recycling for residential, commercial and multi-family housing. These measures, in addition to community initiatives for food waste, electronic and hard-to-recycle-materials communicates clearly to both visitors and residents the value of sustainability and the local natural environment. To keep Routt County competitive in our tourist-based economy as well as preserve our critical community assets, the issue of waste diversion and other sustainability measures must be integrated into tourism infrastructure. This will require relevant incentives and community-wide initiatives as well as substantive community partnerships. State Plans and Goals In July 2016, CDPHE published the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (ISWMP) ( to develop a comprehensive evaluation of the current state of Colorado s waste disposal and materials management practices. The results and recommendations have been used to develop short term and long term goals for cost effective and environmentally protective waste management and waste diversion systems. On August 15, 2017, the Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission voted to adopt a resolution that sets statewide diversion rate goals. The state s diversion rate has hovered around 19%--well below the national average of 35%--for about a decade. When scrap metal is excluded, Colorado s waste diversion rate falls to 12%. With the resolution for statewide THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

9 waste diversion goals, Colorado will strive to reach 28% by 2021, 35% by 2026 and 45% by Diversion is defined explicitly as recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion. ( According to the CDPHE, the purposes of adopting waste diversion goals are to 1) address the declaration in state statute of establishing realistic waste reduction goals at the state and local level through source reduction, recycling, composting and similar strategies as directed in , C.R.S., and 2) to encourage the development of additional recycling capacity in Colorado. Waste Diversion Goals: Adopting waste diversion goals, at the state level, sets a benchmark that all stakeholders can work towards by improvement in recycling, composting, and waste reduction. The result will be an increased awareness of Colorado s waste diversion rate and a mechanism to motivate and improve materials management services, and access to those services, statewide. Current barriers to waste diversion in more rural areas of the state have been addressed by identifying lower goals for areas of Colorado outside of the Front Range. Diversion Goals Front Range NA 32% 39% 51% Greater Colorado NA 10% 13% 15% Statewide 19% 28% 35% 45% Meeting statewide diversion goals will require Routt County to develop its own strategic plan to determine how to track and report baseline measurements and make progress towards these statewide goals. In addition, with the approval of the statewide waste diversion goals, it is predicted that additional rulemaking will be enacted to promote waste diversion. A strategic plan would also incorporate the adoption and roll out of other requirements in association with the statewide waste diversion goals. It s the Law Waste diversion is not only important as part of Routt County s character and economy, it is required by law. In the last five years, State laws have passed that require recycling of electronics, tires, and paint. In addition, with the approval of the statewide waste diversion goals, it is predicted that additional rulemaking will be enacted to promote waste diversion. Preparation and planning are required to comply with current and future laws effectively. THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

10 In addition to specific state laws for waste diversion and recycling, the State also has requirements at the County level to promote sustainability and waste diversion, as outlined in 6 CCR Core Public Health Services ( These rules recognize the importance of local public health agencies to provide public health services throughout the state and outlines the requirements of these agencies. In these regulations, the State recognizes that the services provided by a County s Departments Environmental Health (DEH), in addition to reducing environmental health risks, must protect and improve air, water, and land as well as sustaining the environment. To address appropriate waste disposal and diversion, State Environmental Health regulations assert that County DEHs must take appropriate steps to ensure the proper storage, collection, treatment, and disposal of garbage, refuse, and solid and hazardous waste. In addition, they must promote programs to minimize the amount of solid and hazardous waste and maximize the amount of recycling and reuse. Climate Action According to the Colorado Climate Plan published in 2015 ( Climate change threatens not only physical ecosystem health, but it poses a threat to the long-term economic viability of communities by impacting things such as season length, infrastructure, and snowpack. For communities dependent on our natural resources, like Routt County, the impacts could be devastating. To counter these impacts, climate action is being addressed at state and local levels, through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Waste diversion is one of the simplest ways to reduce GHG emissions. Preventing waste at the source and reducing extraneous materials like packaging reduces the need for raw materials and energy throughout the life cycle of manufacturing, transportation, reuse, and eventual disposal. Using recycled materials in manufacturing processes typically requires substantially less energy than using virgin materials. Even with the distance required to transport recyclables from Routt County to processing facilities in Denver, the embedded energy recovered in recyclables dramatically outweighs the emissions from transportation. For example, the break-even point for trucking aluminum (the point where the GHG emissions from transportation outweigh the potential GHG emissions avoided through recycling) is 116,000 miles, or the same as driving from New York City to Los Angeles 47 times ( Lastly, decreasing the amount of waste sent to landfills reduces emissions of methane. When organic materials, like food scraps and yard waste, break down in a landfill, they produce methane gas, a greenhouse gas that traps 84 times more heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide in the short term. That s because there is no oxygen in the landfill, so when THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

11 biodegradable materials decompose, they do so anaerobically. That makes landfills a leading source of methane emissions. Recycling organic waste is a win-win for reducing climate pollution and one of the easiest actions a community can take to reduce its climate impacts. By keeping organics out of the landfill, methane generation is eliminated. In addition, by applying compost to soils, it creates a carbon sink, pulling and storing carbon from the atmosphere. In Routt County, initial work was conducted to determine the community s carbon footprint, or greenhouse gas emissions, and identify ways to reduce emissions. At the end of 2009, Routt County and the City of Steamboat Springs partnered with the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) to quantify sustainability by conducting a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (GHGEI) ( ) to determine a baseline inventory for community-wide emissions and provided suggestions for reducing GHG emissions. Municipal solid waste was identified as responsible for 13% of the GHG emissions generated in Routt County. Addressing climate action, through GHG emissions reduction, may be a political issue for some, but as a community that depends on its natural environment for economic stability, we need to be participants in the solution. The initial baseline GHG emissions data is available and waste diversion, through source reduction, recycling, and composting, is a good way for our community to begin reducing our GHG emissions. Challenges Although the importance of waste diversion for Routt County is clear, it is not without its challenges. Barriers to waste diversion, specific to Routt County, were documented in the Routt County Recycling Study, conducted in The challenges of waste diversion in rural mountain communities are well documented in the 2016 Colorado ISWMP ( The CDPHE published the ISWMP in July 2016 to develop a comprehensive evaluation of the current state of Colorado s waste disposal and materials management practices. In the plan, CDPHE identified several barriers to waste diversion in the Mountain region communities, including, but not limited to: Recycling is unprofitable because of market access and prices Organics are unprofitable due to operating costs and permitting Lack of incentive to recycle because of low landfill prices Contamination issues are present in recycling and organics and result in lower quality and therefore lower value recyclables THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

12 Large transient tourist population results in fluxes in recyclable/organics volumes and contamination The tourist and second-home nature of the mountain communities complicates programs, especially in terms of education. Overall performance for the communities is hampered because if residents recycle, but tourists do not, the high percentage of tourists hurts the numbers. In the 2014 Routt County Recycling Study, LBA and Associates identified three main challenges to the economics of recycling in Routt County low tonnage, distant end markets, and partial partnerships. Because of our area s low population density and lack of a regionalized recycling program or policy incentives to increase higher value recycled material, the tonnage generated is low. This results in a lower economy of scale the amount of tonnage generated is not enough to be profitable for local haulers. Routt County has distant end markets, not only because of our distance from Denver or Grand Junction, the closest processing centers for recycled materials, but also because of the lack of secondary materials markets in Colorado. This leads to higher costs/lower revenue for haulers as well as a larger environmental footprint to recycle. And finally, LBA and Associates identified partial partnerships as the third factor in the challenges to the economics of recycling in Routt County. There is a lack of substantive partnerships for the collection, education and materials management. In addition, there is a lack of written agreements, policies and enforcement around materials management. The results are less stability to local programs and service providers; a poor balance of public and private program controls; and therefore, missed funding opportunities. Meeting Challenges Despite these challenges to waste diversion, other Mountain region and rural communities have been successful at establishing strong waste diversion programs. We have the luxury of modelling these success stories here in Routt County as proven programs that work. The following section outlines the successful components of other programs and provides suggestions on how to move forward locally. Changing perspective Waste Diversion may never be economically successful in Routt County, viewed as a standalone program. Current markets for recyclable materials, distance to processing centers, and lack of secondary markets in Colorado make for a poor business model. Other mountain communities have these same economic constraints and yet they support goals to increase recycling and waste diversion. Why? They see the value of waste diversion in a broader community context: it is important to community; it is important to stay competitive in a tourist-based economy; and it is important for climate actions to reduce GHG emissions. THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

13 Changing the perspective on the value of recycling and waste diversion will ultimately result in recycling and other waste diversion strategies that are more economically viable. If our community values waste diversion, thoughtful leadership can support waste diversion infrastructure (i.e. increased number of drop-off locations) and strategies to increase recycling (i.e. ordinance for commercial and multi-family recycling). This leads to decreases in costs for collection and transport and increases in recycled material tonnage. The result is greater profitability for waste diversion businesses and increased waste diversion for the community. Build strong partnerships In LBA and Associates 2014 report, partial partnerships was identified as a challenge to recycling and waste diversion in Routt County. For successful waste diversion in other communities, there are strong partnerships between the government, large waste generators (i.e. local ski resort), nonprofits, the landfill, haulers and other waste diversion businesses. Buy-in from all stakeholders allows for consistent policies and educational messaging. The result is a stable and predictable program into which all stakeholders invest. As part of the 2014 study, two stakeholder meetings were held and were successful for identifying possible partnerships for increased waste diversion. These initial stakeholder meetings are a jumping off point for building strong partnerships towards common goals of increased recycling and waste diversion. Regionalization In Routt County, making progress will require collaboration and a more regional approach to waste diversion. In rural areas of New Mexico, successful waste diversion programs were established through a regional approach with the formation of Solid Waste Authorities (SWA) and rural recycling cooperatives. Currently, a waste diversion study, headed up by Eagle County, is bringing five counties on the Western Slope together to closely examine the current waste stream. The study will also delve into the development of a regional approach to create more sustainable systems of materials management. Long-term planning Currently Routt County has no community-wide waste diversion goals or strategies to address current or future state requirements. In preparing the statewide waste diversion goals, CDPHE found that states with waste diversion goals generally have the highest waste diversion rates. The same is found at more local levels. Communities with long-range waste diversion goals (i.e. Vail s goal of 10% reduction in landfill contributions by 2014 and 25% THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER

14 by 2019 years) have higher diversion rates (25% diversion rate for Eagle County in 2014). For these communities, long-term goals indicate a commitment to waste diversion, which results in a stable and predictable program. Development of long-term waste diversion goals for Routt County would not only encourage community partners to develop effective strategies for increasing diversion, but it would also provide a stable environment in which waste diversion businesses will continue to invest and ultimately become more economically viable. Conclusion Waste diversion is a key piece of an economically sustainable community, especially one that thrives on outdoor tourism. Cultural heritage, resort guest expectations, State mandates and local economic planning goals all include a need to prioritize best practices in waste diversion. Research shows that even with an increased distance to recycling facilities, recycling is still the best practice and best use of resources and that food waste diversion is attainable and beneficial to the local environment. Putting this data into action will require government leadership and local collaboration to create an infrastructure to support, prioritize and uphold these best practices. By doing so, Routt County will be in a unique position to both protect and promote our natural resources in an economically feasible way. THE IMPORTANCE OF WASTE DIVERSION IN ROUTT COUNTY SEPTEMBER