(Cover screenshot courtesy of Central Appalachia Network)
Ten-point alternative plan to Baltimore County's Solid Waste Work Group's report
Edits & Response to the Work Group's 'Proposed Stragies' Report, 5-year Plan (7/24/21)
Original Testimony (3/4/21)
Baltimore County Solid Waste Work Group's Public Hearing
Diane Wittner, Echotopia LLC, Baltimore MD
As a Baltimore County taxpayer of 26 years, and owner of 6-year-old zero waste business, Echotopia LLC, I thank you for addressing the issue of solid waste collection and disposal, and for your efforts on the Solid Waste Work Group to consider "implementing innovative industry practices and trash diversion strategies." I recently received the Solid Waste Work Group's "Proposed Strategies" report, written after the public hearing. I am concerned about future pollution caused by disposal or alteration of trash into "fuel" products, resulting in the toxic burning of our discards.
In your report, recommendation #9 is to establish a mixed waste processing (MWP) facility to collect 'waste' (aka trash) to be converted into engineered fuel (solid recovered fuel or SRF) for "industrial heat." A mixed waste processing facility or "MWP" in Baltimore County involves burning bricks of trash, and will be a harmful, polluting incinerator by another name. Let us call things by their true names.
Further troubling is the fact that according to page 5 of your report, the capital costs of this " MWP" facility would be between $100,000,000-$250,000,000. This estimated figure is approxmately ten to 100 times costlier than any other capital costs consideration in the report . Yet, the focus - hundreds of milllions of taxpayer dollars for a new "MWP" facility to burn compacted trash - represents an expansion of the wrong direction entirely, the opposite of a zero waste path solution.
For the record, expanded landfill dependence in Baltimore County represents another false, wrong-headed solution. A November 2021 Baltimore Sun article oddly omitted these facts. In June 2021, NPR reported Maryland's landfills emit 4 times more greenhouse gases than state officials reported: "In Maryland, emissions from landfills have the same planet-warming impact as driving 975,000 cars annually, according to the EIP report. Another comparison: Maryland's landfills have almost twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the largest coal-fired power plant in the state. The new data shows landfills account for 37% of Maryland's methane emissions, rather than the state's previous estimate of 13%." An additional argument against landfilling is the resultant contamination coming from disease-causing toxins in trash, especially plastic trash, that leech into soil, also ending up in waterways and air, costing the community in untold ways. In fact, the issues stemming from landfilling making the argument for composting (see below) even more compelling in terms of economic and public wellness. As per a 2021 report at the U.S. EPA, "Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 30 percent of what we throw away, and could be composted instead. Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas." Creating and using healthy, nutrient rich soil makes for healthy communities, human and non human alike; compost improves the structure of soil, provides a broad range of nutrients for plants, and adds beneficial microbes to the soil.
May 2022 update - Inspiring news relevant to moving 'from solide waste to zero waste' in Baltimore County. See Global Alliance for Incinerator Altneratives or GAIA's Going Zero Waste. And here's an article on Japan's Zero Waste Town.
Below, I respectfully propose a truly innovative, 21st-century zero waste plan for true trash 'diversion' - i.e. trash reduction & prevention - economic fairness to taxpayers, environmental justice and public health for all in Maryland. My holistic draft proposal below reflects years of experience and expertise on the part of lawmakers, zero waste path pioneers and researchers.
In this troubling time of climate and pollution emergencies, central Maryland communities deserve health, well being and clean air, water & soil, along with opportunities to engage in zero waste path solutions. What I outline below offers dramatic pollution reduction combined with climate resilience, adapatation and even migitation. Local governments, including Baltimore County, can lead the way.
An alternative zero waste vision for Baltimore County and other central Maryland counties: 1. EPR Extended Producer Responsibility, begin to implement proven best practices at the county-wide level, while Maryland's EPR legislation is being explored. Learn from communities across the U.S., such as the approach from Maine. Let's educate ourselves in order to avoid counterproductive legislation. Here's a great overview of effective EPR measures. Also as per the Institute for Local Self Reliance Waste to Wealth initiative, "the Maine approach to EPR is based on 'municipal reimbursement', wherein producer companies pay into an investment fund based on the cost of cities and counties managing the packaging waste. In this way local governments and their organized citizens and small busijnesses have a direct voice on recycling and wasting policies and programs. Producer controlled EPR works well on hard-to-recycle materials such as batteries, paint, mattresses, and mercury switches, because communities cannot readily add value to these items and materials. But for traditionally recycled materials, producers should not be in charge of recycling systems that are already mature. A system of packaging taxes that focus on hybrid packages and other hard tot recycle items and materials offers another way to create renewable investment funds for local programs."
2. REUSE CORRIDORS/NEAR TRANSIT Develop circular economy recovery sites in Baltimore County. Name them Reuse Corridors, or Reuse, Repair, Rot & Recycle Row, or Resource Recovery Parks - following Boulder, Colorado’s model, Appalachia’s Reuse Corridor and Zero Waste USA's whole systems approach. These locales could be meeting places, for instance, for picking up a home compost bin or dual stream recycling bin, for yard tool and home repair materials swaps, or for repurposing construction materials
('deconstruction') and mattresses. Delightful pop up repair cafe sites and item lending coops can further boost the re-use economy everyone needs. There'd be dramatically reduced need for recycling with such initiatives! Encourage creativity; for instance, integrate innovative nature restorative projects such as pollinator gardens and native seed libraries or exchanges. At Echotopia, for instance, I 'embed' regenerative Echotopia native seed rounds into my product line for local nature resilience. Locate such Reuse Corridors next to accessible public transit - for example, electrified light rail - for a win/win- to reduce trash, air, water, and soil pollution, since fossil fuel-based transport is the #1 largest source of pollution throughout Maryland. The combination of such a zero waste path with clean transportation transit saves dollars, and improves transit equity and convenience for all.
3. COMPOST, SMALL & LARGE SCALE/YARD WASTE Implement the relevant aspects of Maryland's four new laws that will improve composting in Baltimore County and surrounding counties. For a big picture view to prepare for larger scale, or industrial composting, learn from California's new ambitious industrial compost plan. To couple larger composting implementation with small scale community plans, take inspiration from Baltimore City, and immediately set up organics composting for residents following expertise from national leaders. Distribute elevated, turnable, sealed compost bins to all county residents - an example of excellent use of taxpayer dollars! Follow Ocean City's innovations, and incentivize composting for retail operations such as restaurants. Learn from two pioneering companies: Baltimore Compost Collective and Harford County's Veteran Compost regarding collecting residential compost. Rot, or composting alone can reduce community trash up to 34%. Match a new compost plan with non plastic bag updated yard waste collection for composting. Let's participate in all this great work others are already doing. A side benefit is that dramatic expansion of composting fights climate change - to learn more listen to podcast: Why Composting is California's Climate Change Fight.
4. REJECT PLASTIC PACKAGING GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) has a great summer of plastics problems here. Since burning/burying plastic trash/waste is deadly, how can the county encourage retail operations to seek alternatives to single-use plastics? Lawmakers can follow youth leadership and be bold to reject outright the pressure from plastics industry interests in maintaining residential/business dependence on single use plastics for packaging. Future generations demand this of us all. For instance, a youth-led group Baltimore Beyond Plastic played a key role in a law phasing out strofoam trays from city schools. Colorado's new law is going to phase out single-use plastic bags for big Colorado grocery chains, restaurants and retailers.
5. REFILL In traditional cultures around the world, using non-plastic refill containers was the norm. As the saying goes, "Everything old is new again". Incentivize non-plastic refill packaging opportunities for common consumer items, ideally with local or regional businesses. Create true financial support incentives (and marketing) for businesses to provide “refill” alternatives to single-use plastics packaging at retail locations, as I’ve done with success with enthusiastic customers at Echotopia’s refill station at farmers markets. Hundreds of conversations with Maryland customers over years tells me that THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT. Fortunately, refill stores are appearing in the county. Mom's Organic Grocery Store and Mt. Royal Soaps in the city are encouraging plastic-free refill purchases. Small business refill packaging innovators should receive government support to maintain and expand operations in a sustainable manner.
6. LEARN ABOUT PLASTICS' DEADLY ORIGINS AND CONSEQUENCES “The Story of Plastic” movie demonstrated that plastic dependence, plastic waste disposal and plastic recycling do not work anywhere. There is no place for single-use plastic in any Maryland county. Rather, such practices, forced on our communities without consequence by the petro-chemical industry, cause permanent trash, disease & environmental devastation everywhere. In Maryland, single-use plastic packaging needs to be rejected and replaced, starting with Baltimore County.
7. DUAL STREAM RECYCLING INSTEAD OF SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING Baltimore County's focus on single-stream recycling has not been a success; residents are confused and most materials picked up for recycling are likely burned in BRESCO as trash. We can do better! According to an article at ILSR comparing single-stream to duel-stream recycling, "dual stream is important because it results in cleaner materials, produces less residue and contamination and therefore generates more actual recyclables, and can cost less than single stream. The markets are telling us that dual stream is a key to a struggling recycling sector. Furthermore the ethical and moral appeal of Zero Waste requires us to collect the data and invest accordingly." Shift the county to dual-stream recycling, as rapidly as possible, after having educated residents about how to clean recyclable materials and to separate them at the curb for pick-up. For each household, distribute FREE dual recycling bins with tightly sealable lids at the earliest possible opportunity. Additionally, educate, implement and incentivize changes in consumer recycling habits and retail establishments in order to dramatically reduce/eliminate contamination of recyclable paper/cardboard, steel and glass. For now, Maryland's Baltimore County residents and businesses need clear communication from the Solid Waste team about where their recyclables actually go, from each category, how they are recycled if they're not contaminated, and where they go if they are contaminated. They also need clarity about the dangers of single use plastics dependence, so they can begin to demand changes - using their purchasing power - from retail establishments. Again, as I resident, I assure you - residents need the information to recycle propertly, they need dual stream recycling bins that close tightly, and they must know that contaminated recyclables - card/paper, glass, metals - become trash that ends up in a landfill or an incinerator. Recycling trucks should be electric, so haulers and communities don't suffer gas or diesel air pollution.
8. RECYCLING REFLECTIONS Done right, recycling facilities dramatically reduce the need for landfill/incineration (bury/burn), and such facilities can be well paid, career-level, quality job creators. But recycling is a transition solution to the new green economy. In my view, as I look to the future, Maryland's need to recycle at all must diminish over time, as other job creating, zero-waste path solutions, such as those listed here, are implemented.
9. BALTIMORE CITY & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE Baltimore City communities are leading on zero waste. Coupled with an environmental justice focus and other guidelines from Baltimore's Fair Development Plan for Zero Waste, the above set of holistic steps, under guidance from proven zero-waste leaders, will create Baltimore County's path away from trash/waste disposal, from single use plastic packaging, from deadly dependence on incineration/landfill, and towards a cleaner Maryland, in and beyond our community.
10. PAYT Institute pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program, creating 26-46% trash-reduction as New Windsor’s pilot PAYT demonstrated over a two-year period. Prior to implementing PAYT, set up the above initiatives rapidly so all residents have the opportunity to save money by producing much less trash in the first place. Additionally, surcharges on all waste disposed of in landfills and incinerators have worked at the state, county and city levels; in the UK there is a $40 per ton surcharge for waste disposal, according to the Institute for Local Self Reliance.
Maryland can lead the nation on the zero waste path. Let’s do it starting in Baltimore County.
Sincerely,
Diane Wittner, Echotopia LLC
Screenshots below courtesy of Central Appalachia Network
