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Leverett, Massachusetts |
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Rural Community Finds Environmental and Societal Benefit from Reuse
Operation |
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Swap shops are
being promoted primarily as a means of reducing landfill
tonnage, but their real value may far exceed waste diversion.
In fact, if one is looking at swap shops only as a means of
waste diversion, they may not pay for themselves, but, when
viewed in terms of their benefit to the community, they can be a
virtual gold mine.
Several years
ago the concept of a “Societal Screening Tool" was developed by
Richard Drury, solid waste manager for the City of Leveritt,
Massachusetts, as a way to evaluate something by looking at its
overall cost and benefit to “Society”. At first glance, it
would seem difficult to quantify the value of reuse. But, if
one starts with some observations and approximate values, we may
be surprised at how much a reuse program can benefit a
community. The following example is taken from our reuse
program estimated over the course of a year. What is not
discussed is how “reuse” facilitates “reduce” the purchase of
new materials. |
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Item |
Worth/per |
Units/Wk |
Wks/Yr
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Worth |
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Swap Shop |
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Shirts/Sweaters |
$5.00 |
15 |
52 |
$3,900.00 |
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Coats |
$7.00 |
3 |
26 |
$546.00 |
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Pants |
$5.00 |
7.5 |
52 |
$1,950.00 |
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Dresses |
$5.00 |
6 |
52 |
$1,560.00 |
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Shoes |
$5.00 |
3 |
52 |
$780.00 |
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Toys/games etc. |
$2.00 |
12 |
52 |
$1,248.00 |
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Kitchen ware |
$1.00 |
8 |
52 |
$416.00 |
| Small
Appliances |
$7.00 |
3 |
52 |
$1,092.00 |
| |
$25.00 |
.05 |
52 |
$650.00 |
| |
$10.00 |
9 |
52 |
$4,860.00 |
| Value of Swap
Shop |
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$17,002.00 |
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Other Reuse Programs |
|
Units or
Units/Wk |
Units or Wks/Yr. |
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| Used
Motor Oil |
$0.75 |
55 Gal Drum |
440 |
$330.00 |
|
Packing Pellets |
$14.50 |
4 cu. ft./bag |
110 |
$1,595.00 |
| Egg
Crates |
$0.23 |
100 |
52 |
$1,196.00 |
| Paper
Bags |
$0.03 |
17 |
52 |
$27.00 |
| Books |
$1.50 |
35 |
52 |
$2,730.00 |
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Planting Pots |
$0.10 |
125 |
40 |
$500.00 |
| Large
Item Swap |
$60.00 |
7 |
6 |
$2,520.00 |
| Value of
additional programs |
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$8,898.00 |
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Waste Diversion |
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7.5 tons/tipping@ $65.00/ton |
$450.00 |
|
Shipping |
1 trip |
@ $65.00 haul |
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$65.00 |
| Value of waste
diversion |
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$515.00 |
| Total Value |
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$26,415.00 |
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| Cost to maintain and
run |
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| Labor=1/4 of Assistant $660.00; 1/8
of Supervisor $396.00; 1/8 Admin $375.00, DPW $400.00 = |
$1,831.00 |
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Capital= used existing structures; expected annualized
maintenance & improvements = |
$250.00 |
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Value of volunteer help= |
$150.00 |
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Total Cost (+
estimated value of volunteer help) |
$2,231.00 |
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Total Value |
$26,415.00 |
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| Net
Value |
$24,184.00 |
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What is immediately apparent from the above
is that reuse offers enormous societal value, even though it may
be difficult to justify monetarily as a means of waste
diversion. The waste diversion savings via reuse are
proportionately small; in this case about 2% of the total
value. At a societal value of $26,400, every dollar spent
returns about $11.84. The sheer cost/benefit ratio of these
numbers suggest that local swap shops can provide real benefits
to larger communities as well. For more information, contact
Richard Drury at 413/367-9683 or
rcsenrgy@javanet.com |
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ReDO
Sponsoring Subscribers |
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Leaders in historic commercial building reuse & redevelopment in Baltimore
and throughout the East Coast. |
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Site Maintained By: |
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