Mae DesTroismaisons
December 9, 2015
NR 141 Ecological Economics
Professor Jon Erickson
Food Waste is a Resource out of Place: How Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law Combats Climate Change by Banning Food Scraps from the Landfill
Carbon dioxide (CO2) tends to be the main focus in conversations surrounding climate change, and not wrongly so. But it is not the only greenhouse gas that we must curb emissions of if we are to take action on climate change. Methane (CH4) accounted for approximately 10% of the United States’ anthropogenic (caused by human activity) greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 (“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”). Landfills accounted for 18.2% of anthropogenic methane emissions in 2012 (“Methane Emissions from Landfills”). According to the EPA, “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 on climate change is more than 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period” (“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”) Although methane does not remain in the atmosphere for as long as CO2 does, its global warming potential is more devastating than that of carbon dioxide, at least in the short-term.
Landfills are the United States’ third-largest anthropogenic source of methane emissions, after oil and gas systems and livestock enteric fermentation (animal digestive gases), respectively (“Frequent Questions”). This is because of way in which organic matter (leaf, yard, & clean wood debris and food waste) breaks down in landfills. Unlike in aerobic composting, the anaerobic (lacking oxygen) decomposition that takes place in landfills is what generates methane (“Methane Emissions from Landfills”). By banning organic matter from the landfill, Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148), which was unanimously passed by the Vermont Legislature in 2012, will lower the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 38% (“Residents-Summary and FAQs”). In addition to lowering emissions, Act 148 works toward multiple goals, including creation of “green” jobs, increased recycling, resource conservation, reduced energy consumption, and support of the local food system (“The New Recycling Law-ACT 148 Universal Recycling Fact Sheet”).
While Vermont’s landfill capacity has decreased, waste sent to the landfill has increased (“Act 148: Universal Recycling & Composting Law”). Over 60,000 tons of food waste per year in VT goes to landfill, but 40% (24,000 tons) could have been rescued for human consumption (Oakleaf). Meanwhile, 13% of VT households face food insecurity, and that number is on the rise (Oakleaf). It is totally inefficient to have so much food going to waste. After reduction at the source (firms and households not purchasing more than they need), diverting food from landfills to people is the preferred method of food recovery, followed by animal feed, composting & anaerobic digestion, and energy recovery (“Vermont Recycling & Composting”). All of these strategies are more economically, socially, and environmentally more efficient than send food to the landfill, where it does nothing but take up space and pollute.
Universal Recycling is a statewide effort that is helping Vermont communities achieve some of their own climate action objectives. For instance, in the “Waste Reduction and Recycling” section of the City of Burlington’s Climate Action Plan, one objective was for the city to explore a PAYT (pay as you throw) system similar to the one that will be implemented by Act 148 (19). Another was to implement an organics collection system to divert compostable residential food waste from the landfill (19). In accordance with Act 148, municipal waste haulers must offer collection of food scraps starting July 1, 2017 (“Universal Recycling Law Timeline”). The Universal Recycling Law may even have a positive ripple effect that relates to the Burlington plan’s food security goals of improving home garden and composting education (Burlington, VT Climate Action Plan, 6).
One challenge that the Universal Recycling Law faces is that it is not clear on its adaptability and its timeline does mention any margin of error for delays. For example, if haulers need extra time to adapt their trucking infrastructure to be able to accept compostables, recyclables, and trash, they will need to negotiate with the Agency of Natural Resources to try to obtain a limited exemption from the law. Additionally, enforcement of Act 148 could prove challenging. Although the law follows the principle of subsidiarity by first using education and outreach as the primary implementation method, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources claims that they (along with solid waste districts and towns) will enforce the landfill bans, but does not explain exactly how they will do so (“Residents-Summary and FAQs”).
Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law works at multiple levels of the waste management system. From Donella Meadows’ Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, Act 148 most directly addresses places 11, 5, and 2 as follows:
“11. The sizes of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows”: The Universal Recycling Law recognizes that landfills cannot grow perpetually. It also takes into account that we cannot continue push the limit on greenhouse gas emissions without dire environmental consequences. Although the law does not physically change these buffers (how full a landfill can get; how much methane the atmosphere can take), it has put forth a strategy for adapting the waste management system to account for these limits.
“5. The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints)”: Act 148 will employ education and outreach as the initial methods of implementing Universal Recycling, but the Agency of Natural Resources as well as solid waste districts and towns have enforcement authority. Food scraps will be banned from the landfill starting July 1, 2020 (earlier for some larger generators of food scraps) and the pay-as-you-throw incentive will eliminate the problem of food waste being landfilled in Vermont.
“2. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises”: Since markets for recyclable and compostable materials continue to expand, people can begin to redefine things like recyclables and food scraps as not waste, but resources out of place.
Act 148 is establishing a necessary degree of macro-control with a minimum sacrifice of micro-level freedom and variability in the way of preventing valuable materials from being landfilled. Universal Recycling will “provide convenience and choices to Vermont residents and businesses, and it will lead to more consistent statewide solid waste services such as recycling and composting,” according to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (“Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet”). Upon full implementation of the law, more resources will be conserved and greenhouse gases and energy consumption will be reduced across the state ("Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet.")
Works Cited
"Universal Recycling Law Timeline." Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Flyer, print.
"Act 148: Universal Recycling & Composting Law." CSWD.net. Chittenden Solid Waste District, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://cswd.net/about-cswd/universal-recycling-law-act-148/>.
Burlington, VT Climate Action Plan. Burlington. 6, 19. Portable document format. https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/CEDO/Sustainability/Climate%20Action %20Plan.pdf
Erickson, Jon. "Policy Design Principles." NR 141: Ecological Economics. UVM, Votey 105, Burlington, VT. 30 Nov. 2015. Class lecture.
"Frequent Questions." Epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 5 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/globalmethane/faq.htm#4>.
Meadows, Donella. "Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System." Donella Meadows Institute. 1999. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
"Methane Emissions from Landfills." Epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 29 May 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/lmop/basic-info/>.
Oakleaf, Bryn. "Food Rescue: Connecting Potential Donors with Recovery Sites." NR 206 Project Proposal – Fall 2015. ANR Solid Waste Management Program. Handout, print.
"Overview of Greenhouse Gases." Methane Emissions. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html>.
"The New Recycling Law-ACT 148 Universal Recycling Fact Sheet." Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nekwmd.org/recycling.html>.
"Residents-Summary and FAQs." Universal Recycling Law (Act 148). Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation. Flyer, print.
"Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet." Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) Summary Sheet. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation, 2014. Flyer, print.
"Vermont Recycling & Composting." Waste Management and Prevention Division. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.<http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/solid/act148.htm>.
December 9, 2015
NR 141 Ecological Economics
Professor Jon Erickson
Food Waste is a Resource out of Place: How Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law Combats Climate Change by Banning Food Scraps from the Landfill
Carbon dioxide (CO2) tends to be the main focus in conversations surrounding climate change, and not wrongly so. But it is not the only greenhouse gas that we must curb emissions of if we are to take action on climate change. Methane (CH4) accounted for approximately 10% of the United States’ anthropogenic (caused by human activity) greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 (“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”). Landfills accounted for 18.2% of anthropogenic methane emissions in 2012 (“Methane Emissions from Landfills”). According to the EPA, “Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 on climate change is more than 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period” (“Overview of Greenhouse Gases”) Although methane does not remain in the atmosphere for as long as CO2 does, its global warming potential is more devastating than that of carbon dioxide, at least in the short-term.
Landfills are the United States’ third-largest anthropogenic source of methane emissions, after oil and gas systems and livestock enteric fermentation (animal digestive gases), respectively (“Frequent Questions”). This is because of way in which organic matter (leaf, yard, & clean wood debris and food waste) breaks down in landfills. Unlike in aerobic composting, the anaerobic (lacking oxygen) decomposition that takes place in landfills is what generates methane (“Methane Emissions from Landfills”). By banning organic matter from the landfill, Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148), which was unanimously passed by the Vermont Legislature in 2012, will lower the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 38% (“Residents-Summary and FAQs”). In addition to lowering emissions, Act 148 works toward multiple goals, including creation of “green” jobs, increased recycling, resource conservation, reduced energy consumption, and support of the local food system (“The New Recycling Law-ACT 148 Universal Recycling Fact Sheet”).
While Vermont’s landfill capacity has decreased, waste sent to the landfill has increased (“Act 148: Universal Recycling & Composting Law”). Over 60,000 tons of food waste per year in VT goes to landfill, but 40% (24,000 tons) could have been rescued for human consumption (Oakleaf). Meanwhile, 13% of VT households face food insecurity, and that number is on the rise (Oakleaf). It is totally inefficient to have so much food going to waste. After reduction at the source (firms and households not purchasing more than they need), diverting food from landfills to people is the preferred method of food recovery, followed by animal feed, composting & anaerobic digestion, and energy recovery (“Vermont Recycling & Composting”). All of these strategies are more economically, socially, and environmentally more efficient than send food to the landfill, where it does nothing but take up space and pollute.
Universal Recycling is a statewide effort that is helping Vermont communities achieve some of their own climate action objectives. For instance, in the “Waste Reduction and Recycling” section of the City of Burlington’s Climate Action Plan, one objective was for the city to explore a PAYT (pay as you throw) system similar to the one that will be implemented by Act 148 (19). Another was to implement an organics collection system to divert compostable residential food waste from the landfill (19). In accordance with Act 148, municipal waste haulers must offer collection of food scraps starting July 1, 2017 (“Universal Recycling Law Timeline”). The Universal Recycling Law may even have a positive ripple effect that relates to the Burlington plan’s food security goals of improving home garden and composting education (Burlington, VT Climate Action Plan, 6).
One challenge that the Universal Recycling Law faces is that it is not clear on its adaptability and its timeline does mention any margin of error for delays. For example, if haulers need extra time to adapt their trucking infrastructure to be able to accept compostables, recyclables, and trash, they will need to negotiate with the Agency of Natural Resources to try to obtain a limited exemption from the law. Additionally, enforcement of Act 148 could prove challenging. Although the law follows the principle of subsidiarity by first using education and outreach as the primary implementation method, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources claims that they (along with solid waste districts and towns) will enforce the landfill bans, but does not explain exactly how they will do so (“Residents-Summary and FAQs”).
Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law works at multiple levels of the waste management system. From Donella Meadows’ Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, Act 148 most directly addresses places 11, 5, and 2 as follows:
“11. The sizes of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows”: The Universal Recycling Law recognizes that landfills cannot grow perpetually. It also takes into account that we cannot continue push the limit on greenhouse gas emissions without dire environmental consequences. Although the law does not physically change these buffers (how full a landfill can get; how much methane the atmosphere can take), it has put forth a strategy for adapting the waste management system to account for these limits.
“5. The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints)”: Act 148 will employ education and outreach as the initial methods of implementing Universal Recycling, but the Agency of Natural Resources as well as solid waste districts and towns have enforcement authority. Food scraps will be banned from the landfill starting July 1, 2020 (earlier for some larger generators of food scraps) and the pay-as-you-throw incentive will eliminate the problem of food waste being landfilled in Vermont.
“2. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters — arises”: Since markets for recyclable and compostable materials continue to expand, people can begin to redefine things like recyclables and food scraps as not waste, but resources out of place.
Act 148 is establishing a necessary degree of macro-control with a minimum sacrifice of micro-level freedom and variability in the way of preventing valuable materials from being landfilled. Universal Recycling will “provide convenience and choices to Vermont residents and businesses, and it will lead to more consistent statewide solid waste services such as recycling and composting,” according to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (“Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet”). Upon full implementation of the law, more resources will be conserved and greenhouse gases and energy consumption will be reduced across the state ("Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet.")
Works Cited
"Universal Recycling Law Timeline." Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Flyer, print.
"Act 148: Universal Recycling & Composting Law." CSWD.net. Chittenden Solid Waste District, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://cswd.net/about-cswd/universal-recycling-law-act-148/>.
Burlington, VT Climate Action Plan. Burlington. 6, 19. Portable document format. https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/CEDO/Sustainability/Climate%20Action %20Plan.pdf
Erickson, Jon. "Policy Design Principles." NR 141: Ecological Economics. UVM, Votey 105, Burlington, VT. 30 Nov. 2015. Class lecture.
"Frequent Questions." Epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 5 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/globalmethane/faq.htm#4>.
Meadows, Donella. "Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System." Donella Meadows Institute. 1999. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
"Methane Emissions from Landfills." Epa.gov. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 29 May 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/lmop/basic-info/>.
Oakleaf, Bryn. "Food Rescue: Connecting Potential Donors with Recovery Sites." NR 206 Project Proposal – Fall 2015. ANR Solid Waste Management Program. Handout, print.
"Overview of Greenhouse Gases." Methane Emissions. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.html>.
"The New Recycling Law-ACT 148 Universal Recycling Fact Sheet." Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nekwmd.org/recycling.html>.
"Residents-Summary and FAQs." Universal Recycling Law (Act 148). Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation. Flyer, print.
"Universal Recycling-Summary Sheet." Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) Summary Sheet. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation, 2014. Flyer, print.
"Vermont Recycling & Composting." Waste Management and Prevention Division. Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.<http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/solid/act148.htm>.