Integrated solid waste management involves using a combination of techniques and programs to manage a community’s waste stream. To account for the variations in waste streams between communities, planners can tailor integrated waste management systems to fit their specific local needs.

The EPA suggests using the following priorities — in order — as tools to help set goals for integrated waste management systems and meet specific needs:
• Source reduction (waste minimization and prevention);
• Recycling;
• Disposal.

A waste audit is a formal, structured process used to quantify the amount and types of waste generated. A waste audit should assess and account for the amount and desktop audits.

The type of audit used depends on the type of waste, where it is to be conducted, and what is expected from the audit. Audits help managers determine the most appropriate and effective source reduction programs for their community. Waste audits are a key to establishing waste and source reduction programs.

Waste Reduction

Waste reduction, also known as source reduction or waste prevention, means using less material to get a job done. Waste prevention methods help create less waste in the first place — before recycling.

Because it avoids recycling, composting, landfilling, and combustion, source reduction can help reduce waste disposal and handling costs. An example of source reduction is buying products that use less packaging (buy larger containers or refill containers with bulk purchases). It also conserves resources.

There are many ways to modify current practices to reduce waste generation, some of which are detailed below:

Incentives for Waste Reduction

“Unit pricing” and “pay as you throw” programs utilize economic incentives to create less waste. The programs charge for the collection of municipal solid waste — ordinary household trash — based on the amount thrown away. This creates a direct economic incentive to recycle more and to generate less waste.

To reduce office paper waste, do the following:

• Use recycled paper, make double-sided copies;

• Replace hand towels and other disposables with hand dryers or cloth towel machines and reusable hardware.

To reduce total waste from a building, consider the following:

• Participate in an integrated waste management program;

• Replace disposable kitchenware with reusable cups, plates, knives and forks;

• Request used pallets;

• Install refillable shampoo and soap dispensers;

• Recycle bingo cards or purchase reusable ones;

• Use recycled plastic for benches, signs, and other fixtures;

• Explore collection and reuse of restaurant grease as biodiesel;

• Develop compost programs and use mulch in landscaping.

Most activities undertaken during collection are not regulated by any particular federal environmental statute. Federal guidelines for the collection and storage of residential, commercial, and institutional solid waste are found at 40 CFR Part 243.

Storage/Operation of Transfer Stations

Once the solid waste is collected, the collection entity may have to store the waste at an interim location prior to recycling or final disposal. If necessary, such storage usually occurs at a transfer station. A transfer station is a facility where wastes are transferred from smaller collection vehicles to larger transport vehicles, such as trucks, tractor-trailers, railroad gondola cars, or barges. These larger vehicles then transport the waste to its final destination.

In small communities in which the nearest landfill is within 10 to 15 miles, compactor trucks can take solid waste directly to the landfill. If stations are used, collection crews can take waste to the transfer stations where it is weighed and either temporarily stored or moved directly into a larger vehicle.

These activities may impact the environment if waste is not contained and is carried away from the transfer station by wind or stormwater runoff.

Storage should be on a short-term basis only and should prevent the waste from being released to the environment. In some conditions, improper storage could be deemed disposal and could trigger more stringent regulation of the waste.

Recycling and Composting

Recycling, the next level of the integrated solid waste management hierarchy is the process by which materials are collected and used as raw materials for new products. Recycling includes collecting recyclable materials, separating materials by type, processing them into a form that can be sold as scrap material, and purchasing and using goods made with reprocessed materials.

Recycling prevents potentially useful materials from being landfilled or combusted, and allows disposal capacity to be preserved, while saving energy and natural resources. Similarly, composting can play a key role in diverting organic waste away from disposal facilities.

By definition, recycling does not occur until someone transforms or remanufactures the material into a usable or marketable product or material. This process is similar to marketing any product or commodity and involves four distinct steps:

• Determining the possible uses of the end product;

• Identifying potential markets;

• Marketing the product;

• Developing a collection and transfer system.

Recycling is best when it is as “clean” and separated as possible. In rural areas, recycling can be very successful when the process is used to make a final “product” that is then sold within the community. In more urban settings, tribes can participate in partnerships that accomplish recycling in the general scrap market, and do not necessarily lead to a single, identifiable product.

The major environmental impact associated with recycling is the volume of waste diverted (reduced) from landfills or incineration. This diversion extends the life of landfills and limits the volume of wastes being combusted. The most significant environmental impact from these activities is resource conservation; however, these activities can also significantly reduce criteria (i.e., carbon monoxide, particulate matter) and toxic (i.e., dioxin) air pollution.

Federal environmental statutes do not directly regulate the recycling of typical solid wastes (e.g., paper, plastic, glass, aluminum). Used oil recycling, however, is regulated under 40 CFR Part 279, which establishes standards for used oil generators, collection centers, transporters and transfer facilities, processors and rerefiners, burners of off-specification used oil, used oil fuel marketers, the use of used oil as a dust suppressant, and used oil disposal. Used oil generated by households is exempt from these requirements but still is prohibited from being released into the environment. ❑