E-newsletter highlighting grant deadlines, upcoming workshops and available resources for municipal recycling and solid waste leaders.
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Waste Reduction, A Reminder
In sustainable materials management, much of your work likely focuses on recycling; contracts, educating residents, keeping the fleet working, transporting materials to facilities etc. However, to meet the requirements of CT statute CMMS, we need to take a step back and think about more than just “can we collect more recyclables.” We need to think about how we're going to reduce the amount of trash we generate as individuals, communities and the state!
Waste reduction is sometimes known as source reduction or reducing at the source. These activities to reduce the total amount of waste generated. If waste is never generated, it means less is disposed through incineration, landfilling or recovered through recycling efforts. This is the ultimate in preserving resources. To practice waste reduction requires a reframing in our thinking - sometimes to create structural changes and sometimes behavioral.
Double siding reports and other documents reduces the consumption of paper - this may require a change in habit, but could also be that you change the setting on your computer or your copying machine to make double sided the default. And then there's the idea of leaving the printed report behind, and posting it on your webpage, allowing for digital reading and/or downloading and printing as needed.
Creating programs to support waste reduction can be challenging because they take time. Some show quick results (SMART) and others may be hard to measure (Home Composting), but all add to and contribute to reducing the residential waste stream.
- Reducing needless consumption preserves renewable and non renewable resources.
- Reducing waste conserves energy and reduces the air, soil, and water contamination that is often caused by the manufacture of those materials and supplies that become waste, and from the fossil fuel powered transportation that delivers those goods and hauls them away after they become waste.
- Reducing waste also reduces the use of resource recovery facilities and landfills.
Reusing items, or the ability to reuse items is also a form of waste reduction. Buying items that can be repaired or has a long life, can also be a form of waste reduction.
Examples of Waste Reduction:
- Donating textiles for reuse; selling unwanted items on Craigslist
- Food recovery from supermarkets and restaurants for the food insecure
- Menu planning, purchasing food only you need for a few days or the week
- Purchasing in bulk; purchase durables; avoid single-use items
Municipal Programs that Reduce Waste:
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Municipal CMMS Compliance Letter
Coming to a Mailbox Near You
Your Chief Elected Official will be receiving a letter from DEEP in the coming days. This letter provides an update on your municipality’s compliance status with CMMS and a notice of an extended deadline to implement waste reduction initiatives. For a copy of the letter, compliance report, and waste reduction initiatives plan please visit
DEEP’s Municipal Recycling Resource Center webpage
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Best Practices and Solutions for Reducing Recycling Contamination and Minimizing Municipal Costs
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Earthplace
10 Woodside Lane
Westport, CT 06880
It is critically important to embrace regional collaboration and collectively find solutions to reduce contamination in the recycling stream and reduce municipal recycling costs. Please attend this important and interactive workshop.
Your participation is essential for our region to make improvements in this challenging area.
The workshop is intended for solution oriented Recycling Coordinators and Directors, Public Works Directors, Solid Waste and Recycling Directors, Task Force Members and Community Leaders.
Participants will leave the workshop equipped with critical knowledge, a toolkit, a support network and next steps to start executing collaborative approaches to reducing recycling contamination and municipal costs. Bring your perspective, expertise and questions.
Featured Speakers:
Sherill Baldwin
CT DEEP
Louis Burch
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Louis Grasso
Urban Mining Northeast
Jennifer Heaton-Jones
Housatonic Resource Recovery Authority
Panel Discussion:
Four Municipal Public Works & Recycling Directors
There is no charge to attend.
Coordinated by Earthplace and Live Green Connecticut, in partnership with Product Stewardship Institute.
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What's IN? What's OUT?
Recent Questions from CT residents
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Spiral Wound Containers
OUT. Spiral wound containers have a spiral wound cardboard cylinder center, with plastic or metal on the top and bottom of the container. Examples include juice concentrate, potato chips, cookie or biscuit dough and nuts.
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His face when he gets the perfect gift is a lot like ours when you recycle right! Wrapping paper doesn’t belong in the recycling bin. Find out more about What’s IN and What’s OUT at
RecycleCT.com.
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Wrapping Paper is OUT
We got a huge response on RecycleCT's facebook page regarding this and other holiday images about keeping gift bags and wrapping paper out our mixed recycling bins.
While some shared they use cloth bags or fabric that can be reused, most were surprised and sometimes angry that wrapping paper is not acceptable.
Why is it OUT?
Not all wrapping paper is the same. Wrapping "paper" can be paper and sometimes plastic, or can be paper with plastic and even metal. MRF operators also share that the issue of wrapping paper is that it also always has ribbons, bows and sometimes plastic packaging matter
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Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 - 9:30am - 12:30pm
Best Practices and Solutions for Reducing Recycling Contamination and Minimizing Municipal Costs, Earthplace, Westport, CT.
Registration information. Hosted by Earthplace, Live Green Connecticut and Product Stewardship Institute.
Thursday, January 17, 2019 -
11:00am
PaintCare programs in the Northeast States, webinar (VT, CT, ME and RI)
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Registration
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Save Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
- 8:00am - 4:00pm
2019 Connecticut Recycling Conference
, The Aqua Turf Club, Plantsville, CT.
More information
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Hosted by the Connecticut Recyclers Coalition.
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Have an idea or topic for future municipal recycling webinar? Let us know what you and your colleagues would like to learn more about. Contact
Sherill Baldwin .
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CT DEEP | Source Reduction & Recycling Group | 860-424-4193 | www.ct.gov/deep/recycle
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