San Jose, CA Zero Waste Plan
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Type: Policy
Status: Ongoing
Source File: http://www.sjrecycles.org/zerowaste.asp
Description:
As part of the City of San José’s Green Vision, we are developing a Zero Waste Plan to divert 100% of waste from the landfill by 2022.
Imagine a Zero Waste San José, in which nothing goes to the landfill. Zero Waste is preventing waste wherever possible and recycling all materials back into nature or the marketplace in a manner that protects human health and the environment.
Benefits of Zero Waste
Greenhouse Gas Reduction:
- Saves energy by reducing energy consumption associated with extracting, processing and transporting ‘virgin’ raw materials for manufacturing
- Avoids methane emissions from landfills by directing biodegradable materials to composting or energy recovery
Environmental Protection:
- Products and raw materials are used for their entire beneficial life
- Maximum resource recovery, reuse, recycling and composting
- Less impact on our land, water, and atmosphere
Economic Development:
- Job creation: recycling creates ten times more jobs than landfilling
- Recovered ‘trash’ becomes raw material for new products, such as plastic bottles being made into fleece jackets
You can help us by incorporating waste prevention and recycling into your everyday activities.