Waste Reduction & Recycling

Best Practices

The largest sources of human-generated methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from improperly managed landfills. Thus, waste reduction and recycling activities reduce the potential to generate methane at landfills, as well as reducing pollutants generated from transporting waste to disposal sites. Waste reduction and recycling activities also conserve natural resources.

Waste Reduction & Recycling Goals

  • Enhance existing waste reduction and recycling activities at agency buildings and in the community.
  • Implement source reduction, recycling and resource recovery programs for waste organic material. Produce compost, mulch, energy and fuels from organic waste stream.
  • Reduce office and commercial waste and increase recycling.
  • Source reduction, recycling and resource recovery programs for construction and demolition material.
  • Decrease carbon footprint of jurisdiction’s waste and recycling collection system.

The table below offers specific suggestions on how to achieve these goals. You can download the entire Best Practices Framework under Documents & Resources on the right side of this page. Links to relevant case stories are provided under specific Best Practice suggestions, or you can see a list of related ILG Climate Leadership Stories.

Waste Reduction & Recycling
Goal Best Practice
Enhance existing waste reduction and recycling activities at agency buildings and in the community.

 
  • Institute a comprehensive waste reduction and recycling program in agency offices and facilities.
  • Institute a partnership with other public agency offices located within the jurisdiction for waste reduction and recycling at those facilities.
  • Adopt a partnership with local schools for waste reduction and recycling.
  • Increase opportunities for e-waste and hazardous waste recycling by residents and businesses.
  • Educate the community about “buy recycled” opportunities.
  • Evaluate current community recycling infrastructure relative to future population growth and waste generation.
  • Include provisions and incentives for new recycling infrastructure and facilities to accommodate growth, in land use planning and zoning.

    Example (www.ca-ilg.org/CommercialRecyclingStories):
Implement source reduction, recycling and resource recovery programs for waste organic material. Produce compost, mulch, energy and fuels from organic waste stream.

 
  • Audit agency facilities to identify opportunities to increase material recovery and beneficial use of organic material.
  • Establish an organic material recovery program for green waste from agency parks and facility landscaping.
  • Establish a program to use the maximum amount as possible of organic waste generated within the jurisdiction to produce compost and/or biofuel, including use on agency parks and landscaping.
  • Use compost and mulch in agency landscaping as a water conservation measure. Encourage use in private landscaping.
  • Establish incentives for residents to participate in green waste recycling programs.
  • Adopt a restaurant food waste collection program or ordinance.
  • Approve siting of composting facility within jurisdiction.
Reduce office and commercial waste and increase recycling.

For more information on this topic, see ILG's webinar: Recycling Programs at Apartment Complexes: Success Tips for Local Officials

Source reduction, recycling and resource recovery programs for construction and demolition material.
  • Require all agency demolition projects to incorporate de-construction and construction and demolition waste recycling or recovery practices.
  • Adopt a program or ordinance to reduce, reuse, and recycle community construction and demolition waste.
  • Adopt a “deconstruction” program or ordinance to salvage and reuse materials in all community remodeling projects.
  • Adopt and implement a policy to require use of rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC) for streets and roads.
  • Adopt and implement a policy to require use recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) for streets and roads.
  • Implement a policy to use RAP for commercial and community parking lots, where feasible.
  • Encourage schools and other public agencies to use RAP for parking lots, where feasible.
  • Establish a program or ordinance that results in 100 percent in-place recycling of asphalt concrete.
  • Establish a program or ordinance that results in recycling of 100 percent of all Portland cement and asphalt concrete.
Decrease carbon footprint of jurisdiction’s waste and recycling collection system.
  • Work with solid waste and recycling collection providers to calculate carbon footprint of collection system.
  • Work with solid waste and recycling collection providers to reduce collection system footprint.

 

 

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