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A Consumer's Guide To Environmental Myths and Realities
Footnotes
1 The prohibition is to commence one year after the FDA approves degradable plastic packaging and upon commercial availability. back2 Franklin Associates, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States, 1960 to 2000-Update 1988. Report prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Prairie Village, KS.: March 1988). back
3 Paul Relis and Anthony Dominski, "Beyond the Crisis: Integrated Waste Management" (Santa Barbara:, CA: Community Environmental Council, January 1990), p. 4. back
4 See, for example, A. Clark Wiseman, "U.S. Wastepaper Recycling Policies: Issues and Effects" (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, August 1990), p. 2. There are parts of the country- particularly parts of the congested Northeast and places such as Florida, with a high water table, in which landfill sites are not abundant, however. back
5 The fact that land appears suitable for use as a landfill from an airplane does not guarantee that it is suitable, however. back
6 William Rathje,"Rubbish!," Atlantic Monthly, December 1989, p. 101. back
7 Another 14 percent went to incinerators and was burned, while the remaining 13 percent was recycled by the end of 1988. back
8 See Donald A. Norman and Jody M. Perkins, "Nonhazardous Solid Waste Landfill Policy." Unpublished draft working paper, December 1990, prepared for the American Petroleum Institute. back
9 Franklin Associates, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 1960-2000 (Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1986). back
10 William Rathje,"Rubbish!," Atlantic Monthly, December 1989. back
11 See City & State, June 18, 1990, p. GM4. back
12 Neil Hamilton and Robert Wasserstrom,"Solid Waste Disposal in the United States: Rate Regulation Is Not the Answer" (Washington, DC: National Solid Waste Management Association, 1989), p. 2. back
15 Neil Hamilton and Robert Wasserstrom,"Solid Waste Disposal in the United States: Rate Regulation is Not the Answer," (Washington, DC: National Solid Waste Management Association, 1989) back
16 National Solid Waste Management Association and other sources. back
17"Survey of Solid Waste Charges," City of Worcester, MA, February 1990. back
18 Louis Blumber and Robert Gottlieb, War on Waste: Can America Win Its Battle with Garbage? (Washington, DC: Island Press, 1989), preface by Jim Hightower, p. xv. back
19 Jerry Taylor,"Municipal Solid Waste Management: An Integrated Approach," in A Natural Resources Policy Agenda for the '90s (Washington, DC: American Legislative Exchange Council, 1991), p. 128. back
20 Office of Technology Assessment, Facing America's Trash: What's Next for Municipal Solid Waste? (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, October 1989), p. 102. back
21 Harvey Alter,"The Future of Solid Waste Management in the United States," U.S. Chamber of Commerce, January 1990. back
23 William Rathje,"Rubbish!," p. 100. back
24 Council of Northeast Governors,"Source Reduction Council of CONEG: First Annual Report" (Washington, DC: Policy Research Center, September 10, 1990), p. iii. back
25 William Rathje and Michael Reilly, Household Garbage and the Role of Packaging (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona, July 1985). back
26 Even taking into account different household sizes, the inverse relationship between food packaging and food waste still is relevant. back
27 William Rathje and Michael Reilly, Household Garbage and the Role of Packaging. back
28 These figures are crude since they do not take into account the mix of foods discarded, which"may not provide a nutritionally balanced diet. Nevertheless, such extrapolations," suggests Rathje,"do put food waste into more understandable terms." Rathje and Reilly, Household Garbage and the Role of Packaging, p. 45. back
29 The rate of food waste found in packages is below 5 percent in most cases, averaging 1.7 percent in Mexico refuse and 2.4 percent in U.S. refuse. Ibid., p. 39. back
30 Alter,"The Origins of Municipal Solid Waste." back
31 Rathje and Reilly, Household Garbage and the Role of Packaging. back
33 Source: William Shireman, California Futures. back
35 Life-cycle (or cradle-to-grave) analysis develops quantitative measures for energy consumption and environmental effects throughout a product's life cycle,"beginning at the point of raw materials extraction from the earth and proceeding through processing, manufacturing, use, and final disposal, recycle, and reuse." See Franklin Associates, Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Foam Polystyrene and Bleached Paperboard Containers (Prairie Village, KS, June 1990), p. 1-2. See Chapter 2 for a detailed methodology description as applied to one set of products. For a critical look at life-cycle analysis, see Jere Sellers, et al.,"The Life Cycle Analysis Methodology," presented at a Franklin Associates conference,"Life-Cycle Analysis: A Tool for the '90s," Kansas City, MO, April 10, 1991. back
36 Franklin Associates, Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the United States. back
38 Gesellschaft fur Verpackungsmarktforschung (GVM),"Packing Without Plastic" (Weisbaden, Germany, December 1987), p. 5. back
41 As recycling of both sacks increases, the difference in energy use decreases because"the recycling energy savings occur at a greater rate for paper than for polyethylene," (pp. 1-4). Using the 2:1 ratio, at 60 percent recycling, both bags have equivalent energy requirements. See Franklin Associates, Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Polyethylene and Unbleached Paper Grocery Sacks, pp. 1-4. back
42 Nonetheless,"polyethylene sacks continue to contribute less solid waste than paper sacks at all recycling rates." Ibid., p. 1-7. back
43 Regarding water emissions, at higher recycling rates for both grocery sacks, Franklin Associates reports that"the difference in waterborne waste becomes greater because recycled paper contributes more waterborne wastes than paper made from virgin material." Ibid. pp. 1-8. back
44 See Franklin Associates, Resource and Environmental Profile Analysis of Foam Polystyrene and Bleached Paperboard Containers. In the much-publicized move by McDonald's away from polystyrene, the company did not opt for the more energy-intensive coated paperboard most frequently described in the media. Rather, McDonald's switched from polystyrene foam to paper wrappings for its hamburgers. This wrapping, unlike coated paperboard, actually has fewer air and water emissions, requires less energy, and generates less solid waste than polystyrene foam. See McDonald's Corporation and the Environmental Defense Fund, Waste Reduction Task Force, Final Report, April 1991. The waste volume figures may be problematic, however, since Franklin Associates uses averages for large groups of containers rather than just actual clamshell information. back
45 Martin B. Hocking,"Paper Versus Polystyrene: A Complex Choice," Science, Vol. 251, February 1, 1991, pp. 504-505. Dialogue in the subsequent issues of Science magazine between Hocking and industry and other critics suggested that Hocking may have been using old or incomplete data to reach his conclusions. Nonetheless, Hocking's general point remains valid: Some plastics products do require less energy and produce fewer air and water emissions than their alternatives. back
46 Virginia Postrel and Lynn Scarlett,"Talking Trash," Reason, August/September 1991, p. 25. back
47 Postrel and Scarlett,"Talking Trash," p. 26. back
48 Aseptic boxes can be recycled but usually are not. back
49 Harry Teasley, Jr.,"Presentation on Aseptic Packages to the Maine Waste Management Agency," October 9, 1990. back
51 Franklin Associates, Disposable Diapers: Summary and Interpretation of Literature Sources on the Environmental and Health Effects of Diapers, July 1990. back
52 Arthur D. Little,"Disposable Versus Reusable Diapers: Health, Environmental and Economic Comparison," Cambridge, MA, March 16, 1990. (Prepared for Procter and Gamble.) back
53 Reusables require one-eighth of the amount of raw materials as disposables, but both cloth and disposable diapers are composed primarily of renewable resource content. back
54 See, for example, Robert L. Campbell, et al.,"Clinical Studies With Disposable Diapers Containing Absorbent Gelling Materials: Evaluation of Effects on Infant Skin Condition," Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Vol. 17, No. 6, December 1987, pp. 978-987. back
55 Franklin Associates, Disposable Diapers: Summary and Interpretation of Literature Sources on the Environmental and Health Effects of Diapers. See also, Franklin Associates, Energy and Environmental Profile Analysis of Children's Disposable and Cloth Diapers (Prairie Village, KS: July 1990). back
56 Postrel and Scarlett,"Talking Trash," pp. 22-31. back
57 Virginia Postrel and Lynn Scarlett,"Talking Trash," Reason, August/September, 1991, p. 27. Net costs are the gross costs minus sales revenue from recycled materials. back
58 Lynn Scarlett,"Make Your Environment Dirtier - Recycle," Wall Street Journal, January 14, 1991. back
60 Gitlitz and Relis, Recycling Markets: California and the Pacific Rim, Conference Synopsis (Santa Barbara, CA: Community Environmental Council, 1988), pp. 26-27. For example, the domestic steel industry is already near capacity. back
61 A. Clark Wiseman,"U.S. Wastepaper Recycling Policies: Issues and Effects" (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, August 1990), p. 2. back
62 Pieter Tans, Inez Fung and Taro Takahashi,"Observational Constraints on the Global Atmospheric CO2 Budget," 1990, Goddard Space Institute and Columbia University. back
63 Office of Technology Assessment, Facing America's Trash, (Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, October 1989). back
64 Reported by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. back
65 U.S. Conference of Mayors, Incineration of Municipal Solid Waste: Scientific and Technical Evaluation of the State-of-the-Art, February 1, 1990. back
67 See Waste Age, November 1989, reporting on the April 28, 1989 meeting of the Environmental Hearing Board of Pennsylvania. Note that risk assessment is at best an imperfect science, with numerous assumptions made, drawing conclusions from data from animals given high doses of chemicals and applying that information to make assumptions about human health risks. back
68 Robert J. Beck, Oil Industry Outlook (Tulsa, OK: Penn Well Publishing Co., 1990), pp. 74 and 84. back
70 J. H. Muroyama and H. G. Stever, eds., U. Colombo,"The Technology Revolution and the Restructuring of the Global Economy," Globalization of Technology, (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988), pp. 23-39. back
71 John Tierney,"Betting the Planet," New York Times Magazine, December 2, 1990. back
72 Green Market Alert, March 1991 (Bethlehem, CT: Market Alert Publications), p. 5. back
74 Franklin Associates, Background Document on Clean Products Research and Implementation (Prairie Village, KS, June 1990). back
75 See Barry Meier,"U.S. Advice on Trash Causes Uproar," New York Times, June 29, 1991. back
76 Postrel and Scarlett,"Talking Trash," pp. 28-29. back
79 Council for Solid Waste Solutions. back
80 Franklin Associates, The Role of Beverage Containers in Recycling and Solid Waste Management (Prairie Village, Kansas: April 1989), pp. xxv-xxvii, pp. 31-34. back
81 Postrel and Scarlett,"Talking Trash," p. 27. back
82 Alter,"The Future of Solid Waste Management." back
83 Bernstam, The Wealth of Nations and the Environment, Table 5, p. 24. back
84 Ibid. Note, however, that the two Koreas and two Germanys also had different levels of affluence. Thus, a poor nonsocialist country may have low energy efficiency. back
88 Environmental Protection Agency,"Unit Pricing: Providing an Incentive to Reduce Waste," 1991. back
89 Lisa Skumatz, Variable Rates in Solid Waste, Vol. I - Executive Summary, prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, and City of Seattle Solid Waste Utility, June 1990, pp. 3-4. back
90 Although the total tons of waste did not decrease significantly there was a 22 percent decrease in the amount going to landfills. back
91 Postrel and Scarlett,"Talking Trash," p. 31. back
92 Neil Hamilton and Robert Wasserstrom,"Solid Waste Disposal in the United States: Rate Regulation Is Not the Answer," (Washington, DC: National Solid Waste Management Association, 1989), pp. 5-6. back
93 Office of Technology Assessment, Facing America's Trash, p. 316. back
95 E. S. Savas,"How Much Do Government Services Really Cost?" Urban Affairs Quarterly, September 1979, p. 24. back
96 E. S. Savas,"Municipal Monopolies versus Competition in Delivering Urban Services," in W.D. Hawley and D. Rogers (eds.), Improving the Quality of Urban Management (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1974). back
97 Pittsburgh, with its "Blue Bag" collection system, has contamination rates of around 7 percent, low enough to make the program more cost-effective than alternative curbside collection of separated materials. back
98 "XL Disposal's Automated Recycling," Waste Age, July 1990, pp. 49-56. back
99 Patricia Gallagher, "Composters Find Garbage is Golden," Cincinnati Enquirer, October 21, 1990.back