Category Archives: Waste Recycling Services

Waste Recycling Services

Program Diverts Books From Landfills

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Goodwill Industries of Columbus, Ohio is partnering with Green Marketing to provide extra use to unwanted textbooks, encyclopedias and other books while keeping them out of regional landfills.

The collaboration is designed to take unsellable books from Goodwill’s collection locations and transform them into paper towels, facial tissue, and toilet paper.

Since launching the initiative, donations of unwanted books have increased significantly at the nineteen Goodwill locations in the region. The organization stockpiles the books that have no retail re-selling value and when a large enough quantity is amassed, they contact Green Marketing to arrange a pick-up for hauling away. While the amount paid for the unwanted books is small – an average of fifteen dollars per ton – the cost savings for waste disposal of the books to a landfill is significant. Goodwill can now gladly welcome any unwanted book knowing that if it does not sell on the retail floor, then can still earn a bit for recycling.

Green Marketing recycles unwanted books throughout the United States through an affiliated company, Book-Destruction.com and hopes to roll its program out to other Goodwill locations who are interested in participating.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Green Marketing offers a great solution to organizations and businesses who may have an excess of books or paper products. Why pay waste disposal fees when you can possibly earn money through recycling?

Pennsylvania Rewards Small Businesses For Pollution Prevention

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The State of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded over four hundred thousand dollars in grants during 2012 to assist fifty six small, independently owned businesses throughout the state invest in waste and pollution-prevention and energy-efficient projects.

The source of the funding comes fromPennsylvania’s Small Business Advantage Grant which is funded by the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act and is designed to assist businesses with one hundred employees or less and provides a matching grants of fifty percent up to implement projects that will reduce waste, pollution, or energy in excess of twenty five percent. Launched in 2004, the grant has been disbursed to over sixteen hundred small businesses.

Examples of past awards have been to fund upgrades to high-efficiency HVAC and insulation, energy-efficient heat pumps, high-efficiency lighting, and power units for large construction vehicles and cargo-delivery trucks to reduce idle engine time.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: While not every state may have a program such as Pennsylvania’s it never hurts to look and ask around. In addition to state grants, there may be federal or even private money that your small business could apply for.

Michigan Vows To Improve Recycling

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The state of Michigan is vowing to improve its twenty percent recycling rate in the new year, claiming that with a new strategic plan for energy and environmental conservation, it should be able to do better. The new year will see the state examining options, with a comprehensive initiative being put into place for 2014.

Currently, only thirty-five percent of all Michigan residents are provided with curbside recycling options. This is the lowest amount compared to all states in the north central region according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. In addition to increasing recycling rates and reducing the amount of trash disposed of in landfills, the state is also looking to make improvements in green energy, evaluate the pros and cons of hyrdo-fracking for natural gas, and urban farming as a measure to cultivate abandoned or unused parcels of land in city areas.

The Michigan Recycling Coalition is confident that the state could easily recycle at least thirty percent of generated waste which would put it on par with other states in the region as well as create additional jobs and economic growth in the collection, processing, and re-selling of recycled materials. One simply way to raise the rate would be to lift the currently state-wide ban on yard and organic waste.

One area that Michigan excels in is the recycling of beverage bottles. Due to a ten cent deposit/refund per bottle, the state claims a ninety-six percent return rate on all bottles sold.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: As the new year approaches, take the time to perform a recycling and waste audit on your business or household. What areas are you doing well in and what needs to be improved? Make a plan to investigate and implement enhancements over the next twelve months.

Towns Save Big With Pay-To-Throw

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In three years, the city of Gloucester, Massachusetts has saved close to one million dollars by moving to a “pay as you throw” (PAYT) waste and recycling system for all residents. The three year period prior to the switch found the city paying out close to two million dollars for collection, sorting, and processing. City officials and residents are extremely pleased with the change and the cost savings.

In addition to the benefit of saving a million dollars from the city’s operating budget, the change to PAYT has had the added environmental benefit of having a twenty eight percent decrease in the amount of waste heading to regional landfills. Before launching the program, the city collected more than nine thousand tons of garbage. In 2009 that number dropped to seventy five hundred and in 2010 dropped even more to seven thousand tons.

The PAYT program, which charges residents for trash removal based on the amount of garbage they produce, has encouraged everyone to economize through increased levels of recycling and separation of waste materials.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: While some people will respond to the importance of preserving the environment, most people will respond to measures that involve their checkbook or wallet! If you’re looking to save money by reducing waste disposal fees, pass the savings along as a benefit to increased recycling and you’ll see greater participation!

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!

Salt Lake City Expands Material Waste Recycling Program

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Select neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, Utah will start offering waste recycling for glass as part of the regular curbside collection later this Winter, and the city hope to expand the offering to all residences throughout the city by April, 2013.

Even before the program began, advance communication and press resulted in over twelve hundred residential customers signing up to participate. The new recycling program is expected to divert hundreds of tons of waste glass – bottles, jars, and other objects – from the city’s landfill.

Before launching the new curbside recycling collection program, residents who wanted to recycle their waste glass had to take the material to one of twenty specially marked recycling bins located throughout the city. While some residents did participate in that effort, the total collection of waste glass materials was one thousand seven hundred tons in 2011. With the curbside glass recycling initiative, that number is expected to double within the first year.

All curbside recycling residences will be provided with a 35-gallon bin designed for monthly collection. The service will cost $6 each month and will be added to residents’ water bills.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Is your community doing all it can to fully recycle and re-sell waste materials? Every object that ends up in a landfill is costing citizens money so turn your trash into cash with recycling!

Toyota Works To Waste Recycle Cars

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Think the only place for an old car is the junkyard? Think again! The Toyota Motor Corporation is starting a waste recycling incentive program to make sure Toyota brand automobiles are recycled.

The company’s Reward for Recycling program will launch in the United Kingdom and involved owners visiting a website where they can provide the vehicle registration number and postal code that will supply a valuation for the car. Locations throughout the country have been established so customers can drop off the old car with relative ease. The agreed upon cash amount will then be transferred to the owners bank account.

All automobiles will be collected from the drop-off locations and dismantled for reuse and recycling. Toyota hope that the incentive program will encourage owners of older vehicles to dispose of their automobiles in an environmentally responsible way while supporting the company’s mission of stewarding environmental leadership in the automotive business sector.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When it comes to waste disposal and waste recycling, it’s important to remember that one person’s junk can be another person’s gold. When you take a look around your business or home you might be surprised to discover that some of what you consider waste has value in the marketplace!

Education About Restaurant Food Waste Recycling

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The National Restaurant Association is working with the United States Composting Council to help increase awareness and educate restaurant owners about composting and food waste recycling and diversion.

The initial goal is to enhance and expand the Restaurant Association’s online training program, Conserve Sustainability. The focus of this educational resource is to show owners and managers how environmentally friendly actions can help to save their businesses and employers money.

Both groups believe that expanding educational offerings will increase the total number of restaurants participating in food recovery and waste materials recycling programs, while encouraging the development and growth of local and regional composting businesses.

The two associations realized that by sharing resources they could better promote their complementary missions. Members of both groups can now expect quality training on how to save both their financial and environmental bottom lines while helping to develop local composting opportunities.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Restaurants are a gold mine of waste recycling material that all too often ends up as waste disposal in your garbage dumpster. When you consider composting, recycling, and reuse opportunities, you’ll reduce your disposal fees and save green every week!

Sports Teams Go Green

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The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Green Sports Alliance group recently signed an agreement to work together on addressing environmental stewardship issued faced by sports teams, organizations, and venues.

Green Sports Alliance is a not-for-profit organization committed to helping athletic teams, leagues, and venues cut-back on their impact in the environment. The two groups will collaborate on concerns surrounding waste disposal and waste recycling management, better conservation of water and energy, and improved sustainability practices. The Environmental Protection Agency will provide athletic groups working with Green Sports Alliance access to their Energy Star Portfolio Manager, an tool that allows building and building managers and owners to track, assess, and manage their energy and water usage.

The Green Sports Alliance currently works with one hundred sports teams and venues from thirteen difference athletic leagues. The group hopes that this partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency will provide their members with additional tools and resources needed to create baselines and support continuous improvement of performance and efficiency.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: When it comes to reducing your waste disposal and increasing your waste recycling, you don’t have to do it all alone! Finding a partner or establishing a collaboration can help to improve your access to resources and services.

Success For Mercury Waste Recycling

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A national hazardous waste recycling program to collect automotive switches containing mercury has attained the four and a half million switches collected milestone. This amount equals over five tons of mercury that has been diverted from landfills throughout the country where it would otherwise poison the environment through leeching into the earth, air, and groundwater.

The National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program was established to manage what happens to mercury switches once the automobile is no longer on the road. Automotive manufacturers ceased production of mercury switches in 2002, but millions are still present in older vehicles. The switches were used for lighting under the hood or in the trunk, and in anti-lock brakes. The goal of the program is to collect and recycle ninety percent of mercury switches by 2017.

When old vehicles are sent to junkyards and landfills, they are crushed or smelted, which releases the mercury into the environment and causes toxic conditions. The program provides special storage buckets for the collection of the switches to automotive recyclers and establishes routine collection of the materials through regional partners.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Mercury is considered a hazardous waste and needs to be carefully handled. Failure to do so puts you, your employees, and community at risk for mercury poisoning. If your business involves this toxic substance, be sure you’re up-to-date on best practices and regulations. Failure to do so can result in fines and significant health issues!