Monthly Archives: December 2012

Sand and Gravel Facility Pays Fines

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A Columbia, New Hampshire sand and gravel business has been required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pay fines for violating the Clean Water Act. CSG Holdings recently paid one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in response to claims that the business’s facility was negligent in releasing polluted storm-water from its industrial operations into nearby waterways including the Connecticut River.

The EPA also charged that the business was discharging water without first obtaining the required permits and did not have sufficient plans and monitoring in place for spill prevention and control of heavy solids, often found in sand and gravel, being released into the water.

The Clean Water Act requires businesses such as CSG to obtain permits and have safety controls and training in place for monitoring outputs. Without such policies, the high levels of sand and gravel entering the waterways can change the environmental composition of rivers, result in beach closings due to pollution, and negatively impact fishing and other wildlife.

The EPA makes resources available to all industrial and construction facilities to help that stay in compliance when it comes to storm water regulations. Materials can be found on the national website for the EPA or through each state’s department of environmental regulation.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Compliance with the Clear Water Act isn’t a choice – it’s a requirement. You might think you can save a few dollars by disposing of your industrial waste in other ways, but once you’re caught big fines and negative publicity await you!

Cities Save On Garbage Disposal

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In municipalities where trash disposal is provided for residents, it’s typically considered part of the routine taxes that are paid or incorporated into monthly water and sewer bills. However, a trend is growing where individuals are being charged per amount of waste disposed in an effort to increase recycling and re-use rates.

Tulsa, Oklahoma has recently adopted a pay-per-throw systems which charges more to those who throw more into their garbage. Those who reduce their waste output or increase recycling, pay less. The new policy has received favorable responses from those residents wanting to save money and reduce the amount of space needed in regional landfills. While recycling is not required of residents, it certainly contributes to reducing the amount of overall trash.

Prior to the start of the new collection policy, the city had less than fifteen thousand recyclers using city-provided bins. Now, over one hundred thousand residents are recycling and overall tonnage of recyclable material has dramatically increased. The city estimates that it is saving close to four thousand dollars every week in waste disposal fees due to increased recycling activity.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: It’s a plain and simple fact, if your town, business, or home is not making an effort to recycle, then you are walking away from money each trash collection day!

Health Care Businesses Save With Recycling

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Hospitals and health care centers can save plenty of money each year by increasing recycling efforts and reducing waste. A recent study conducted by the University of Illinois investigated various sustainable practices adopted by health care systems and looked for areas identified as most worthy of adoption across the board for cost savings.

Two of the primary areas were to reduce waste disposal fees through increased recycling efforts and to reduce medical waste through enhanced segregation practices within the facility.

When making a concerted effort to reduce waste, facilities saved on average between fifty cents and two dollars and fifty centers per day per patient. Improving recycling efforts yields great savings with minimal upfront costs. Some of the biggest savings were to be found in ensuring that medical waste, which is more costly to dispose of, be segregated from other forms into of combined into one. Training staff and employees on new disposal practices does take time but can yield significant cost reductions over time.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Medical waste is considered hazardous and needs to be handled in accordance with state and federal regulations. However, not all waste leaving a health care facility is medical. You can save money and help the environment when you recycle suitable material waste!

 

NYC Works With EPA For Hazardous Waste Collection

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with the New York City Department of Sanitation to collect and dispose of hazardous waste materials from homes and apartments damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Throughout the month of December, residents will be able to easily dispose of toxic products such as paints, oil, batteries, petroleum, and bleach and ammonia, to select drop-off locations.

All hazardous waste materials must be properly disposed of to protect both the environment and public health. Since the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, those living in the metro-NYC area have had infrequent and ineffective waste removal in addition to mounting waste and debris.

In the days following the Hurricane, residents were encouraged to disinfect and bleach all items coming in contact with flood waters. Such action was necessary to prevent the spread of bacteria from sewage or infection due to the presence of toxic chemicals.

The New York City Department of Sanitation will also arrange disposal of damaged refrigerators and household appliances, and remove the refrigerants which contain greenhouse gases and must be disposed of according to EPA guidelines.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Hazardous waste needs to be taken seriously and disposed of according to federal and state laws. If you live or do business in the New York City area, take advantage of these opportunities to ensure your materials are handled properly!

Recycling’s Valuable Benefits

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Whether we’re at our business or home, finding new ways to use old or unwanted materials is always a good idea for helping to save money. When we concentrate our energies on increasing profits and reducing costs, every piece of garbage the ends up in the trash dumpster has the possibility to bring in money. When we make the decision to recycle, re-use, and re-sell, we not only contribute to environmental and economic well-being but we also take a less wasteful approach to our own finances.

The state of Connecticut has realized the power of recycling as a job creator and economic development generator. In the past calendar year, the state estimates the sales of recycled materials to be in excess of seven hundred and forty six million dollars. Since the state started selling its recycled materials six years ago, the total amount is more than five billion dollars. The state has also increased the employment level in this sector to almost five thousand jobs.

The decision to emphasize recycling has resulted in a decreased need for landfill space which saves taxpayers money while protecting valuable natural resources and improving quality of life for all residents.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you’re paying garbage disposal fees and not recycling, you are letting money slip away every month! Look at the opportunities in your area for recycling, re-use, or re-sale and you’ll be surprised by what you can save.

Illegal Dumping of Scrap Results In Big Fines

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Despite the high demand and lucrative prices for recycled scrap metal, a business in Brooklyn, New York was recently fined eight five thousand dollars for illegal dumping of scrap metal into state waterways.

The recent case showed that the Benson Metal Corporation consistently dumped scrap metal from its operation into the Gowanus Canal on a regular basis for several years. A review by the New York State Office of the Attorney General uncovered over one hundred dates when scrap metal was illegally dumped into the canal.

The Gowanus Canal is one of the most highly polluted waterways in the country and is a designated Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As part of the settlement, Benson must change its loading procedures to those recommended by the EPA to prevent scrap metal from falling into the water during the transfer process from facility to hauling barge. Another business, Simsmetal East, which provides hauling services via the waterways to a New Jersey recycling plant, must also follow best-practice regulations in order to prevent future illegal dumping.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Illegal dumping is still illegal even if it’s considered accidental. Ignorance of the law or best-practices will not hold up when the state or federal government files charges against your business. It pays in more ways than one to say on the right side of the law!

Recycler Pays EPA Fine For Wastewater Violation

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that Strategic Materials, a Houston, Texas based glass materials recycling business, has enter into an agreement to pay more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars in fines as a settlement against claims that their recycling practices violated the Clean Water Act and federal environmental regulations.

Due to the nature of the regulations which has been disregarded, the EPA charged Strategic Materials with the maximum penalty of one hundred seventy eight thousand dollars. During the settlement process, the charges were dropped by twenty thousand dollars.

The glass recycler was charged will allowing its facility in Franklin, Massachusetts to release polluted stormwater into nearby waters. The company initially disregarded the ruling to obtain necessary permits for stormwater disposal and once permits were secured, disposed of waste water in a manner clearly in violation of federal and state policies. The facility was also charged with failure to conduct routine inspections and establish measures for controlling waste.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Sometimes it might seem like it’s easier to ignore certain laws but in the end it’s always best to make sure your business is on the right side. When you get caught breaking environmental laws you face fines, penalties  lots of bad publicity, and in some cases even jail time! It’s just not worth it.

Scrap Tire Disposal Regulations: Alabama

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If your business is involved with the collection, disposal, or processing of scrap tires in the state of Alabama, it’s essential that familiarity be had with the state regulations that exist since the passing of the Scrap Tire Environmental Quality Act. This policy regulates all aspects of scrap tires and ensures money for the cleanup of illegal dumped tire piles. To fund the cleanup of dumped tires, a one dollar service charge is placed on all new tires sold.

Whether the scrap tires are being disposed of in an approved landfill or if they are being re-sold for the manufacturing of recycled good or materials, the law details steps that are required to be administered and performed in order to stay in compliance with the state.

All receivers of scrap tires must be registered with the state and receive an assigned registration number. There are requirement for the keeping of records, storage, and how the one dollar fee should be collected and paid to the revenue division.

Businesses that are responsible for the transportation or processing of scrap tires must also apply for and be approved for a state permit. Permits are good for a period of three to five years depending on classification.

Using the one dollar fees collected from consumers, the state provides contracts to approved contractors to clean illegal scrap tire dumps. More information is available through the state’s environmental management department on how to be selected as an approved contractor.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Scrap Tires are a big problem but they don’t have to be is you follow the rules established and look for outside manufacturing sources interested in purchasing them to make new materials.

 

Helping Others By Re-Using Recycling Bins

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Is your business or sanitation department looking to do some good this holiday season?Consider donating old, unwanted, recycling bins that are still functional. In certain areas, community food banks can use those sturdy plastic bins to deliver emergency food, provide a dry place to store food, and even use for food pantry sponsored community gardens.

Whether you’re undertaking a large, community wide upgrade of all recycling bins, or just looking to clean out a storage area that has been used for collecting older ones, the gift of any number of bins could be a helpful addition to a non-profit food pantry which often relies on donations and grants in order to serve the underprivileged, poor, and elderly members of the community.

As the calendar year winds down, and the holiday season approaches, many of us take the time to gather donations and make gifts to the charities of our choice. This year, spend some time looking through your business or office space. What kinds of materials have you been storing but rarely use? Old computers, tools, unwanted construction materials, storage bins, furniture… Not only would many of those items be appreciated by a community service group, but you will also save on disposal fees.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Remember the old saying, “one person’s trash is another’s treasure”? Your unwanted office materials may be wanted by local non-profits. Take some time this holiday and see if you can find a good home for items that are filling up your storage areas!

Clean Diesel for Construction

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Construction work relies on diesel equipment for the power to get jobs done that are too large for humans to do. However, the diesel emissions that come out of this heavy-duty equipment can significantly impact the health and well-being of the people working on the construction site and living near it.

While new federal regulations about “clean” diesel engine apply to newly manufactured equipment, the average lifespan of heavy equipment is 30 years – so there are many older, pollution producing vehicles still being used every day. The Clean Construction project, sponsored by the EPA, give owners and operators of heavy equipment strategies and ideas for reducing diesel emissions from old machines. Materials describing affordable solutions for environmentally-friendly uses of heavy equipment such as idle reduction, not only help to reduce diesel emissions but they also help owners to save money.

Increasingly, large-scale commercial and residential projects are requiring clean diesel specifications and use as part of necessary contracts for doing business.  Construction firms that utilize clean diesel practices find themselves in a better position when competing for Green Building contracts.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business uses heavy equipment of diesel-power vehicles, take a few moments to learn about the ways to “clean” up your operation. It can help to environment and your bottom line!