Circular Economy

What is a circular economy? To understand this, we have to know what it is not. New Orleans currently embodies a linear economic model, the "take, make, waste" model.

We send 98% percent of what we consume to the landfill. A linear economy extracts materials from the environment, manufactures these materials into products for consumption, and throws these products away immediately after consumption. This model exists as if we live on a planet with infinite resources, polluting the environment and human communities along the way.

It is important to note that what we throw away does not go away. These materials will sit in a landfill forever, becoming problems that need maintenance and costly inspection for years to come. Landfills are known to release leachate into nearby groundwater, putting nearby communities and ecosystems at risk.

The circular economy, by contrast, considers waste as a resource and attempts to eliminate waste sent to the landfill wherever possible. You have surely heard the phrase, "one person's trash is another person's treasure." So how do we move away from this throwaway economy to a circular one?

By designing a system that recognizes the value of all of these materials, we can move away from a throwaway system and towards a circular system. Solutions exist at different scales and require a combination of education, refusal, behavior change, and infrastructure. Together, we can start with ourselves as individuals and ripple influence outwards to our households, our neighborhoods' businesses and schools, and our city.

As individuals, we can each make a difference. The easiest thing to do is remember to bring our own reusable eating and drinking-ware and bags with us wherever we go. By switching to reusable options, we can set as an example for others around us to shift away from the disposable model that requires single use materials like plastic bags and styrofoam clamshells.

Expanding outwards, we can influence our households by making sure our house has a recycling cart and learning about what is and is not recyclable. The first recycling cart for any home is free, and the service for curbside recycling comes at no additional cost to the preexisting monthly sanitation fee. For glass and food waste, which are not accepted in curbside recycling and should not be placed in the trash, identify where a drop-off location is closest to you.

The best thing a restaurant or bar can do is subscribe to composting and recycling services. On top of this, restaurants can transition from a single use to reuse consumer model, invest in an industrial dishwasher, and use it! Coffee shops can ensure customers receive mugs that can be washed and reused over and over as opposed to single use coffee cups. Restaurants can only serve disposable items like straws or chopsticks upon request. This way, reuse is the default, and single use is the exception rather than the norm. Reuse saves restaurants money and saves our environment from the damages caused by single use consumption across the life cycle of these disposable materials. Read more about the economic and environmental benefits of reuse here:

By implementing sustainable policies (e.g., plastic bag tax), programs (e.g., reusable bag distributions), and infrastructures (e.g., an organics processing facility), New Orleans as a city can gradually make a dent in our waste stream. We can divert materials that can be reused, recycled, repaired, and composted from the landfill, and prohibit items that should have never existed to begin with. Circular economies seek to reclaim as much waste downstream, while reducing as much waste upstream, as possible. New Orleans has a lot of room for improvement in this regard, but together we can make gradual steps in the right direction. Here are some policies, programs, and infrastructures that would align with a circular economy in New Orleans:

Overall

Zero Waste Resolution: Gainesville Zero Waste Initiative

Food and Yard Waste

Grocery Store and Food Establishment Food Waste Recovery Ordinance
Residential Organics Pick Up (including compost)
Mandatory Business and Commercial Establishment Organics Pick Up

Single Use Plastic Bans and Restrictions

Single-Use Food ware Rules
NYC Skip The Stuff Bill
Straw Phase Out
Prohibition on single-use plastic straws and single-use plastic stirrers
Prohibition on intentional release outdoors of plastic confetti, glitter, and balloons
Single-use plastic food accessories available upon request
Prohibition on use of expanded polystyrene containers on city property or city right-of-way
Prohibition of sale of expanded polystyrene containers within city limits
Registration of food waste collectors

Cans and Bottles

Beverage Container Redemption Program (Statewide): DC Bottle Bill
Mandatory can recycling for all commercial businesses

Construction Waste

Deconstruction ordinance for city demolitions
Deconstruction ordinance for all residential buildings and accessories constructed prior to 1945, or constructed prior to 1960 and designated as historic
Residential vinyl siding drop off

Cigarettes Butts

Deposit System for Cigarette Butts and Cigarette Packaging

Special Events

Mandatory biodegradable/compostable or reusable eatingware for festivals
Mardi Gras and elsewhere:
- Prohibition on intentional release outdoors of plastic bags, plastic confetti, glitter, and balloons
- Increased krewe participation fees to cover overtime clean up, drainage maintenance, and NOPD expenses
- Mandatory % of sustainable throws by weight as designated by registry of sustainable throws by 2027
- Mandatory inclusion of returnable throws in caboose of float

City Departments and Procurement

Required mulching and composting of all trees and vegetation serviced / cut down on city property and in street right of ways
Recycling access in all city-related facilities
Reduced plastic bag dependency training for custodial staff
Banned single use plastic eating-ware for all city-affiliated events
Reusable/refillable drinking stations installed
Banned single use water bottles for all city-affiliated events
Mandatory reselling or donating of unwanted department furniture in city buildings
Mandatory recycling or donating of city-generated e-waste

Glass