contract<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 worth up to $300,000 \u2014 began last October and lasts a year. At July\u2019s online meeting, the consultant unveiled a short list of proposals that could help Indiana reach that 50% goal:<\/p>\nRequiring commercial food waste generators like grocery stores or restaurants to divert the surplus from landfill to alternatives like composting or donation.Investing in sorting and processing infrastructure to increase facility capacity or improve how much material they can recover.Investing in collection pathways, like adding drop-off sites and curbside recycling options, or hosting community collection events.Educating Hoosiers on recycling practices and to raise awareness.Requiring that Hoosiers separate recyclable materials from trash.Setting interim targets for the state as it works toward the 50% goal.Adding a per-ton surcharge to landfilled or incinerated waste.<\/p>\n
IDEM\u2019s Sneed noted the plan will \u201cprovide data and insight to help inform decisions\u201d but said that any\u00a0recommendations for new legislation, regulations or actions \u2014 including fees \u2014 would \u201cbe up to the appropriate rule-making bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposals were developed methodically.<\/p>\n
Contractors gathered data and conducted research on Indiana\u2019s waste management systems to create a \u201cbaseline\u201d model of the status quo and a \u201cbusiness-as-usual\u201d view of the future.<\/p>\n
They focused on the methods and materials that would make the biggest difference. Indiana\u2019s economy is losing out on more than $400 million annually when valuable materials like metal, plastic, paper and more are trashed instead of recovered, according to the presentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy prioritizing these materials for the model, we can focus on where we can feasibly have the greatest potential impact,\u201d Project Coordinator Iris Liu said.<\/p>\n
The consultants also conducted surveys and interviews with stakeholders, like solid waste management districts and recyclers. IDEM staff held open houses around the state to hear from more.<\/p>\n
They compiled a long list of ideas, then narrowed them down using a scoring sheet \u2014 with considerations like implementation costs and stakeholder pushback \u2014 and IDEM\u2019s input.<\/p>\n
The next step was to model the impacts of those proposals. Last is collecting it all in the state\u2019s new plan.<\/p>\n
Help wanted<\/p>\n
In Dubois County, Striegel-Winner\u2019s team is \u201csuper small.\u201d Even as director, she does everything from answering the phones to doing payroll and even working at the site.<\/p>\n
The county of 47,000 residents is largely rural. One processing center takes old paint, household chemicals, electronics and bulky waste. Recycling is done at eight drop-off sites for free, while trash incurs a fee.<\/p>\n
But the logistics are challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a limit to the type of recycling that we can take. Those limits aren\u2019t because that can\u2019t be \u2014 in some way, shape or form \u2014 recycled,\u201d\u00a0Striegel-Winner said.\u00a0\u201cThose limits are because it\u2019s not feasible to try and get that from point A to point B, where somebody would want to purchase that and \u2026 turn it into something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
The county can take glass, unlike others in southern Indiana. Clear and colorful glass must be separated, then stored until there\u2019s enough to transport for recycling. Only plastics labeled 1 and 2 are accepted \u2014 also manually sorted, because there\u2019s no specialized sorting facility nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have to choose to do that sorting, and so we probably get a little less than if you just had a curbside bin out,\u201d\u00a0Striegel-Winner noted.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s interested in the prospect of sorting and processing aid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have access to a lot of that infrastructure,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need businesses that will set up in our area, and be able to make money from sorting our stuff. \u2026 All of that is going to be a huge improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public education is also key.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still tons of stuff going into landfill that shouldn\u2019t,\u201d\u00a0Striegel-Winner said. \u201cI feel like we\u2019ve become more of a throwaway society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get people thanking us all the time for \u2026 the time that we take with them to help them understand. They don\u2019t know about us\u00a0until they need us \u2014 and when they need us, we\u2019re here,\u201d she later added. \u201cWe\u2019re here with those answers. We\u2019re here with those recycling and disposal options.\u201d<\/p>\n
For others, food waste is the next frontier.<\/p>\n
It represents a whopping 40% of the waste stream at Indiana University\u2019s Bloomington campus, for instance. That\u2019s according to Chief Sustainability Officer Jessica Davis, whose team advises all of IU\u2019s campuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty significant hit if we aren\u2019t able to recover that, which is why we\u2019re focused on solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Bloomington and Indianapolis locations had \u201cpretty robust\u201d composting programs pre-pandemic. Amid the chaos, many companies serving big institutions like IU stopped offering those services or even went out of business, per Davis.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, really, how can we extract the highest value out of this material ourselves?\u201d she said. Bringing composting in-house \u201calso kind of mitigates that risk of being overly reliant on external vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n
IU is piloting a food waste dehydrator purchased through a state grant. Removing the water makes it lighter and more compact, and therefore cheaper to dispose of, Davis described.<\/p>\n
But the university is interested in using it \u2014 like for soil or biofuel.\u00a0It\u2019s already submitted another grant application to buy an in-vessel composter to speed up the decomposition.<\/p>\n
Those efforts come in addition to a wide variety of existing programs, many of which bring financial perks alongside environmental ones.<\/p>\n
The university\u2019s used but serviceable items are sold back to campus, so that employees, students and community members can \u201cgo shopping\u201d among the surplus. Huge amounts of stuff are collected from on-campus housing during the springtime move-out, and are collected for free reuse or paid surplus instead of becoming \u201ca really big trash bill.\u201d Recycling contracts at some campuses include a per-ton rebate, too.<\/p>\n
Others programs are for the \u201cmission,\u201d Davis said, like \u201cfix-it clinics\u201d or free bicycle repair services in the fall and spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny skills that we can equip (students) with, even if it\u2019s maybe an outside-of-the-classroom skill, is of value,\u201d she continued. \u201c\u2026 Students might have financial struggles, so if they can repair something for free or very, very cheaply, it might be just one less stressor in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan is also expected to include a focus on preventing waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not doing something about the waste that we currently have, we\u2019re drowning in waste,\u201d Purdue University Professor John Sutherland said. \u201cBut, you know, if we\u2019re trying to be smart, we should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. \u2026 We should be taking efforts to \u2026 reduce the amount that we\u2019re generating in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sutherland leads the institution\u2019s\u00a0Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0for Sustainable Manufacturing and environmental engineering program. He\u2019s a fan of \u201clean\u201d manufacturing that cuts out unnecessary materials, motions and more in pursuit of efficiency.<\/p>\n\u201cIf I wait until I have waste, it\u2019s going to cost me,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 By being smarter about the system that you create, not only do you reduce what you have to pay at the back end (for disposal) but you\u2019ve undoubtedly saved money by using less resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Government action can make unwanted behaviors more expensive. But Sutherland was confident the incentives go deeper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing this before the regulations were there,\u201d he said. \u201cI was helping companies get better without (those).\u201d<\/p>\n
Decades ago, Sutherland helped Ford Motors eliminate expensive and dangerous metal-working fluids \u2014 along with related procurement and health costs. The move also meant less environmental remediation.<\/p>\n
Now, his lab is working to make it easier to recycle rare earth elements, among other projects. They\u2019re used technology from smartphones and wind turbines to medical and defense systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an energy security issue, right? We\u2019re too reliant on non-domestic sources for these materials that are vital to the economy,\u201d Sutherland said. \u201cTo me, you know, recycling and remanufacturing of the stuff that we already have here \u2014 it just makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
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