Waste Management in Remote Locations

Remote communities face challenges when it comes to waste management. Isolated communities, remote islands, and areas that operate seasonally have limited or no access to waste management resources and infrastructure like waste collection, transportation, and recycling facilities.Proper waste management protects the environment and public health. One 2023 NPS Green Parks Plan goal is to Buy Green and Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The NPS has set objectives in the plan to divert 50 percent of municipal solid waste by 2025 and 75 percent by 2030 and to phase out single-use plastics by the end of 2032 to support Executive Order 14057 and Secretarial Order 3407. Meeting these goals can be more challenging in remote areas.

Reduce Waste

One of the easiest ways to best manage waste in remote areas is to reduce waste, reuse items, and only purchase needed items. For example, avoid purchasing items in bulk that may expire before they can be used. Ensure a product will be consumed or used before purchasing to avoid generating waste in the first place.If possible, reuse items or fix them before throwing items away. Diverting items from the landfill is one of the most cost-effective and simplest ways to manage waste. Not all waste can be diverted however, avoiding single-use plastic, composting organics, and fixing or donating items that are still in good condition reduces strain on remote waste management systems. If possible, offer condiments in bulk rather than single-use packets, use reusable dishes and silverware over plastics, and only offer receipts and bags upon request. Retail operations may consider reusing packaging from deliveries to wrap items for customers or shipping. Reusing these materials prevents them from putting strain on remote landfill and recycling operations.

Recycle

Recycling is an important part of keeping strain off of landfills. But why is it so beneficial? Recycling saves and maintains landfill space for solid waste. Conserving this space in remote areas is important because landfill space is limited. Recycling keeps items in circulation. Concessioners in remote locations are limited to the facilities available to them. It should be recognized that these facilities often do not exist in remote areas. Although some of these suggestions are not feasible, concessioners may consider purchasing items in recyclable containers over single-use items. Some items are easier to recycle and reuse than others; choose glass, tin, aluminum, and cardboard over single-use plastics. If recycling facilities are available, check with your local program to ensure they accept these items.

Employee Involvement

The Environmental Protection Agency published an article in June 2023 highlighting ways for small businesses to prevent waste. The common thread throughout the success stories is high employee involvement. For example, The Herald Review, a small newspaper printing business in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, encouraged all employees to reduce and reuse materials whenever possible. The results lead to $19,710 in savings for the business and a 97 percent reduction in solid waste. The small changes and employee involvement cost The Herald Review nothing, yet it has saved an incredible amount of ink, paper, and plastic cartridges from landfills! Providing employees with resources, updated protocols, and recognizing staff for their efforts goes a long way. Read about the Herald Review’s success story and others at EPA.gov.

Monitoring Waste

Concessioners with assigned NPS facilities (Category I, II, and some III contract holders) are required by their concession contract to prepare and submit an inventory of waste streams to the NPS.Beginning in calendar year 2024, concessioners contractually required to report solid waste streams will be required to use a standardized NPS Concessioner Waste Data Collection tool, and concessioner data received via this tool will be included in the NPS Servicewide report. To learn more about the NPS Concessioner Waste Data Collection tool and other environmental management tools, visit the Environmental Management page.