- Waste Mgmnt

Waste Management (formerly "Incineration, Recycling, Composting & Landfilling")
Resource Use
-- Healthy Natural Environment --

What are the Most Important Goals?

• Informed populace
• Visionary leaders
• Engaged institutions
• Accessible services
• Integrated infrastructure
• Valued ecosystems
• Continuous education
• Creative economy

What Can We Do?

Individuals:
• Buy recycled products.
• Increase the amount and frequency of home recycling.
• Purchase products that use minimal amounts of wrapping and packaging.
• Purchase and use products that are reusable rather than disposable.
• Compost leaves and other yard waste rather than
burning them.
• Compost vegetative waste at home.

Decision-makers:
• Renew emphasis on public outreach and education.
• Encourage motels and hotels to institute recycling programs.
• Implement mandatory re-cycling bylaws.
• Institute "pay-as-you-throw" programs.
• Set goals for recycling and limiting waste generation.

What is this Indicator?

This indicator measures the amounts of commercial and municipal solid waste and recyclables generated by the Cape's 15 towns between 1995 and 2001. The waste stream to be examined consists of municipal solid waste (MSW), construction demolition (C and D, which includes wood wastes, asphalt, brick and concrete, and steel products), and all recycled materials. These recyclable materials fall under the state's list of materials that have been banned from the waste disposal stream, including glass, bi-metallic containers, cardboard, news and office paper, tires, white goods, lead acid batteries and cathode radio tubes (CRTs), as well as leaves and grass (compost).

The figures represented in this indicator are based only on MSW and recyclables collected at each of the Cape's 15 municipal transfer stations. These figures do not include all commercial solid waste or recyclables generated annually, as much of this waste is not handled at local transfer stations and is instead trucked off-Cape to a variety of handling facilities. Tonnages of municipally generated compost are also included as a component of the recyclables indicator, as all Cape towns have implemented aggressive composting plans to handle materials such as lawn and garden waste through composting efforts at municipal transfer stations. Also, figures for C and D generated by both the public and private sector are reflected in the indicator.

Why is this Indicator Important?

The recycling and reusing of waste material have been a mainstay of both national and Massachusetts' environmental policy for more than a decade. Both recycling and reuse are signs of an efficient use of resources and a reflection of a sustainable community. An examination of the overall totals can give us some indication of the extent to which consumers are reducing their consumption of materials through alternative purchasing behaviors. For example, as we continue to increase the percentage of wastes that are recycled and alter our individual purchasing habits to include more products made from post-consumer content, our use of, and dependency on, raw or virgin materials is decreased.

Additionally, increasing the percentage of the MSW and C and D stream that is recycled or composted results in less waste having to be sent to the SEMASS incinerator in Rochester, MA, or shipped to landfills out of state. All MSW landfills on Cape Cod have been closed (since the early 1990s) due to the threat of contamination these unlined landfills pose to local groundwater supplies. Because Barnstable County has a fragile sole-source aquifer, new MSW landfills have been considered inappropriate. Therefore, all of Barnstable County's municipal and commercially generated solid waste is sent off-Cape to be incinerated.

The indicator is important for a variety of reasons. It reflects the impact of the evergrowing year-round and seasonal population on the Cape. Improved local air quality is a byproduct of off-Cape incineration, which currently remains the most cost-effective disposal alternative for the county. Incineration helps recover energy from materials that would otherwise go into a landfill. Also, the tons of MSW and recyclables generated have an impact on traffic, as all MSW and recyclables are hauled off Cape by either tractor trailer or diesel locomotives. Finally, increases or decreases in MSW generation may be a reflection of economic activity, as fluctuations in the economy are often reflected in the amounts of MSW generated on a per-capita basis.

Analysis of Data

While tons of MSW generated by almost all Cape towns (and the Cape overall) rose from 1995 to 2000, both the total and per-capita numbers show a decrease since 1998 (refer to Table 1 on the following page). This may be attributed to a number of factors, including an increase in overall effectiveness of local recycling programs combined with a decline in the amount of waste being discarded. It is likely that any decrease in MSW being generated is also an indication of a slowdown in consumer purchases which may coincide with changes in the economy. These changes might explain why MSW tonnage has decreased by approximately 25% between 1998 and 2001, while recycling tonnage has increased by approximately 33% during this same time. Per-capita, the amount of MSW generated has decreased fairly significantly since 1998, while recycling has increased. Again, this is a likely reflection of towns working to implement the policies of the Department of Environmental Protection Solid Waste Master Plan, which seeks to reduce the generation of MSW and increase recycling through the implementation of various policies.

As previously stated, fluctuations in the amounts of waste generated and disposed (whether it be MSW, C and D or recyclable materials) can be good indicators of economic activity, population growth and possible environmental degradation. An increase or decrease in the purchase and consumption of goods will serve to either increase or reduce the generation of discarded materials, thereby impacting waste management activities and costs that must be borne by either the individual homeowner or municipality. Economic activity, population growth and environmental degradation can also be considered sub-indicators, revealing trends that may serve as overall indicators of sustainability on Cape Cod.

• MSW: As is shown in both Table 1 and Figure 1, per-capita waste generation for each of the Cape’s 15 towns increased slightly between 1995 and 1999. Although the Cape’s population increased by 14% between 1995 and 2001, the per-capita generation of solid waste increased by only 3.4% during this time period. As shown in Table 1 and Figure 2, MSW generation increased 13% between 1995 and 1999, yet decreased 25% between 1999 and 2001. These fluctuations are reflective of economic activity; however, aggressive recycling programs and policies enacted at both the state and local level play a role in the reduction of MSW generation.

• C and D: The analysis also identified a series of increases and decreases in the disposal of these wastes that are landfilled at both the Bourne facility and other comparable sites off-Cape. As shown in Table 1 and Figure 3, the figures for materials landfilled have both increased and decreased. The generation and disposal of C and D increased 10% between 1995 and 1999, and decreased 24% between 1999 and 2001. This fluctuation is likely reflective of a variety of factors, including the varying amounts of construction occurring on Cape Cod as well as competitive off-Cape disposal prices for landfill materials.

• Recyclables: As shown in Table 1 and Figure 4, recyclables increased 54% between 1995 and 1999 and decreased 4% between 1999 and 2001 (2000 figures are not included in this analysis due to reporting irregularities). This overall increase in recycling may, in the long term, lead to a switch from non-recycled to recycled products, which will lead to more efficient Cape Cod communities.

Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value.
- Buckminster Fuller

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we used when we created them.
- Albert Einstein

What Connections Does This Indicator Have?

The efficient use of natural resources can correlate with efficient, well-organized communities and community involvement, which can facilitate the provision of health and social services to all community members. The health of the Cape's economy, the health of our environment, and our sense of social responsibility are affected by the way in which we manage large quantities of solid waste and recyclables that are generated on Cape Cod.

Economic
A strong economy is often synonymous with increased purchasing and consumption, which results in more waste being generated. The disparity between an overall increase in population and lower overall tonnages of MSW generated is likely due to two factors: aggressive recycling programs by all of the Cape's towns has resulted in a larger percentage of the increased waste stream being reused or recycled, and a general
slowdown in the Cape's economy over the last two years.

Consumers bear the costs of having to have unnecessary materials (i.e. excessive packaging) transported to Cape Cod. Upon being used and discarded, these materials must be processed and shipped off-Cape for proper disposal. The safe handling of wastes and recyclables is an ever-growing component of local town budgets. Increasing consumer awareness about the true efficiencies that can be achieved in waste reduction may result in less waste being generated, resulting in lower collection, transportation and disposal costs.

Environmental
The immediate effects of waste disposal and incineration frequently result in reduced air quality, contaminated groundwater and environmental degradation. More serious is the long-term depletion of non-renewable natural resources and the damage their removal does to the environment. Increases in recycling and reuse, as well as decreased consumption, are collectively better for the environment, and often result in long-term cost savings to both the individual and municipalities providing waste collection, transport and disposal services. These activities would reduce the use of virgin and raw materials, which may result in some lower-cost products being available for purchase. Reduction in MSW also results in less material being sent to SEMASS for incineration. The less waste that is incinerated, the better the air quality we will enjoy.

Social
As previously stated, the Cape has seen a 14% increase in population between 1995 and 2001. While there has been a decrease in the amounts of MSW and recyclables generated in the last two years, it is likely that MSW tonnages will increase as the Cape's overall economic conditions improve in the near future. As a result, municipalities will have to contend with the increased costs associated with growing populations that generate, on average, approximately 1.1 tons per capita of MSW annually. Implementing strong recycling programs, encouraging source reduction and purchasing materials comprised of recycled product will be a benefit to all Cape towns.