ProGov21 Policy Library

This report evaluates LA County's waste and recycling systems highlight how localities can keep costs down while maintaining quality and equitable service. The report finds exclusive franchise systems provide the county to the best deal....

In 2006, Boulder’s City Council passed a Zero Waste ordinance and committed to a waste diversion rate of 85% by 2025. Upon adopting curbside recycling and composting programs, in 2014, the city of Boulder saw a significant increase in the amount of waste diverted from landfills. Despite...

Arlington, Virginia has been long hailed as a leader in environmental initiatives and in 2015, the county became the first in Virginia to pass a Zero Waste resolution. While Arlington already recycles nearly 47% of trash, the county’s strong commitment to the environment, coupled...

By introducing new systems for managing trash, cities can move toward zero waste and capture a range of worker, community, and environmental benefits. In particular, through implementing sustainable recycling programs, local governments can utilize trash management systems to fight...

This report evaluates the positive impacts of implementing a bold national recycling and composting strategy across federal, state, and local governments. Its recommendations of energy, resource, and waste management would allow for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,...

Recycling workers face serious hazards on the job. For long hours, they work with heavy equipment in dangerous situations and deal with an array of unsafe materials (needles, broken glass, etc) that should not be on the recycling line. As a result of these unsafe conditions, recycling...

There is no good business case for trash incineration. Burning trash is the most expensive form of electricity generation, creates pollution that raises health costs to the public, destroys valuable resources, and produces the fewer jobs than comparable capital projects. The trash...

In this report, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) outline a new model for recycling job growth with the potential to encourage quality jobs and to improve the environment. LAANE is advocating for a transformation of the waste and recycling...

On its Zero Waste journey, Missoula, Montana lags far behind on recycling, recovering only 20% of its total waste. Since 2014, the grassroots citizens group called Zero Waste Missoula has been working to improve Missoula’s low recycling rate and turn the city’s attention to waste...

Managing a city’s waste and recycling sector is a core governmental responsibility and, when done well, helps cities realize benefits and meet constituents’ expectations. Residents expect government to prevent pollution and protect neighborhoods, create good quality jobs, and operate...

Resolving our society’s trash problem is one of the major environmental challenges of our time. In Los Angeles County, this crisis has reached urgent proportions. As one of the largest waste markets in the country, Los Angeles County generates 23 million tons of waste and recyclable...

This report identifies the root causes of Baltimore’s failed and inequitable waste system, and how its impacts intersect with racial and economic justice. The Baltimore Sustainability Plan will enable the city to move towards a new system of fair development aligned with human rights...

Under the City's RENEW LA Plan, the City committed to reaching Zero Waste by diverting 70% of the solid waste generated in the City by 2013, diverting 90% by 2025, and becoming a zero waste city by 2030. In order to meet these goals, increasing recycling and diversion in the commercial...

In December 2000, Massachusetts’ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued the Beyond 2000 Solid Waste Master Plan — A Policy Framework, its plan and vision for managing solid waste over the coming decade. This report outlines necessary steps DEP needs to take in order to...