Vote Language:That Town Meeting does and hereby resolves as follows:
WHEREAS, the Town of Arlington generates over 10,000 tons (20 million pounds) of trash annually (excluding commercial), which is incinerated at the Wheelabrator Incinerator in North Andover with residual ash disposed of at the Ash Landfill in Shrewsbury; and
WHEREAS, burning waste and burying toxic ash have the following impacts: causing damage to human health and the environment, wasting natural resources, generating greenhouse gases, contributing to the loss of biodiversity, and wrongly transferring health and environmental harms to other communities and future generations; and
WHEREAS, the detrimental impacts of Arlington’s waste disposal are exacerbated by the incineration facility and ash landfill being located adjacent to financially disadvantaged, minority, and English isolated populations, who face disproportionate environmental burdens and are at disproportionate risk for negative health outcomes, i.e., “Environmental Justice communities”; and
WHEREAS, single-use plastic items, in all forms: including plastic bags, plastic drinking straws, plastic lids, plastic containers, plastic utensils, and plastic soda/water bottles, inflict significant ecological harm to our environment resulting from their use and their degradation into micro plastics, thereby posing a risk to human and animal health; and
WHEREAS, the diversity of single-use materials and consumer understanding of what can and can not be recycled, and where it must be placed to ensure it is recycled, create confusion and contribute to low recycling rates; and
WHEREAS, single-use compostable food and beverage containers emit more greenhouse gasses and require more water and energy during production than their single-use plastic equivalents and are only compostable in industrial facilities, and are therefore not a solution to the single-use waste problem; and
WHEREAS, food waste averages 25-30% of municipal solid waste, and thus the biggest component, of municipal solid waste; and
WHEREAS, food waste is composed of mostly water, which means transporting and burning it requires additional fuel, making waste hauling and incineration inefficient and more polluting; and
WHEREAS, since FY 2018, the cost of Arlington’s waste incineration and recycling has increased by nearly 20% despite our Town reducing tonnage by nearly 15%; and
WHEREAS, Arlington’s contract for solid waste disposal will expire in 2030 and the next contract would potentially commit the town to waste disposal practices through 2035; and
WHEREAS a Zero Waste Plan can support the next waste disposal contract; and
WHEREAS, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (“MassDEP”) projects that in-state landfill capacity for solid waste will decline to nearly zero by 2028, making source reduction and diversion efforts even more urgent; and
WHEREAS, the state’s “2030 Solid Waste Master Plan: Working Together Toward Zero Waste” has set a goal to reduce the state’s total solid waste from a 2018 baseline by 30% by 2030 and 90% by 2050; and
WHEREAS, The Town has adopted multiple policies and resolutions that recognize and take action on threats to our environment, and human health, in particular:
2018: Town of Arlington committed to become carbon-neutral by 2050, developing a Net Zero Action Plan.
2018: Arlington Town Meeting, Article 17, banned distribution of single use plastic carry-out bags for grocery and retail.
2018: Arlington Public Schools begin composting at all schools.
2020: Arlington Town Meeting, Article 29, regulated polystyrene (#6 plastic, both foam and rigid) distribution by retailers
2022: Arlington Town Meeting, Article 12, banned certain single-use plastic water bottle sales. 2023: Arlington Town Meeting, Article 64 approved a resolution to support advocacy by Zero Waste Arlington at the state level in support of Extended Producer Responsibility legislation; 2023: Arlington Town Meeting, Article 56, voted to support a pilot on the collection of compost for Arlington eating establishments situated along Massachusetts Avenue.
2025: Arlington School Committee adopts updated School Waste Reduction and Diversion Policy.
WHEREAS, these bylaws and resolutions, taken together, reflect the values of our community with respect to sustainability and environmental justice; and
WHEREAS, a Zero Waste policy includes:
? preserving natural resources by means of responsible production and consumption;
? conserving natural resources through waste prevention;
? promoting reusable products and the use of materials that are durable, reusable and made from non-toxic materials;
? reducing the use of single-use, non-recyclable products and materials;
? treating waste as a resource;
? regenerating natural resources through composting and recycling;
? turning discarded resources into jobs and new products instead of trash; and
? managing waste without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment and human health; and
WHEREAS, Zero Waste minimizes resource consumption and eliminates waste whenever possible in order to conserve energy, mitigate climate change, reduce water usage, prevent the creation of toxins, and stop ecosystem destruction; and
WHEREAS, Zero Waste redesigns our systems of resource use from a linear model of take, make, use and dispose to a circular model of reuse; and
WHEREAS, Zero Waste captures our discards and uses them, instead of new resources, to make new products, creating far less pollution.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the TOWN OF ARLINGTON will hereby:
1. Continue to expand the adoption of the principles of Zero Waste as overarching goals for the community and all municipal and school operations.
2. Develop a Zero Waste Plan as soon as possible that would:
a. Include input from multiple stakeholders, including residents, businesses, schools and Town staff;
b. Establish goals that meet or exceed the state’s 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan waste reduction goals;
c. Recommend short- and long-term actions to reduce waste that may include infrastructure, policies, local and regional collaboration, education and community engagement;
d. Explore opportunity for town-wide compost services;
e. Provide a cost/benefit analysis on each waste reduction strategy under consideration; and
f. Prioritize solid waste reduction programs that minimize the impact on environmental justice communities.