When the Moretown landfill was closed by the Vermont Agency of
Natural Resources last year because of contamination and odor problems, Vermont
was left with only one active landfill for the entire state. While some southern Vermont towns and solid
waste districts ship their garbage across the borders to New York and New
Hampshire, the rest of Vermont must rely on the Coventry landfill to meet its
needs. This location is also finite and
will someday have to close as well. To
extend that day as far into the future as possible, we must learn to reduce the
amount of waste we generate or else repurpose it and divert it from our
remaining landfill.
The Vermont legislature has been addressing the problem of solid
waste since 1987 when it passed Act 78 creating the first solid waste districts. More recently, Act 148 addressing the
diversion of yard waste and organic waste from landfills was passed in
2012. And last year Vermont partnered
with paint manufacturers to establish a paint stewardship program which will
allow unused paint to be returned for recycling at participating paint
retailers. Other stewardship programs,
in which manufacturers assume the cost of recycling, include electronic waste,
mercury light bulbs, and mercury thermostats, which have all been banned from Vermont
landfills.
There are other materials that we continue to dispose of in the
trash because they are not currently recyclable by the methods available at
Vermont recycling facilities. One of
these materials is single-use batteries, also known as primary batteries. There are more than 190 manufacturers of
primary batteries sold in the U.S. According to an industry report, approximately 5.4 billion units of single-use batteries were shipped in the U.S. in 2010, including about 10 million in Vermont. Recoverable materials from primary batteries
include zinc, manganese and steel. Offsetting
the need for virgin materials is typically the best way to reduce a product’s
overall lifecycle impact. Material
recovery reduces the energy consumption needed to acquire virgin materials as
well as other environmental impacts from mining. However, it is not economically feasible for
our solid waste districts to pay for a primary battery recycling program. While there is an active rechargeable battery recycling program
run by the industry, single-use batteries have not been included. This is now about to change.
Like the paint manufacturers, the primary battery industry has
become proactive in supporting a battery stewardship program. Energizer,
Panasonic and Duracell, which account for more than half of the batteries sold
in the U.S., are ready to partner with Vermont and other states to collect,
ship and recycle primary batteries.
House bill H.695, currently being developed by the House Natural
Resources and Energy Committee, will update Vermont’s solid waste laws to
require all solid waste districts and municipalities, as well as retailers on a
voluntary basis, to act as collection points.
It will also encourage other primary battery manufacturers to join an
existing stewardship program or form one of their own. Only primary batteries made by participating
manufacturers will be allowed to be sold in Vermont beginning in 2016. Finally, the bill will set up a process that
will allow the industry-sponsored stewardship programs to recover recycling
costs from each other and from non-participating manufacturers.
While recycling and material diversion has come a long way in
Vermont, we still have a long way to go.
Only 35% of the waste stream in Vermont is recycled. In Chittenden County, it’s a little better at
about 60%. But I have seen too many
recyclable bottles, cans, paper and plastic that is routinely thrown into trash
cans and barrels. It is incumbent on all
of us to take personal responsibility for recycling our own waste and to remind
others to do the same.
