CPWM Recycling and Resource Recovery 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When calculating a community's diversion rate, which of the following materials is typically EXCLUDED from the diversion calculation denominator?
- Food scraps sent to composting
- Construction and demolition debris
- Hazardous household waste collected at special events
- All of the above are typically excluded (Correct answer)
Correct answer: All of the above are typically excluded
Many jurisdictions exclude C&D debris and HHW from the diversion rate base because these materials are collected through separate programs and skew the residential recycling metric.
Question 2: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging places the financial and physical burden of end-of-life management on:
- Municipal governments
- Consumers through deposit fees
- Producers and brand owners (Correct answer)
- Waste haulers exclusively
Correct answer: Producers and brand owners
EPR shifts the cost and responsibility for post-consumer packaging collection and recycling from municipalities and taxpayers to the companies that produce and sell the packaging.
Question 3: Which recycling market disruption event in 2018 most significantly impacted US MRF economics?
- EU Packaging Directive revision
- China's National Sword policy (Correct answer)
- Japan's import ban on mixed plastics
- NAFTA renegotiation tariffs on scrap metal
Correct answer: China's National Sword policy
China's National Sword policy set a 0.5% contamination threshold on imported recyclables, effectively banning most US mixed recyclables and collapsing commodity revenues for MRFs.
Question 4: In anaerobic digestion for resource recovery, the primary energy product generated is:
- Ethanol
- Biogas (methane-rich) (Correct answer)
- Hydrogen gas
- Biodiesel
Correct answer: Biogas (methane-rich)
Anaerobic digestion of organic waste produces biogas, which is approximately 50–70% methane and can be used for electricity generation, heat, or upgraded to renewable natural gas.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'commodity risk fund' or revenue-sharing model in MRF contracts?
- To pay worker bonuses when commodity prices are high
- To share both gains and losses from commodity price volatility between the MRF and municipality (Correct answer)
- To fund capital equipment replacement on a fixed schedule
- To reimburse haulers for collection costs
Correct answer: To share both gains and losses from commodity price volatility between the MRF and municipality
Revenue-sharing or commodity risk arrangements align incentives by distributing market risk and reward between the operator and the contracting municipality, stabilizing program finances.
Question 6: Which plastic resin identification code (RIC) designates polypropylene (PP)?
- 3
- 4
- 5 (Correct answer)
- 6
Correct answer: 5
RIC #5 designates polypropylene, commonly found in yogurt containers, bottle caps, and food storage containers, and increasingly accepted in curbside programs.
Question 7: The 'wishcycling' problem in recycling programs refers to:
- Underfunding of MRF equipment upgrades
- Residents placing non-recyclable items in the bin hoping they will be recycled (Correct answer)
- Setting diversion goals without adequate infrastructure
- Exporting recyclables without confirmed end markets
Correct answer: Residents placing non-recyclable items in the bin hoping they will be recycled
Wishcycling occurs when residents put unacceptable items in recycling bins out of optimism, increasing contamination and processing costs without improving actual diversion.
CPWM Recycling and Resource Recovery 3
When calculating a community's diversion rate, which of the following materials is typically EXCLUDED from the diversion calculation denominator?