Overview
- Plastic waste, and the environmental and health damage that results from it, is a problem that Washtenaw County is taking seriously. According to Zerowaste.org, “We’ve made more plastic in the last 10 years than we did in the preceding century. This exponential rise in production places an incredibly heavy burden on the people and animals that have to live near or among the things we throw away. Couple that with the fact that 90% of a product’s environmental impact happens before you even open the package, and we start to understand the true scale of the problem we’re facing.” (Source: *directly quoted* https://zerowaste.org/)
- The Washtenaw Zero Waste Coalition is hosting the third annual Trash Talk Tour on September 29th from 8am - 4pm. More details are available here. Participants can tour the new MRF and see up close what happens to recyclables from the community, visit Ann Arbor’s composting facility, see recycling in action at Michigan Stadium, and bike through town stopping at local businesses and organizations that are committed to supporting the circular economy.
- In addition, The WCBC and Zerowaste.org are united in pursuing an overturn of the statewide “ban or bag and container bans” and would like to drastically cut down on the plastic waste generated from single-use bags and containers.
- In February of 2024, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (WCBC) issued a resolution supporting SB228 to repeal a Michigan state law from 2016 that prevents local ordinances from banning plastic bags and “auxiliary containers”. From the resolution:
“In 2016, the passage of Michigan Public Act (PA) 389 of 2016, prohibited local jurisdictions from regulating the use of reusable and single-use plastic containers. Specifically, MCL 445.592 restricted a local unit of government in the State of Michigan from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that: (a) Regulates the use, disposition, or sale of auxiliary containers. (b) Prohibits or restricts auxiliary containers. (c) Imposes a fee, charge, or tax on auxiliary containers. Pursuant to the PA 389 of 2016, auxiliary container means a bag, cup, bottle, or other packaging, whether reusable or single-use, that meets both of the following requirements: (a) is made of cloth, paper, plastic, cardboard, corrugated material, aluminum, glass, postconsumer recycled material, or similar material or substrates, including coated, laminated, or multilayer substrates, and (b) is designed for transporting, consuming, or protecting merchandise, food, or beverages from or at a food service or retail facility.”
- The Trash Talk Tour is a family-friendly event promoting sustainable, zero waste businesses and organizations, and it is working to shift the culture around single-use consumption and waste in Ann Arbor in a way that will have lasting impacts in the community. The TTT is a free, family-friendly event that allows people to see what happens to trash, recyclables, and compost after you throw them “away” through tours of Ann Arbor’s recycling and compost facilities and the Michigan Stadium. Participants also get the chance to learn about and support Ann Arbor's circular economy through behind-the-scenes tours and pop-ups of local businesses who are committed to reducing waste. (Source: *directly quoted* https://trashtalktour.org/)
- Ann Arbor is taking a proactive approach to tackling climate change. Four years ago, the city adopted an ambitious plan to eliminate its global warming pollution by 2030. The plan includes fully transitioning to renewable energy, expanding public transit, installing EV chargers, weatherizing homes, and more. Doing it all is expected to cost about $1 billion. More than 70% of residents voted yes [on a 20-year mileage], sending a strong signal that Ann Arbor residents want to invest in a cleaner future. (Source: *directly quoted* https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/03/ann-arbor-voters-approve-20-year-tax-for-climate-action/#:~:text=Three%20years%20ago%2C%20the%20city,to%20cost%20about%20%241%20billion.)
Transcription
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU. And today, we're going to talk some trash. The third annual Trash Talk Tour is coming up in Washtenaw County, and it's an opportunity to actively and directly learn about recycling in Washtenaw County and about the circular economy it helps create. I'm David Fair, and welcome to this week's edition of Issues of the Environment. Now, plastics are a big part of our waste stream, and you can find the negative impacts it creates in any number of aspects of our lives. All of those plastic bags that we get from grocery stores--they cannot go in your recycle bin and most often end up in the landfill. Efforts to allow communities in Michigan to ban those plastic bags have been thwarted in Lansing. That's a part of our trash talk today with Samuel McMullen. Samuel is executive director of zerowaste.org and a co-organizer of the Trash Talk Tour. And thank you for taking time today, Samuel! I appreciate it!
Samuel McMullen: I'm happy to! Thank you for having me!
David Fair: Now, do I have this right? There are more plastics that have been manufactured in the last ten years than in all of the 1900s?
Samuel McMullen: Yes. That's a statistic that's only getting worse. The trend is up and to the right, unfortunately.
David Fair: Well, there are obvious reasons. Plastics are light. They're convenient. It's a durable product. There's a lot to appreciate about plastics in our everyday and workaday lives. As head of an organization advocating for sustainability and responsible environmental stewardship, how do you look at plastics today?
Samuel McMullen: You know, plastics are among the top categories of waste that ends up in landfills. It's a human health issue that we don't even fully understand yet. It's an environmental hazard, both just in terms of the production cycle, but also post-production once they get into the oceans. I think people are aware of some of those issues as well. It's a double-edged sword. You're right. There's a lot of convenience offered. There are certain medical devices, certain things, that have transformed the way we do things. But there's a huge downside, environmentally, health-wise and for the natural world.
David Fair: I mentioned plastic grocery bags in the introduction. Over the years, there have been efforts to ban them in some communities, including here in Washtenaw County. But back in 2016, the state Legislature stepped in and prevented local communities from banning plastic bags and what it calls "auxiliary containers," essentially those single use plastic containers. Are you more surprised that that measure passed eight years ago or that it remains in place today?
Samuel McMullen: Honestly, that it remains in place today. I think it was during the Snyder administration and there was a wave of plastic bag legislation that they were reacting to and a wave of legislation that, I might add, has been very successful. It's in lockstep with plastic bag reductions. Basically, if you look at the percentage of population covered by a plastic bag ban, it maps directly onto the percent reduction in plastic bags found on beaches, in our waste and in our recycling system. So, that was a predictable response from that administration. But here we are, and we still haven't done anything to make some common sense moves towards plastic waste reduction. And that is surprising.
David Fair: Our Issues of the Environment conversation with Trash Talk tour co-organizer and zerowaste.org executive director Samuel McMullen continues on 89 one WEMU. While that 2016 law does remain in place, there are ongoing efforts to overturn it. In February of this year, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution supporting State Senate Bill 228, which would repeal the 2016 law. Now, I know your organization is also advocating for repeal. So, as you understand it, where are we in the process here in September of 2024?
Samuel McMullen: You know, the bill is still in committee. There's another bill in the House that's a little bit more targeted, just as bags. The initial law that these bills seek to repeal or amend is tremendously broad and really restricts any municipality from doing basically anything to regulate, put a fee on, act on plastic containers in any way. So, we're just waiting for the Legislature to make some moves to allow municipalities to do anything about plastic waste production around auxiliary containers, as they call them. The bill in the Senate is stuck in committee, and we're hoping to get it out on the floor and get things moving and make this issue a thing of the past.
David Fair: Even if there were a repeal, not every community in the state or the county is going to pass a ban on plastic bags and single-use plastics. Have you seen any studies, or do you have an idea of how much plastic could be removed from the waste stream and our landfills, should communities in Michigan and Washtenaw County have the option?
Samuel McMullen: Yeah. You know, plastic bags--often, the response is like, "Oh, they're so light. They're so small. Why are we tackling this?" And part of it is because the environmental risk posed by this thin film--it mimics jellyfish in the ocean. There are things beyond the actual production of the material that are of concern. It gums up our recycling work. Some of the biggest problems in recycling is having to shut everything down to untangle the plastic bags and the film--the plastic film--that ends up in that system. It happens regularly. So, there are huge cost savings to be had in the recycling system. There are huge ecosystem savings to be had. It goes far beyond the literal reduction in plastic. But that said, we use, like, 100 billion plastic bags a year in the United States--280 per year per person. So, we have a long way to go to reduce that. And there are really simple measures: returnable or reusable bags. You could use paper bags if you absolutely need to. And it turns out that this is a human behavior that's very susceptible to change. And the most common outcome, based on some studies in California, is not that people switch to a returnable bag or use a different kind of bag, is that they use no bag at all. So often, we're getting 1 or 2 things packaged in a bag that we use for maybe eight seconds. Throw it away. We didn't really even need it. So, that's really where this kind of legislation shines. It's in reducing totally unnecessary bag use.
David Fair: And by eliminating some of that from the waste stream, enhancing more efficient recycling, then we play into the circular economy and enhance that as well. So, when it comes to reuse and recycling, is there evidence that the circular economy is both environmentally and economically viable?
Samuel McMullen: Absolutely! The circular economy is great for jobs. It creates much more local jobs. If you think about the difference between extracting manufacturing and shipping, for instance, a single use container, most of that happens far, far away from us and then we end up throwing it away and creating the demand for a brand new container. Whereas if you contrast that with the circular approach where you make a container once and use it over and over again, that creates local jobs. It is better for the environment. There's a lot of evidence to support that. The circular economy is a huge boost for local supply chains, and the environmental case is just as strong. About 70% of our global emissions are tied up in the materials we use. So, it's really important to figure out how exactly is it that we stop the sort of never-ending treadmill that we're on of extraction, production and disposal and get to something where we can actually reuse the items that fill our daily needs?
David Fair: Once again, this is 89 one WEMU's Issues of the Environment. And we're talking with Samuel McMullen. He's executive director of zerowaste.org and co-organizer of the upcoming third annual Trash Talk Tour in Washtenaw County. You know, much of what we talked about today, Samuel, is at work in Washtenaw County. But most of us are not exposed to how a lot of it works directly. So, I guess that's kind of the point of the Trash Talk Tour, isn't it?
Samuel McMullen: That's exactly right! In the Trash Talk Tour, you get to peek behind the curtain. It's a really a celebration of the circular economy. There's so much about circular economy and zero waste that is just highlighting what's already going on. Thrift shops--we have wonderful thrift shops in Ann Arbor. The city circular economy team is building: building out swaps, building out returnable container systems. They're doing such a good job. And Recycle Ann Arbor is one of the best recyclers in the country. We're sort of elite in that sense. We're very lucky to have them. And the stadium is doing incredible things with zerowaste during game days. Go Blue! This is just a chance to celebrate. And, yeah, like I said, peek behind the curtain. The big event this year is at Kiwanis. We're really trying to lean into the celebration aspect of things and make it really fun. AAPS students will be there demonstrating composting, worm composting, showing off their latest waste sorts. There will be repair stations, tours of Kiwanis's incredible operation that just does so much good for the community and redistributes landfill-bound materials to people who can use them. It's going to be a lot of fun. And there'll be prizes and games galore!
David Fair: Are there any portions of the Trash Talk Tour this year that require registration?
Samuel McMullen: Yes. So, you'll need to register for the Big House tour and the tours of the Material Recovery Facility, which is the technical name for the recycling center. Those two are limited attendance. Please also register at trashtalktour.org for the Kiwanis, just so that we have a good RSVP. And we can understand and send you any input you need as you come up to it. But anyone can come to Kiwanis. That's open registration.
David Fair: You're in the industry. You're a co-organizer of this Trash Talk Tour event. I'm curious as to what you may have learned or discovered that you didn't know through one of the first two Trash Talk Tour events.
Samuel McMullen: You know, I was fascinated by all of it. But what was particularly surprising for me was the Kiwanis tour, getting to see all the different ways. They're working on repair. They're working on redistribution. They're just doing so much behind the scenes that you wouldn't expect that. I'd highly recommend taking that behind-the-scenes tour at Kiwanis on Sunday.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for the time and the information today, Samuel! I do appreciate it!
Samuel McMullen: Of course, yeah! If anyone wants to register, it's trashtalktour.org. It has all the links you need. Really appreciate it, David!
David Fair: That is Samuel McMullen, executive director of zerowaste.org and co-organizer of the third annual Trash Talk Tour. Again, it takes place on Sunday, September 29th. For more information and to access all of the links about all we've talked about and to learn more and get signed up, head over to our website at wemu.org. Issues of the Environment is produced in partnership with the office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner, and you hear it every Wednesday. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM, Ypsilanti.
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