Resource Recycling March 15, 2001 THE FUTURE OF ZERO WASTE By Kivi Leroux The GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) has identified eleven policies and actions that it believes are required to achieve zero waste. You can expect to find these policies on the agendas of zero waste advocates nationwide over the next several years: #1 Manufacturer Responsibility. Manufacturers and producers must share responsibility for recovering their products and ensuring that they are recycled and not wasted. #2 Minimum-Content Standards. Manufacturers need to help "close the loop" by using the materials collected in local recycling programs to manufacture new products. #3 Consumer Deposit Programs. Deposit programs on materials such as beverage containers, tires and batteries are effective strategies to promote reuse and recycling. #4 Unit-Pricing for Trash. Residents and businesses need to be given the incentive to reduce waste and recycle through variable garbage rates. #5 Full-Cost Accounting and Life-Cycle Analysis. The benefits of waste prevention and recycling should include a full accounting of the costs of resource depletion, remediation, and environmental degradation caused by the continued reliance on virgin materials and wasting. #6 End Subsidies for the Extraction of Virgin Resources. Subsidies for the resource extraction industries should be eliminated. #7 End Cheap Waste Disposal. Landfills and incinerators must be subject to strong environmental standards and must account for the true long- term cost of waste disposal. #8 Invest in Jobs Through Reuse and Recycling. Waste prevention and recycling provides tremendous opportunity to create jobs and initiate new business ventures. #9 Tax Shifting. Instead of giving incentives for wasting, tax credits and economic incentives should promote waste reduction and the use of recovered materials. #10 Campaign Finance Reform. Much of the resistance to changing resource policies comes from industries that profit from wasting. #11 Take Consumer Action against Wasteful Corporations. The public must put pressure directly on corporations that profit from waste. Source: GRRN web site Copyright 2001, Kivi Leroux