Cut Back on Grass
In 1994, Montgomery County, Alabama imposed a ban on the disposal of yard trimmings, which accounted for 18 percent of the solid waste heading to a landfill. However, their composting facility couldn’t handle the influx of new material, so they instead promoted source reduction with grasscycling (leaving trimmings on lawn instead of bagging for pick-up), backyard composting, and mulching. Instead of throwing away a rich source of nutrients, residents and businesses were encouraged to incorporate them back into their yards. In addition to yard waste, they also implemented a separate program for food scraps, which included using worm composting as a teaching tool at school cafeterias. The program resulted in more than 50,000 tons of waste being grasscycled or composted in 1994. By reducing and reusing waste, the county saved close to one million dollars in processing costs and avoided having to do a 2.5 million dollar expansion of existing facilities.
Fried Fuel
Much of the oil, grease, and fat used for frying and cooking in restaurants is discarded in a landfill, or worse, sent down the drain. However, used cooking oil (not to be confused with biofuels, like ethanol, which are made from pure vegetable oil) can be used to fuel cars and other machinery. A 2004 report by the International Energy Agency estimates that the U.S. could make 500 million gallons of biodiesel a year from its waste grease. Used cooking oil is so in demand that it has even spurred a rash of yellow grease thieves, who steal old oil from restaurants. Even the gunk known as brown grease has utility—a company in Philadelphia, Fry-O-Diesel, has figured out how to make biodiesel from sewer grease traps.
Numerous other examples abound—household greywater systems turning used shower water into backyard irrigation; old tires turned into a source of fuel; clothing, bottles, benches, etc., made of recycled plastics. For those that strive for resource efficiency, these types of programs are inherently attractive, both from a financial and logical perspective. Yet, except for traditional recycling, many of these waste reuse programs are remarkable because they are not widespread. But with new technology and an eye on making money from what would otherwise be waste, we’ll likely be seeing our refuse used in entirely new ways.
