Monthly Archives: April 2013

Is One Bin The Wave Of The Future?

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The city of Houston, Texas recently was awared a one million dollar grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to launch its “One Bin for All” recycling initiative. This innovative new idea, where residents use only one bin for both trash and recyclable materials, with all waste materials being sorted off site, may revolutionize how cities can take control and maximize  recycling.

The awarded funds will be used to create a new recycling facility, expected to open in 2015. Houston currently has a recycling rate of fourteen percent but curb side recycling pick up is only offered to a third of them. All other residents must take their recycling to designated drop off locations.

Waste management officials in Houston are hopeful that new technologies will make the screening process in determining garbage from “gold” easier and more effective at the new facility.

Houston isn’t alone in moving to this trend. Montgomery, Alabama has already started construction on their new facility and will be moving to try to “one bin” method. Facilities operating this way use equipment such as ballistic shredders, density separators, optical scanners, and other technologies to sort waste materials into twenty different recyclable categories – including food and organic waste materials.

Once up and running, Houston hopes to reach a landfill diversion rate of seventy five percent.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Remember that there isn’t just one way to handle waste disposal and recycling. If you’re trying to cut disposal fees, it pays to look at a variety of methods and track your program for effectiveness. If something doesn’t work as well as you hoped, don’t give up – simply try something new!

 

Packaging Facility Hit With EPA Fines

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A packaging facility in Dudley, Massachusetts must pay the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) four hundred and eight five thousand dollars in fines for various hazardous waste violations at both the federal an state level. The company, Shield Packaging, maintains a aerosol and liquid packaging operation.

In 2012, based on a routine inspection, it was identified that rules pertaining to hazardous waste management, chemical reporting and inventory, accident prevention, and oil pollution had been broken. Endangering not only the environment, but members of the local community and employees of the company. Shield had failed to create and implement a risk management plan for hazardous substances at the facility and did not have an updated record of chemical and toxic substances used or stored on-site. Keeping updated inventory is essential for providing to emergency responders such as fire, police, and medical in the event of a spill, explosion, or on-site accident. Chemical inventory lists are required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act which is a federal regulation.

Shield co-operated with the EPA during the investigations and has already made some of the required updates and enhancements. They are required to file a time-line plan for completing the remainder of the compliance items and will be monitored by the local EPA to ensure successful completion and on-going adherence to the federal and state hazardous waste and environmental protection regulations.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your facility manufacturers, stores, or uses any form of chemical, toxic, or hazardous waste, it is essential that you follow your state and federal regulations. If you’re uncertain of the laws, it’s your responsibility to get educated and do right by your community and employees. Failure to do so will result in substantial fines, legal proceedings, and bad publicity!

Green City Awards Given to Three Citites

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What do Columbus, Ohio; Eugene, Oregon; and Beloit, Wisconsin, all have in common? The three cities were recently named Green City Award winners during the 2013 Residential Recycling Conference held in Chicago, Illinois.

The awards are designed to honor cities and towns of all sizes for developing recycling programs that achieve high waste diversion rates, community involvement and educational efforts. While over sixty municipalities were nominated from throughout the United States,only three could be winners!

For the large community group, Columbus was the winner thanks to their committed community outreach program, where as a result, recycling participation is at ninety eight percent.

Eugene took top honors in the medium community category for most improved efforts in increasing their city’s recycling rate to sixty one percent through an innovative food and organic waste recycling campaign.

Beloit, was the winner for small municipalities which had attained a recycling rate of forty one percent through community clean-up projects and educational programming in local schools.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Who doesn’t like to receive an award or acknowledgement for a job well done? Here’s an important tip to keep up the recycling and waste diversion habit at your business or workplace: keep it fun and reward people for doing a good job! Which division diverted the most waste? Who is your most eco-aware employee? Who has cut their waste disposal costs the most? Thank your highest flyers and they’ll continue to do more and motivate others.

 

Winners of the Green City Awards were determined by voting from the attendees at the RRC.

Electronics Waste Recycling Improves in Illinois

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On January 1 of 2012 the state of Illinois imposed a ban on disposing unwanted, out dated, and broken electronic devices in state landfills. Instead, all residents and businesses would have to recycle their e-waste through special collections dates or through their party locations such as office supply store and retailers. After a full year of data collection on outcomes of the policy change, the state’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that slightly over forty two million pounds of electronic material were recycled.

In addition to residents an businesses, electronics manufacturers operating in the state of Illinois were also challenged to meet recycling goals for their materials. Of the seventy seven manufacturers, seventy two met or surpassed their stated sustainability goals. The top awards went to Hewlett-Packard (HP), Samsung, Best Buy, and Panasonic. Collective these four companies recycled almost twenty million pounds of electronic waste materials.

As a result of the participation levels, the Illinois EPA reported that the target recycling goal was surpassed by almost three million pounds. Not a bad accomplishment for the first year!

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Why pay money to dispose of you electronics waste in a landfill (if you live or work in a state where it’s still allowed) when you can save money and help the environment by recycling or donating? Take a moment a look for a certified e-waste recycler in your area and learn what unwanted products they can take out of your closet or storage room!

Major City Looks to Expand Recycling

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The city of Chicago is looking to expand recycling services to more than one hundred and thirty residents who do not currently have access to the service. Plans are already being made to distribute the ninety-six gallon blue recycling bins throughout those neighborhoods that up until now, must either take their recyclable materials to drop-off centers or dispose of them with their garbage.

The plan will be rolled out in steps, but to-date, all is on schedule to meet the city’s plan of offering recycling to all six hundred thousand single-family homes and apartment buildings with less than five units by the close of the year.

Prior to the blue buckets, residents had to purchase blue bags to place recycling material in, which they could then leave out along with their garbage for pick up. However, the city ended collection of the bags in 208 due to lack of participation. The use of hard plastic re-usable bins has been shown to increase recycling participation while cutting costs over the long run. The city’s current recycling rate hovers close to six percent, so there is ample room for improvement and trying new strategies.

The plan also includes a public education and outreach component to explain about the importance of recycling, both from an environmental and fiscal savings perspective.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business, employer, or community is embracing a move to increase recycling, make sure a plan is in place to inform all stake-holders and get them involved with the process. You’ll have a better rate of success when everyone knows what is expected of them!

Cleaning Up Garbage Trucks

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently announced that it will help to fund a diesel emissions reduction project sponsored by the waste management office in the city of Louisville, Kentucky.

The project, which will receive funding up to fifty four thousand dollars from the EPA, is part of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act. The award dollars will be used to re-engineer two garbage haulers with the result being reduced emissions in excess of ninety percent. The project and grant money will also be used to maintain the exhaust filters to ensure they are functioning properly.

Reducing emissions from city garbage and sanitation vehicles is a major concern  in both Louisville as well as other municipalities around the country. Updating the trucks, which spend thousands of hours traveling city streets each year, with environmentally beneficial systems will not improve air quality for residents, but will also help to maintain the life of the vehicles.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What is your city or town doing to manage their waste and recycling systems? Are your elected officials aware that the EPA can help fund “greening” projects like this one in Louisville? Being aware of outside funding resources can help to save taxpayer dollars and improve quality of life for all who live and work there!

ENERGY STAR Ratings for Commercial Buildings

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Many people know that ENERGY STAR ratings can be found on appliances such as dis washers, refrigerators, and hot water tanks, but if you are a commercial builder or construction professional, did you know that the ENERGY STAR rating can also be awarded for commercial buildings and industrial and manufacturing facilities?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certifies building that meet their energy performance guidelines for utilizing less energy, reducing operating expenses, and cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions compared to the standard in their work sector. Commercial and manufacturing facilities account for close to fifty percent of energy use in the United States at an anticipated cost in excess of two hundred billion dollars annually.

For over ten years, the U.S. EPA has collaborated with businesses and builders to cut greenhouse gasses by utilizing best-practices for energy management. To be eligible for the ENERGY STAR rating, a facility must earn a score of seventy five or better on the EPA’s energy scale, showing that the building exceeds seventy five percent of comparable buildings nationwide. Many different kinds of building are eligible for the designation including, but not limited to: Bank branches, auto assembly plants, data centers, commercial buildings, manufacturing facilities, courthouses, dormitories, baking facilities, cement plants, financial centers, glass manufacturers, hospitals, hotels, petroleum refineries, houses of worship, schools, medical offices, paper manufacturers, retailers, supermarkets, and warehouses. To learn more visit the EPA’s website or contact your regional office.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: An ENERGY STAR building requires some thought and planning, but taking that time before construction can save big money for many years into the future. If you’re a commercial builder be sure to speak with your clients about the ENERGY STAR rating and how valuable a distinction it can be!

Solar Powered Recycling Compactors

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New York City’s Times Square location is about to purchase and install thirty new solar powered recycling bins in an effort to boost recycling rates and descrease the amount of trash needing to be disposed of from this popular tourist location. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that a pilot program would be started to install the innovative recycling bin and gauge their effectiveness.

The solar-powered recycling stations contain separate sections for garbage, aluminum, plastic, and glass cans bottles, and paper. Solar energy is used for compacting the trash, and as a result, the bins require less frequent collections and maintain a clearer and more sanitary appearance.

Times Square receives close to half a million visitors every day and is responsible for generating over fifteen thousand pounds of garbage daily that needs to be sent to landfills. The city’s goal is to have over one thousand new recycling bins on the streets before the end of 2013 in an effort to increase recycling and save the city money on expensive trash hauling services. Currently, the city’s recycling rate is a mere fifteen percent, but plans are in place to raise that number to thirty percent by 2017.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you manage a high traffic facility like a hospital, airport, shopping mall or amusement park, solar powered trash and recycling compactors might be a great piece of equipment to invest in. Visit the WasteCare website to learn how we can help you!

Opportunities Increase With Rigid Plastics Recycling

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Last year, the recycling of rigid plastic materials (not counting bottles) increased by thirteen percent in the United States to a level of almost nine hundred and fifty million pounds. This increase was contributed to consumers’ ability to recycle these materials within their residential and business communities which has now reached an all time high of fifty seven percent nationwide.

There are over fourteen hundred cities in the US that collect recycling for rigid plastic which includes items such as cups, containers, and trays made of both PET and HDPE plastics. For those cities that offer recycling of these items, the personal recycling rate tops sixty percent.

Popular and in-demand uses for recycled rigid plastic includes the manufacturing of buckets, pipes, auto products, food storage containers, crates, kitchen tools, and other housewares.  The growth of “green” storage products, tools, and furniture has continued to grow as individual and business consumers are presented with more buying options and prices comparable to similar items not classified as environmentally friendly. Increased recycling rates mean more available materials for manufacturers which translates to lower production and pricing costs.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Increasing recycling rates is a win-win situation for everyone. Recycling more at home or work cuts down on your waste disposal costs and in turn make recyclable materials, like rigid plastic, more readily available to manufacturers who can then produce, at a lower cost, the items we need for work, school, and recreation. Going green is a winning proposition!

 

EPA Awards Colleges For Food Waste Recycling Efforts

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded seven colleges in the New England area honors for the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge.

The following colleges were singled out for reducing food scraps and organic waste significantly compared to the past year’s levels:
– Middlebury College
– Keene State College
– University of New Hampshire, Durham
– Harvard University
– Clark University
– Massachusetts Institute of Technology
– Suffolk University

The recognized colleges diverted over twenty five hundred tons of food waste from landfill disposal by incorporating strategies such as food donation and composting. The focus of the EPA’s competition is to help institutions of higher learning save money on waste disposal through improving practices that reduce waste generation and support their local communities by finding solutions for unconsumed food products.

Following paper products, uneaten, unwanted, “expired” and spoiled food is the second largest item disposed of in landfills. Much of this disposed food is still consumable and healthy and could be used to feed those who are homeless, disadvantaged, or living on reduced incomes. Food waste not fit for human consumption can be used for composting and biogas energy production.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you’re a facilities maintenance professional for a school, hospital, or a large business complex, it’s time to start looking at solutions to the amount of food waste thrown in the trash every year. Instead of paying money to put food waste in the landfill, you could be saving money by donating food to local charities or composting!