WHEREAS, The current and future costs of climate change require sustained and multifaceted stewardship of our environment from all levels of government; and
WHEREAS, Waste is an area of great potential for transforming our City and our country away from linear consumption model of resource exploitation in favor of sustainable resource practices, with benefits that include ameliorating climate change, yet go beyond it; and
WHEREAS, The externalized costs of waste disposal enable socially costly, polluting excess waste while our current waste infrastructure of landfills and incinerators has detrimental effects to the health of our lands, ocean, people, and societies; and
WHEREAS, “Zero waste” is a term for managing the flow of waste through planning and management – particularly with prioritization of resource refusal, reduction, reuse, recycling and composting – instead of the common process of resource extraction, production, and disposal; and
WHEREAS, In practice, zero waste usually aims to capture approximately 90% of the status quo waste stream from landfilling and incineration; and
WHEREAS, Cities across the United States have taken the responsibility to reduce their waste streams with zero waste goals and plans, including San Francisco, New York City, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Washington, DC; and
WHEREAS, Groups across Philadelphia have already laid some initial groundwork, including the Streets Department Recycling Office, the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee, Waste Watchers, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, Recycle Bank, and the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council’s Zero Waste Subcommittee, which are soon be joined by the Post-Landfill Action Network; and
WHEREAS, Reimagining our approach to resources by eliminating waste offers the potential for lowering disposal costs, beautifying the City, improving our health, reducing pollution, creating jobs, stimulating local economic development, and assorted other benefits to the citizens of Philadelphia; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby authorize the Committee on the Environment to hold hearings regarding adoption and achievement of a “zero waste” goal for the City of Philadelphia.
End