| Abstract |
Over the past few years, the United States has made significant progress in diverting municipal solid waste (MSW) from landfills and combustion facilities. In 1996, 27 percent of MSW was recovered, exceeding the national goal of 25 percent set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). States have played an integral role in helping the nation to achieve this goal through a variety of MSW management practices, including recycling, composting, and source reduction. Source reduction (also called waste prevention) has come to be recognized as a common sense approach with significant potential to use resources efficiently, save money, and reduce waste. Consequently, the benefits of source reduction are prompting an increasing number of states to move beyond traditional waste management programs and find new options for waste reduction initiatives. These initiatives emphasize creating less waste in the first place as opposed to simply diverting waste from disposal. EPA took this snapshot to get a picture of state initiatives, to share successful activities and strategies, and help foster effective source reduction programs nationwide. This snapshot is specifically focused on MSW; state activities geared to the source reduction of hazardous, toxic, or industrial wastes are not addressed in this document. Furthermore, this document highlights state source reduction activities in effect as of the Fall of 1997. |
