Strategy CM-3. Expand community recycling and composting. Diverting more waste away from the landfill is one of the most direct strategies Ashland can focus on to reduce the environmental impacts of the city’s consumption. While the City cannot influence upstream production methods at factories and farms beyond its city limits, minimizing downstream waste has a clear and measurable positive impact that will help Ashland move toward its sustainability goals. PRIORITY ACTIONS CM-3-1. Improve recycling programs, implement new education and outreach, and expand public space recycling. Making recycling a convenient and straightfor - ward process is crucial to helping Ashlanders to reduce waste disposal and increase diversion from the landfill. Education and outreach, better signage, and placing more bins in public areas are some of the potential ways to improve recycling in Ashland. CM-3-2. Update the multi-family recycling ordinance to encourage more diversion. Historically, increasing diversion rates from multi-family residential waste streams has been challenging. The City should update and expand recycling standards and requirements for existing and future multifamily housing to increase recycling diversion rates consistent with the Council approved recycling program updates. These actions should be implemented in accordance with recommendations provided by the ad-hoc Recycle Center Committee.CM-3-3. Strengthen the Demolition Debris and Diversion ordinance to enhance enforcement and increase diversion and reuse. Due in large part to the sheer quantity of material involved, home demolition has an outsized impact on Ashland’s materials man - agement strategy. Targeting buildings for reuse and salvage not only reduces the quantity of material being sent to the landfill, but also creates a local market of recovered building materials that can be used again in new con - struction projects, remodels, and landscap - ing. This actions calls for enhancing Ashland’s current Demolition Debris and Diversion ordinance so that it is more strictly enforced and encourages further diversion and reuse of building materials. The City could explore the introduction of mandates for a greater per - centage of deconstruction over time and also consider efforts to promote reuse of those materials in new construction projects. OTHER ACTIONS • Implement an education campaign for waste and consumption reduction strategies such as replacing inefficient appliances, opting-out of junk mail, and reuse stores. • Examine options for expanding commercial and residential composting; assess the feasibility of establishing a permitted facility to compost or anaerobically digest organic materials and food waste. • Improve City facilities to encourage waste reduction, such as by installing water bottle- filling stations.C Mi C MiC Mi 76 ASHLAND CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLANCONSUMPTION & MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP)