Quality, Not Quantity, Foremost for MRFs

Single-stream recycling programs that focus exclusively on collection and landfill diversion undermine the long-term health of the municipal recycling system, according to a “Single Stream Recycling Best Practices Guide” issued by a California paper recycling advocacy group.

The guide concludes that improved processing facilities that respond to the needs of recycled product manufacturers will sustain municipal recycling programs.

“Community recycling programs, recycling collectors and manufacturers want the increased quantities of recovered materials promised by single-stream collection programs,” says Susan Kinsella, executive director of Conservatree, San Francisco, and co-author of the guide. “But without high quality processing, increased quantity is meaningless.”

The new guide, prepared with the help of Enviroplan Consulting, Fairfield, N.J., outlines the benefits of single-stream recycling programs as well and offers recommendations for designing, contracting and implementing best practices for single-stream and other types of recycling programs.

“To ensure healthy operation of the whole recycling system, communities need to expand contracts to require a high level of processing and feedback from manufacturers that buy recovered materials,” says Richard Gertman, principal of Environmental Planning Consultants and co-author. “This is crucial, because right now nobody is taking that responsibility and poor quality is undermining recycling.”

Among the study’s conclusions and recommendations:

• Design recycling programs that promote the effectiveness of the whole recycling system, not just collection.

• Shift the focus of recycling to a resource management system instead of a waste management system. Too often recycling is considered an “add-on” to a long-standing garbage collection system. Instead, it should be the centerpiece for managing residents’ discards.

•  “Recycling” only happens when recovered materials are made into new products. Collection and processing of recyclables should be focused on maximizing manufacturing opportunities.

• “Diversion” is not recycling. Poor processing “diverts” recovered materials to the wrong manufacturers, where they simply take a longer trip to someone else’s landfill.

• Well-sorted recovered materials will expand recycling markets.

• Local government activities are key to setting the goals and standards that will achieve a sustainable, healthy recycling system.

The Single Stream Best Practices Manual and Guide, along with an executive summary, are available at www.conservatree.org. Guide sponsors and contributors include the California Department of Conservation, the American Forest & Paper Association, the American Plastics Council, the Glass Packaging Institute, the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, GreenWaste Recovery, the Forest Products Association of Canada, and the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency.

Conservatree is a nonprofit organization with services that include developing strategies, tools, networks, and technical assistance needed for environmentally and socially sustainable methods of paper production.

Environmental Planning Consultants is a consulting firm that addresses the waste management services and recycling programs of communities, with the goal of returning high-quality feedstock materials to manufacturers of new products.