Zero-waste advocates urge move away from Stanislaus incinerator. What they want from you
On Monday, a local group will hold the first of four workshops about zero waste, a concept that aims to reduce waste through so-called lifecycle design and management.
Valley Improvement Projects, a Central Valley environmental and social justice advocacy group, and Zero Waste USA will present a hybrid workshop at 5 p.m. titled “Zero Waste: For a just transition to a more sustainable future.” The two organizations are advocating for Modesto and Stanislaus County to transition away from using the Covanta waste-to-energy incinerator on Fink Road.
“One of the issues that Valley Improvement Projects was kind of founded around was the fact that we have one of the last trash incinerators in the state of California over near Crows Landing,” Tom Helme, VIP co-founder and project director, said. “It used to be one out of three, now it’s only one out of the last two.”
Helme noted that Modesto was one of the first cities in the country to have a volunteer-based recycling bin system before the incinerator. One theme of the workshop will be a focus on recycling and sustainable waste management practices.
“There is lots of other things you can do to cut down on the amount of waste that’s produced and the amount of waste that we have to dispose of in a landfill, if we do all these different things that are involved in a zero-waste plan,” Helme said.
Part of the workshop will focus on the environmental impacts of Stanislaus County’s current waste management procedures. Currently, the city of Modesto and Stanislaus County have a contract until 2027 to use the Covanta Stanislaus incinerator, which burns at least 243,000 tons annually.
The workshop is aimed at drawing community input across the county and will discuss other communities that have pivoted toward zero-waste programs.
For him and his Valley Improvement Projects co-founder, Bianca Lopez, Helme said, “It’s not a destination, it’s a journey.”
While he acknowledged the idea of not wasting anything produced may be “far away,” he noted the importance of moving toward the organization’s goal.
People “don’t think about actual source reduction of where the waste comes from,” Helme said. “So we want to introduce all those kinds of ideas and systems of having the infrastructure, for example, for even just water bottle refilling.”
The workshop series is part of a partnership between Zero Waste USA and Valley Improvement Projects. The other workshops will be at the same location on June 26, July 24, Aug. 28 and Sept. 25.
Residents may participate in the workshop virtually or in person. The Zoom link to access it is tinyurl.com/zerowaste-stan. The gathering will be at the North Valley Labor Federation, 417 Seventh St.
This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
