Kickin’ the can out of the landfill

In case you haven't heard, the City of Fairfield has signed a new Waste Management (WM) contract. It mandates standardized, robotic-arm-friendly trash receptacles for residential trash pickup, effective July 2025. Currently, each household provides its own trash can - or just a bag - and there is no standard for size, configuration or material make-up. However, under the new contract, WM will provide all residential trash receptacles and the old trash cans will no longer be acceptable for pick-up. What happens to the 4,000-5,000 existing trash cans currently in use by Fairfield households?

WM offered to landfill the old trash cans, but that "solution" didn't appeal to Fairfield’s community-based Resilient Action Committee (RAC). The RAC's waste management subcommittee seeks to reduce Jefferson County’s Mixed Solid Waste (MSW) tonnage to the SEMCO landfill by 20% in 10 years. The cornerstone of this Zero Waste approach is to divert discarded waste and redirect it as valuable resources whenever possible. Creating more waste out of old trash cans is not an option for the RAC, so they developed the KICKIN’ THE CAN out of the LANDFILL initiative.

WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT WHAT GOES IN THE LANDFILL?

Fairfield’s Mixed Solid Waste (MSW) stream averages 1/3 (3,770 out of 12,026 tons) of the total (MSW) going to the Tri-county SEMCO landfill each year. Approximately 22% is organic waste, 22% paper and cardboard, and 15% plastic-most of which could be redirected (according to the 2022 Iowa Statewide Material Characterization Study). Reducing waste combats climate change and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions by: reducing waste in landfills and manufacturing processes (methane); conserving energy and resources; and preventing pollution from raw material extraction. Introducing better waste management policies such as waste separation, recycling, and composting could cut total emissions from the waste sector by 84% or more than

1.4 billion tons, equivalent to the annual emissions of 300 million cars (per the 2020 GAIA {Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives} report Zero Waste to Zero Emissions).

HOW YOU CAN JOIN IN KICKIN’ THE CAN OUT OF THE LANDFILL

The RAC has launched the KICKIN’ THE CAN OUT OF THE LANDFILL project to provide 3 options for our 4,000-5,000 soon-to-be obsolete residential trash bins. Here's how you can participate:

1. KEEP YOUR CAN: Find another use for your trash can such as a storage bin for firewood, leaves or other dry goods. But please don’t keep it if you’re not going to use it!

2. REPURPOSE YOUR CAN AT A FREE WORKSHOP: Join others on Saturday, July 12, 1:00-5:00 at the DeepGreenMachine Makers’ Space (behind Breadtopia) to repurpose your bin into something you can use another way such as a wheelbarrow, chicken coop, or a planter. Learn the best uses for the kind of bin you have. The workshop is free, but pre-registration is required; pre-register at TBD and receive details at a later date. Tools, expertise, and some materials will be provided.

3. TAKE YOUR CAN TO THE REPURPOSING YARD AT MIU: Drop off your clean can on any Saturday in July, 10:00-2:00, and it will be sent to Iowa Waste Exchange or other sources for repurposing or recycling. If your old bin is no good, but you'd like a better one to repurpose, trade in your old one at this location.

Besides keeping many trash cans out of the landfill, KICKIN’ THE CAN OUT OF THE LANDFILL represents a model for community action towards meeting a ten-year zero waste goal of reducing our annual tonnage of solid waste to the landfill by 20%. Every action we take together re-patterns how we think about what was once called waste: it can become a resource, and a model of circularity is born.

For more information, contact: Faith Reeves, resilientff@gmail.com; Marg Dwyer, 641-472-7561 or mdwyerhome@lisco.com.