How Are EPAs Waste Reduction Programs Helping Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?
The United States is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 1992, the United States joined 160 other countries as a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which calls on countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Since 1994, the United States has been implementing the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), a blueprint for achieving voluntary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of our economy. The CCAP contains some 50 separate initiatives, including one that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through waste reduction and recycling. In December 1997, the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to a historic Protocol on climate change. The so-called “Kyoto Protocol” sets binding emissions targets and timetables for emissions reductions, encouraging the use of market-based measures to meet those targets. The specific limits vary from country to country, but are similar for Europe, Japan and t
