054 of 2011 - Waste Reduction and Diversion Goals & Zero Waste Strategic Plan R 11-1
R 11-16
JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 54 OF 2011
(Waste reduction and diversion goals and zero waste strategic plan)
A joint resolution of the City Council and the Mayor of Salt Lake City adopting
waste reduction and diversion goals for Salt Lake City and directing City staff to develop a
zero waste strategic plan to achieve the City's goals.
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City has taken steps toward promoting sustainable use of
resources and materials, including programs and policy goals to reduce, reuse, and recycle
materials that would otherwise be disposed as waste; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City recycled or composted 30 percent of its residential waste in
Fiscal Year 2011; and
WHEREAS, Salt Lake City is conducting a baseline Waste Characterization Study that
is expected to be completed by June 2012; and
WHEREAS, the Waste Characterization Study is expected to provide data on types and
quantity of waste from our entire community currently being recycled, composted and disposed
as waste; and
WHEREAS,the Waste Characterization Study is also expected to provide recommended
strategies to improve recycling and waste reduction in Salt Lake City; and
WHEREAS, the placement of materials in landfills can cause damage to human health,
wastes natural resources, and wrongly transfers liabilities to future generations; and
WHEREAS, waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting are material
management options that conserve resources while reducing environmental impacts; and
WHEREAS, Zero Waste principles promote the highest and best use of materials to
eliminate waste and pollution, emphasizing a close-loop system of production and consumption,
and moving in logical increments toward the goal of zero waste through principles of:
• Managing resources instead of waste;
• Conserving natural resources through waste prevention and recycling;
• Turning discarded resources into products with the highest and best use;
• Stimulating local workforce and economic development through reuse of discarded
resources;
• Promoting products and materials that are durable and recyclable;
• Discouraging products and materials that can only become trash after their use; and
WHEREAS, a Zero Waste Strategic Plan will be necessary for the City to reach its
sustainability and waste reduction goals.
THEREFORE, BE IT JOINTLY RESOLVED by the City Council and the Mayor of
Salt Lake City, Utah, as follows:
1. The City Council and the Mayor hereby adopt Zero Waste as a guiding principle for
all City operations and for outreach and actions within the community;
2. The City Council and the Mayor hereby adopt a goal to recycle 50 percent of waste by
2015, 70 percent of waste by 2025, and eliminate waste by 2040;
3. The City Council and the Mayor hereby direct the City's Department of Public
Services to prepare a Zero Waste Strategic Plan for Salt Lake City by December 2012; and
4. The Mayor and the City Council will consider and appropriate resources to implement
these strategies in the course of planning and adopting the City's annual budget, and approve and
consider policies that will implement these strategies.
Passed and Adopted this 22 day of November , 2011.
SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL
By (ikX - (4'6/L-e
CHAIRPERSON
TEST AND COUNTERSIGN:: r'
:?!rii,Pr,,t 4 N
SALT L,A i 1*MAYOR
A EST AND COUNTERSIGN:
TYRE ORD . - fr-1--
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
SENI ALT LA<CE CITY ATTORNEY
HB ATTY4I9094-vI-Joint_Resolution_adopting waste_reduction_and_diversion_goals.DOC
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