Waste to Wealth - Institute for Local Self-Reliance

In Depth

Single Stream Recycling: Explaining the Waste Knot

Neil Seldman

August 29, 2018

Neil Seldman and Bob Gedert explain how the consolidation of large waste disposal services led to single stream recycling, and how China's changing rules will affect the future of that system. READ MORE

Biggest Challenge to U.S. Recycling Isn't China

Neil Seldman

September 24, 2018

Proponents of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Paper, Products, and Packaging (PPP) are jumping on the “China Crisis” bandwagon by attempting to revive efforts to shift control over recycling from local government and existing recycling companies to statewide non-profit agencies und READ MORE

Big Soda Challenges Recycling in California

Neil Seldman

September 24, 2018

Recycling in California is getting tougher. The state's recycling rate, once the highest in the nation, has fallen below 50%. Problems within the bottle return system and Chinese import restrictions have to be addressed if the state is to reach its READ MORE

Recently Posted

ILSR's Neil Seldman Breaks Down Recycling Crisis for Governing Magazine

Hibba Meraay

October 18, 2018

Is Plastic the New Currency?

Neil Seldman

October 16, 2018

A new program allows commuters in Surabaya, Indonesia to pay public transit fares by dropping off recycled plastic at designated centers in the city. READ MORE

Centre County, Penn. Rejects Switch to Single-Stream

Neil Seldman

October 5, 2018

Centre County, Penn., a rural county of 26,000 people and 1,000 businesses, will not switch to single-stream recycling based on a yearlong research report by MSW Consultants that looked into the benefits and drawbacks of switching. READ MORE

More Communities Switch to Dual Stream

Neil Seldman

October 4, 2018

A number of municipal recycling programs in the U.S. and Canada have reinstated dual-stream in the past few months or are planning to do so. READ MORE

Working Partner Update: Alachua County Resource Recovery Park

Neil Seldman

October 3, 2018

Alachua County’s 37-acre industrial park for recycling companies, or Resource Recovery Park (RRP), is about to open after five years of research, planning, and design. READ MORE

In Depth

Single Stream Recycling: Explaining the Waste Knot

Biggest Challenge to U.S. Recycling Isn't China

Big Soda Challenges Recycling in California

Recently Posted

ILSR's Neil Seldman Breaks Down Recycling Crisis for Governing Magazine

Is Plastic the New Currency?

Centre County, Penn. Rejects Switch to Single-Stream

More Communities Switch to Dual Stream

Working Partner Update: Alachua County Resource Recovery Park

Webinar Resources: Community Compost Law & Policy...

Rescuing Materials and Building Community in Berkeley Thanks to “Waste”...

Reduce and Reuse Before You Recycle: Delivering Ourselves from Over-Packaging...

Environmental Justice & Local Activism, A Conversation with NAACP Leader...