Technical

Source Reduction Facts:

• Educating homeowners on non-toxic alternatives to household cleaning chemicals and pesticides
/herbicides can be an important part of household hazardous waste (HHW) collection events.

• Training health care staff to reduce the amount of general waste incorrectly deposited in hospital
regulated medical waste containers can cut costs by 85% (from 24¢/lb to 3¢/lb). See RRSI's
Henry Ford Hospital project pdf

• Using returnable packaging systems in transport of goods and supplies can eliminate up to 95% of
packaging waste.

Visit RRSI Services to learn more about what RRSI can do to help design and implement your waste
reduction programs.

TECHNICAL RESOURCES

Source Reduction is:

The philosophy or practice of not creating or generating waste materials. The term includes:
equipment or technology modifications, process or procedure modifications, reformulation or
redesign or products and packaging, substitution of raw materials, and improvements in
housekeeping,maintenance, training and inventory control.Source reduction - reducing waste before
it is generated - is often the lowest cost approach to managing waste for businesses and institutions as
well as homeowners. Industry especially has hadtremendous success in the last decade with in-plant
waste reduction strategies

Reuse is:
 
The use of a product or package at least twice, without changing its original form. The secondary use
may be by the same user or a different user.Reusing materials, packaging and products before their
disposal is a rapidly growing alternate approach to waste resource management. Charitable donation
systems are now just one small part of a major “reuse” growth industry that includes community 
reuse centers, industry remanufacturing programs, and commercial “resale” franchises. Next time say no
to that Styrofoam and bring your own “reusable” coffee cup!

Recycling Facts:

• Campus based institutions, like the University of Michigan, have diverted up to 50% of their solid waste
  stream through recycling.

• Curbside recycling programs such as this one in Saint Paul, MN pdf collect and recycle over 500 lbs of
paper, bottles and cans per household per year.

• Recycling of industrial packaging waste at the POSCO Steel plant pdf in Korea is handled in this 40 ton
per day on-site industrial recovery facility, helping divert the majority of the plant’s non-steel dunnage
waste stream from landfills.

Visit RRSI Services to learn more about what RRSI can do to help
design and implement your recycling programs.

Recycling is:

The separation, collection and recovery of useful materials for manufacture into new products or raw
materials. These materials cannot be directly reused and would otherwise be discarded as waste.
Some materials are "technically" but not economically recyclable. True recycling has not occurred until
recycled materials are used in the production of new products. Recycling can redirect large percentages
of waste material into beneficial secondary use – for homes, businesses, institutions and industry.
Recycling reduces the use of natural resources and production of greenhouse gases and can save money
as well. Because the majority of communities and citizens support recycling, it is the most effective way
to minimize impact on the environment. Although not all communities and haulers provide convenient curbside
recycling, there are drop-off stations nearby your residence to where you can deliver your recyclables on
regular basis. Let’s Recycle!

Reuse Facts:

• Did you know that wireless phone charitable recycling programs could divert 65,000 tons of hazardous
  waste due to cell phone disposal by 2005? See RRSI's electronics recycling project pdf

• Henry Ford Hospital pdf in Detroit, MI saved money by switching from disposable pillows to reusable pillows.

• Treating paper mill process water with pressurized ozone and/or ultrafiltration allows reuse of water,
  eliminates purging of contaminated water and reduces the need to heat incoming fresh water. This
  ultimately creates a closed-loop water system. See RRSI's NICE3 project for more information.

Visit RRSI Services to learn more about what RRSI can do to help design and implement your reuse programs.

Composting Facts:

•Composting of yardwaste, which makes up 20% of the United States municipalsolid waste (MSW) stream,
achieves 80% reduction and produces usable products. See RRSI's related SOCRRA project pdf and
MCM project pdf.
     
•Biosolids composting requires a 3 to 1 ratio of bulking agents (i.e. yardwaste, sawdust) to biosolids to
achieve the correct moisture content and carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio. See our related YCUA project pdf
and YCUA factsheets pdf.

•Food waste, which can be as much as 10% of a municipal waste stream, is now being collected from
commercial areas and institutions and composted. See our related city of Ann Arbor pdf project.

 Visit RRSI Services to learn more about what RRSI can do
to help design and implement your composting programs.

Disposal is:

The final and environmentally sound disposition of a material that cannot be recycled, reused or renewed.
Purchasing choices made every day, whether for the home, business, institution or industry, affect what
goes in the trash and, ultimately, what ends up at a landfill or incinerator. By making choices that support
reusable, recyclable or compostable products and packaging, you can reduce the amount of waste needing
to be disposed. How we handle what is left - the waste we have to throw away – can take advantage of
efficient and durable waste handling equipment and new collection and transport technologies that increase
compaction and reduce costs and environmental impact.

Disposal facts:

• Automated and semi-automated collection systems for waste are reducing costs through higher
  compaction, higher productivity and increased worker safety.

• Cost reduction in solid waste transfer options can be achieve through increased compaction, equipment
  upgrades, diversion of construction and demolition material and other bulky waste and performance based
  contracting.

• To decrease air pollution in response to increased regulation of medical waste disposal, a safe and
cost-effective alternative to incineration is autoclaving pdf followed by shredding.
     
Visit RRSI Services to learn more about what RRSI can
do to help design and implement your disposal programs.

Composting is:

The biological decomposition of organic materials such as yardwaste, food waste, animal waste and biosolids
into a material known as humus, that can be used to enrich the soil. It is nature's way of recycling nutrients
Compost is best known for its soil enrichment value, but mature, properly made compost has been gaining
recognition for its ability to absorb odors, bind contaminants from polluted water and soil, control erosion
and degrade toxic chemicals. Backyard composting of yardwaste has become increasingly popular and
acceptable to neighbors when managed to control odor and dust. Large scale municipal and commercial
biosolids, yardwaste and foodwaste composting providesa solution for one of the largest solid waste
problems facing us today.