The Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition, Inc., is a 501(c)4 non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to promoting sustainable waste management practices. Our mission is to protect the air, land and water quality of the Finger Lakes region, and promote economic development that preserves our greatest asset – the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes.

LAKE COUNTRY

NOT TRASH COUNTRY

The size of the dots represents the relative amount of garbage imported into the Ontario

County landfill from other locations

Combined tonnage of municipal solid waste, construction debris, asbestos, industrial waste and sewage sludge.

Where does the Ontario County Landfill’s garbage come from?

In 2010, less than nine percent of the garbage

entering the Ontario County landfill originated in Ontario

County.

Sources of waste in the Ontario County Landfill: 1992-2010

What is included in the ‘OTHER’ waste: 1992-2010

DEC Region

% of 2009 Total

The size of the bars represents the relative percentage of waste disposed of in each NYS DEC Region in 2009. The total quantity of waste landfilled in 2009 was 7,598,959 tons.

Source: NYS DEC Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials

More than our fair share…

33% of what goes into Ontario County’s landfill is not municipal solid waste

SOURCE: 2010 Annual Report for the Ontario County Landfill

0% 0% 0.8% 3.3% 6.1% 6.3% 4.7% 45.3% 27.1%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition, Inc. P.O. Box 865, Geneva, NY 14456

www.flzw.org

"Zero waste is a philosophy and a design principle for the 21st Century; it is not simply about putting an end to landfilling. Aiming for zero waste is not an end-of-pipe solution... Aiming for zero waste means designing products and packaging with reuse and recycling in mind… ending subsidies for wasting... closing the gap between landfill prices and their true costs… making manufacturers take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products and packaging. Zero waste efforts, just like recycling efforts before, will change the face of solid waste management in the future. Instead of managing wastes, we will manage resources and strive to eliminate waste.“

- Institute for Local Self Reliance

Since 2009, the Finger Lakes Zero Waste Coalition, Inc., has actively worked on all fronts to reduce the amount of waste entering the Finger Lakes Region. We have successfully:

•  Incorporated some Zero Waste principles into Ontario County’s 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan;

•  Worked with Concerned Citizens of Seneca County to secure grants to increase awareness of the impacts of landfills on water and air quality, and on issues of environmental justice;

•  Opposed the use of public tax dollars to develop a railway line allowing the importation of garbage into the Seneca Meadows landfill by rail;

•  Prevented Ontario County from using $850,000 of taxpayer money to invest in a private research and development project on waste gasification;

•  Prevented a permanent leachate pipeline from being constructed between the Ontario County Landfill and the City of Geneva’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Public Education Forums •  Zero Waste as an economic development strategy •  What is an Environmental Impact Statement and how do you respond? •  Hosted guest speakers: Dr. Paul Connett on waste management, Dr. David Carpenter on public health issues associated with landfills, Deborah Rogers on economics of hydrofracking, David Slottje (Community Environmental Defense Council) on how to use local land use laws to control hydrofracking in cities, towns and villages

Formal Comments on Policies and Permits •  Comments to DEC on: NYS’ proposed Solid Waste Management Plan; waste generated by hydrofracking •  Comments to Ontario County on: how to include Zero Waste principles into the County’s 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan; landfill mining permit; landfill expansion permit

Lobbying and Political Activity •  Articles and Letters to the Editor •  Speaking at City, Town, Village and County meetings (Chemung, Ontario and Seneca Counties) •  Speaking at Public Hearings •  Organizing citizens to attend public meetings •  Providing technical information to political candidates

Legal Action •  Filed an Article 78 lawsuit currently in process alleging failure of DEC to enforce regulations at the Ontario County Landfill

The goal of Zero Waste is to redesign products and production systems to minimize waste. Zero Waste emphasizes the conservation, recovery and reuse of materials. In industry this process involves creating commodities out of traditional waste products. Communities that host landfills and incinerators shoulder an unfair financial and environment burden managing items that are not designed to be disassembled, reused, or recycled, like computers, TVs, cameras, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, etc.

Zero waste can be an economic development alternative to landfill- and incinerator-based waste systems. According to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, “for every job required to operate a landfill or municipal waste combustor (MWC), 10 jobs can be created to process recyclable materials and prepare them for market. In the case of organics, four jobs can be created in composting those materials for every one job in disposal. … Remanufacturing industries [create] between 28-296 jobs – depending on the type of remanufacturing – for every one in disposal.”