ZeroLandfill.net Blog

Milestone Achieved, Awareness Brings Shift in Industry Behavior

July 21st, 2009

This month, the ZeroLandfill project team notched a significant goal…the 100th ton of materials recovered from the construction industry has been repurposed. That’s 200,000+ pounds of expired specification samples diverted from the waste stream and returned to the community as essential materials for local arts programs, classrooms and recyclers. What makes this figure even more compelling is the fact that the majority of the items handled by ZeroLandfill weigh less than 1 pound each (such as laminate chips, fabric swatches, 3 ring binder, carpet tiles). That’s a lot of stuff to handle. That’s a lot of viable material that was misclassified as waste by one industry and reclassified as economic assets by other audiences. Results of projects in Akron OH, Toledo OH, Cincinnati OH, Cleveland OH, and Boston MA contributed to this total.

The ZeroLandfill Cleveland project team has noted an interesting trend in working with the materials this summer; there is just as much participation by organizations donating materials, however, there is less material. Typically, a ZeroLandfill project will handle thousands of expired carpet books donated by interior design and architectural firms. This year, it is hundreds (or less). The same goes for vinyl wallcovering books…hundreds show up weekly, this year it is dozens. While the easy explanation for this trend may by
the economy, ie a drop in business and projects leads to a reduction in materials. However, manufacturers have not stopped releasing and shipping new products and dropping older product lines. Rather, the trend appears to be a result of embedding a new thought process in the local interiors industry after 3+ seasons of engaging the Cleveland market in upcycling activity. A number of design professionals report a higher awareness of the need reduce the volume of samples ordered day to day. The opportunity to recycle expired samples has increased as more manufacturers offer a takeback service for unneeded specification samples. And the connections forged by ZeroLandfill activity that connects one audience to another audience continue to function outside of the walls of the ZeroLandfill program site. A combination of these new practices coupled with awareness around the need to think and act with as a closed loop system has created a noticeable shift in industry behavior.

ZeroLandfill is designed for obsolescence…as changes in attitudes and behaviors take place through engagement in project work, as new connections to repurpose materials are fostered in the community, and as new understanding of the role of the construction industry as a regenerative force in the economy reaches new levels, ZeroLandfill as an ongoing program can slowly melt away.

Special support has been offered by the following organizations to help achieve this exciting milestone in the ZeroLandfill story.
Thanks go out to the ZeroLandfill 100 Ton Challenge Partners:

Allsteel
Amtico
Atlas Carpet Mills
BeeDance
Blueridge Carpets
Environments4Business
Forbo
Herman Miller
IIDA Cleveland/Akron City Center
InterfaceFLOR
The New Patcraft
RED DOT Project
Rosby Companies
Servicemaster
Sherwin Williams
Studio Graphique
Suntrol
Taxel Image Group
Tim O’Neil & Associates
Virginia Tile

Entry Filed under: ZL Story