Zero Waste comes to Canada!

September 2000

On October 3, the British Columbia Minister of the Environment will introduce the newest grassroots movement in the solid waste industry. She will introduce Warren Snow, a founder of Zero Waste New Zealand and Larry Chalfan of the Oregon Zero Waste Alliance. She will introduce Zero Waste: Creating Resources for a New Economy - the first public effort of Zero Waste BC.

In 1993 I was a member of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC), a 50 member multi-sector group gathered to advise the region on the future Solid Waste Management Plan for the Metro Vancouver area. At one meeting, I brought up the notion and eventually moved that we work towards zero waste. Despite opposition, the motion passed! The clincher: that we work towards zero waste. This left skeptics on the committee an option - they could envision working towards zero waste, even if they couldn’t imagine a city without waste (granted that for some, it’s tough to imagine!).

This was well before we had statistics that prove that recycling related activities provide more jobs, more economic activity and reduced costs to municipalities. Why did industry believe in this? Perhaps some of them saw the many business opportunities a zero waste policy opens up: construction/demolition (C&D) waste recovery; collection of more recyclable commodities; composting of green wastes, commercial & residential organics; and so on. And truck, equipment & container sales and consultants’ fees will grow accordingly.

Why should municipalities work towards zero waste? How about supporting the economic benefits of waste reduction? Jobs in recycling-related activities outnumber jobs to landfill the same tonnage of material by nine to one! [Institute for Local Self-Reliance (USA)] Or ever visited a landfill, or the garbage dumps of not so long ago? In many cases, municipalities provide residents and businesses with relatively inexpensive disposal, and are left with all the liability. Municipalities are conducting an experiment that no manufacturers are likely to try: mixing thousands of modern materials together, compacting and burying them and watch and see what happens.

Over the past three years, I’ve had the very good fortune of living in the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN - population 135,000) where their Solid Waste Management Plan waste reduction goal is 70%. You’d think that this level of waste reduction would be difficult in a mostly rural area, tied to the mainland by an expensive ferry system. It’s all in the attitude. The RDN is now working with both composting and C&D reclamation companies to hammer out agreements to divert materials to proposed facilities. To support these new initiatives, the RDN looks at all the tools it has available: disposal bans, promotion of the chosen companies, contracts to divert materials received at municipal disposal sites to the proponent’s facility, etc. The bottom line speaks volumes: these agreements save municipal money!

Why should manufacturers work towards zero waste? The growing EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) movement is only likely to grow, so it would be advisable to help develop these programs rather than to be dragged into them kicking and screaming. And why not? Manufacturers pay for R & D, resource extraction, manufacture, marketing and distribution. They should also deal with their products after we're finished with them - especially those that purposefully manufacture goods with short life spans.

Our disposal system encourages the growth of garbage in the guise of disposable products. Proof? Look on the grocery shelf. Many products are marketed as disposable! Fast food containers, batteries, "styrofoam" trays, personal care items, and, branded as the most unrecycled item by the US Environmental Protection Agency: disposable diapers. And many manufacturers build in disposability, whether they advertise it or not. Ever try to get a hair dryer repaired? How about that old computer in your closet? These are composite material items manufacturers build without concern of their disposal because we handle the disposal for them. This has to stop.

October 3 in Vancouver is "Zero Waste: Creating Resources for a New Economy". Warren Snow will explain why roughly a quarter of New Zealand municipalities have embraced the zero waste goal. Larry Chalfan will tell us about his experience helping electronic giant Oki Semiconductor and, with Oregon’s Zero Waste Alliance, other companies work towards zero waste. Later in the day, Dr. William (Bill) Rees will inspire us to reduce our environmental footprint by taking on the zero waste goal.

The movers and shakers in the solid waste industry in BC are already very excited about this event. And where will the summit be held? at Heritage Hall - a refurbished heritage building - of course.

Andy Telfer is Chair of Zero Waste BC, and Executive Director of the Coast Waste Management Association. For more information on BC’s Zero Waste summit, visit www.cwma.bc.ca.

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