1993_04 Insight April 1993

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Page B2
April 28,1993
ARTH IN THE BALANCE:
An Insight Special Report
Waste reduction challenges recyclers
By Diedra Werner
Staff Writer
When it comes to garbage.
Califomia has a pretty bad reputation. Each Califomian produces 8.1 pounds of garbage
per day. By the age of 70, one
Califomian has produced
210, 000 pounds of garbage.
California's increasing waste
production and shrinking landfill space left only one solution: waste reduction. In 1990
AB 939 mandated state-wide
waste reduction.
Recycling has become the way
to reduce waste for many Cali-
fomians. Blossom ing overnight
after state agencies were forced
to deal with waste, it poses an
easy and convenient cure to
waste-reduction problems. But
as the amount of recycling has
increased, problems with surpluses and glutted market prices
have become common. Because recycling was not intended as the only solution, its
problems have confirmed the
need for a multifaceted approach to waste reduction and
AB 939.
AB 939 requires all California state, county and municipal
agencies to reduce waste sent to
landfills by 25 percent or face a
stiff $ 10,000 per day fine if not
met by 1995.
According to Integrated Waste
Management Board spokesperson Tom Estes, AB 939 is
California's first legislative attempt at addressing waste reduction.
"Up until 1990, the way California managed waste was basically making sure that it was
picked up everyday and buried
safely every night," Estes said.
"AB 939 has really helped initiate a change in attitude."
AB 939 awoke Califomians
into actively recycling, said Ray
Villacscusa, vice-president of
the local recycler Allan Co.,
agreeing with Estes.
"We went from a very wasteful society to a society that's
very conscientious of waste.
Recycling became the bandwagon everyone jumped on,"
Villacscusa said.
Without AB 939, he feels the
recycling industry would not
have grown as it has. But at the
same time he and other recyclers have suffered at its implementation through a surplus of
recycled materials. The industry is driven by a supply and
demand economy, ViUaescusa
said, and when supply is more
than demand, the price goes
down.
Sitting in his office at the
company's recycling station in
downtown Fresno, Villacscusa
sifted through his messages and
explained that recyclers are "all
in the same boat."
"Not one of these messages is
from someone interested in buying," Villacscusa said. Holding a stack of message slips in
his hand he said,"these are from
people wanting a pick-up or
selling some material there isn't
a market for. Recycling is selling, and knowing your market.
I wish someone would call looking to buy, but as you can sec
they're not calling. It's definitely a buyer's market."
As an independent recycler.
Allan Co.buys both individual
and commercial collections of
recyclables.
Unlike Allan Co. .Waste Management of Fresno County
(WM) is a branch of an international waste-service company
that moved into Fresno after
obtaining the city's curb-side
recycling contract. Under the
contract, WM of Fresno has
provided its services for the last
two years to 78, 000 residential
homes in Fresno. Recyclables
collected go to established local
and regional buyers who have
long-term contracts with WM.
Bret Boccabella, W M facility
manager, said that although WM
of Fresno has markets for the materials it collects, it is still operating without profit. He believes
that recycling will never pay for
itself.
"A lot of people think that material resale not only pays for itself,
but isprofitable," Boccabella said.
"We are subsidized by the city
government through residential
waste collection fees."
He said that the biggest costs in
recycling come from the labor intensive sorting process, freight and
equipment upkeep.
Villaescusa and Boccabella both
agree that aluminum is the only
recycled material that pays for itself. Boccabella said WM is at a
disadvantage because curb-side
pickup doesn't offer residents an
incentive for aluminum, they keep
it for themselves.
"We don'tcollect very much aluminum because people know they
won't get any money putting it out
to be collected. So they let their
kids collect the cans," Boccabella
said. "The kids then recycle the
aluminum themselves, and cam
five or 10 bucks in the process.
My kids even do that."
Without a high percentage of aluminum in what WM collects,
Boccabella said that it's hard to
make a profit WM is left with a
high volume of plastic and newspaper. Plastic is the largest volume of what they collect but the
lowest density, and price. Plastics
are expensive to refine other than
the plastic that is used for milk
jugs, called HDPE, and the plastic
that is used for two-liter soda
bottles, called PET. Boccabella
said the ready-to-use recycled plastic ends up being more expensive
for the buyer than virgin material.
The expense of reprocessing recycled materials can also have a
KeOy Jantzen/lNsiGfiT
Ray Villaescusa is frustrated by what he sees as too much government intervention. As a recycler, he is required to take recyclables
regardless of market conditions.
coordinator for San Joaquin
County, empathizes with
Villacscusa's position but sees environmental-protection standards
as necessary.
"He's right, a jurisdiction is not
doing a responsible job of waste
reduction if the cycle of recycling
is not being completed through
"Consumers must vote with their
pocket books, this is a multi-
faceted problem where the
individual consumer holds the
most power."-Ray Villaescusa,
vice president, Allan Co.
Recyclers
hidden cost to the environment.
Plastics, such as Polyvinyl Chloride, known as PVC, release toxic
chernicals when being reprocessed. The large quantity of
water used to process recycled
paper is often contaminated with
selenium, a heavy metal. Estes
said California has stringent environmental-protection laws to protect its natural resources and the
residents. California' s environmental protection laws conflict
with economic needs at times, he
said.
Villaescusa is frustrated by what
he sees as too much government
intervention. Asa recycler. he's
required to take recyclables regardless of market conditions. If
there isn't a market, he's left literally holding the goods. Allan Co.
is affected by a one-sided solution
to waste reduction, Villaescusa
said. Paper mills using recycled
newspapers to produce recycled
paper do not move to California
because of its environmental-protection standards, which he feels
■ hurts the recycling industry.
Kirsten Liske, waste reduction
reuse," Liske said. "But the problem in this case is not the environmental protection laws, it's how
we use these laws. We've got to
spend more time educating businesses on how to meet the laws'
standards."
Estes also understood
Villacscusa's frustration, but
agreed with Liske. He added that
local rccycli ng development /ones
are beginning to do just what Liske
said. At the IWMB. Estes said
they wcartwo sometimes conflicting "hats."
"Wearing one hat wc must actively promote AB 939 and encourage waste diversion," Estes
said. "Wearing the other, we must
protect California's resources by
enforcing its stringent environmental laws. It's a major challenge to balance the two, because
sometimes they have conflicting
priorities."
Estes, Liske and Villacscusa, although representing different interests, see recycling as only pan
ofthe solution. Each believes that
making less waste to begin with is
at the heart of waste reduction.
Estes and his colleague, Trisha
Broddrick, another IWMB spokesperson, described waste reduction
as a change in attitude.
"It's too expensive to look at
convenience as the main reason
for buying economically and environmentally," Broddrick said.
Most people, including himself,
have been raised to be wasteful,
Estes said. "We have to break habits that have been part of our upbringing."
Only in recent decades has waste
become such a huge problem. Recycling and minimizing wastes
were part of a common lifestyle
that was based on living more simply with less, Villaescusa said.
"I'm not that old but I remember
when I was a kid, getting milk in
glass bottles; my mom reusing old
clothing as rags, and my dad repairing broken appliances."
Liske said learning to reduce
waste from earlier generations is
also a good way to recycle information. Parents and grandparents
who lived through an earlier era
may tell stories about a time of less
waste: the Great Depression.
"These people lived through a
period when living on less was
part of surviving," Liske said.
'Talking about what they did during the' 30s serves a dual purpose;
it provides new ideas and a glimpse
of living history."
Villacscusa said people should
not only be recycling, but also
what he called "pre-cycling." He
defines pre-cycling as purchasing
products that use recycled materials or that will be recycled. He
believes the best way to improve
the conditions that recyclers face
is for consumers to be knowledgeable of manufacturers' recycling
practices and to buy products that
can be reused.
As the largest producer of waste
in the world, it's time for Califor-
nians and Americans as a whole to
rethink what they buy and consider its long- term purpose, Liske
said. "Americans have been one-'
way users fora long time now. We
buy it, use it and throw it away."
Instead of collecting paper or
plastic bags, Liske suggested
using large canvas bags for grocery shopping. This eliminates
a waste before it enters the home.
Estes and Liske both said buying in bulk eliminates excess
packaging, which now accounts
for one-third of garbage in landfills according to Environmental
Protection Agency statistics.
Liske suggested buying products that can be used over and
over again, just as Villaescusa
did. She said quality and long-
lasting value are important things
to consider when buying most
anything from cars and tires to
household appliances and furniture.
The power to change waste
habits of the individual and of
industry lies with the consumer.
Estes said that although legislative steps including AB 939 have
been initiated to implement waste
reduction, ultimate power lies in
what and how people buy.
As part of a small business.
Villaescusa sees waste problems
from an economic viewpoint,
thus his solutions are based in
theirpocket books," Villaescusa
said, "This is a multifaceted
problem where the individual
consumer holds the most
power."
Estes said solutions lie in both
economics and education.
IWMB found from its survey
that individuals are willing to
do more when provided with
the education Estes said IWMB
kicked off a public-education
campaign aimed at teaching the
public how to produce less
waste. The program offers the
public a toll-free number where
callers can request an information packet showing them how
to produce less waste.
IWMB Chairman Michael
Frost believes that with this
program individuals will have
a significant impact on reducing waste that goes into landfills.
"We must change the way wc
look at garbage and take responsibility for reducing the
amount of waste we create,"
Frost said. "By adopting a few
simple waste-prevention techniques, each of us can help solve
California's solid waste crisis."
♦ AB 939 requires all California state, county
and municipal agencies to reduce waste sent to
landfills by 25 percent or face a stiff$10,000
per day fine if not met by 1995.
♦ Although legislative steps have been initiated
to implement waste reduction, the ultimate
power lies in what and how people buy.
- Tom Estes, Integrated Waste Management
Board spokesperson.
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