Monthly Archives: July 2014

Carpet Manufacturer Boosts Jobs With Recycling

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Shaw Industries Group, the industry’s largest manufacturer of commercial and residential carpeting and floor coverings, has recently announced that it will expand its waste recycling and reclamation efforts with a new Evergreen constructed facility in Ringgold, Georgia. It is expected that the new recycling processing facility will create seventy new full-time employment opportunities. Currently, Shaw employs over fifteen thousand people throughout its offices and production plants within the state of Georgia and the southeastern region of the United States.

Shaw has successfully reclaimed and recycled in excess of seven hundred million pounds of carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile and stone flooring products, and synthetic turf since the company started its popular take-back reclamation program in 2006. The new Evergreen Ringgold recycling plant will give the company increased flexibility for developing recycling solutions for its nylon and polyester carpet and flooring products.

In addition, the Evergreen Ringgold facility will be responsible for producing high quality post-consumer recycled materials that can be re-sold for use in a wide range of products and applications. The company’s ultimate goal is to reclaim the highest percentage of their carpeting and floor as possible, thus keeping unwanted materials out of landfills and generating and additional revenue stream. The facility is on schedule to be fully operational by 2015.

Georgia Quick Start, the state’s workforce training program, will collaborate with Shaw’s employees to ensure that proper training is available to support the new recycling initiatives.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business or place of employment generates a significant amount of waste materials that can be recycled or re-sold, it may be in your best interest to develop your own recycling processing facility. You’ll create jobs, reduce waste, and develop new revenue streams!

 

EPA Fines Supply Company For Mismanaging Propane

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Tractor Supply Company, also known as Del’s Feed and Farm Supply Stores, in the state of Washington, recently reached a settlement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the company’s violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The violations cited involved the company’s failure to document and report the storage of propane. As a result of the citations, Tractor Supply is now required to pay a $134,400 fine and improve their storage, training, and reporting procedures.

Propane is often referred to as liquefied petroleum gas or LPG. While propane is typically non-toxic, it is colorless, odorless until the signifying odor is added, and highly flammable – it is because of this, that it is a monitored and regulated substance from the EPA’s Pesticides and Toxic Substances division. Any business selling, using, or storing propane in commercial quantities is required to maintain accurate storage and inventory records to protect employees and communities from explosion risks, fires, and accidental chemical releases.

The Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act requires businesses to provide an inventory of regulated chemicals to the State Emergency Response Commission and their local fire department. Local emergency service responders need this information in the even of a fire, earthquake, or other emergency involving the business or the surrounding area. Tractor Supply Company did not report that several of its facilities were used for storing an excess of 10,000 lbs. of propane which could cause a significant danger to employees, nearby residents, and emergency personnel.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember:  If your business uses, sells, or stores any chemicals, it’s well worth your time to make sure you are following your state and federal laws for reporting and storage. Information about which chemicals are regulated can be obtained from you regional EPA office. If you’re uncertain about the hazardous nature of a chemical, be sure to do some investigating first – it can save you from fines and expensive legal fees!

Cutting Edge E-Waste Recycling In Illinois

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The Michigan-based company, 3S International, recently announced that they have opened a new electronics waste processing facility in Tinley Park, Illinois.

The sixty thousand square foot recycling processing facility contains 3S’s BLUBOX recycling equipment. BLUBOX contains the technology needed to reduce unwanted e-waste into recyclable pieces and safely extract elements, including mercury – at a rate of fifteen million pounds of electronics each year. 3S is currently the only company in the U.S. with the rights to use BLUBOX technology.

In the United States every year, millions of tons of computers and personal electronics are thrown away. While close to eighty percent of all e-waste materials are given over to specialized recyclers, the pieces often shipped overseas, re-sold, or sent to specialized landfills. Based on the results of BLUBOX recyclable processing, 3S will not have a need or reason to re-sell or landfill any of the electronics sent to them for processing.

3S currently collects and receives unwanted and unusable electronics throughout the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan and has the ability to handle  the e-waste recycling needs of six million people each year. The company’s goal is to open close to ten new electronics processing recycling facilities throughout the United States within the next few years.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If old cell phones, computers, gaming systems, and personal electronics are clogging up your home or office, it’s time to clean-up and start recycling! Even if you aren’t in an area that 3S services, chances are there’s a convenient e-waste drop off location at a local store, transfer station, non-profit group or house of worship, or municipal building. Many e-recycling events are publicized in local newspapers, or on radio and television stations, so get those dates on your calendar and get ready to recycle those unwanted items!

Food Waste Composting For Apartments

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In Los Angeles, California, Global Green USA, a not-for-profit in the environmental sector, and Athens Services, a waste and recycling services company, have formed a partnership to launch a food scrap recovery pilot program to multi-family apartment buildings.

The City of Los Angeles currently has a municipal goal of seventy percent waste reduction by the year 2020. Diverting unwanted and spoiled food scraps from landfills and using them for composting and energy will save the city’s water and energy. Property managers are embracing the food waste to compost plan as a way to control waste costs and involve tenants in a positive action that can improve the overall quality of life for all living in the City.

Athens Services, which has its own composting facility, will transport all organic waste such as vegetables, meat, dairy, and compostable food-soiled paper from participating apartment buildings. Global Green USA has supplied food composting bins and bags to the apartment buildings as well as educational materials. Both organizations will analyze performance data from the pilot program to improve participation and collection efficiency and maximum cost savings.

Based on data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ninety five percent of waste food scraps are disposed of in landfills annually. This amount of waste results in greenhouse gas emissions equal to the output of seven power plants as well as generating hundreds of thousands of dollars of waste disposal and dumping fees.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If food scraps and organic waste make up a substantial part of your daily, weekly, or monthly waste disposal, it’s time to investigate food composting or food to energy options. Whether it’s collaborating with a non-profit, a private waste hauler, or a city government, developing a solution to reduce your waste may help you to increase your profits!

Employee Education Key for Waste Reduction

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Every time your employees generate a piece of waste, they are faced with a decision: Do they throw it into the trash or into a recycling container? The choices your employees make will have a considerable impact on your business’ waste disposal and waste recycling rates.

Getting employees to make the right choices about what should be recycled and what should be disposed of in the trash is essential to keeping disposal costs downs and recycling rates up. Because of this, education is a key factor in the recycling process. Employees must know what should be recycled and the proper way in which to do it.

Why is employee education so important?

1) Recycling innovations and program are always improving and changing and employees should be periodically informed about what materials should be placed in recycling bin and what is considered garbage.
2) Employees are busy doing their jobs and might not always remember the recycling program rules. Clear signage around bins can help.
3) Employee participation will be more consistent is the importance of recycling is routinely stressed and the outcomes communicated.
4) Education helps to ensure a higher quality of recyclable materials being collected and less mistakes being made.

Make employee recycling education a part of every workweek. With social media, websites, flyers and break room announcements, and email, it’s easy to communicate waste reduction and waste recycling goals across all levels of your business. The investment of time, money, and effort required for having a business recycling plan will be returned in the money saved on disposal fees.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Whether your business is a small shop with a handful of people or a larger enterprise with dozens of employees, recycling rates can be improved if you think creatively and stay consistent in your effort. For ever new recycling program, be sure to track your results to gauge effectiveness and cost savings. In no time you’ll be saving green and going green!