• Skip to main content
ATN Tall V1(12) for Website with transparent top strip FINAL
  • Who We Are
    • Our Mission & Vision
    • Our Team
    • Our Collaborators
    • History
  • What We Do
    • Organize Local Industry Coalitions
    • Advocate
      • Pot Profits for Pennsylvanians (P3)
    • Educate, Celebrate and Unite
    • Move Money
    • Lead a “Revolution of Values”
  • Regional Economies
    • Why Regional Economies
    • Clothing & Textiles
      • Textile Recycling Task Force
      • FiberShed
    • Industrial Hemp Coalition
    • Local Food
    • Local Tourism
    • Plant Medicine
      • Pot Profits for Pennsylvanians (P3)
    • Renewable Energy
    • Zero Waste
  • Get Involved
    • Sign Up
    • Volunteer
    • Join the Clothing and Textile Coalition
    • Join a Campaign
      • Pot Profits for Pennsylvanians (P3)
    • Career Opportunities
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Host an Event
    • Sponsorship
  • Blog
  • Media
    • Press
    • Videos
  • Contact
  • Donate
    • Sponsorship

Zero Waste

Zero Waste

001-recycle-bin

About the Zero Waste/Recycling Advisory Group

The Zero Waste Advisory Group is comprised of entrepreneurs, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and community leaders dedicated to building local, circular supply chains that will first minimize and second make productive and sustainable use of our state’s discards (formerly known as "trash").

Our purpose is to advise local businesses in our evolving regional economies about ways to reduce waste and ultimately to facilitate the creation of social ventures engaged in reuse, repair, recycling, composting and manufacturing to cost-effectively implement reduction strategies and utilize discards to create jobs and economic development opportunities while eliminating the negative impacts of wasting and extraction on people and the environment.

This project hopes to demonstrate that it is possible to decouple waste generation from economic growth and displace the need for extraction with a closed-loop approach, ultimately eliminating our reliance on the broken and unjust system of incinerators, landfills and the exporting of waste.

IMG-5365

Background

Every year in Pennsylvania, we generate almost 9 million tons of municipal solid waste, representing about 1,383 pounds of trash per person per year. Currently, the majority of this waste makes its way to our state’s landfills or incinerators, where it not only pollutes our air and water, but also disproportionally harms communities of color and low-income communities where waste facilities are primarily located. When you look at the upstream impact of what we throw away, including extraction, manufacturing and transportation, the products, packaging and food we consume represents 42% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US. This embedded energy in our discards is too valuable to waste, let alone the harm caused when we burn or bury trash.

Recycling was born from a grass roots movement accountable to the community and motivated to address the issues of waste, however, its connection to environmental impact and societal benefit has unfortunately degraded over the last 20 years. As communities relinquished control of their programs, recycling became more about “convenience” and high diversion rates and less about quality and impact. Decisions were driven by waste haulers interested in protecting their profits from disposal and packaging manufactures seeking to justify a system of unsustainable consumption. This mentality ultimately led to China’s “National Sword” ban on importing recycling, a major disruption and wake up call to the fact that we need to fix recycling. Now, as the nation reels from the financial impact of the recycling market crash, we have a choice to prop up the existing broken system of “make-take-waste” or instead regain control of our community’s resources by investing in locally controlled zero waste businesses and infrastructure.

Building local zero waste supply chains is a powerful intersectional strategy addressing climate change, clean air and water, economic development, equity, and social justice. A zero waste, regenerative economy displaces the need for the continued extraction of fossil fuels and natural resources and eliminates the need for unjust disposal options. Recycling, composting, reuse and repair businesses minimize and utilize discards to benefit our community while creating 9-30 times as many jobs as wasting. The recycling and reuse industry in PA already employs over 66,000 people, with total sales receipts of over $30 billion per year. Together we can seize the opportunity to achieve zero waste in Pennsylvania. – Alex Danovitch

What We Do

Connect

Connect municipalities, manufacturers, recycling and composting processors and other zero waste businesses to align the way we produce, package, collect and discard of the goods we consume to maximize the local value of reduction, repair, reuse, recycling, and composting opportunities. Inspire cooperation among members of the coalition to support each other and share information and connections to resources and markets, opportunities for collaboration, sustainable business practices, and models from other states and localities.

Advocate

Advocate policies and cooperative business practices that offer local control, favor long-term solutions over-short term profits, provide ownership opportunities to the low-income communities and communities of color that have been disproportionally impacted by wasting (due to the siting of landfills and incinerators) and provide meaningful living wage jobs in both rural and urban communities. Modify existing policies around recycling and waste to remove barriers preventing these opportunities and create new policies that help incentivize them.

Educate

Educate political candidates, state legislators, investors, entrepreneurs, local businesses and the general public about the potential impact that zero waste initiatives can have on economic development, climate change, human health, and environmental justice to support and grow a just, sustainable and locally based zero waste industry in Pennsylvania. Organize educational seminars, workshops, speaking engagements and panel discussions. Share information with local businesses to incorporate zero waste sustainability initiatives into daily practice.

PA Zero Waste Resources

Organizations Focused on Zero Waste:

  • Penn Environment
  • Circular Philadelphia
  • Chester Residents for Quality Living
  • Clean Water Action

Businesses Supporting Zero Waste Supply Chains:

  • Bennet Compost
  • Bottle Underground
  • Revolution Recovery

What citizens can do to reduce waste

  • Buy less.
  • Compost food waste at home or with a compost service. ( we will soon list local compost services in our state.)
  • Use a refillable water bottle.
  • Use a refillable coffee mug.
  • Use reusable utensils when eating take-out food. (Bamboo travel sets are available.)
  • Bring refillable containers when picking up take-out food.
  • If a straw is necessary, use a paper or reusable straw.
  • Buy bulk food and store in reusable jars.
  • Reduce food waste by buying only what you know you will eat.
  • Use reusable shopping bags, including smaller vegetable bags.
  • Recycle properly, according to local instructions.
IMG-5358
IMG-5372

Zero Waste Guide for Desingers

Find out how to impliment zero waste practices into your design process with our Zero Waste Guide for Designers.

Want to get involved in the Zero Waste/Recycling Advisory Group?

All Together Now PA - Alex Danovitch

Alex Danovitch

Zero Waste Advisor

Contact Me

© 2022 All Together Now. All Rights Reserved.
Design by Spacious

Change Location
Find awesome listings near you!