Zero Waste Working Group

Picture of plastic recycling facility.

We live in a disposable society, one in which we don’t value the importance of materials and resources.  We buy products with a limited understanding of where these come from, or where they’ll go after use.   

Our current production system is one-directional – from the earth to disposal (“take-make-use-waste”).   Only a third of our waste is recycled or composted while the vast majority is sent to landfills, incinerators, or leaked to the natural environment.  

Many of our natural resources (e.g., ecosystems, fossil fuels and minerals) are being stretched to their limits:  

  • The amount of material the world uses:
    • Tripled since 1970 
    • Could double again by 2060, if we continue business as usual
  • Natural resources used to satisfy a person’s need:
    • 1990 – 8.1 tons of resources were extracted per person 
    • 2015 – almost 12 tons of resources were extracted

(Sources:  UN Environment Program and World Bank)

On average, Americans have discarded more materials over time, and total solid waste generated per capita in the U.S. has grown accordingly:

  • In 2018, the total generation of municipal solid waste in the U.S. reached a high of 292 million tons, which equated to 4.9 pounds of waste per person per day

(Source:  US EPA)

The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated our growing waste crisis, with the increase in use of single-use materials.  Recycling alone is not enough to address the problem.  It’s clear that we need new ideas and innovations aimed at preventing, rather than managing waste after the fact.  

About Zero Waste

Zero Waste is a smarter framework for evaluating the way we view and use resources.  It shifts focus away from recycling, allowing us to look at ways to minimize waste production and increase efficiency across the entire lifecycle of products.  Zero waste includes redesigning the current, linear production system into closed-loop or “circular” systems, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible.   It also works to change the mindset from wasting materials to managing resources as an “asset” that can benefit the local economy and support more resilient communities.   

Zero waste is a journey, not a destination.  It follows a progression of resource management strategies that are designed to help people, businesses and institutions make smarter choices:

(Source:  Zero Waste International Alliance)

Recycling and composting are not at the top of the hierarchy; rather, these diversion strategies are ranked below strategies that prevent waste from being created in the first place. 

The peer-reviewed and internationally-recognized definition of zero waste is:  

“The conservation of all resources by means of responsible production,consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials withoutburning, and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment orhuman health.”

(Source:  Zero Waste International Alliance)

Zero waste means trying to send as little waste as possible to landfills or incinerators but does not require getting to absolute zero.  The Zero Waste International Alliance defines zero waste as 90% diversion from landfills and incinerators.

Zero waste does not include incineration or current waste-to-energy systems like combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, or plasma arc.  When you burn something to make energy, it can’t be used again, and that is the ultimate act of wasting.  Waste-to-energy technologies have adverse environmental impacts and impede the transition to a circular economy by justifying continued production of discards.   

The zero waste approach can deliver a wide variety of environmental, economic and social benefits, such as: 

  • Cutting local pollution produced by landfills and incinerators
  • Reducing debris in fragile ecosystems like oceans
  • Conserving natural resources and reducing pollution from extraction and processing of raw materials
  • Driving innovation and creating jobs in rental, repair, reuse and recycling businesses
  • Saving local governments money that can be reinvested into the community
  • Creating positive projects that build social cohesion at the local level

Zero waste can be a key component of a climate action plan to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.  The U.S. EPA has estimated that roughly 42% of all greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the manufacturing, use and disposal of materials and products.  Reducing, reusing and recycling will conserve that energy and dramatically reduce our carbon emissions.

Mission

The mission of the Zero Waste Working Group is to foster ideas and policies that prevent waste, conserve resources and maximize the recovery of valuable materials in the community.   

These include actions that drive the redesign of products and delivery systems; and increase access to reuse, repair, recycling and composting.    

Current projects

Hefty ReNew Program
Educate the public about the shortcomings of the Hefty ReNew program, which is a partnership between the City of Tucson, Dow Chemical and Reynolds Consumer Products for managing single-use plastic packaging and products in the community.   No matter how “green” Hefty ReNew appears on the surface, it is not a substitute for—and should not distract us from—real solutions for addressing the plastic pollution and waste problem.

Food Loss and Waste Prevention
Learn how to reduce food waste at the grocery store; in the kitchen while storing and preparing; and while cooking, serving, and enjoying food with family and friends.

Skip the Stuff! Campaign
Encourage local restaurants and other dining institutions to provide food service accessories (e.g., straws, utensils, napkins, and condiment packets) for take-out or delivery orders only if the customer requests them. It’s a simple solution for cutting down on unnecessary single-use plastic items that will save restaurants money and reduce waste.  

Repair CafĂ© Project
Initiate a free meeting space in Tucson where people can learn how to repair broken items, such as clothes, furniture, electrical appliances and toys.

Reusable Containers
Work with local restaurants and UArizona dining services to pilot the use of reusable containers for take-out meals. Click the link above to take the reusable container survey.

Tucson Zero Waste Roadmap
Advocate for upstream strategies (e.g., waste reduction, reuse, repair, recycling and composting) that eliminate the need for waste incinerators and dramatically cut the use of landfills.

Los Reales Sustainability Campus
Raise community awareness of the environmental and climate drawbacks of waste-to-energy facilities (e.g., combustion, pyrolysis and gasification systems) that would turn discarded materials into energy or fuel at the Los Reales regional landfill.

Working Group Members