Originally published in Directions Magazine; February/March 1997

Integrated Waste Management

by Paul E.R. Packbier

Since my November DIRECTIONS article on solid waste management, I have received numerous inquiries as to the applicability of the "management" part of solid wastes on Guam. In addition, Guam EPA has since taken the initiative in preparing for the island’s future by contracting for the preparation of an Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (ISWMP) for the Territory. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to clarify some of the solid waste jargon that will slowly start creeping into our lives over the next years.

WHERE DOES IT GO?

The increasing concern about the environmental impacts of landfilling has caused many communities to investigate alternatives to landfills. However, landfilling still remains the major form of waste disposal in the country. A March 1996 report entitled "Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in The United States: 1995 Update," prepared by the U.S. EPA, estimates that 61% of all municipal solid waste ends up in a landfill. Of the remainder, 15% is currently incinerated and 24% is recycled or composted. On Guam, due to the absence of alternative disposal means, more then 90% of our waste is currently being disposed off in the overflowing Ordot landfill or other "hardfill" sites around the island.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE ECONOMY

Over the next decade, these figures are expected to change radically. If the Governor’s Vision 2001 projection is accurate, as many business leaders believe, Guam will have to significantly change its current waste management practices in order to handle the projected increases in our solid waste. Nation-wide, communities are beginning to utilize what has been commonly called integrated waste management planning and practice. Integrated waste management is an approach to managing the waste stream that attempts to segregate the various components, and to manage those portions of the waste stream in an environmentally sound and economically efficient manner. According to the integrated waste management approach, the following hierarchy of managing waste should be practiced:

1. Source reduction
2. Recycling
3. Composting
4. Incineration
5. Landfilling

SOURCE REDUCTION

By using this hierarchy, reliance on landfills is diminished and waste is handled in its most efficient manner. Source reduction includes the design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials (such as products and packaging) to reduce the amount or toxicity of materials before they enter the waste stream. Source reduction activities include :

Designing products or packaging to reduce the quantity of materials or the toxicity of the materials used.
Reusing products or packaging already manufactured.
Lengthening the life of products to postpone disposal.
Managing non-product organic wastes (such as food scraps and yard trimmings) through on-site composting or other alternatives to disposal.

RECYCLING

Many communities are now employing recycling to further reduce waste volumes which must be handled. Recycling collects reusable material from the waste stream. The recycled material then becomes a commodity used in manufacturing new products. For some materials, such as newsprint, glass, and aluminum, markets already exist. For other materials, such as magazines, few markets exist but efforts to improve product marketability are growing. Some community efforts around the country have reduced waste volumes through recycling by 25% or more. Significant efforts at recycling are expected to be made in Guam in the near future.

COMPOSTING

Waste that is not recycled contains both energy and nutrient value that processing can capture. Additionally, processing reduces waste volumes. Both composting and incineration process waste materials to capture this value. Composting, a natural biological process, reduces the waste stream into a product that can be used as a soil amendment. Composting can become an attractive alternative for managing yard (or "green") waste on Guam.

INCINERATION

Incineration, or the burning of waste to produce energy, has also been an attractive waste reduction approach. Combustion facilities handled an estimated 30 percent of the nation’s waste stream in 1960, mostly through incinerators with no energy recovery and no air pollution controls. During the 1960s and 1970s, the amount of waste combusted dropped steadily as old incinerators were closed, reaching a low of less than 10 percent by 1980. All major new facilities now have energy recovery and are designed to meet air pollution standards.

LANDFILLS

Finally, even if we practice maximum effort at waste reduction, recycling, composting, and incineration, a landfill will be needed. Integrated waste management involves the proper mix of all of these waste management approaches. Integrated waste management will improve environmental protection, decrease potential liability, control waste management costs over the long run, and is expected to be a source of new jobs and economic development.

TIMES ARE CHANGING

Guam will see many changes over the next couple of years in our solid waste management activities. Ordot will most probably close sometime in 1998, a new landfill and a waste-to-energy facility are expected to be constructed soon, and we will finally have to start paying for the trash pickup service that DPW has been providing subsidized by the General Fund. In conjunction with all of this, the community will need to be educated about new policies that will be put in place. It is my opinion that as we enter the next century, an integrated solid waste management plan will position us to handle economic and population growths well into the future.