OPINION
Standard
practice
Green building is looking like a model of how transforming an industry to a more environmental approach can make great economic
as well as social sense.
Two recent studies show the great benefits resulting from green
building. It will contribute more than $500 billion to the economy in
the next four years. It is generating a range of new jobs — 2. 4 million
created or saved over the past nine years. Wages and energy savings
are up. Sick days and vacancy rates are down.
As Rick Fedrizzi, president of the U.S. Green Building Council,
said, it’s moving toward making the term “green building” obsolete,
because that practice is fast becoming the standard.
And that’s what all industries should be striving for. To progress to
the point that environmental practices aren’t cutting edge or the result of an extraordinary outside-the-box effort and plan. It becomes
just standard procedure for how people approach doing business.
Construction is a major and highly visible industry, and the market’s performance is a strong example. We hope the trend continues
and other industries note the success. ■
Diversion arrives
early at LAX
California law requires that all of the state’s municipalities achieve
70% waste diversion by 2020. One of the state’s busiest and most oft-visited “cities” — Los Angeles International Airport — is flying well
ahead of the curve in that effort.
LAX officials say their facility — the world’s sixth-busiest airport, with
about 60 million passengers served annually — is on schedule to reach
that 70% diversion destination five years ahead of schedule, in 2015.
LAX recently released its latest recycling and waste diversion figures,
and they are impressive. About 66.5% of the solid waste collected at the
airport was diverted from landfills in 2008, up from 65% the year before. The airport collected and recycled 20,703 tons of waste and diverted another 867 tons to other uses. Those diverted uses include the reuse
of wooden pallets, cardboard, office paper and scrap metal, and donations of food from airline caterers to Los Angeles area food banks.
In addition, LAX recently broadened its construction project recycling efforts. One recent project, the improvement of a terminal and
baggage screening area, resulted in more than 75% of the construction waste being either recycled or salvaged.
LAX’s diversion and recycling efforts are truly taking off. California’s cities would be wise to keep an eye on the airport’s methods and
emulate them wherever it’s practical to do so. ■
EDITOR’S VIEW
Economic incentives
By Allan Gerlat
Recycling rates have stagnated for a good while now. That
continues to be partly a function
of human nature. But a
little imagination can
nudge those rates upward.
A recent study by the
American Beverage Association reported that
74% of the U.S. population has access to curbside recycling, but the infrastructure exists to
extend the service to millions of
others, relatively easily. And the
report has some good suggestions for increasing participation
with those already getting curbside service.
The study says 229 million
Americans have curbside collection, and it could be extended to
an additional 95 million people
without too much difficulty. Currently 92% of the U.S. population has access to some form of
recycling program, whether it’s
curbside collection or a drop-off
site.
The study is optimistic about
how simply recycling rates can be
increased. What it doesn’t seem
to account for is a couple of formidable obstacles — government
cost and consumer motivation.
In these tough economic times
when just about every local government is stretched big
time to its financial limits, any cost addition can
be daunting.
Even if trash collection
is provided, adding recyclables collection is
adding manpower and
perhaps vehicles and energy costs.
And don’t underestimate the challenge of getting
people to actually do it, no matter how easy. Even a single-stream curbside collection program requires people to separate
their waste and probably remem-
ber a different pickup day.
It sounds simple. But most of
us motivated to recycle are already doing so. That probably
leaves people who really aren’t
interested.
That’s why economic incentives are really attractive means
to increase recycling rates. Pay-as-you-throw programs, discounts on waste disposal bills or
rewards for recycling are great
ideas to reach those people that
altruistic environmental benefits
won’t motivate.
Everyone loves to save money.
Whether it’s local governments,
or you and I. ■
Contact Waste & Recycling News editor
Allan Gerlat at 330-865-6167 or agerlat@
crain.com
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