Club’s plan is win-win for business and the
environment
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Millions of TVs* are about to be dumped
into already clogged landfills, where they will later leak and
poison our drinking water and raise local taxes or landfill fees.
The same can be said about many other items – that ‘not working’
laptop in your closet, the discarded cell phone, batteries in the
drawer and those CFLs that you hear shouldn’t be thrown in the
trash.
The Sierra Club recently adopted Zero Waste
Cradle-to-Cradle Principles should provide a lifeline for
financially strapped towns to not wind up paying the bill. The
Sierra Club announced adoption of a landmark policy on Zero Waste at
its Board Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia last weekend. The new Zero
Waste policy provides governments at all levels with a leading-edge
plan that links environmental health with economic prosperity. The
plan proposes specific roles for government, manufacturers, and
consumers to address the waste crisis facing our country.
Governments are obligated to protect public health
and the environment, but present waste management practices are not
protective. In contrast, this Zero Waste Policy fosters an economic
system that fully values people and the environment.
Ann Schneider, Chair of the Club’s Zero Waste
Committee, notes, “The Sierra Club’s Zero Waste policy addresses not
only the quantity of waste we generate, but also its toxicity, and
its important links to climate change and corporate responsibility.
Most importantly it aims to prevent waste by design rather than
manage it after the fact.”
Zero Waste focuses on reducing waste and reusing products, then
recycling and composting the rest. A key component of Zero Waste is
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
“The familiar example of EPR is the refillable
bottle”, says Schneider. “The producer takes the bottle back and
reuses it with minimal use of energy and natural resources. This
idea can be extended to other products, including appliances,
electronics, and even cars! Imagine products designed to be easily
disassembled for repair or reuse.”
The Sierra Club policy would require businesses
(producers or first importers) to recover, at no cost to taxpayers,
their products when consumers are done with them, as a condition for
sale in a jurisdiction. If brand-owners are responsible for
channeling their products safely back into the environment of the
marketplace, they will start making products differently, so that
they can be reused. Designing products for waste reduction, reuse,
or recycling is called the “cradle to cradle” approach.
Two other key components of Zero Waste are (1)
land-use policies and zoning that encourage development of reuse,
repair and recycling businesses in business districts and (2) local
government management of food scraps, yard trimmings, and other
organic materials. Diverting organic materials dramatically reduces
waste, eliminates the problem of methane produced in landfills, and
provides compost needed to restore depleted soil.
For consumers, the adoption of Zero Waste plans will
make “green living” much simpler and easier, with products that can
be repaired, disassembled, and conveniently dropped off where
purchased, and reuse, recycling and composting services for people
at home, at work and at play.
Bill Sheehan, Co Chair of the Club’s Zero Waste
Committee notes that “the Club’s focus on Extended Producer
Responsibility lends additional momentum to a growing movement in US
to tackle waste at its root cause and develop policies that prevent
waste rather than just managing it at the end-of-pipe.”
Schneider added, “The Club will work with its over
700,000 members throughout the United States to promote these goals,
principles and policies.”
For more information visit
www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/