2019_06-25_PWETCpacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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This year-end report contains information on several areas that Eureka Recycling tracks to monitor the success of Roseville's zero waste recycling program over the course of each year. As a non-profit social enterprise we believe tracking and reporting this data is an essential way to ensure program transparency. It also gives Eureka Recycling and city staff the tools needed to successfully manage the program. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS SUMMARY The environmental benefits of Roseville's zero -waste recycling program are quantified transparently using a widely -accepted environmental model. This ensures that all residents have a chance to see how their efforts can be measured and quantified. There are many ways to calculate the benefits of recycling. To better explain these benefits in commonly understood terms government agencies, research scientists, and economists have created several "calculators" to translate the amounts of recycled materials collected, and processed into equivalent positive societal and environmental benefits. Because of the increasing societal focus on both the causes of and the solutions to climate change, it has become imperative to measure waste reduction (and all of our activities) in terms of its impact on the environment. This allows us to speak in a common language, understand the impact of our choices, and help us prioritize the personal and policy actions that we take. In addition to climate change mitigation, there are other environmental benefits to recycling, including saving energy, protecting air quality, water quality, natural resources, natural beauty, habitat, and human health. There is an increasing awareness of micro plastic pollution in our rivers and lakes and soil and recycling is ever more important to strengthen to combat plastics toxins showing up in our food supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WARM Calculator The equations used in environmental calculations try to take into account the "full life cycle" of each material—everything from off -setting the demand for more virgin materials (tree harvesting, mining, etc.) to preventing the pollution that would have occurred if that material were disposed of (burned or buried). Different calculators may include some or all of the many factors that contribute to the "full life cycle" so results will vary from calculator to calculator. While there are many models emerging to calculate greenhouse gas reductions, the most recognized, and standard model is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Waste Reduction Model (WARM). WARM was designed to help solid waste planners and organizations track and voluntarily report greenhouse gas emissions reductions from several different waste management practices.