Americans generate about 160 million tons of municipal solid waste annually—which equals about 1,300 pounds of waste per year for each of us, or about 25 pounds per person per week. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every year Americans throw away 60 billion cans, 28 billion bottles, 4 million tons of plastic, 40 million tons of paper, 100 million tires, and 3 million cars.

Community landfills are closing faster than replacement facilities are opening. According to EPA, 45 percent of all landfills will be closed by 1991, leaving 3,300 sanitary landfills in operation. In some areas of the United States, the fees for dumping waste have increased to over $160 per ton of waste. ×Ö´®3

Across the Nation, a revolution is under way in waste management. This revolution is accompanied by a hue and cry over laws and upcoming changes in minimum standards for solid waste landfills. ×Ö´®4

Communities Need Answers

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Ten States have already adopted mandatory recycling laws. Communities everywhere are reexamining local waste management practices. Changes in minimum standards significantly increase the cost of upgrading existing sites as well as the costs of waste collection, transport, handling, and disposal.

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Communities know they must find cheaper solid waste disposal methods. First, some critical questions need answering: How can they afford state-of-the-art, well-engineered landfills? Is it possible to develop cost-effective waste management systems to take advantage of maximum waste reduction, recycling, and processing methods? ×Ö´®8

Nationwide, Cooperative Extension educational programs are helping communities, public officials, and citizens examine these issues and make the best decisions for their localities. ×Ö´®7

The Garbage Project

One solution is waste source reduction—create less trash. But what should be reduced? To find out how to accomplish this, researcher William Rathje of the University of Arizona developed the "Garbage Project," starting in the late 1970's, to analyze the contents of 9,000 pounds of municipal solid waste taken from landfills in Arizona, Illinois, and California. ×Ö´®2

Rathje's findings indicate that less than 1 percent by weight and volume of each landfill was composed of fast-food packaging. He also found that plastics accounted for only 12 to 18 percent of the volume of landfills—not the 30 to 70 percent assumed by the public.

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Newspapers made up about 14.4 percent by volume of the landfills studied, representing the largest single item in landfills by both weight and volume. Biodegradation of paper is surprisingly slow. In the last 10 years, there has been no major reduction in the percentage of paper found in landfills. Since 1989, Extension education programs in Arizona have helped make newsprint the most commonly collected recyclable material. Extension specialists believe such programs may ultimately reduce by 10-16 percent the newspaper volume found in landfills. ×Ö´®8

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

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In the summer of 1988, Florida passed one of the most comprehensive solid waste laws in the Nation. The Solid Waste Management Act requires every Florida county to reduce its solid waste 30 percent by 1994.

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To meet the challenges of solid waste, Florida Extension programs in the State's counties are forming new partnerships: Extension specialists are tapping the knowledge of disciplines in natural resource areas, and they are building extensive contacts with leaders in business, industry, and other government agencies to support this mandated source reduction and to encourage recycling. ×Ö´®3

Extension specialists in counties are conducting educational seminars and public forums to educate citizens. They train volunteers and youth from various groups to hold waste management activities at schools and special events. Consumer education programs promote source reduction, recycling, and proper management of household hazardous waste. ×Ö´®7

In another program, Extension energy agents with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) in Orange County are working with business, industry, and academic teams to design systems for recycling in central Florida's 80,000-room hotel and resort industry.

They are promoting a pilot program with six large Orlando hotels to test the most efficient methods of recycling waste. Innkeepers in Orlando, the Nation's top tourist destination, are learning how to improve the environment while cutting their cleanup costs. Hotel employees now recycle newspapers, glass bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard, and plastic in recycling bins placed on each floor. Each hotel is encouraged to devise its own system of recycling by using balers and crushers as well as bins. ×Ö´®9

Wood Resource Recovery, Inc., in Gainesville, FL, is a composting demonstration project by IFAS researchers that shows the feasibility of composting yard trash from a typical municipal solid waste stream. To develop the market for composts, IFAS researchers are studying which types are best for vegetables, containerized plants, and landscapes.

Minnesota's Innovative Approaches ×Ö´®6

In Wabasha County, MN, Extension has an innovative education program under way that uses recycling stickers on grocery store shelves. The small stickers are placed on the shelves so consumers can identify products that are packaged in materials that are currently recyclable in that area. ×Ö´®2

Since 1990, Minnesota has prohibited disposing of yard wastes in landfills or incinerators in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. In 1992, this prohibition will encompass the entire State. Minnesota Extension is educating homeowners in how to deal with this law through a special "Don't Bag It!" lawn care program and various publications. The program uses Master Gardener volunteers to teach these yard waste management practices.

Minnesota 4-H youth programs also emphasize environmental concerns through summer youth activities. Workshops on "Pollution Solution... Kids for Saving the Earth" involve 50 young people, ages 12 to 18, with funding from both Minnesota Extension and four counties.

Reducing Hazards in Missouri

Extension staff at the University of Missouri worked with two hazardous waste committees in Howell County responding to citizen concerns about contaminated drinking water and toxic chemicals poured into landfills. After learning about these problems, residents from the town of West Plains and 14 surrounding counties were asked to collect contaminants. They brought used motor oil, dead batteries, old paint, varnish, gasoline, and weed killer to a hazardous waste collection site at the fairgrounds. ×Ö´®6

In a followup resident survey, 98 percent of the citizens responding said they would purchase less hazardous waste. Eighty-one percent said they would be willing to pay for future hazardous waste collections. Ninety percent stated that after learning of the environmental threats counties face, they would change the way they disposed of hazardous waste. ×Ö´®5

What Next? ×Ö´®2

These accomplishments are just a sampling of Extension's national initiative in waste management. To get involved in your community, contact your local county Extension office. ×Ö´®7