Recycling
U.S. Recycling Markets in Free Fall After China Pulls Import Plug
China has stopped purchasing the recyclables that millions of Americans place curbside on recycling days, upending the industry. Recyclables are already directed toward landfills as domestic markets are sought. Berkeley, Calif. may go a novel route.
The Moral Foundations of Public Support For Environmentalism and Public Transit
Why do green transportation policies attract less intense support than environmentalist policies related to waste and litter?
Designing a Better Trash Chute
Programs that make folks pay for garbage services based on how much they throw away can cut down trash in landfills. Designers are looking for ways to adapt these programs to multiunit buildings.
Who Recycles in Cincinnati?
A new CincyInsights dashboard shows recycling participation rates all over the city.
Baltimore Sets a Goal to Recycle More
Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has set a goal for the city to recycle twice as much as it currently does, and one advocacy group already has ideas about how the city can do so.
The Value of Garbage Has Changed Dramatically
Recycled metals, plastics, glass, and other materials are more economical than ever. Welcome to a new era of waste management.
Activists Track America's Electronic Waste
When a watchdog group partnered with MIT to install trackers on a batch of e-waste, the results were sobering. Much of the haul left the country, ending up in Asian junkyards where unknowing workers are exposed to toxic substances.
Unique Garbage Challenges in Juneau
Juneau, Alaska's tiny capital city, is not accessible from elsewhere by road. Its isolation makes waste disposal problematic and expensive, spurring an aggressive recycling effort.
First New U.S. Waste-to-Energy Plant in 20 Years to Open in Florida
Waste-to-energy plants, or incinerators, are classified as renewable power plants by the EPA. A controversial Baltimore plant is under construction as well. More common in Europe, they may be catching on stateside due to low recycling rates.
Bloomberg Leaves de Blasio a Waste Management Morass
The NYC Sanitation Department's budget has tripled over the past 17 years, despite Mayor Bloomberg's waste management reforms. With recycling rates dismally low and a long-range management plan stalled, Bill de Blasio will have to clean up the mess.
China Confronts Troubling By-Product of Urbanization: Mountains of Construction Rubble
China's rapid rebuilding effort has produced mountains of debris as old cities are replaced with gleaming new metropolises. Illegal dumping is coming under fire as it gets more and more difficult to conceal the evidence.
How China's 'Greenwall' Threatens Your City's Recycling Efforts
The United States' municipal recycling programs rely on China's voracious appetite for plastic trash. But the country's new ban on the import of certain types of solid waste may cause your city a giant, stinky headache.
Can Houston Overcome its Recycling Problem by Sorting Everything?
Houston's 14 percent recycling rate is downright dismal (San Francisco's is 80 percent). The city's entry in the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayor's Challenge seeks to change this by taking the onus off of individuals to decide what's recyclable.
Charlotte Airport Turning Trash into Treasure
Air travel is a notoriously wasteful mode. But one airport is taking huge leaps towards sustainability. Julie Rose reports on Charlotte Douglas International's comprehensive recycling and composting program.
Solving Sweden's Trash Deficit
You read that right, Sweden's trash problem is that it doesn't have enough of it. Due to a spectacularly successful rate of recycling, the country doesn't have enough garbage to power its waste-to-energy program. It's solution: import trash.
Decline in Recycling Hurts New Jersey's Environment and Budgets
Once at the cutting edge of the recycling revolution, the last decade has seen a precipitous drop-off in recycling in New Jersey. James M. O’Neill reports on the reasons for the decline and its effect on municipal finances.
Stadiums Get Sustainable
Many sport agencies are realizing the benefits of going green. John McHale Jr., executive vice president at M.L.B. said “just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you can’t do something.” Many others are doing their part to help as well.
Recycling Carpet Could Save Millions of Barrels of Oil
Four billion pounds of old carpet get dumped every year in the United States, and five pounds of oil goes into producing a single pound of nylon. New recycling methods could save all that oil by producing new nylon from old with little energy cost.
NYC Building $80 M Recycling Center
The city recently broke ground on a new facility designed to collect all of the city's metal, glass, and plastic recyclables and reduce collection trucking by 260,000 miles each year.
Honolulu Law Would Reduce Construction Waste
Legislation working its way through the Honolulu City Council could require construction companies doing work in the Hawaiian city to recycle or reuse as much as 60% of construction materials.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
