Strategy 10
Promote integration of the Regional Recovered Materials Plan with transit, disaster, water quality and other regional planning efforts.
Historically, solid waste management initiatives in the region have operated in a silo. It is typically assigned to the local public works department which provides the service to keep the city clean, with little coordination between that department and others within the city. Equally, there is little coordination between municipalities in the region. Compounding the issue, many cities have outsourced their solid waste management to private companies. Waste has been viewed as a troublesome liability running into real world limits to its disposal and storage. Through the lens of the region’s new material recovery plan, this changes. Waste is viewed as an asset. Recovered materials can expand the economic engine of the region, reduce our reliance on imports and increase our resilience and self-reliance. It impacts all aspects of regional planning.
Strategy alignment
| Diversion impact | Significant | High | Important |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Benefit | Impactful | Inspiring | Hidden |
| Value | Enhanced | Retained | Jobs |
| Ease of implementation | Expandable | Removable barriers | Long-term effort |
Strategy details
Diversion Impact
Important
The more other regional planning efforts see solid waste as a resource that can benefit the future of our region, the swifter we combine efforts to divert those resources from landfills.
Community benefit
Inspiring
Food waste capture can benefit disaster planning. Gleaning can provide greater food reserves, and composting can improve food production and soil health for local urban farmers. Both increase local capacity to feed the region when disasters impact the supply chain. Likewise, when disasters impact the energy grid, waste-to-energy operations can provide much needed sources of locally-derived backup energy. Transit, water quality, land use, housing, job creation and other planning efforts can all benefit by retaining recovered materials and increasing our capacity to use them regionally.
Value
Enahanced
While the full scope has yet to be explored, the region's intermodal capabilities can certainly be leveraged for our future benefit. By developing a strategic plan to attract waste materials from cities across the Midwest, we can use our competitive advantage in transportation to aggregate materials for recovery. The KC region can become a major destination for any company that is seeking a large, reliable, domestic supply of secondary materials for manufacturing and more.
Ease of implementation
Expandable
The exercise of interdisciplinary regional planning is fairly straightforward. However, it's like using an underdeveloped muscle. Most regional planning is done in topical silos. Collaboration across disciplines is not the norm, and up until now, few have seen the merits of considering the potential that material recovery can generate for the region. Given that starting point, it will likely take time to establish joint planning exercises.
Getting started
Build inroads and establish relationships with other regional planning groups. Share the merits of viewing recovered materials as a regional asset. Then, develop a shared vision of what can be gained by planning with a wider lens.
Stakeholders
- Elected officials
- city and county staff
- MARC
- other regional planning groups