NERC in the News
Recycling in Cyberspace: Don’t Waste Your Next Event
Resource Recycling, April 2010
By Roger Guttentag
Henry Leineweber’s article “An inside guide to event recycling,” found on Page 28 in this month’s Resource Recycling, does a great job of discussing how to reduce the waste created by all types of special events, ranging from small community festivals to giant sport stadiums. Unlike a lot of topics I have dealt with, there has been a lot of good content published on the web within the last five years addressing special event waste management. A recommended listing of these informational resources can be found at the end of this column. However, there is a lot of overlap between them. So, for the balance of this column, I will focus on recommending where you should go if there are specific tools or techniques you need to know more about.
General information sites
If you are unfamiliar with special event recycling, then the recommended starting points for your research should be the following sites:
• CalRecycle – Venues and events: Reducing Waste
• Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) – Event recycling resources
• North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (NCDPPEA) – Event and venue recycling
• Recycle Together – Venue Recycling in the USA (NAPCOR report)
All these sites have links to how-to technical guides, as well as other resources that you will find extremely useful.
The most extensive technical reference available is the 2008 National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) report Venue Recycling in the USA, which can be found on the Recycle Together site. It is oriented to beverage container recycling, but its findings can be applied to any type of venue-based waste reduction program. In particular, the report’s analytical approach to venue recycling, by establishing seven distinct venue categories based on location (indoors or outdoors) and infrastructure (transient or permanent), is very helpful.
Another recommended resource is the Special Events Best Practices Guide published by the Stop Waste Partnership (Alameda County Waste Management Authority – California), which can found as a link on many of the general reference sites listed above. It provides a well-organized, succinct overview of all the key issues affecting special event recycling, including a one-page suggested timeline that thoroughly summarizes the key planning milestones.
Case studies
Case studies are a great way of illustrating how theory can be put into practice, as well as highlighting innovations or potential pitfalls. The following sites provide case studies that accomplish these goals.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Special events
• Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) – Special Events Recycling
• Race to Recycle – Final report, City of Tampa (Florida), ‘07-’08
• Recycle Together – Venue Recycling in the USA (NAPCOR report)
Waste composition
One of the most important planning tasks to be undertaken, as part of a special events recycling program, is getting a handle on the wastes that can be recycled, composted or reduced through re-use. The references listed below can help you with this task, especially the CalRecycle report that includes a detailed discussion of venue-based waste composition. The NAPCOR report is another important resource since it will provide beverage container generation data by venue category.
• Recycle Together – Venue Recycling in the USA (NAPCOR report)
• Race to Recycle – Final report, City of Tampa (Florida), ‘07-’08
• CalRecycle – Targeted Statewide Waste Characterization Study (June 2006)
Composting
In general, special events generate food waste. It is for this reason that composting needs to be considered as one of the key strategies in an overall event waste reduction plan. One state that has aggressively promoted the composting of event-based organic waste is California, and it is not surprising that some of the best sources of information on this practice originate from the Golden State. The Cities of San Francisco and San Jose sites not only address how compostable wastes can be recovered from special events, but they also suggest how non-compostable products can be replaced by their compostable equivalents, such as eating utensils, cups and plates.
• San Francisco Environment – Special events recycling
• City of San Jose – Zero Waste Event Program
Container listings
You can’t recover what you don’t collect. But, it is equally important to use the right containers for the right purpose. Both the Connecticut and North Carolina sites have online directories of container vendors, with information on container type, function, design and intended location, along with web addresses and vendor contact data.
• CTDEP – Event recycling resources
• NCDPPEA – Event and venue recycling
International
I like to add some international references, since I believe it is helpful to see how other countries handle the same problems we have. Two non-U.S. based guides on event recycling that I found to be worth reviewing were created respectively by Waste Awareness Wales (U.K.) and Zero Waste South Australia.
• Government of South Australia (GSA) – Waste Minimisation Guide: Events and Venues
• Waste Awareness Wales – Wales Event Recycling Guide
Final thoughts
There is no question that successful special event waste reduction requires careful planning and the right tools and people to implement. However, one common element that all the technical guides agree on is that you need the endorsement of event organizers and participating vendors to make it work. Make sure you get those endorsements or your waste reduction goals will become uneventful.
Roger M. Guttentag is a recycling and solid waste consultant located in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. He can be contacted at (610) 584-8836 or rguttentag@comcast. net.
Reprinted with permission from Resource Recycling, P.O. Box 42270, Portland, OR 97242-0270; (503) 233-1305, (503) 233-1356 (fax); www.resource-recycling.com.
