Plant Chicago’s mission is to cultivate local circular economies throughout the greater Chicagoland area. Located in a former firehouse, the organization constantly seeks opportunities for waste reduction, reuse and repurposing, and landfill diversion throughout the city.  

The organization’s headquarters is a free drop-off site for food waste, batteries, and more, and Plant Chicago runs monthly swaps to provide free opportunities for community members to trade secondhand goods and simultaneously keep materials out of landfills. These swaps (called Mercados) include everything from clothes, media, food, and plants to durable medical goods, tools, and more. Mercados also include skill sharing sessions, live music, cooking demonstrations, and more.  

Plant Chicago also works with small businesses to set waste diversion goals such as minimizing packaging, conducting waste audits, and implementing composting wherever possible. Their Circular Economy Leaders Network (CELN) brings businesses together to minimize waste and maximize equitable economic and social benefits. This network is open to small businesses, entrepreneurs, remote businesses run from home, and contractors.  

Want to learn more? Visit the Plant Chicago website to learn more about their other waste prevention programming >>>

Environmental Law Institute (ELI) provides municipalities, state governments, nonprofit organizations, and communities with resources to address climate change, promote food security, and eliminate food waste. By providing tools for improved governance and capacity-building, ELI supports government teams that may lack the time or resources to advance conservation and waste reduction initiatives. This approach is particularly effective because municipal and state governments oversee local waste management, making them best positioned to implement stronger waste prevention and management systems.  

For example, ELI’s development of waste reduction model policies (in partnership with NRDC) helps local governments adopt environmental solutions in a fast, simple manner. These tools come in a range of topics, such as Pay-As-You-Throw programs (a solid waste collection program that charges households for waste collection based on the amount of trash they dispose of) and compost procurement (requiring municipalities to purchase and use compost in public projects, like landscaping, in order to increase demand for composting).  

ELI-developed capacity building resources provide toolkits, data, and waste prevention strategies to classrooms, households, and workplaces.  

Find out more about Environmental Law Institute’s Food Waste Initiative by visiting their website >>>  

Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program (currently active in New England, New Jersey, California, and the Upper Midwest) works with businesses, consumers, institutions, and event spaces to reduce single-use waste (particularly plastics) and replace throw-away products with sustainable re-use items. This program engages food service businesses, corporate and academic campuses, as well as concert, sporting event, festival, and art venues. Consumers are also encouraged to partake in reuse culture.  

Clean Water Action has also recently launched successful pilot programs bringing re-use to food pantries and elementary school lunch programs. The Truro Community Kitchen on Cape Cod prepares, packages, and delivers free and anonymous meals to local families in need. As part of the ReThink Disposable program, all disposable plastic packaging has been 100% replaced by reusable containers that are returned and sanitized forrecirculation. Even the bags food is delivered in (previously brown paper bags) have been replaced with reusable totes. As a result, Truro Community Kitchen has saved nearly $7,000 (so far) and spared 1.2 tons of annual waste. And this is just one example! 

See more ReThink Disposable case studies when you visit Clean Water Action’s website >>>

CCAP’s Methane Mitigation and Recycle Organics programs work with countries, municipalities, and communities around the world to reduce harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the waste sector by advancing policies, programs, and projects that ultimately help these countries reduce the waste they produce and achieve a circular and carbon-neutral waste sector. This includes engaging with local leaders and key stakeholders to understand the current state of municipal waste management where they live and discuss relevant issues and potential solutions. 

CCAP helps some of the most vulnerable countries make waste reduction progress; all while overcoming regulatory barriers and creating the necessary frameworks for projects to work. The focus: to promote circular economies where the linear waste system we are all used to today (produce, use, landfill) transitions to one that emphasizes reuse, and where waste products can be recycled into another form, like compost. By establishing programs that divert waste away from landfills, CCAP is helping communities and entire countries reduce the methane emissions they’re producing.  

Get a closer look at these programs and more on the CCAP website >>>

Boston Building Resources’ Reuse Center takes donations of good-quality building materials that would otherwise be discarded and resells them, giving these materials a second life in the circular economy. This prevents needless waste, preserves the embodied carbon in these materials, and provides affordable home improvement supplies to residents of the greater Boston community. Anyone can shop at the Reuse Center for frequently used materials, such as full cabinet sets, windows, appliances, doors, sinks, and flooring in gently used and new condition—all at a discounted cost. And many of the items are completely one-of-a-kind!  

Building materials account for approximately 11% of global CO2 emissions, and reusing building materials has a significant impact on our shared environment. The Reuse Center accepts donations of good-quality used and surplus building materials and sells them at low prices, with extra discounts for low- and moderate-income customers and nonprofit organizations. 

The Reuse Center also puts on workshops throughout the year to help community members learn how to accomplish common home renovation and maintenance projects. Workshop instructors are trade professionals and help attendees learn how to design their perfect kitchens, understand the basics of plumbing, rehabilitate their windows, and more. 

To learn more about the Reuse Center, visit Boston Building Resources’ website >>>

Waste-Free Advocates connects Portland communities to available reuse/refill resources and education, including waste prevention tips. Their volunteer-powered campaign, Oregon Reduces, brings visibility to reuse culture by putting a sticker in the window of restaurants that allow customers to bring their own reusables (mugs, straws, etc.). Waste-Free Advocates is currently working on a program to bring reusable dishware to restaurants in underserved communities. 

In coalition with another Oregon nonprofit, and local food packaging and retail vendors, Waste-Free Advocates helped to support the Retail Reuse program, which allows grocery store customers to return glass jars and containers commonly used by manufacturers to package food goods. This closed-loop reuse system benefits both sellers and consumers, reducing their overall carbon footprints, lowering emissions (as new products do not need to be created), and reducing costs associated with recycling and waste disposal.

While the 30×30 target remains a crucial global initiative, significant recent changes in U.S. federal policy have created new challenges for its implementation in the United States and abroad.

Now, more than ever, we need to come together and speak up in support of the natural resources we all love and depend on. Stay connected with the 30×30 Project and check out the Get Involved section on each Solution page for more ways to support 30×30 in your community!

Dear Congressperson [NAME],

As a citizen of [YOUR STATE] and one of your constituents, I write to express the extreme importance of waste prevention in today’s age of single-use disposables and my disappointment that [BILL NUMBER & NAME] did not pass during the 118th Congress.

Did you know the average American creates more than 1,700 pounds of waste each year? From food waste to plastic waste, America produces roughly 12% of global municipal waste despite only representing 5% of the world’s population. This is a costly problem for both our economy and our environment, and it’s not a problem we can simply compost or recycle our way out of.

Urgent change is needed. It’s time to switch our priority from waste management to waste prevention.

I ask that you take leadership in the 119th Congress by:

Supporting or sponsoring legislation that mirrors the goals of [BILL NAME], updated to reflect current environmental challenges.

Advocating for bipartisan collaboration to ensure long-term waste prevention is prioritized over shortsighted, band-aid solutions.

Engaging with stakeholders—scientists, conservation groups, urban and rural communities, manufacturers and goods producers—to craft durable solutions.

The time to act is now. Even incremental progress, such as committee hearings or pilot conservation programs, could lay the groundwork for transformative change.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please share how you plan to address this critical issue in the current session.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I am a constituent of [CONGRESSPERSON’S NAME]. I am calling to express my support for waste prevention legislation and would like to leave a comment.

Legislative Staff Person will offer to transfer you to an answering machine or take down your message. Use the following to leave your message:

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I live in [YOUR CITY, STATE]. I am calling to express the extreme importance of waste prevention in today’s age of single-use disposables and my disappointment that [BILL NUMBER & NAME] did not pass during the 118th Congress.

Did you know the average American creates more than 1,700 pounds of waste each year? From food waste to plastic waste, America produces roughly 12% of global municipal waste despite only representing 5% of the world’s population.

Urgent change is needed. It’s time to switch our priority from waste management to waste prevention.

I urge you to take leadership in the 119th Congress by supporting or sponsoring legislation that mirrors the goals of [BILL NAME], updated to reflect current environmental challenges. I want you to advocate for bipartisan, long-term solutions that prioritize waste prevention over other shortsighted solutions, and to engage with key stakeholders, such as scientists, conservation groups, manufacturers, and urban and rural communities, to craft durable solutions.

It is absolutely essential if we want a healthy future for the next generation of Americans.

Thank you.

Legislative Staff Person will ask if you want a response. You can politely decline, or say:

Yes. Please have a response sent to my email at [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS] or by phone at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]. Thank you for your assistance. Goodbye.

Leachate is water that has passed through a solid and leached (taken away) some of the contents of that solid. In the setting of a landfill, leachate, “…comes in contact with buried wastes [and] leaches, or draws out, chemicals or constituents from those wastes.”⁶“Municipal Solid Waste Landfills,” EPA ≫

This is dangerous because the leachate can then carry those contaminants into our groundwater or surface water supply, negatively affecting vulnerable habitats and human health.

While household waste is a much smaller percentage compared to corporate and industrial waste, it still represents a quarter of all waste created globally. It’s true that we as individuals cannot single-handedly tip the climate scales in a positive direction. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely important to develop healthier habits at home and build public support and momentum for greater change.

The more we focus on waste reduction—whether that’s food, clothing, or everyday objects we take for granted (like plastic wrap and paper plates)—the more we build positive habits that support a healthier, cleaner future for us all. Solutions, like recycling, exist to help us reduce our impact, but it’s only one small piece of the overarching solution. To have a real impact, we need to grow our skills in reducing what we consume in the first place. 

When we focus our energy on reducing, reusing, and refusing, we’re also lowering the consumer demand for new goods, which has a positive impact on lowering corporate waste–-much of which occurs in an effort to meet or exceed these demands. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that individuals are solely responsible for corporate waste; that’s simply not possible. But when we work together, we can help shape the demand that exists for what we buy and consume. Want your favorite retailer to begin working with only recycled materials? Demand it!

Not-for-profit organizations are critical pillars in communities throughout the United States and around the world. When it comes to nonprofits working in waste prevention, these organizations educate citizens on the science, strategy, and impact of the waste stream and alternatives available to the community. They help develop informed policies, regulations, and programs to implement waste prevention and reduction at grassroots and national levels.

This core work will continue to play a critical role in overall awareness and support for waste prevention initiatives. Education, community support (especially at the local level where municipalities need additional assistance to develop and implement programming), and innovation from these organizations must continue as part of the overall waste prevention strategy.

But, like all nonprofits, this work can’t be done without your help. Check out examples of ongoing work from within the EarthShare Network in “The Where” section below and click here to learn how to support these initiatives in our “Get Involved” section.

It’s time to hold corporations accountable for the waste they produce.  Commercial, industrial, construction, and manufacturing waste outnumber municipal waste by a significant margin. In fact, these make up 68% of all waste produced globally. Households make up only 24% of our waste. So, it’s odd that such a heavy emphasis is placed on what individuals can and should be doing to reduce waste, and yet corporations and major industries are hardly mentioned…⁷“Solid Waste,” The World Counts ≫

That ends now. From fast fashion to electronics built to degrade, it’s time for a major, widespread shift in priorities and regulations.

To see significant change soon, we need immediate, ambitious goals set with accountability in mind. This means setting waste prevention goals and then following through on them—not just using the process of goal setting to develop a false narrative of environmental responsibility. Today, many corporations are missing their sustainability targets by a wide margin, especially where plastic waste is concerned.⁸“Most companies are fumbling their 2025 plastic waste targets,” Trellis ≫

In our current system, it’s far cheaper for companies to create products from new, raw materials rather than manufacturing materials from recycled goods, and industry insiders have known this from the very beginning.⁹“The Fraud of Plastic Recycling,” Center for Climate Integrity ≫ Companies need to put their money where their mouths are, invest in sustainability, and experience consequences when they repeatedly do not meet established goals and requirements. 

Municipal governments (cities) are often the ones responsible for developing and enforcing waste regulations, overseeing contracts with waste management companies, working with nonprofits and other experts to develop and implement waste reduction initiatives, and educating the public on their waste management options.

For municipalities unsure about how to get started with waste reduction and prevention programming, a waste assessment audit will be an extremely helpful tool. This is a systematic review of waste management operations for a given community (as they currently exist), including the composition of the waste stream, so local leaders can determine where the greatest change is needed.¹⁰“Cities Waste Assessment and Brand Audit,” Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives/Mother Earth Foundation ≫

State and federal governments help establish broader goals and priorities when it comes to waste reduction numbers, and these governments should provide funding to local municipalities to implement new waste management strategies and programs, and hold municipalities accountable, enforcing harsher fines and restrictions for noncompliance.

Federal regulatory bodies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, will also be key in monitoring this work and enforcing fines (and other consequences) when goals are not met; not just with municipalities, but with major corporations as well.

Waste-to-energy is intended to be a transitional solution, meaning it can help guide us into a new era of clean, renewable energy, supporting energy needs as we transition our grid away from fossil fuels. But it isn’t a sustainable solution on its own.

While waste-to-energy may seem like a great option on the surface (we have a waste problem and an energy problem, so if we burn the waste to create energy, then it’s a win-win, right?), but it’s not quite that simple. Municipal solid waste combustion facilities are expensive to build and, more importantly, produce a significant number of pollutants, including chemicals, gases, and fly ash which is released into the atmosphere and can harm local communities. So, while this process does help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions overall and may make sense as a temporary solution, the health risks imposed by waste-to-energy are significant enough to prevent this from being a permanent energy solution.¹¹“Waste to Energy,” Project Drawdown ≫; ” Burned: Why Waste Incineration Is Harmful,” NRDC ≫

While many tout waste-to-energy as the next step in the journey to clean energy, it’s important to remember that it should be just that—a step—and the brunt of our efforts needs to be on the transition to fully renewable solutions.

Just as the name suggests, wishcycling is the act of putting something in the recycling bin simply because we want it to be recyclable, despite the fact that it may not actually be recyclable or accepted by the recycling facility.

Very often, wishcycling is done out of a person’s desire to do good, which is admirable but ultimately counterproductive. It’s important that we do our due diligence to inform ourselves about what can and can’t be recycled. Unfortunately, in the single stream recycling setup that many cities and communities use, unrecyclable materials are often considered contaminants and may result in an entire load of materials going to landfill, even if there are recyclable materials in that load.

Check with your city or recycling provider to confirm what recyclable materials are accepted and what their rules are for recycling them. For example, a common rule is that food containers (such as peanut butter jars) should be cleaned of all food residue before they’re placed in the recycling bin in order to avoid contamination. 

During the recycling process, any substance that compromises the purity of the final product is considered a contaminant. This includes food, liquids, and non-recyclable items like paper towels, which are too weak or small to be effectively processed and reused.

If you’re wondering why recycling contamination matters and why it can’t just be sorted out, you’re not alone. In 80% of U.S. communities, recycling follows a “single-stream” system, where households and businesses toss all recyclables into one bin. The recycling company then collects and processes the mixed materials for repurposing. Or so we think.

The reality is, while people and machines do their best to sort these products and pull out any contaminants, they still manage to slip through, and if a load of recycling is found to have too many contaminants in it, it will be automatically shipped to landfill—even if there are actual recyclable materials mixed in. It’s important to check what types of materials your recycling provider is equipped to receive.

Plastic grocery bags, for example, are not accepted by many single stream recycling facilities because they are known “tanglers,” gumming up the system and causing the processing machines to work less efficiently. This means that loads with plastic bags may be considered contaminated. However, plastic bags can be recycled! Check to see if your local grocery store accepts plastic bags for recycling.

The U.S. plastic recycling rate is just 5%, largely due to the overwhelming amount of plastic in products and packaging and the fact that most plastics aren’t even accepted by recycling facilities.¹²“The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate,” Beyond Plastics/The Last Beach Cleanup ≫ Even recyclable plastics degrade over time, eventually becoming waste that ends up in landfills. Some states are tackling this issue with extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, which require companies to take responsibility for the waste their products create.¹³“Introduction to the Guide for EPR Proposals,” Sustainable Packaging Coalition ≫

Globally, the most recyclable materials are paper, glass, and metal. Today, in the United States, only 68% of paper, 31% of glass, and an average of 45% of metals are recycled.¹⁴“Paper and Paperboard: Material-Specific Data,” EPA ≫; “Glass: Material-Specific Data,” EPA ≫; “Recycling rate of metal and glass worldwide as of 2023, by region,” Stastica ≫ Recycled plastic is only somewhere between 5% and 6%. Even worse, many plastics can’t be recycled at all, and those that can gradually degrade until they’re no longer usable, ultimately ending up in landfills.¹⁵“Think that your plastic is being recycled? Think again.” MIT Technology Review ≫

The belief that recycling alone can solve our waste problem is a myth, one that has been pushed for decades by Big Oil and Gas. While recycling is important, it’s labor-intensive and requires significant energy—most of which still comes from fossil fuels. That’s why “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is in that order. We should prioritize consuming less, reusing whenever possible, and only recycling when no other option remains. Recycling should be part of the solution, but it’s far from a silver bullet.

In addition to their generally unpleasant smell, landfills release a large number of harmful gases into our atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, ammonia, sulfides, and methane. In fact, at least 50% of all landfill emissions are methane, and this is a big problem.

If you thought carbon dioxide was bad, meet its much scarier older brother. The thing about methane is that, despite dissipating in our atmosphere much faster than CO2 (think 100 years instead of 1,000), it traps heat 28 times more than carbon dioxide, drastically speeding up global warming as a result.¹⁶“Importance of Methane,” EPA ≫

These gases, created in landfills as the result of decomposing organic waste, can then seep outside of the landfill and into nearby homes and buildings in high concentrations, posing serious health and environmental risks. Waste seepage from landfills can also infiltrate groundwater, contaminating water tables via water runoff.¹⁷“Important Things to Know About Landfill Gas,” New York State ≫

In the United States, we have a linear style of economy. This means that raw materials are extracted from nature, turned into products, these products are then sold to consumers to be used, and eventually they are discarded as waste.   

Take > Make > Waste > Repeat

In a circular economy, the goal is to minimize waste by reusing and repurposing materials as much as possible, improving the order of operations.

Take > Make > Use > Reuse/Repurpose > Recycle 

Instead of being the final destination, waste becomes an offshoot of this cycle; only coming into play when materials are so far degraded they can no longer be repurposed or recycled.

Rethinking how we use materials is more important than ever as human consumption of these materials has risen by 65% in the last two decades alone.¹⁸“What is circular economy and why does it matter?” United Nations Develpment Programme ≫ While we like to attribute much of this to the “single use” and “disposable” product mindset (which certainly is a problem, don’t get us wrong; you can check out our blog about it here), the truth is that we are simply producing a lot more of everything.

To make the kind of rapid change needed to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, we need to address our waste problem at the source. That means addressing how we view and use resources, and how we can improve global economies for the sake of environmental and human health and wellbeing. 

Similar to landfills, a surface impoundment is a natural or human-made depression in the earth’s surface which is then lined with earthen and/or synthetic materials to hold waste. These can look like pits, ponds, or trenches.

The waste disposed of using surface impoundment is often liquid in nature. Because these pits are exposed to the elements, it allows the liquid to evaporate, leaving only solid waste materials behind, which are then collected and disposed of in a landfill.

Surface impoundments can be particularly dangerous due to risks of flooding and leaking,  and, therefore, are used as a temporary waste storage or treatment solutions.

Injection wells are deep, underground wells in geologic formations (rock) that fluid waste is injected into. The Gulf Coast and Great Lakes regions are considered ideal for these types of wells, and most of the United States’ 800 Class 1 wells are located in these two areas.

There are six classes of injection wells, each distinguished by how deep and in what format waste is injected. Some of these classes are no longer legal in the United States due to their proximity to underground water sources. In addition to being a form of waste management, injection wells are also used to store carbon dioxide, increase oil production, and mine for minerals. Currently, these same wells are being considered for the disposal of PFAS (also known as ”forever chemicals”).¹⁹“General Information About Injection Wells,” EPA ≫; “Deep well disposal for PFAS attracts heightened interest as new regulations loom,” Waste Dive ≫

And these wells might soon be popping up in your own backyard. Conflicts across the U.S. have been taking place for decades over the locations of deep injection wells and their proximity to communities who could be at risk if and when these wells leak.²⁰“A deep dive into disposing waste from East Palestine’s derailment,” Great Lakes Now ≫; “‘How Do You Approve an Underground Toxic Waste Dump Without Telling Nobody?’” Capital & Main ≫

What’s another way humans deal with hazardous waste? Put it in a box! Encapsulation is the disposal of hazardous waste by encasing it in some way. This can be done by mixing the waste with some kind of hardening medium, such as cement, and letting it dry, therefore trapping the waste inside, or by depositing waste in a sealed container (capsule) made with specialized materials to resist leakage of liquids or microparticles. The resulting cement block or container is then placed in a specialized landfill or underwater at an approved facility for waste-storage.

Does this process make the hazardous waste material any less dangerous? Nope. The only thing that can do that is time; lots and lots and lots of it. And still, that will only decrease the level of harm for certain types of waste (e.g., radioactive) and not others (e.g., heavy metals). Encapsulation does, however, make the waste less pervious to water and other liquids that might cause contaminants to leak out.

Today, the disposal of waste via ocean dumping (a.k.a. marine dumping) is highly regulated, but this wasn’t always the case. Prior to the 1972 London Convention, which prevents global marine pollution via dumping and discharge at an international scale, ocean dumping was a common way for countries and corporations to ditch toxic waste cheaply and easily… but with immense environmental repercussions.²¹“Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter,” London Convention ≫; “The London Convention and Protocol,” International Maritime Organization ≫

Despite today’s regulations, more than 220 million tons of waste are dumped into our oceans across the planet, and as a result, beaches are becoming unsafe, marine life—particularly coral reefs—is dying off and creating dead zones, and our seafood is becoming contaminated with heavy metals.²²“Dumping by the Numbers,” Earthworks ≫;”Marine Dumping,” Safe Drinking Water Foundation ≫

What are we dumping? Pesticides, fertilizers, mining waste containing toxic heavy metals, radioactive waste, industrial waste, and sewage, just to name a few. 

In fact, it’s estimated that up to 22% of all dredged (dug up) materials on land are dumped into our oceans on an annual basis. About 10% of these materials possess heavy metals, including mercury.²³“Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act,” EPA ≫

And while enforcement bodies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and pieces of national legislation like the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act attempt to prevent the worst of this, ocean dumping is still a practice that’s done daily in U.S. waters and around the world.   

In other words, it’s the method of storing hazardous waste underground. Compared to above-ground solutions, underground disposal has less leakage because it’s free from the effects of natural events such as storms and is more resistant to structural damage. Unlike open-air (surface) storage solutions, air quality testing is less effective, but groundwater quality testing is necessary.   

There are two main types of underground disposal, and which type is chosen often has to do with the type of waste being buried. Near-surface disposal (disposal at ground level or in caves/caverns) is used for low-level radioactive waste, while deep geological disposal (between 250 and 5,000 meters) is for high-level radioactive waste as well as used fuel.²⁴“Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Waste,” World Nuclear Association ≫

This disposal method is primarily used for radioactive waste, waste containing heavy metals, sewage, industrial discharge, and mining waste.  

Anaerobic digestion is a process through which bacteria feed on and break down organic matter, transforming it into biogas which can be used for energy. This takes place in a machine called a reactor (or sometimes referred to as an “anaerobic digester” or “waste digester”) that’s been sealed to keep oxygen out, thus forcing the bacteria to break down the organic matter inside. This matter might include anything from food waste to animal waste to sewage. Combining multiple organic materials in a reactor is known as co-digestion and can increase biogas production.

Biogas is a mixture of primarily methane and carbon dioxide with a few other gases produced through the anaerobic digestion process. Once this process has been completed, any remaining material—either solid or liquid—is called digestate and can be used as nutrient-dense fertilizer.

Fossil fuel combustion is the burning of fossil fuels for energy. It’s the type of waste produced by your car if you have a gas-burning engine. Fossil fuel combustion can also occur at a much larger scale (to create electricity for homes, for example), and this process results in different types of ash, slag, and particulates.

Fossil fuel combustion waste is defined as a form of special waste by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is exempt from federal hazardous waste regulations. Unlike many other forms of waste that are collected and held in specialized facilities or spaces, the majority of fossil fuel combustion waste is released directly into our atmosphere in the form of pollutants you’re likely familiar with, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O), as well as other airborne particles. Collectively, these chemicals—as well as a few others, such as methane—form what we more commonly refer to as greenhouse gases, and they trap heat in our atmosphere.

For this reason, fossil fuels and fossil fuel combustion are the leading causes of global warming and climate change.²⁵“Causes and Effects of Climate Change,” United Nations Climate Action ≫

Waste generated from crude oil and gas production must follow state and federal regulations intended to reduce negative environmental and health impacts. What types of waste are produced has a lot to do with the extraction method(s) used to access the gas or oil.

Drilling fluids, wastewater, fracturing fluid, chemical additives, sand, shale, and tools and tool parts are all types of wastes that can be produced.  

Oil and natural gas waste pits and storage tanks are used to manage this waste, though many states don’t have post-closure monitoring requirements or disclosure requirements for the types of chemicals used in the process of drilling, which means that these sites—regardless of the toxicity of the waste stored there—can be abandoned with no negative repercussions to the mining company.²⁶“Management of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Waste,” EPA ≫

Radioactive waste is created through the production or use of radioactive materials. This can be the result of mining, defense (e.g., bombs), medicine (e.g., radiation, nuclear medicine), nuclear power generation, research, and more.  

Radioactive waste typically falls into one of five categories organized by the level of radioactivity. How radioactive the waste is determines how it is treated or stored. For example, radioactive waste produced from mining uranium ore is called mill tailings, and these are stored on-site of the mine in wastewater ponds called impoundments.²⁷“Radioactive Waste,” EPA ≫

Other forms of radioactive waste include items that may have come into contact with radioactive materials, such as rags and laboratory equipment. These are typically kept at specialized disposal facilities where they are then buried. 

Mining waste is made up of the materials removed during mineral extraction from the earth as well as waste that’s created during the processing and purification phases of these minerals. The most common types of mining wastes are rock and topsoil. Slag (waste matter removed from metals during the refining process), wastewater, and air pollution caused by blast furnaces are other forms of mining waste that frequently occur.

Many of these waste materials fall under the EPA’s Mining Waste Exclusion, which means their disposal doesn’t follow the same regulations as federal hazardous waste. While some mining waste can be recycled or reused for different purposes (such as grinding rock to produce clay), the majority is stored at special waste facilities or at the original mine site.  

Medical waste is inclusive of all waste produced at health care facilities and offices, from hospitals and blood banks to private practices, including dentistry and veterinary medicine. Research facilities and medical labs also produce medical waste.  

This waste includes anything that has been contaminated by blood, bodily fluids, or infectious materials. Much of this waste is regulated by environmental and health departments at the state level and requires specialized management practices to be disposed of correctly. For example, you may recall seeing a box in the treatment room of your doctor’s office that’s labeled “hazardous” and is specifically for the disposal of needles. Once medical waste has been disposed of at the source (e.g., a doctor’s office), it may go down a number of potential treatment avenues: autoclaving (sterilization via steam), biological treatment (enzymes help break down hazardous waste), chemical disinfection, incineration, irradiation (microwaving at very high temperatures), or straight to the landfill if it poses no human health hazards.

Medical waste that has been treated can then be delivered to designated drop-off sites, go straight to the landfill, or stored at a hazardous waste facility.²⁸“What Happens to Medical Waste?” IDR Environmental Services ≫

Agriculture waste is waste produced through agricultural operations, such as growing crops and raising livestock, which is unwanted or cannot be sold. This can include things like animal manure, the remains of plants after the fruits or vegetables have been harvested (e.g., corn stalks, wheat straws), pesticides, fertilizer, feces runoff, animal carcasses, and packaging materials. 

Large factory farms are the main producers of agricultural waste in America with 24,000 factory farms in possession of 1.7 billion animals and altogether producing 940 billion pounds of manure every year. This is more than double the annual amount of sewage produced by every human in the United States.²⁹“New USDA Data Shows Nearly 50% Increase in U.S. Factory Farmed Animals in 20 Years,” Food & Water Watch ≫ But this isn’t where the waste stops. Animal-based factory farming is the number one cause of pollution for U.S. streams and rivers and emits substantial amounts of greenhouse gases (the agriculture sector accounts for 14.5% of all human emissions), particularly methane and nitrous oxide which are 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.³⁰“Factory Farming: A Recipe for Disaster for Animals & Our Planet,” ASPCA ≫

To help farmers and other agricultural businesses address this waste and develop waste management plans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has an Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook.³¹“Resources for Planning and Designing Animal Waste Facilities,” USDA ≫ Though, it’s important to note that waste management and mitigation are not the same as reducing or eliminating this waste—which must happen to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Industrial waste is inclusive of all materials leftover and considered unusable after manufacturing of some kind has taken place. Is this a bit of a vague answer? Yes, and that’s because “industry” and “industrial manufacturing” covers a wide array of things, including (but not limited to): textiles, consumer goods, food manufacturing, chemicals, printing, plastics and resins, metals, and more.³²“Industrial/Commercial Waste,” New York State ≫

As you can imagine, this long list of industrial and manufactured goods means the amount of waste created is also extensive and comes in many forms. Solid waste, wastewater, chemical waste, and hazardous waste just to name a few. 

Industrial manufacturing also produces “secondhand waste,” and this refers to any kind of additional waste that’s created in the process of handling and disposing of industrial waste.³³“What Is Industrial Waste?” IDR Environmental Services ≫ This could be dust and debris from waste transportation, hazardous chemical residue on plastic wrap and packaging, ash created during waste incineration—the list goes on.

Industrial waste often overlaps with hazardous waste and requires disposal at hazardous waste facilities. Other forms of solid industrial waste can be sent to landfill, while things like wastewater require special permitting and procedures for disposal.³⁴“Industrial Wastewater,” EPA ≫

Construction waste, also known as construction and demolition debris, can be created through building, renovating, or demolishing various forms of infrastructure. This includes roads and highways, bridges and overpasses, homes, commercial buildings, dams, piers, etc.

Frequent types of construction waste materials include concrete, rubber, plastic, glass, brick, asphalt, wood, and metal.

Globally, construction and demolition debris accounts for about 30% of all created waste—that’s huge! And almost all of this waste ends up in our landfills.³⁵“Circular Economy of Construction and Demolition Waste,” National Library of Medicine ≫

Hazardous waste, as the name suggests, is any kind of material or waste that is or is capable of being dangerous to human and environmental health. This waste comes from many sources, including industrial, manufacturing, and mining processes. Hazardous waste comes in solid, liquid, and gas forms. Other forms may also fall under the “hazardous waste” umbrella, including (but not limited to) medical and radioactive waste.  

The Environmental Protection Agency has specific regulations for identifying and managing hazardous waste, most of which are determined by the form it takes; solid, liquid, or gas. Depending on the form and type of hazardous waste, it may be buried, recycled, or put into treatment storage—a temporary solution used to store hazardous waste until it is less dangerous to permanently dispose of (typically via burial).³⁶“Learn the Basics of Hazardous Waste,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ≫

The 30×30 (pronounced “thirty by thirty”) target is a goal set by the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in 2022 to protect 30% of ecologically representative terrestrial lands and 30% of ecologically representative waters, both marine (sea) and fresh, by 2030 to preserve global biodiversity.