A cap and trade on solid waste? A paradigm shift towards a cap and trade-based solid waste system Jay Marcotte, MPA Member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee Nottingham, New Hampshire
ack in 2009, I decided to go back and get my master’s degree in public administration at Norwich University. Part of the program requires one to work on a capstone project that is relevant to the program and one’s interests. I was reunited with my past DPW Director from Nashua, N.H., but instead as my boss, George Crombie was my teacher and Capstone Advisor. He challenged me and all of his students to “think outside the box,” to evolve and adapt to the challenges that were laid before us as public works professionals in the twenty-first century. For my capstone, I wanted to come up with a blueprint that would flip the solid waste world. At first, it was focused on a “Nationalized Zero Waste Policy.” After many drafts, long discussions and frequent “What ifs” and “What abouts” and “Why’s” from me, Professor Crombie and I decided that the best solid waste program that had any chance was one based on the cap and trade system for sulfur emissions. My capstone is a hypothetical opinion, an idea based on sound documented research that challenges the current solid waste system by creating one with incentives to reduce waste from all facets of the industry.
Statement of the problem Waste is part of our society, and the industry manages our waste according to all the federal, state and local laws and regulations. The current sanctioned practices have fostered a societal tolerance of wasting, as evidenced by the growth in production and consumption of “disposable” products and packaging directly related to our increasing 44 APWA Reporter
March 2012
population growth. Product-related wastes generated by society have increased fifteen-fold since municipal waste management programs were introduced in the early twentieth century; have tripled since 1960; and increased 20 percent just since 1990. The idea of “managing” waste is dated and will not be successful for future generations. Increased efficiencies in waste disposal systems and huge vested interests have worked to diminish the feedback loop and have hidden the many immediate and longterm liabilities. These ever-increasing population and consumption patterns have many hidden and external costs that you probably don’t even realize. Some long-term effects include the depletion of our limited natural resources, the disruption and impact to the environment when these resources are retrieved. Other factors are hidden in the products that we purchase. For example, a full fifty percent of the solid waste produced per capita per year is produced by manufacturing and mining activities. According to the same set of statistics, municipal trash only accounts for about twenty-five percent of the total solid waste. What this means is that the item bought today sends two times as much trash to be disposed of before the product is used.
The goal The goal is to steadily reduce the amount of solid waste produced in a cost-effective manner. A sound strategy for implementing any type of change management in our society starts by creating awareness and a sense of urgency for change.
Proposed Solution What is proposed is implementing a cap and trade program on waste production, a system that is similarly based on the C&T system on emissions. To set in place a cap and trade program, Congress would enact legislation to establish an economy-wide cap on solid waste, measured in metric tons, and the cap would be tightened over time based on population, efficiencies and the economy of individual states. The Environmental Protection Agency would then auction “waste allowances” that correspond to the level of the waste cap. The program would require each state to have an allowance for each ton of their waste. States would acquire allowances during the initial auction or by trading for them with other states. This allowance market would enable states that are able to reduce their waste relatively cheaply to sell allowances to those that are unable to do so, thereby establishing a market price for waste. The program would create an incentive for states to implement the most cost-effective waste reduction options and, by putting a price on the environment, encourage investments in new technologies in recycling, reduction and reuse. A cap and trade program would require a strong institutional framework to function well. The regulatory authority would be the EPA, which will play a critical role in ensuring that the program achieves its waste reduction role, and will
