Submitted by the Lopez Solid Waste District The Lopez Solid Waste District regrets to inform the community of new restrictions on plastics recycling at the Lopez dump. Mixed plastics no. 1-7, plastic bags and film, and agricultural plastics are no longer able to be recycled by LSWDD. Plastics still accepted are no. 1 clear or lightly tinted bottles and jars (screw top lid), no. 2 cloudy bottles and jugs (screw top lid), and no. 2 colored bottles and jars (screw top lid). They must be clean and sorted. Skagit River Steel and Recycling has been stockpiling shipments of these materials over the past several months in hopes of a market opening up to receive them. It has not found any buyers further down the supply chain and must stop accepting them as recycling from us at this time. Most other recycling buyers are in the same position, unfortunately. As a convenience and learning opportunity for our recycling customers, we will continue to accept these plastics at the usual location in the recycling plaza until July 2018. However, they will be deposited into the garbage dumpsters by staff daily. Please note this and make every effort to reduce consumption of these plastics or begin placing these specific recyclables into your garbage at home. Mixed plastics nos. 1–7, plastic bags and film, and agricultural plastics are now garbage until you hear otherwise. Mixed plastics include molded plastics, clamshells, tubs and darkly tinted no. 1 bottles. A no. 2 yogurt container or ice cream tub is not a bottle with a screw top lid so it is no longer accepted for recycling. It’s the same molecule as a no. 2 cloudy milk jug or colored detergent jug but because it is not a bottle it is not accepted. In 2017, China announced that it would stop accepting global shipments of many low-grade plastics, metals and mixed paper. LSWDD provides very clean, sorted streams of materials so only our lowest grade plastics are being affected at this time. Treating plastics as garbage instead of recycling is predicted to get worse before it gets better around the U.S. LSWDD plans to leave these plastics receptacles in place in the recycling plaza until July 2018 in hopes that a solution is found by that time. We continue to monitor the global recycling situation very closely in hopes of new buyers and processors opening up with a larger capacity. We are also analyzing options for processing some volume of plastics on site, such as with our Re-Make Lab or a larger application using similar technology. As always, achieving Zero Waste starts with consumers, so please be conscious of your purchasing options and make any adjustments possible to keep this new stream of garbage out of landfills. We encourage you to contact purveyors of products sold only in plastics about your concerns. There is also the option of returning plastic containers to the original purveyors of the products. An educated, active public can and will make the difference. Published in Islands Weekly, January 7, 2018.

First Annual Lopez Vacuum Cleaner Races!! Saturday, Oct 28th at 3 pm at the Dump! Fun, games, and a race that “Doesn’t Suck” (that’s why they are in the race). Come down early to the Take It or Leave It, pick out and costume yourself and one of the 18 TIOLI vacuum cleaners, and win hilarious prizes. Every participant gets a brand new commemorative T Shirt and Mug! There will be a vacuum cleaner cake walk promenade, the race, and the final death march of each vacuum into the dumpster at the end. Families and teams welcome.  Extra points for style and aplomb. Please email Nikyta if you would like to enter at nikytap@lopezsolidwaste.org

Our ReMake Lab Shredder is now up and running on site! Now you can come by and recycle your #1 PET bottles yourself with the help of our volunteers. Our shredder has both a hand crank to test your strength and endurance, and a motorized crank that uses an upcycled motor reclaimed from a TIOLI machine to shred the bottles. The shredded material is for use in our extruder that turns it into 3D printer filament. Both LSWDD and Lopez school have 3D printers, and our goal is to provide them with local fully recycled filament for use in creating new and useful items and educational materials. Look for the shredder next time you are on site! To read more about the ReMake Lab project, visit it’s website at: http://remakelab.weebly.com/

Governor Jay Inslee visited the Lopez Dump this summer while on-island to deliver the commencement speech for high school graduates. On June 10, 2017, before going to speak at the Lopez High School graduation ceremony, Washington Governor Jay Inslee paid a visit to the famous free store, affectionately called the “Take It or Leave It”(TIOLI), at the Lopez “Dump.” The Lopez Island Solid Waste Disposal District (LSWDD) is a drop box facility that is committed to a zero waste future and operates TIOLI. Inslee is pictured above with Facility Manager, David Zapalac, and is shown with his new free bird house and free button up shirt. During his graduation speech, Inslee proudly opened his jacket to reveal his new “used” shirt that he had just obtained from his recent visit to TIOLI. In 2016, the Take It or Leave It diverted 132 tons of material out of the waste stream and into reuse and recycle. Textiles, such as the shirt Governor Inslee wore, are part of this diversion. Clothing and textiles that are not taken and put into reuse by Lopez residents are recycled through a partnership with the Value Village. Lopez Island has a population of 2,400 full time residents, yet will recycle an average of 3,000 pounds of textiles every quarter, equaling 6 tons of recycled textiles a year. LSWDD is honored that our State’s Governor is similarly committed to this cause.

New changes to plastics recycling at The Dump – December 22, 2017 What Mixed Plastics #1-7, plastic bags and film, and agricultural plastics are no longer able to be recycled by LSWDD. We will continue to accept these plastics at the usual location in the recycling plaza until July, 2018 as a convenience and learning opportunity for our recycling customers. However, they will be deposited into the garbage dumpsters by staff daily. Please note this and begin placing these specific recyclables into your garbage at home – Mixed Plastics #1-7, plastic bags and film, and agricultural plastics – are now garbage until you hear otherwise. (Clean “ag plastic” planting pots may be accepted at TIOLI). Plastics still accepted are #1 clear or lightly tinted bottles and jars (screw top lid), #2 cloudy bottles and jugs ( screw top lid), and #2 colored bottles and jars (screw top lid). They must be clean and sorted. More about Mixed Plastics #1 – #7: molded plastics, Clamshells, tubs, and darkly tinted #1 bottles are no longer accepted for recycling. A #2 yogurt container or ice cream tub is not a bottle with a screw top lid so it is no longer accepted for recycling It’s the same molecule as a #2 cloudy milk jug or colored detergent tub but because it is not a bottle it is not accepted. Illogical but that’s the rule that the recycling industry places on us. Why? In 2017, China announced that it would stop accepting global shipments of many low-grade plastics, metals, and mixed paper. LSWDD provides very clean, sorted streams of materials so only our lowest grade plastics are being affected at this time. Our recycling ‘buyer’ – Skagit River Steel and Recycling – has been stockpiling some of our shipments of these materials over the past several months in hopes of a market opening up to receive them. They have not found any buyers further down the supply chain and must stop accepting them as recycling from us at this time. Other recycling buyers are in the same position, unfortunately. How Long? Treating plastics as garbage instead of recycling is predicted to get worse before it gets better around the U.S. LSWDD plans to leave these ‘garbage plastics’ receptacles in place in the Recycling Plaza until July, 2018. Anything else? We continue to monitor the global recycling situation very closely in hopes of new buyers and processors opening up with large capacity. We are also analyzing options for processing some volume of plastics on-site, such as with our Re-Make Lab or a larger application using similar technology. As always, achieving Zero Waste starts with consumers, so please monitor your purchases and make any adjustments possible to keep garbage out of landfills. For more information please email info@LopezSolidWaste.org.

A cello made from an oil can? A violin made from a metal can and a wooden spoon? A drumhead from an X-ray film? Yes! All instruments made from trash found in Cateura, Paraguay, a small town south of Asuncion, the country’s capital. A main source of income in Cateura is looking for items to sell by sifting through the trash that forms the enormous landfill upon which Catuera is built An environmental engineer and musician Favio Chavez came to the landfill as an engineer and instead, he and resident Nicolas Gomez created musical instruments from trash. Then Chavez taught students to be musicians, whose music changed their lives. The DVD, landfillharmonic, tells their incredible story and is available at the Lopez Library.  Check it out!

The San Juan County Council voted unanimously on July 25th to approve a 2018 ballot measure allowing the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District (LSWDD) to raise $105,000 through its annual property tax levy in 2018. The measure will appear on the 2017 election ballot for the November 7th election. Since the inception of the Lopez Solid Waste District, Lopez has passed the annual levy ballot measures in amounts between $80,000-115,000 with an average of 80% approval rating among Lopez Islanders. The amount requested by LSWDD will cover roughly 25% of operational costs for the Lopez Dump, which continues to offer affordable refuse disposal at $8 per 32-gallon can; free recycling for sorted recyclables; and the increasingly popular Take It or Leave It (TIOLI). This summer, the Dump is open 33% more frequently: 4 days per week from 11am to 4pm. “LSWDD aims to keep costs stable despite volatile markets for garbage and recycling. The Dump this past year has expanded its hours, hired a District Manager, put in safety improvements at the site, and prevented the garbage can rates from increasing,” said board chair Clark Johnson. The $105,000 levy amount is an average of the annual levies since the District’s inception in 2013. District manager Paul Andersson said, “We run a tight ship, on a small site, with outstanding volunteers and staff. At the end of the day, we want to deserve the community’s support.”

China has put a wrench in the spokes of global recycling by banning the import of certain recyclables from around the world, including plastics, mixed paper, textiles, and trace metals. The Lopez Dump is monitoring the situation closely because many recyclables, together with those collected along the west coast, are shipped to Chinese processing facilities. These facilities have been developed and in use since the 1980s and will now be off-limits to the US recycling industry. China has filed an official ban with the World Trade Organization and says it will be fully implemented by the end of 2017. China’s move is reportedly an effort by the Ministry of Environmental Protection to clean up pollution entering the country through contaminated material streams. The materials most targeted for refusal are those with the least value or arriving in mixed batches potentially containing high amounts of garbage. The U.S. recycling industry is capable of collecting, but not processing these and other materials at the volume being collected from consumers. Alternative global markets exist but are already saturated by multinational corporations who have shifted out of China over the past several months. If more markets are not developed to receive them, these items will soon need to be disposed of as garbage. San Juan County islanders should take note of both the negative and positive impacts the Chinese recycling ban may catalyze. Plastics to Landfill? At its worst, the ban will mean a shut-down or significant slow-down of global recycling efforts. Many industry officials are claiming that the move is already forcing the wheels to come off of the global recycling engine. Stockpiling materials at Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) is a temporary solution, but the next immediate step may be disposal of some material types as garbage into the landfill. New Markets Can Emerge In a positive light, the ban can provide jobs and economic development domestically by helping to spark improved recyclable manufacturing capacity within the United States. Even better, it can help enhance efforts in local communities like Lopez Island, forcing us to rethink the ways in which we consume resources, generate waste, and rely on global markets to make our “stuff disappear” in the first place. The ban is a wake-up call to the fact that commercial packaging, current recycling practices and human consumption in general may not be sustainable. A Lopez Solution With our community’s steadfast sorting of specific material types, the Lopez dump is already producing some of the least contaminated material bales around – making it easier to resell Lopezian recyclables to outside buyers. If the Chinese ban is simply an attempt to reduce the import of contaminated streams of materials that end up becoming garbage, then materials coming from facilities like ours may be able to maintain international buyers. In addition, domestic processing plants for some of the higher-grade plastics such as PETE bottles (no. 1–2) have been developed along the west coast and could be an alternative outlet for our materials. All plastics are not created equal, however, and reducing consumption of plastics no. 3–7 or paying to dispose of them as garbage could become essential. The whole situation has the potential to leave the Lopez dump and our customers in a bit of a lurch, but now is the time to have our eyes open to new opportunities that will help us achieve our mission of zero waste: How might our community significantly reduce consumption of plastics? Would local processing and manufacturing with recycled plastics be technologically feasible and economically sound? What opportunities for upcycling materials locally deserve research and development? The Lopez dump is committed to helping our customers achieve zero waste by effectively recycling and repurposing as much material as possible. At this time, not enough is known about the global situation to dictate a change in our current customer sorting practices. We look forward to continuing the dialogue about this important issue over the next several months. This article was published in the Islands Weekly, to see it click here https://www.islandsweekly.com/life/china-blocks-plastics-from-u-s-recyclers-solid-waste-series-part-1/

In the first article of this series we reported that by the end of 2017, China will stop accepting global imports of many raw recycling materials, including plastics. This will have significant impacts on current recycling efforts across the country. Since most of our plastics are received by China, the Lopez Dump is monitoring this situation and aims to identify and execute proactive solutions where possible. If new markets do not become available to receive plastics, the quickest solution for many recycling facilities will be to divert plastics back into the waste stream, with customers paying to throw it away as garbage. This approach obviously violates the Lopez Dump’s prime directive and mission of working toward zero waste. Instead we should consider solutions to minimize plastics production, extend its lifecycle and prevent it from degrading our environment. Here are three “big picture” examples. Government Solutions Just this summer in San Juan County, a government policy response led to the ban on single-use plastic bags at retailers throughout the county. Policy responses like these that impose broad controls or full restrictions on certain material types (also think Styrofoam or single-serve bottled water) can have some of the greatest long-term impact at the least cost. These “upstream” solutions target the very beginning of a product’s lifecycle, eliminating the need to manage these materials as recycling, garbage, or pollution “downstream.” The potential of material bans extends much further (Kenya recently imposed a fine of $19,000 or jail time for any person or company importing or distributing plastic bags), but this approach is not likely to succeed in isolation and needs to be part of a broader strategy. Manufacturer and Distributor Solutions Many governments instead place responsibility for recovering product/packaging materials on industries, producers, retailers, or consumers. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws require manufacturers to recover materials from their products or packaging instead of allowing them to go to the landfill. Electronic waste (E-waste) and fluorescent lightbulb recycling function in this way on Lopez Island, with the producers (and often consumers) paying a fee to recover their product once its use is complete. EPRs have the potential of covering an even broader spectrum of manufacturers and product types in the U.S., as they are across much of Europe. The concept of this upstream material recovery can also be widely applied in the shops of local businesses. Storefront Solutions Businesses can reduce their material and labor costs if they’re willing to get creative, work in partnership with customers, and speak up to suppliers. The reduction and recovery of packaging products happens creatively and on many different scales at the storefront. From growlers to grains, the bulk sale of goods in reusable containers can reduce some packaging needs by 100 percent — problem solved! Purchasing products in containers that are readily recycled (aluminum) instead of disposed of on Lopez Island (glass) can turn costs into revenues for the dump directly. Putting a deposit price on any bottle or other package (and automating the return process) almost guarantees its return and is a widely used model in many states and countries. After all, the packaging is provided as a service, not something the customer actually wants to own. Think of all of the packaging and products that we purchase and do not have the option to return to the manufacturer where it is most likely to be useful again! In our next article, we will discuss many brave new opportunities specific to consumer behavior and even the prospect of hyper-local plastics production. Stay tuned and feel free to share your thoughts by emailing info@.org. This article was originally published in the Islands Weekly. To see it click here