Global Recycling Council

August 4, 2004

Linda Moulton-Patterson, Chair
CA Integrated Waste Management Board
P.O. Box 2815
Sacramento, CA 95812-2815

Chair Linda Moulton-Patterson:

The Global Recycling Council of the CRRA has often commended the leadership of the CIWMB for its foresight and leadership in adopting Zero Waste as one of its goals in your Strategic Plan. GRC and the signatories below now call upon you to take steps to implement that goal for California with a Zero Waste Challenge, to both California communities and businesses.

For communities, such a Challenge could, with your assistance, encourage communities to go beyond AB939 to adopt a Zero Waste goal for their community, and develop a Zero Waste Plan to implement that goal. With the Office of Local Assistance and the many publications and tools on your website, California communities are ready to aim beyond 50% waste diversion. The adoption of a Zero Waste Plan would also be an excellent way for communities to further demonstrate their good faith efforts

For businesses, CIWMB could include in the WRAP award application process information about Zero Waste businesses (as documented at http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/articles/companies_zw.html), a request that all applicants provide overall waste diversion rates from landfills and incinerators, and encourage businesses to highlight how they are meeting the goals of Zero Waste Business principles (see http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/business/) in their applications.

To launch this new Zero Waste Challenge, GRC requests that you send an email to all local recycling coordinators and elected officials (especially those in RMDZs) to invite them to learn more about Zero Waste at the unique set of upcoming conferences highlighted below. GRC asks that you request them to send a "delegation" to at least the International Dialog and/or the GRRN Zero Waste Conferences, including an elected official, a high level staff member, a recycling coordinator, a business leader from their community, and a community or environmental group leader.

Similarly, for businesses (especially those associated with the CIWMB’s WRAP Program) GRC asks that you request them to send a "delegation" to at least the International Dialog and/or the GRRN Zero Waste Conferences, including a high level executive, a member of their facilities staff, a member of their Environmental, Health and Safety staff, a member of their design staff responsible for product design and packaging, and/or a member of their operations staff responsible for solid waste and recycling.

Thank you for your past leadership on Zero Waste. We believe that you can really make it happen for many communities and businesses throughout California!

Sincerely,

Tedd Ward

Tedd Ward, M.S., Chair Global Recycling Council of CRRA	Richard V. Anthony, Boardmember GrassRoots Recycling Network
Michael Closson, Executive Director Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth	Peter Anderson, Executive Director The Center for a Competitive Waste Industry
Mikhail Davis, Director The David Brower Fund (a project of Earth Island Institute)	Dorsey Moore, Deputy Director of Operations San Jose Conservation Corps
Brenda Platt, Co-Director Institute for Local Self-Reliance	Captain Charles Moore Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Bradley Angel, Executive Director, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice	Nancy Macy The Valley Women's Club of the San Lorenzo Valley
Alison Wise, Director, Business Development & Public Policy Future 500/ Global Futuresand Executive Director Sea Change Sustainable Business Interest Group	Yoriko Kishimoto, City Council member City of Palo Alto
Gil Friend, President & CEO Natural Logic, Inc.	Antoinette Stein, Menlo Park resident Independent Environmental Researcher

The Global Recycling Council (GRC) is a Technical Council of the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) . The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the CRRA, other CRRA Technical Councils, or CRRA members.