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A Look In The Blue (or Green) Bin by Ken Scott, Portfolio Manager and Securities Analyst From the Spring 2008 issue of Values Here is a recycling quiz for the ambitiously inquisitive: Before you next toss your garbage in the can outside and place your paper, metals, glass and plastics in your recycling bin, first weigh them on a scale. Then make estimates for your totals at work and on the go. Did your household generate less than 7.25 pounds per day per person? If so: kudos, you performed better than the national average! Did you recycle more than 28.5 percent of your household solid waste? If so: kudos, again, for above average performance!According to Biocycle magazine, the U.S. generated 388 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2004, the most recent year for which comprehensive national data is available. This was a 5 percent increase in MSW compared to two years earlier. Biocycle publishes biennially the definitive snapshot of U.S. waste collection, “The State of Garbage in America,” or more technically: a “Nationwide Survey of Municipal Solid Waste Management in the United States.” The chart below presents a breakdown of U.S. MSW by type of waste, along with the corresponding U.S. recycling rate. By state, Oregon has the highest recycling rate, at 45.8 percent, among the 50 U.S. states. California is in 6th place at 39.6 percent, and Massachusetts is 13th at 33.8 percent.
The EPA’s goal for the nation is to recycle 35 percent of MSW generated, and to reduce waste generation by about 5 percent. Unfortunately, the infrastructure is not in place for significant improvement. According to Biocycle, curbside recycling programs are available in only 7,689 communities. There are also 3,744 MSW transfer stations (drop off facilities), and 3,474 yard trimmings composting sites. Without an increase, U.S. MSW will end up in one of the 1,654 landfills or 109 incinerators around the country. This is a tremendous waste of resources, with associated consequences from the impacts of forestry and mining for new materials, and for our air, waterways, and climate, all worthy of a separate article. Improvement is possible. Consider, for comparison, our friends in the 20 countries of Western Europe, which according to European Environment Agency, collectively generated “only” 3.5 pounds per person per day of MSW. It is difficult to believe that public officials have reflected the true economic cost of MSW disposal in tipping fees, the cost for cities and commercial enterprises to dispose MSW. Some municipalities have pay-as-you-throw programs to charge residents for garbage disposal, and to encourage recycling. What Companies Can Do Recyclability of packaging. Most paper, metal and glass products and packaging can be recycled by local municipalities or commercial haulers. The situation for plastics is more complicated. If the plastic is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as are many beverage containers, it should be labeled with the voluntary “chasing arrows” symbol of the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) with a number 1 inside . High density polyethylene (HDPE), the plastic used for milk jugs, is labeled with the SPI code with the number 2 inside. Both PET and HDPE are generally collected by most municipal programs, and then forwarded to recycling facilities. The recycling rates for other plastics is significantly lower than that of PET and HDPE. If the plastic is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or , there are at least two concerns. According to the American Plastics Council, just 0.7 percent of PVC bottles was recycle in 2004. This contrasts with 23.1 percent for PET plastic bottles and 27.1 percent for HDPE. Moreover, PVC can hinder recycling of PET packaging. According to the Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), as quoted in a report commissioned by the State of California’s Integrated Waste Management Board, “PVC is a major contaminant to the PET bottle recycling stream.” Just one PVC bottle can contaminate a load of 100,000 PET bottles. Thus, Walden has encouraged manufacturers and retailers, such as Staples, to clearly label plastic packaging, especially private label product packaging, with the appropriate SPI code, to assist recycling by consumers and municipalities. Walden has also encouraged manufacturers and retailers, such as Alberto-Culver, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Walgreen, to phase out packaging that is not recyclable. Source Reduction and Recycled Content. Walden, working with other shareholders and with recycling experts, has encouraged consumer and household product manufacturers, such as Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and the publisher Scholastic, to use less packaging, and to use recycled content materials in products and packaging. Recycling. Walden has also been encouraging client portfolio companies to increase the recycling rates for their products, particularly in the personal care, food and beverages and electronics sectors. Walden helped conceive the Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard, published by As You Sow Foundation and Container Recycling Institute. The report evaluated major beverage companies on key aspects of recycling, including source reduction, recycled content and container recovery. We believe our efforts played a role in recent initiatives by Coca-Cola and Nestle to encourage more recycling. What You Can Do Call the toll free number listed on your favored consumer and household products. Ask if the packaging has recycled content. If a plastic container is not labeled with an SPI code, ask why not. If the container has SPI codes with numbers other than 1 or 2, you may wish to ask your town if and where it is being recycled. Contact your legislators to encourage policies that boost recycling. And, of course, if you performed below average on our introductory quiz... |
