Getting to Zero Waste - Cap N Trade

Here are some observations:
1. We have too much garbage going to landfills.
2. Economic incentive to recycle is poor - I recently heard a news story about the plummeting prices for recycled paper, meaning that recyclers have plunging revenue figures and that less and less will be recycled.

Here is my suggested solution:

Cap the amount of non-recycled content that is allowable in our products economy wide--from toilet tissue to SUVs; from juice boxes to televisions; from coffee makers to building materials. Start the cap at whatever the current level is--I have no idea what that number is, but for example, let's say it is 95%. Let's cap in 2009 the amount of non-recycled material a manufacturer is allowed to put in their product at 95% of the product by weight.

Now, allow manufacturers to trade their rights to put non-recycled material in. (Just like carbon cap 'n' trading.) So, the cardboard box manufacturer who produces only 100% recycled cardboard boxes has 95% credit to trade. Say there is a car manufacturer who currently has 99% non-recycled material. That company can buy 95% credit from the cardboard company and then innovate to find the other 4%. If this year, they cannot find it, they can buy that 4% from another company that has managed to be below the cap.

Then, each year we lower the cap: from 95% to 90% to 85% to 75% to 60% to...dare I say it? 0% in 25 years? So, by 2034, we are a zero waste society--making everything we make from things that we have had before. You might argue that, given growth, that is not possible. But perhaps we can dig into our landfills--as reserves for raw materials just waiting to be recycled. Imagine actually drawing down our junkyards and landfills, rather than building them up.

Let us know what you think.

Peace,
Jerry & Tara