Why Reuse and Recycling Present Viable Business Opportunities

Just about any product on the market today can be made out of recycled materials. Instead of using virgin materials that have been mined or harvested from natural areas, recycled products are made from materials that have already been used.

Similarly, many products can be repaired or otherwise reused, before their parts are recycled into different products. Because of the environmental, social, and economic benefits associated with reuse and recycling, many sustainable business opportunities and broad public support exist for small-scale manufacturers of recycled products.

While reuse and recycling reduce the need for landfills and incinerators, which can produce significant environmental problems, the greatest environmental benefits of reuse and recycling come from the natural resource and energy savings they provide. Using recycled materials decreases the need for virgin resources, which are often extracted from environmentally-sensitive areas. Manufacturing with recycled materials typically requires much less energy than using virgin resources, because the materials have already been processed at least once.

Many small-scale, locally-based manufacturers can provide economic and social benefits to their communities.

Recycling-based manufacturing can involve complex and expensive technology, but it can also be low-tech and labor intensive, providing a variety of training and employment opportunities to communities.

Search for value

Solid waste only becomes "waste" when people lose sight of its value. Virtually everything in the "waste stream" has residual value for someone or some business in the community.

Start upstream

If we think of solid waste as a flow of materials entering the community at different places, traveling through the community as they are used one or more times, and ending up in other places, we can use the analogy of a river or stream. Intercepting a wouldbe waste item as far "upstream" as possible after its
initial use has several advantages:

* It often has more value left in it;
* It is usually cleaner & easier to reuse or recycle;
* Less energy has been wasted transporting it; and
* The original purchaser of the item has the first opportunity to reuse it.

Minimize handling, transportation and processing

The earlier in the "waste stream" an article or material can be intercepted and returned or diverted to its next use, the more money the community saves in hauling and handling costs -- including vehicle fuel and its polluting effects, labor, and equipment costs.

Measure results in a meaningful way:

The "total quality" philosophy in business are "Measure, Measure, Measure."In order to monitor the success of a rural community's solid waste management strategies, solid waste managers must first measure results against the objectives the community intended to achieve . Secondly, it must measure the total costs and benefits in some agreed-upon way .

Regional Approach

A community generating a waste material may not be aware of a market for that material -- for example, "reuse" in a manufacturing plant in the next town or county. Examining materials within the regional basis often will provide more options for managing them more effectively.  Trying to find recyclables markets for the small volume of materials from one county may not be economically feasible. A cooperative approach with other counties, however, could amass sufficient volumes of recyclables to command attractive prices.

Missouri Southern State University in Joplin received 100 ALCOA recycling bins, while Purdy Elementary School located in Purdy received 150 bins to expand their recycling efforts. These bins provided by ALCOA, a world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa. A special thank to Angie Gehlert of the Missouri Recycling Association (MORA) for making this possible. Angie put in many hours to distribute these bins throughout Missouri. Also special thanks to MoDOT for use of their facilities for distribution of the bins.

The Region M Solid Waste Management District uses its share of Missouri's Solid Waste Fund to support and enhance the expansion of best practices that reduce the flow of recoverable material from Missouri's waste stream.

The scope of activity that the district aims to support includes these goals:

Waste Reduction/Source Reduction: Practices which avoid or reduce the amount of waste produced by changing a product design, making consumer goods repairable and/or more durable, changing processing methods and/or consumer behavior and buying habits.

Research and Development/Reduction: Development of new processes to reduce the amount of waste produced.

Collection/Processing:  Activities that recover or transport materials, or prepare materials for recycling markets.

Research and Development/Recycling: Development of new processes for collecting, processing, re-manufacturing or selling waste material as a new product.

Market Development:   Activities that stimulate or increase the demand for recovered materials.

Composting:  Activities that facilitate the controlled biological decomposition of organic solid waste, thereby reducing yard waste.

Energy Recovery/Incineration: Energy recovery through combustion of waste.

Educational/Informational: Programs to effectively inform and instruct the general public on waste management and waste reduction activities.

The above goals are pursued via the district's grant program. Grant dollars generated by the Missouri Solid Waste Fund which allocated to the district are utilized to support projects that have these goals as objectives. The district's Board has adopted a set of priorities for the district grant program that includes the district's targeted materials list and program targets.

Targeted Materials List
Preference is given to projects that reduce, reuse, recycle or strengthen consumer demand for the following post-consumer wastes:
Cardboard
Old Newspaper
Old Magazines
Other Paper (office paper, mixed paper, etc.)
Plastics (all resins)
Mixed Glass
Household Hazardous Waste
Non-hazardous Wastes From Industrial,Commercial, and Institutional Operations, Demolition Waste, &
 Bi-Metal Containers
Ferrous Metals
Non-Ferrous Metals
Waste Consumer Electronics (computers, VCR's, televisions, etc.)
Landfill-banned Items:
Waste Tires
Major Appliances
Yard Waste
Waste Oil
Lead-Acid Batteries

Program Targets

Special Program Target Area:  County Litter Control Programs, City or County Facilities,  Illegal Dump Cleanup, Landfill-Banned Wastes (Major Appliances, Yard Waste, Waste Oil, Lead-Acid Batteries)

District Wide Projects:   A project that has been developed to serve the district, with input from the Region M Executive Board.

Identified Community Needs:  A project that has received the written endorsement of the community/ies it serves.  The project should address a need formally identified by the community/ies served.
Providing service to an underserved area.  A project that if successful would provide basic recycling service to an area that currently does not have that service.

School Recycling Enhancement:  A project that has been developed to increase diversion from an educational institution.

 "Only when the last tree has died and
The last river has been poisoned and
The last fish has been caught,
Will we realise that
We cannot eat money"
19th century Cree Indian

Debris collection sites closing

All but one of Joplin’s debris drop-off sites for residents to dispose of trees and limbs from a wind storm last month will close by Sunday.

Debris may be brought to the Public Works Center, 1301 West Second St., until dusk Sunday. Sites at Dover Hill and McClelland Park have already been closed.

Debris can be taken next week to the site where the city makes wood chips at Snowball Hill, north of Belle Center Road on North Schifferdecker Avenue. That site will be open from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be closed to drop-off after that.

City pickup of debris continues in an area east of Main Street. Staff estimates it will take about two more weeks to clear that area.

“The city did have quite a bit of damage from the storm,” said Tim Nyander, public works operations manager in a written statement issued by the city. “We do appreciate everyone’s patience as we finish this last area of town.”

Nyander said tree limbs can also be put out with trash if they are cut to less than four feet and bundled.

Tree limbs also may be taken to the Allied Waste Services Transfer Station on Old Route 66, in Galena, Kan. There is a fee of $10 for Joplin residents and landlords.