Sustainability Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2011 07 20

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th This is my draft letter for City Council, for their Aug 9Study Session to hear about the Zero- Waste Plan.Mark To: Louisville City Council From: Louisville Sustainability Advisory Board Subject: LSAB Endorsement of Boulder County’s Zero-Waste Plan Date: August 2011 Page 1 of 2 At LSAB’s May 2011 meeting, we heard a presentation on Boulder County’s newly developed Zero- Waste Plan, from County Staff member Ms Lisa Friend. www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/gogreen/zerowasteactionplan2010.pdf. The Plan can be reviewed at Boulder County’s 2005 Resolution to adopt such a plan can be reviewed at www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/gogreen/susreszerowaste.pdf. The members of LSAB endorse this Plan, and strongly encourage our City Council to adopt it as a guiding document for our city,as has been done with Boulder County’s Sustainable Energy Plan. As noted in the Plan’s introduction, residents and businesses in Boulder County send approximately a quarter-million tonsof ‘trash’ to landfill each year! Of that tonnage, more than 5,000 tons comprise paper and cardboard waste that could be recycled to make new paper products; more than 5,000 tons are building materials (wood, shingles, metals) that could have secondary uses; and approximately25,000 tons are food and yard waste that create methane gas through their anaerobic decomposition within landfills, which is a much more lethal gas than the carbon dioxide those tons would generate as reusable compost material. Reducing the volumes of waste materials that just go to landfills can have local benefits that include: Conserving natural and manufactured resources, that can contribute to long-term economic stability; Increasing local and regional economic options through recycling and composting business opportunities–more than are available from landfill operations; Reducing waste of materials through more thoughtful purchasing decisions; Reducing/eliminating the landfill disposal of hazardous materials. Boulder County’s Zero-Waste Planis a well-detailedguide that describes 17 short-term and 11 mid-term actionsor procedures (pp 12-40 in the plan) that can be demonstrated to reduce tonnages that might go to landfills, reduce hazards to our local environment, and potentially offer new local economic opportunities. We are glad to note that our city already follows some of the Plan’s proposals: Louisvillehas likely the best and most comprehensive community-wide compost-recyclables-trash collection program within Boulder County, and one of thebest within the state. (p 17of the plan) Our program gives us the highest trash-diversion rate currently achieved with the county, app 40%! Besides our community-wide compost-collection program, many residents still do their own backyard composting for their yardsand gardens. (p 18)