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City Council Meeting Minutes March 3, 2020 <br />waste is lack of education and lack of culture as it relates to compost. The <br />culture is growing day by day and we are recruiting students to become more <br />aware and to advocate for environmental issues. We decided that it was time <br />to put this in writing and that the Council considers implementing a zero waste <br />plan so we have time table to meet certain standards. City of Toronto have a <br />composting system which have been self-sufficient and self-sustaining and <br />believes we can have something similar in San Marcos. <br />Tucker Thompson, Student Body Vice -President at Texas State University, <br />addressed Council on the implementation of Zero Waste Plan and made the <br />following comments: <br />"What is Zero Waste? It is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that <br />encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reused. <br />The goal is for no trash to be sent to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. Zero <br />waste encompasses more than eliminating waste through recycling and reuse, it <br />focuses on restructuring production and distribution systems to reduce waste. <br />It means designing and managing products and processes systematically to <br />avoid and eliminate the waste and materials, and to conserve and recover all <br />resources from waste streams. <br />How does Zero Waste Create Jobs and effect the Economy? <br />1. Collecting, processing and preparing materials. Your discarded materials are <br />picked up and then brought to processing facilities where they are sorted and <br />prepared to sell to markets. <br />2. Making new products from recycled materials (remanufacturing). Your <br />recyclables then head to paper mills, metal smelters and plastic manufacturing <br />facilities that use recycled materials to make new products. Compost facilities <br />turn your discarded yard and food scraps into valuable soil amendments or <br />energy <br />3. Reuse and repair businesses that sell reclaimed products. These include <br />antique stores, thrift stores, tailors, auto salvage yards, computer refurbishers, <br />and used book stores. <br />Ten times more jobs are created through reducing, reusing and recycling than <br />through trash disposal. In addition to job growth, Zero Waste gives value back <br />to the community by keeping materials - and dollars - out of the landfill. Every <br />ton of trash that gets buried in your local landfill contains products like paper, <br />plastic, and metal that could have been sold for recycling. That's money that <br />could have supported community and local businesses. The U.S. buries $11.4 <br />billion every year in potential revenue from earnings. Other cities are Austin, <br />City of San Marcos Page 2 <br />