The Meaning of Integrated Waste Management
September 1st, 2001
Christopher J. Barrett, NH Pollution Prevention Intern
For a common person audience:
Over the course of the summer through discussion with family, friends, coworkers, and those in the Durham / UNH community, I have noted a misunderstanding by some when the term integrated waste management is mentioned. I too was guilty of this fault when I first heard the term because of my background in concrete thinking. The mistaken perceptions include focusing on one of the many issues involved and thinking that the word integrated means completely the same entity. An incorrect example would be thinking that integrated waste management requires an integrated waste management facility for the town and campus and that the two management programs would have to be molded perfectly into one operating department. First of all, integrated waste management focuses on many issues of waste including, but not restricted to, refuse, recyclables, composting, brush burning, bulky waste, electronic waste, household hazardous waste, and non-household hazardous waste. Second an integrated waste management facility is not required for an integrated waste management program for the town and campus and an integrated facility is a broad definition for a place that the town and campus would be working together on waste management.
Integrated waste management means that the town and campus work together on waste management issues whether that means communicating, analyzing the other's program, helping each other out, combining forces, or becoming one entity. The ultimate goal of any integrated program is to have two programs working as a team, which leads to possibilities in higher operational efficiency, savings, and waste reduction amongst other possibilities.
For a business person audience:
It has come to my attention that the term integrated waste management has been mistaken by some to mean an integrated waste management facility. As a point of clarification it should be noted that integrated waste management means looking at the waste generated by the Durham / UNH community as the responsibility of Durham and UNH and therefore tackling the issue of waste management as a team. Through communication and working together improvements in operational efficiency, waste reduction, environmental impact, and savings can occur. It would be unfortunate and unwise if irrational thinking clouded our judgements on the issue of integrated waste management due to the politics involved with an integrated waste management facility.
2001 Pollution Prevention Internship Program
Final Report
Date: Friday, August 31, 2001
Project Title: Integrated Waste Management System: Modeling best practices in the UNH Durham Community.
Intern: Christopher J. Barrett
9 Woodman Avenue, Apt. #216
Durham, NH 03824
Email:
Facility: Office of Sustainability Programs, UNH
107 Nesmith Hall
Durham, NH 03824
Executive Summary: The Office of Sustainability Programs (OSP) is interested in coordinating with UNH facilities, Health and Safety, Purchasing, and the Town of Durham in the development of an Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS). Successful design and implementation of a single IWMS for Durham and UNH will advance good public administration while supporting the teaching, research, and extension mission of the university.
Background: Integrated Waste Management is a systemic approach to management of institutional and community waste streams. IWMS includes siting of facilities, developing systems for resource recovery, and policies and practices that result in significant waste reduction. Neither Durham nor UNH have an IWMS in place, and there is no confirmed policy to pursue a single IWMS for the town and the university. Since Durham and the University are in the process of reviewing their waste management systems in the context of master planning, this is an opportune time to pursue a systemic approach to IWMS.
History of Integrated Waste Management Discussion for Durham & UNH
In April 1997, a committee was formed consisting of town and campus officials and staff to explore the possibility of building a cooperatively owned and operated solid waste / recycling facility. All involved agreed that such a facility would be the most cost-effective option for the community's future solid waste and recycling programs. This committee met over the next two years (1997 & 1998) and produced a draft report of their findings in July of 1998.(25)(2) The report was then given to the Office of Sustainability Programs, which was formed in July of 1997,(29) and experts were brought in for further analysis.(7) The only progress which has been made since the meeting has been, the purchase of a jointly owned rolloff truck by suggestion of the report.(28) Tom Kelly, UNH Office of Sustainability Programs (OSP), held a meeting to further review the cooperative venture in 1999. (2) That year the town Recycling Committee evaluated the town waste management and started looking into Pay as You Throw (PAYT) programs. Since then they have proposed a PAYT program for Durham.
In February of 2000, Julie Newman, OSP, joined the Durham Recycling Committee, serving as a liaison between the town and OSP. In the fall of 2000, two UNH students did an independent study on recycling and waste management in the Greek system. Conversations were started with Guy Hodgdon and OSP about diverting town leaves to the UNH compost facility at Kingman Farm. In the spring of 2001, the town's 'Recycling Committee' became the 'Integrated Waste Management Committee'.(28) In the summer of 2000, OSP hired two interns Yi Luo and myself, Chris Barrett, to investigate respectively electronic recycling on campus and integrated waste management systems.
Contents:
Pages 3 to 19 I.) Assessment of Durham Waste Management Program
20 to 31 II.) Assessment of UNH Waste Management Program
32 to 34 III.) Challenges in Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, Recycling for Durham and UNH Programs.
34 to 38 IV.) Choices in Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, Recycling for Durham and UNH Programs from 1998 Solid Waste / Recycling Committee
38 to 45 V.) Proposals for Durham & UNH Waste Management Programs
45 to 47 Appendix A. - What other Colleges & College-Towns have Done
48 to 50 Appendix B. - Glossary
50 to 51 Appendix C. - References & Related Sources
52 Appendix D. - Acknowledgements
53 to 56 Appendix E. - Contact Resources & Links
I.) Assessment of Durham Waste Management Program
August 9th, 2001
All information directly from Guy Hodgdon's "Solid Waste Management Report, Nov 1999" or through personal contact with Guy Hodgdon, except otherwise noted.
Index
1.) Organization (pg 4 - 12)
1A.) Refuse & Recyclables (4-5)
1Aa.) Refuse Disposal (4-5)
1Ab.) Alternate Week Collection of Recyclables & Processing (5)
1B.) Other Materials Dealt With & How they are Dealt with (pg 5-8)
1Ba.) Brush Burn Pit ( 5-6 )
1Bb.) Bulky Waste/ Demolition Handling (6)
1Bc.) Car/Truck "Wet Cell" Battery Collection (6)
1Bd.) Electronic Recycling (6)
1Be.) Freon Gas Removal/ Recycling (6)
1Bf.) Household Battery Collection (7)
1Bg.) Leaf and Yard Wastes Handling (7)
1Bh.) Paint Recycling/Disposal (7)
1Bi.) Propane Tank Recycling (7)
1Bj.) Scrap Metal Recycling (7)
1Bk.) Solid Fill Disposal (8)
1Bl.) Textile Recycling (8)
1Bm.) Tires (8)
1Bn.) Tree Stumps Disposal (8)
1Bo.) Waste Oil and Oil Filters (8)
1C.) Special Programs (pg 9-10)
1Ca.) Spring Cleanup (9)
1Cb.) Fall Cleanup (9)
1Cc.) Hazardous Waste Collection Day (9-10)
1Cd.) Litter Removal Downtown/Parks (10)
1D.) Other (pg 10-12)
1Da.) NRRA Northeast Resource Recovery Association (10)
1Db.) Privatization of Services (10)
1Dc.) Rutland County Evaluation of Durham (11)
1Dd.) SWMF Permit System (11-12)
2.) Accounting System (pg 12)
2A.) Info on PAYT (12)
3.) Infrastructure (pg 13)
3C.) Rolloff Containers owned by Dump (13)
4.) Costs & Trends (pg 14 - 19)
4A.) Unaudited Expenditures for the 2000 Fiscal Year. (14)
4B.) Tonnages & Cost Trends (15-19)
**Note** Glossary & References are found at the end of the entire report
1.) Organization
A Normal Week
¨ Mon - Thur : Residential Trash and Recycling Pickup
¨ Mon - Fri : Recycling Processing
¨ Tuesday & Saturday : Site is open to public for dumping
Staffing: Solid Waste Division of Durham Public Works Department
Guy Hodgdon, the superintendent of the Solid Waste Division and Water Division of Public Works oversees all operations and the facilities. Working for him in the Solid Waste Division he has four full time workers and one half-time worker. Their tasks are to collect the refuse and recyclables around town, process the recyclables, haul demolition materials and bulky waste, monitor the site when it is open to the public, and monitor the commercial recycling program. Each worker works four ten-hour shifts since it allows them to finish the collection routes on time. (1)
1A.) Refuse & Recyclables
1Aa.) Refuse Disposal
Durham has contracted with Waste Management Incorporated (WMI) in Rochester, NH for disposal of municipal solid waste, MSW, from Durham. WMI has the best prices for disposal in southern NH because they are the only private landfill in the region. The solid waste division collects the residential waste curbside and then directly delivers the waste to WMI's Turnkey Landfill. Residential refuse is paid for through property taxes. Commercial businesses and multi-unit apartments have their refuse picked up by WMI and receive their bill from WMI. On July 1st, 2001 commercial businesses and multi-unit apartments began paying for their own refuse in order to encourage them to increase their recycling rate. Recycling disposal fees for businesses and multi-units are still paid for by the town. A Pay as You Throw (PAYT) program is also being proposed to shift the fees from the property tax to a program where individuals pay per trash bag. (1 & 2, pg. 38, 44)
1Ab.) Alternate Week Collection of Recyclables: Recycling & Processing
In January of 1999, the town started an alternate week collection program for recyclable material at the curbside. All container type material (bottles, cans, etc.) would be collected one week and the fiber or paper material (newspaper, cardboard, etc) would be collected the next week. Refuse would continue to be collected on a weekly basis at the curbside. The change occurred due to the increase in recyclable material that had to be hauled, markets for separated containers didn't justify cost to separate, time to complete the collection route had increased significantly, and staff time for the division was marginal to perform the previous recycling tasks. The program's benefits allowed for one worker to focus on refuse, while the other focused on recyclables allowing for each to get around the collection routes in the available time for that day. The program allowed for one worker to spend time on processing fiber as opposed to recycling collection and for the recyclables to be hauled to market instead of picked up by an outside contractor. The program increased recycling revenue by over $7,000, decreased cost of hauling material by around $90 a load, a savings of $18,000, increased the amount of fiber baled from 514 bales in 1998 to 846 bales in 1999, and improved the general appearance of the transfer facility. Even with these changes the division remains understaffed to properly perform their tasks on a regular basis. If a person takes leave for any reason or there is equipment failure the Solid Waste Division must rely on other divisions to help complete the tasks in the required time. (2, pg. 41)
1B.) Other Materials Dealt With & How they are Dealt with
1Ba.) Brush Burn Pit
The town uses an area approximately 100' square at the transfer facility to collect and burn brush and unpainted wood up to 5" in diameter. The burning is done by permit from the State of NH, which is renewed yearly. Water supply is short at the site forcing the Fire Dept. to make numerous trips to quench the fire (if needed). Burning is not possible all the time due to the weather conditions, which can cause a backlog of material. The area must be monitored during the burning process, which normally runs into overtime situations. Closeness to the woods and a residential area is also a concern. A problem will appear once the Durham landfill is capped because this operation will no longer be able to be done as it has forcing either sending the brush to Turnkey or the chipping of the brush. A new burn pit wouldn't be allowed to be built due to state laws that now exist. (1& 2, pg. 18)
1Bb.) Bulky Waste/ Demolition Handling
Bulky waste and demolition material is currently accepted at the transfer station. A coupon is required to unload material and two of these coupons are given to each resident with their yearly Solid Waste Management Facility Permit. This waste is also collected from the curb during the Spring Cleanup Program. Another option deals with how some of the material can be recycled if separated from the rest. This would require residents to put different materials into different containers and staff to do quality control prior to hauling the material. Current lack of space at the transfer site make this option unfeasible.
The bulky waste is currently hauled using the Town/UNH rolloff truck with in-house labor and disposed of at Kingston, NH approved landfill. Kingston landfill specializes in bulky waste, but will be closing soon. (32) The town owns the rolloff containers used in this program. Disposal fees for bulky waste at Kingston and Turnkey landfills are close and are bid against each other. (2, pg. 26-28)
1Bc.) Car/Truck "Wet Cell" Battery Collection
These batteries are only collected at the transfer station, where they are stored on pallets under cover and hauled to Harding Metals in Northwood, NH for recycling. The town markets the automobile batteries two to three times a year. Approximately 125 units come in a year and are sold at $1.50 each for a revenue of $185. (2, pg. 7)
1Bd.) Electronic Recycling
The town currently does not have any programs set up for electronic recycling. This will be reviewed in the near future. (1, 8/9/01)
1Be.) Freon Gas Removal/Recycling
Freon gas is a coolant used in most refrigerators, air conditioners, freezers, etc and is regulated by the EPA. The gas is removed at the transfer facility by Harding Metals, of Northwood, NH, who recycles the gas material. Usually a hundred units are collected in a year with a $10 cost each for removal. The cost to train a town worker to do this and keep them is too high in comparison to using Harding Metals. (2, pg. 8)