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Economic, environmental, and social vitality

Within the Beyond Waste vision is the premise that waste reduction will result in economic, environmental, and social vitality. This year, four new indicators related to economic vitality were examined.

Click on the charts below for details on each indicator:

 

      

           

   

The overall picture from these new indicators is mixed.

Ideally, the state would be generating less waste per dollar value of products produced. This is not the case with solid waste.  The good news is that less hazardous waste is produced per dollar spent on manufacturing products.

More good news is that recyclables are worth a lot of money. The bad news is we continue to throw away valuable recyclables, about $207 million worth in 2006. These could be recycled, contributing to our state economy and saving natural resources.

Another positive piece of news is that there has been a dramatic increase in green building, which is a boon for our economy and for the environment.