Zero Waste in the Time of COVID-19

By Nik Balachandran, Founder and CEO, Zabble Inc.

None of us expected the world to dramatically change within a span of a few months. Businesses, governments and people all have had to adjust to the new normal in different ways. The solid waste and recycling industry has seen its own share of changes. We have seen temporary policy changes, relaxing bag bans in grocery stores, a shift in waste volumes in commercial and residential settings and the introduction of new types of waste like PPE.

At first glance, it may seem that the amount of waste has gone down as businesses shut down during the first few months as cities and counties instituted shelter-in-place regulations. Only essential workers were allowed to continue to work at physical workplaces and the rest working from home. Commercial waste volumes did drop by up to 40% in many counties while residential and multi-family volumes increased to make up for it with more online orders.

The interesting thing to ask, perhaps, is what the per capita waste generation looks like pre-COVID and now. While the current numbers are not readily available we can look at pre-covid data. According to EPA, the average waste generated per capita in the US every day is 4.5 lbs, out of which only 35% is recycled or composted. The rest ends up in incinerators and landfills. Forty-four percent of this waste stream is made up of paper/paperboard, organics and plastics. It was pretty apparent that 5.6 million commercial buildings generated more waste annually than 136 million residential properties.

Our singular focus at Zabble is to help these organizations that operated out of commercial buildings to achieve Zero Waste. So in 2018 we developed a software paradigm to track programs that incrementally made progress (amount of waste reduction, decreased landfill waste and contamination in all streams) toward Zero Waste, because Zero Waste is as much a journey as it is a destination. We have been working with some of the largest educational institutions and corporations in helping them track and adjust their Zero Waste programs. That is, until Covid changed the landscape of waste.

Reusable and second-hand sharing practices have come to a standstill. Online shopping has almost doubled leading to increased cardboard boxes. More take-out food orders have substantially increased delivery in food containers and plastic bags. PPE litter has become the latest nuisance to plague the environment. More than 200 million masks and 1 billion gloves were ordered to be shipped by FEMA alone by June 2020. Hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in PPE usage and disposal. “Before the pandemic, the 23 Northwell Health hospitals in New York used about 250,000 pairs of gloves a day; now, it’s 500,000 pairs”, says Chief Expense Officer Donna Drummond. One study by the American Nurses Association found that “43% of waste produced by infectious isolation procedures was attributed to personal protective equipment (PPE)”

There is a massive uptick in single-use disposables fueled by the false claim that disposables are safer than reusable options. This myth was debunked by a group of 100 experts comprising scientists, doctors, professors and epidemiologists.

So where is all this heading?

It is safe to assume the per capita generation of waste is higher now than pre-COVID. As businesses reopen the primary focus is the health and safety of its staff and customers. However, it is also a time to reflect on the new waste footprint.

    • To keep daily operations, supply chains and waste infrastructure resilient organizations must track the amount of waste, type and origin within their buildings or facilities.
    • Track unused supplies in the waste stream to excess purchasing habits and contamination to improper disposing of items (like PPE) in the right bins.
    • Use reusable options where available.
    • Constant communication with the right messaging can boost staff morale and lead to a cleaner and safer environment.

By being aware and conscious of our habits in the present, we can create a new normal that is better than the past.

For more information on Zabble, visit www.zabbleinc.com.

Here are some recently published articles from Resource Recycling and Waste 360.

 

Who is at the Table? 2020 DEI Webinar Recording

WHO IS AT THE TABLE?

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
in Waste and Recycling
August 27, 2020

Presented by: The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) in coordination with the NRC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council, the NCRA DEI Committee and the Ohio Recycling Coalition. Produced by Portia Sinnott, NCRA Vice President and Zero Waste USA Program Director.

Recording              Speaker Bios

This webinar’s objectives are to motivate the waste and recycling industry to actively explore and discuss DEI issues and initiatives, and inspire individuals and organizations to create their own mandates. We will address the issues via succinct introductory presentations with commentary, hold a robust intra-panel discussion and follow that with a lively Q&A session!

What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mean in the Waste and Recycling Industry?

Are we leading the way or stumbling behind? Does anyone have a handle on the statistics? Has your business, agency or non-profit adopted DEI initiatives? Are they actively being implemented and tracked? Are the benefits clear to all involved? What factors are being addressed – age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, language and/or cultural background? Does your actual workforce reflect these commitments – in front of the house: management/decision makers, as well as the back of the house: workforce/membership? Are there efforts underway to stimulate workforce training and advancement?

PANEL

  • INITIAL SLIDES
  • Moderator and Commentator, Arley Owens, Executive Director, Ohio Recycling Coalition, former NRC Board Member, organizing member of the NRC DEI Council, and former Chair of the NRC Communications Committee and the Minorities Recycling Council
  • DEI Introduction and Industry Situational Report, Sophia Huda, Vice President, Ohio Recycling Coalition, member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and Adjunct Sustainability Professor, The New School, New York SLIDES
  • Developing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mandates, Faye Christoforo, Executive Director, Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) SLIDES
  • Sustainable And Safe Recycling, Alina Bekkerman, NCRA Board Member and San Francisco Conservation Corps, Program Manager and
    Felisia Castañeda, NCRA Member and Recology San Francisco
    Environmental Learning Center Supervisor SLIDES
  • Moving Forward Together, Abrilla Robinson, Vice President, Ohio Recycling Coalition’s and Chair of the Ohio Recycling Coalition’s newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Past President of the National Recycling Coalition Minorities Recycling Council and organizing member of the new NRC DEI Council.

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DEI Presentation Guidelines

NCRA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Presentation Guidelines
Developed in May 2020, updated in June 2022

The following guidelines are not intended to guarantee a product or piece of information is appropriate to all audiences. Rather, we hope that this document will serve as a point of reference and stimulate careful consideration by anyone preparing a presentation.

Some of them were gleaned from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), Cultural Considerations: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Presentations. The article is well worth reading as are the resources presented there.

  1. Cross Cultural: Consider how different cultures may relate to your subject.
  2. Language and Literacy: Think about your audiences preferred languages – both spoken and signed, and literacy level.
  3. Diverse Perspectives: Use case studies, scenarios, or vignettes examples that reflect diverse perspectives.
  4. Build Connections: Aim to create a presentation that supports new or renewed connections and community-building.
  5. Positive Examples: Include positive examples from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Also include examples from urban, suburban, and rural frontier populations, as well as examples from U.S. territories and 
tribal communities.
  6. Diverse Data: Where available include statistics, demographic data or trends about racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse groups as appropriate or indicate where it is not available.
  7. Diverse Images: Portray images, graphics, and visual aids that both incorporate people with disabilities and reflect the culturally and ethnically diverse groups and communities in which they live. Avoid type casting.
  8. Resource Languages: Indicate whether the resources highlighted in your presentation are available in different languages.
  9. Honor Experience and Struggles: Recognize that many sustainable practices and norms today have been practiced for many generations and the roots of the Zero-Waste movement lie in the decades long experiences and struggles of communities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
  10. Integrity: While giving your presentation, speak with integrity, avoid assumptions and generalizations.

Win!!! Loving Reusables in the Time of COVID

By David Krueger, NCRA President, 7/13/20
Editor’s Note: This is an update of the June 9 article – Loving Reusables in the Time of COVID, in which NCRA  recommended counties be encouraged to revise their SIP Orders to allow reusables with some restrictions, provided the customers and the store follow Cal-OSHA guidelines (pdf),

On March 16, 2020  Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo Counties, plus the City and County of San Francisco and the City of Berkeley issued identical Shelter-in-Place Orders. (APNews, 3/16/20) On March 31, these jurisdictions issued identical updated Orders which banned reusables in retail establishments. These Orders all contained the same language on reusables, found in Appendix A of each Order: Social Distancing Protocol, Measures to Prevent Unnecessary Contact, which is a checklist for businesses to follow and directed to post:

Not permitting customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home. 

This language was then adopted by other jurisdictions including Napa and Sonoma Counties.

In response, on June 10 NCRA emailed custom letters to more 10 Northern California health officials, asking them to change their Orders to allow reusables again. and encouraging them to use the language from the Mendocino County Order:

Not permitting customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home that must be handled by employees. Customers bringing their own reusable items that do not require handling by employees is permissible.

To date, Alameda County and Contra Costa County have adopted the Mendocino language allowing reusables, as requested by NCRA.

The City of Berkeley’s Order (which supersedes Alameda County’s) states that “Customers are permitted to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home, but they must not place them on any surfaces” making it difficult to use the items as “surfaces” includes shopping carts.

Santa Clara County’s Order stills says “Do not allow customers to use their own cups or other reusable food containers from home for takeaway”, but allows customers to use their own shopping bags as long as businesses “Require customers using reusable bags from home to bag their own groceries”. On July 1, Napa County adopted the Santa Clara language regarding reusable bags in response to letters from NCRA.

The City and County of San Francisco has stated that they will be revising their Order on July 13 to allow reusable bags “… provided customers follow specified measures to bag their own items and ensure reusable bags do not touch employees or check-out conveyors”.  Santa Cruz County’s Health Officer, Dr. Gail Newel, responded to the NCRA letter that “I am fully supportive and nothing in our local orders or guidance prohibits such practices.”

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Zero Waste Declaration, 2020

ZERO WASTE DECLARATION
Zero Waste International Alliance, 2020

The first Earth Day was 50 years ago. Recycling, its natural industrial child, was envisioned to complete the resource circle, save the wilderness, generate jobs, and build the back end of the GNP all at once.

Now, in 2020, we are ready to establish a collective goal of:

Zero Waste: the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.” ZWIA, updated 2018

This Zero Waste World can be founded on environmental and social justice principles that help create vibrant communities in harmony with nature:

Redesign: Manufacturers can redesign products for highest and best use focusing in on reuse, repair and composting with recycling as a final option.

Ban Wasteful Products: We can ban products that require wasting to compel redesign for durability, repair, composting and recycling.

Source Separation: We could collect all discarded materials and products separated at the source and further sort them into higher quality fractions for reuse, recycling, or composting, with nothing left out and nothing left over.

Resource Recovery Parks: We can build a new worldwide network of resource recovery parks to handle all discards as refined resources.

Advocate: Use our power as advocates and professionals to show what is possible and help policymakers avoid mistakes in meeting the goals that we help them envision.

To achieve a worldwide culture that sustains the planet in perpetuity we stand together!

To sign-on to this declaration, please …