National Association of Conservation Districts

National Association of Conservation Districts

NACD's mission is to serve conservation districts by providing national leadership and a unified voice for natural resource conservation.

Waste Management

Urban compostingAt first glance, waste management may not seem like a role for conservation districts. But it is an immense and growing natural resource issue, and a number of districts have stepped up to assist homeowners and communities in this area.

Waste is usually managed through disposal in landfills or incineration; recycled through physical reprocessing, biological reprocessing and/or energy recovery, and reduced through prevention and/or reduction.

Districts are typically involved in the recycle and reduce areas of waste management. In many cases, they educate citizens about the need to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. They also help communities set up recycling programs; provide technical assistance on composting and managing green waste; and help clean up biomass after disasters. Like all district programs, the role any one district plays in waste management is dependent on the local need and their resources.


District Showcases


Resources