Action Alert: Tell the Mayor that Newton Needs  Funding for a Comprehensive Zero Waste Plan

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Green Newton

The City of Newton is receiving $63.2 million dollars through the American Recovery Act (ARPA) program. Mayor Fuller has said, “Our overarching goals for the funding is to seed initiatives that will help Newtonians and our city not just stabilize and recover, but permanently be more resilient, more livable, more vibrant, more inclusive, and more sustainable.”

Developing a comprehensive zero waste plan, a “road map” for getting us closer to zero waste with clear goals and metrics to measure our progress, would help our city be “more resilient, more livable, more vibrant, more inclusive, and more sustainable.”

Tell the Mayor that you would like to see funds from ARPA allocated to fund the drafting of a Comprehensive Zero Waste Plan for Newton. You can:

  1. Email a message to ARPAinput@newtonma.gov.
  2. Attend the next zoom community ARPA input session on Wednesday, February 16 at 7pm to advocate for funding. Join the meeting at us02web.zoom.us/j/85410319248.

 

What would be in a zero waste plan?

In drafting a zero waste plan, research and analysis would be done on current waste generation across all sectors of our community to determine our baseline and help set our goals for waste reduction. The zero waste plan would then set a framework for how we would reduce waste with specific targets and ways to measure our progress.

How much would it cost?

Working with the City’s Sustainable Materials Management Division, expert consultants would be able to streamline the process of drafting a zero waste plan. The cost could be about $50K-$100K, with some of the work being done by SMMD staff.

Why does Newton need a comprehensive zero waste plan?

  • A comprehensive zero waste plan would provide a road map for the future, making it easier to implement waste reduction programs, measure our progress, and achieve set goals.
  • Viewing waste in the city as a whole through a zero waste plan would help create efficiencies within the city system that do not exist now.
  • A comprehensive zero waste plan would take into account all waste generated in Newton, not just residential and municipal. We need to collect data on all sources of waste including business, construction & demolition, and institutional waste so that we can plan how to reduce waste in all sectors.
  • The cost of Newton’s 2020 5-year waste hauling contract increased more than 15%. Newton will likely face another increase in 2025 and beyond. Creating a zero waste plan to dramatically reduce our waste would help mitigate cost increases in the future.

Brookline, Cambridge, Boston, and many communities around the country have already invested in their own Zero Waste Plans. We need Newton to step up and invest in our future too.

 

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