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Neil Seldman, co-founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and director of the Waste to Wealth Initiative is published at Waste Dive detailing how corporate dominance over municipal recycling has proven to be a recipe for disaster.… Read More
Stephanie Compton and Dante Swinton, Energy Justice Network, a national organization based in Philadelphia with a long record of work in Baltimore, are working to extend the impact of deconstruction on Baltimore as an extension of EJN’s efforts to close the downtown garbage incinerator, increase recycling through block leader programs and coordinate community efforts toward Zero Waste.… Read More
A per-ton surcharge on waste disposed is a funding mechanism with a proven track record of raising funds to reduce and recycle waste. This model bill serves to address the need for state investment into waste reduction and diversion programs and infrastructure by establishing major grant funding based on a nominal surcharge on waste disposal. This document is intended for use as a template for a bill that any state can adapt and introduce.… Read More
ILSR Composting for Community director Brenda Platt explains to Popular Science how we can make composting more ubiquitous in the United States.… Read More
…material reuse through for-profit and nonprofit operations is a mechanism for the redistribution of material wealth. The businesses also have a positive impact on job creation, community development and the environment.
“Reuse is the highest form of recycling because finished products are revived and their productive purpose is extended,” said Dan Knapp, who founded Urban Ore in 1980 and continues to helm the operation.… Read More
ILSR has been assisting grass roots organizations in Baltimore to fend off new incinerators and shut down an existing aging and polluting garbage incinerator in Downtown Baltimore, planning for and implementing Zero Waste practices. These practices would also help the city and communities address other pressing problems in the city; including the need for more good jobs, reduced recidivism, elimination of the ‘digital divide’, and creation of new small businesses, community based food production and environmental education.
The following article makes suggestions for transforming the current recycling system, and an update on community based activity in the context of rapidly changing markets, technology and entrepreneurial opportunities.… Read More
The contending approaches to Extended Producer Responsibility can be boiled down to one question: Can you trust the petroleum/plastic industry?… Read More
In this episode of Building Local Power, Jess Del Fiacco and Neil Seldman are joined by several guests who are involved in the canning community. Canners, also called waste pickers or scrappers, collect recyclable materials such as cans and bottles from the streets and redeem them at recycling centers. … Read More
Recent momentum has seen a reversion to dual stream recycling in assorted communities across the United States. This update provides detailed information on three towns in Long Island that have recently reverted to dual stream recycling. Additional updates on dual stream efforts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida are also included. … Read More
