Measuring Recycling: Commercial Recycling’s Hidden Contribution to Recycling Rates

Monday, February 8th, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Commercial Recycling

Natalie Starr, Principal, DSM Environmental Services

Recycling rates continue to be the primary tool to measure the success of waste diversion strategies. However recycling rates tend to focus on easy to measure materials and programs for the residential and small commercial sector. Large generator categories, including data critical to benchmarking sustainable waste management practices, are often ignored in these calculations, while landfill cover and construction materials often weigh heavy into these rates.

DSM has worked with Delaware’s Recycling Public Advisory Council (RPAC – appointed by the Governor) for the past four years to assist in calculating Delaware’s Recycling Rate. Before DSM’s work, recycling rates around 70% were reported counting all materials that were diverted from the Delaware Solid Waste Authority’s three landfills. Applying EPA’s strict definition of municipal recycling, new recycling rates were calculated, hovering around 30%. Key to all rates reported, was the contribution of commercial recycling.

In this session, DSM will explore how commercial recycling compares to residential recycling, which materials count under EPA and not, and where commercial recycling has grown and has the potential to grow in the future. For example, despite very high rates of commercial corrugated recycling in Delaware, corrugated containers remain the largest single category of commercial waste disposed in Delaware landfills.

Using Delaware as an example, DSM will present which materials can be the greatest contributors to state recycling rates, and how rates differ depending on state definitions. Finally, DSM will review where municipal and commercial recycling activities can merge to mutually benefit increased resource recovery.

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