Category Archives: Waste Recycling ‘How To’

Waste Recycling How To Information

College Moves To Reusable Containers

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In Ohio, Ashland University will join a popular movement on college campuses throughout the country by implementing the use of reusable takeout containers in their dining halls and commissaries.

The way the reusable containers work is similar to a re-usable water container. Students purchase a polypropylene food container for a few dollars and then bring it with them when purchasing food to-go, such as pizza, salads, sandwiches, or pasta. After eating, students simply rinse out the containers and place then in specially designed collection receptacles on campus.

The reusable containers are then washed and sanitized and placed back into circulation. Students simply pick up another container the next time they buy take-out food.

In addition to students, college faculty and staff are also being encouraged to participate.

Interest in programs like this are growing in interest outside of colleges as well. In Portland, Oregon, several food trucks that service the downtown area have started offering customers the reusable containers as well.

One of the benefits of the reusable containers are that they are dishwasher safe and can be placed in microwaves. Made of break-resistant, recyclable PP and can safely be used up to seven hundred times.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: The reusable products market is always changing. New products are developed and products that were formerly expensive, begin to drop in price. It pays to stay in the know about the relevant choices in your industry – what may have been cost prohibitive in pasty years may be cost effective now!

Illinois Offers One-Stop Recycling

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The Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, will soon be offering their residents a new and improved waste recycling and hazardous materials collection center.  The new facility is designed to provide “one stop” recycling services where individuals, households, and businesses can bring anything that is recyclable including items such as batteries, light bulbs, e-waste, medical items, and traditional materials such as plastic, glass, and paper.

Naperville receive a close to nine hundred thousand dollars from the state to assist in funding the new project. The city will contribute close to three hundred thousand dollars toward the cost.

The city’s current recycling facilities were responsible for collecting and processing more than fifteen tons of traditional recyclable items, over fifty thousand gallons of recyclable liquids and nearly three hundred tons of other items considered recyclable. However, the demand for increased levels of recycling are beyond the facility’s capability, thus the reason for seeking funding for upgrades and enhancements.

The facility will be used not only by Naperville, but surrounding communities as well and is expected to impact the recycling rate of the entire county area.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Providing a “one stop” center where a wide variety of items can be recycled and safely disposed of can certainly help to boost a community’s recycling rate and provide businesses the opportunity to lower their trash disposal fees by recycling more items.

Virginia Town Doubles Recycling Rate

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A city in the state of Virginia has improved its recycling and reduced waste disposal by making one simple change: increasing the size of recycling containers for curbside recycling services.

City administrators in Colonial Heights, Virginia have been amazed at the results since requiring the use of a ninety six gallon recycling container starting July 1 of 2012, instead of the smaller bin which had been used previously.

After one full year of data collection, the city’s seventeen thousand residents improved their recycling rate by an additional five hundred and forty tons of waste materials. Curbside recycling also doubled with an estimated sixty percent of all households participating.

But the biggest reward has been the amount of savings the city has seen. By enhancing recycling, Colonial Heights saved two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The funds will be used to purchase new playground equipment, make enhancements to the public safety communication system, and complete some renovation work on the town’s baseball field.

In addition, residents earned redeemable points and coupons every time they put out their recycling cart. The points could then be used at participating local restaurants and stores. The business involved with the recycling program reported an extra eighteen thousand dollars in new business as a result of the partnership.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Everybody wins when waste disposal decreases and waste recycling increases! Not only did Colonial Heights save money which it can use for other community projects, but residences and businesses were rewarded with coupons, perks, and new customers. Wouldn’t a similar system be great to have in your town? It’s possible!

EPA Offers Assistance To Small Communities

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If you’re an elected official or municipal employee of a small community, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a special program and assistance for complying with environmental regulations and policies. Small towns and villages often do not have the financial, technical or managerial oversight to keep environmental violations from occurring – despite best efforts. Additionally, local governments of this size may not have easy access to environmental professionals and elected officials may not be aware of environmental requirements.

To improve compliance awareness in small communities, the EPA has created a framework for environmental responsibilities, information needed to correct non-compliance issues, and strategies for achieving and sustaining on-going compliance.

Some of the environmental compliance resources that are available to small local governments include:

  • checklists
  • compliance guides
  • training for staff
  • grant-writing tutorials
  • mentoring programs

When small towns are told of noncompliance issues, they often do not know how to correct the problem because a violating operation may be an essential one to the community. Additionally, have a small tax base also limits the funds available to make improvements that could relieve non-compliance and improve the environmental quality for all residents.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: There are wonderful quality of life benefits to living in a small town, but having the funds and resources to ensure compliance with federal environmental regulations can be a challenge. If you’re a resident, business owner, or local government employee in a small community take a look at the resources available through the EPA. They might be able to help you avoid fine and penalties while improving the quality of life for everyone!

 

 

Using Surveys To Reduce Waste

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The Department of Health and Environment in the state of Kansas is opting to use an online survey to evaluate the state’s practices to reduce solid waste and make recommendations for what needs improvement. Kansas defines solid waste as all refuse, including garbage, tires and discarded materials from agricultural, commercial, industrial, and domestic activities.

The survey will be collecting both residential and commercial-owners’ thoughts on recycling services, how to properly dispose of e-waste, and if taxes on paint and mattresses should be imposed to help fund waste reduction programs.

The state’s Bureau of Waste Management is administering the survey and collecting all information. The survey will be available to all through mid-August.

In addition to the survey, the Department of Health and Environment will also be collecting and preparing information about state-wide trends in composting, recycling, and waste disposal.

The final report will be delivered to the Legislature in early 2014 and help policymakers decide if new regulations are needed to improve waste management and recycling practices.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When your business is looking to evaluate waste management and recycling practices, it’s a smart move to go directly to your employees and ask them what is working and what could be improved. When you engage all members of your team in cutting costs and going “green” you have a better chance of success!

 

Save Money With Green Office Technology

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If you’re looking to save your business money by reducing waste and enhancing recycling and other environmentally friendly practices, take a look at the resources provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here are just a few of the suggestions you can try to incorporate “green” practices at work:

  • “Green” your printer by changing your settings to print double-sided pages. Use small type sizes when available and choose the “draft” option when printing to use less ink.
  • Use e-billing programs to pay routine bills for services and utilities when possible to save on postage.
  • Instead of printing paper copies of documents to store in paper file folders, save them to a computer or external device to keep records.
  • When shopping around for new cell phones or other electronics, look at leasing programs that includes proper recycling as part of the service contract.
  • Recycle or donate old cell phones and computers.
  • Re-use old documents as scrap paper
  • To encourage employees to recycle paper, make sure designated bins are easily accessible.
  • Reuse inter-office envelopes and file folders by putting a blank label over old information.
  • Use refillable tape dispensers instead of single serving ones.
  • Instead of printing labels for items such as a return address, use a customized rubber stamp and ink pad.
  • Encourage employees to use public transportation or car pooling to save on gas and pollution generation.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If you want to save money in the office, it’s important to get all of your employees involved. Solicit suggestions and ideas from them and respond to their requests. Could the front office staff use recycling bins for paper? Does your sales force have an idea for reducing the cost of their cell phones? You never know who might be able to generate the biggest money saving idea!

Does Your Business Have WaterSense?

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Regardless of whether your business if commercial, industrial, or institutional, you are going to be using water every day. Did you know that regular, publicly supplied water usage in facilities such as schools, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, retail locations, and office buildings can amount to more than seventeen percent of the business’ expenses and eighteen percent of all energy use by businesses in this country. Cutting back on water use by using water-efficient products and services and adopting good water conservation practices in business facilities can have a significant impact in helping to reduce water use and fees faced by businesses and communities.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can assist your business reduce water use through its WaterSense program. Here are just a few of their suggestions:

1) Install WaterSense rated products such as water tanks, toilets, and water filters in your building.
2) Vigilantly monitor your building water use through careful analysis of your water meter to give early indications of leaks.
3) Review management and operations practices to identify areas where water use could be reduced or more effectively managed (example: do automatic lawn sprinkler systems go on when it’s raining?).
4) Stay up-to-date on best practices, new innovations, and case studies within your industry.
5) Incorporate ENERGY STAR available products to help track water and energy use and quantify both reductions in water and energy as well as cost savings.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Waste water costs your business money so it’s worth exploring ways to minimize water use and maximize the re-use of gray water. You’ll be able to save “green” every month by going green and opting to protect the environment with your water and energy choices!

EPA Funding Opportunities For U.S./Mexico Border

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently announced that a sum of nearly nine hundred thousand dollars will be available as grant funds to eligible municipalities and non-profit organizations as part of the Border Environmental Funding program. Target areas in the US include Mexico border communities in the states of Texas and New Mexico.

The EPA will fund grant proposals to projects that seek to improve the monitoring of air quality; develop innovative applications for reusing water; enhancing bilingual community outreach to curb and eliminate illegal dumping; and improving cross-border understanding of compliance codes and enforcement policies. The EPA has a strong interest in funding projects that incorporate other resources and can demonstrate positive results.

The goal of the Border 2020 Program is to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment and human health throughout the Mexico/US border region. The grant funds are designed for both US and Mexican non-governmental group, local and state municipalities, industry associations, schools and universities, and native tribes in both countries.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Looking for grant funding can be a great way for your city, town, or professional group to make a big jump forward in reducing waste and enhancing recycling and reuse systems. It pays to look for opportunities that meet your needs and then submit a proposal. Securing funding not only can help you to meet your goals, but can also give you some very positive publicity!

Zero Waste Achieved For Brewer

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It was recently announced that MillerCoors brewing in Golden, Colorado has become the largest brewery in the United States to achieve zero waste status. MillerCoors joins four other landfill-free breweries in this designation. The company anticipates that an average of one hundred and thirty five tons of waste is being diverted from landfills on a monthly basis.

MillerCoors started on a strategic, environmental and cost-savings plan to reduce their municipal waste generated at the Golden production facility in 2011. In addition to changes and improvements in their production process, the company invested close to one million dollars in new equipment and infrastructure updates.

The brewery now recycles or reuses one hundred percent of the waste it generates, including all plastics, glass, metal, paperboard, and brewing products such as spent grain. Cafeteria waste and floor sweepings are sent to a waste-to-energy facility instead of landfills.

MillerCoors officials are hopeful that the success of attaining zero waste designation will be scale-able to their other facilities throughout the country and North America.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When you want to reduce your waste and increase your recycling, the most important thing to have is a plan. Start with a few areas that are easier to tackle – like paper recycling and proper e-waste disposal – and then move on to areas that may require new business policies or employee behavior changes. Incremental changes will slowly grow and in a few years your company might be attaining zero waste status as well!

Using Education To Boost Recycling

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The city of Detroit is hoping that improving recycling education will lead to a boost in the city’s waste recycling rate and overall trash reduction.

Up until a few years ago, the city did not offer municipal recycling services to residents or public schools. Any recycling efforts were undertaken by individuals and were minimal in scope.

Starting in 2007, the city’s public school system began partnerships with Recycle Here and Green Living Science, non-profit groups focused on providing recycling services and environmental education for schools. Stressing individual accountability, children are provided with opportunities for fostering recycling in their schools and homes and given strategies for preventing litter in their communities by learning how to manage their waste generation. School activities include contests to see who can collect the most recyclables and developing plans for managing waste and recycling more in school cafeterias.

The city now offers curbside recycling in three neighborhoods and recycling rates in those areas have increased as the school education program grows to include more children throughout all grade levels. In addition, city-wide transfer stations have reported an increase in the amount of recyclables brought in by families who do not have curbside programs.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Education and awareness are key factors when trying to increase your recycling rate at work, home, or in your community. It’s important that everyone involved understand how recycling can help the environment and cut waste disposal costs. When recycling and waste reduction actions are clearly defined everyone will know what to do and how to do it!