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NEW YORK
- Environmental Investment Program Update
New York's Environmental Investment Program (EIP) makes matching
awards available to benefit companies that achieve pollution prevention
or create new recycling capacity. The EIP, administered by the New
York Department of Economic Development's (know as Empire State Development)
Environmental Services Unit, does not ask that these monies be repaid,
but instead requires that the benefiting businesses commit to measurable
economic and environmental benefits. The following projects have been
approved over the past six months:
- The Mohawk Valley Applied Technology Corporation (MVATC) was
awarded $174,800 on behalf of North Country Minerals, Inc. to
help purchase and install equipment to expand the company's garnet
recycling business. NCM, located in Utica, will recycle at least
2,500 additional tons or garnet each year (used for industrial
water-jet cutting operations), earning at least $1,000,000 in
new sales annually. The recycled garnet is very high-quality,
and is reused, saving NCM's clients in excess of $175,000 annually
on avoided disposal costs. Three new jobs will be created at North
Country Minerals.
- A Long Island firm, Soil Foodweb New York, Inc., will receive
$100,893 toward a $145,118 research project to demonstrate the
methodology for production and application of microbial management
technology for producing a non-chemical turf management alternative
for golf courses. If successful, this project will use "compost
teas" to manage pests and kill weeds in place of potentially
toxic herbicides and fungicides, while saving the golf courses
that use the technology money.
- Unity Creations, LTD of Saugerties, NY, will benefit from a
$500,000 award to the Ulster County Development Corporation to
help the company purchase equipment needed to produce crumb rubber
for making rubber safety tiles. Unity already manufactures the
recycled rubber tiles, but has been purchasing tire crumb from
outside sources. Success of this project will result in 96,000
passenger and truck tires being recycled into 961 tons of crumb
rubber. Unity will use 80% of the yield to make 38,400 safety
tiles, and sell the remaining 20% on the open market. In addition,
each year $240,000 will be saved on tire disposal fees, and Unity
will save $200,000 on crumb rubber purchases. Twenty-six jobs
will be created.
- Solid Surface Acrylics, Inc. of North Tonawanda will use $196,935
toward a $279,185 research project to evaluate the technical and
economic feasibility of manufacturing four new products from DuPont's
Corian™ waste.
- The Fulton County Economic Development Corporation was awarded
$55,548 to assist Van Alstine Horticultural Services in Gloversville,
NY, purchase an in-vessel system to compost an additional 2,856
tons per year of organic waste. Success of the project will increase
compost production by 3,290 tons per year (yields are far greater
than from simple windrows), earn $74,034 in product revenue, and
create two new jobs.
- High Technology of Rochester, Inc. will use $132,600 of EIP
monies toward a technical assistance project to incorporate LEAN
manufacturing techniques to upgrade ink management procedures
and improve ink utilization by businesses in New York. As a result,
participating businesses will also reduce ink-related hazardous
waste. Success of the project will reduce over 50,000 pounds of
solid ink hazardous waste per year and save approximately $160,000
on avoided disposal and purchase cost.
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company will benefit from a $500,000
EIP award to be used to purchase a defect detection system, a
water purification system, and other equipment to reduce Tedlar®
film waste from its casting line. As a result, its Buffalo, NY
facility will reduce 45 tons of Tedlar® waste, reduce wastewater
discharged by 1.5 million gallons, eliminate the use of 12 tons
of sulfuric acid and 16 tons of caustic soda each year. These
pollution prevention benefits will save the facility $270,350
annually.
- Dal-Tile Corporation's Olean, NY facility will benefit from
a $167,500 EIP award to help purchase material handling and storage
equipment for the collection and recycling of waste raw materials
from its mixing operation. Success of this project will result
in the reclamation and recycling of 1,099 tons per year of raw
materials and annual savings of $151,000 on avoided disposal and
purchase costs.
- Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency will receive a
$200,000 EIP on behalf of Oberdorfer, LLC, an aluminum casting
operation in Syracuse. The funds will be used toward the acquisition
and start-up of a thermal sand reclamation system that will allow
Oberdorfer to reuse 2,940 tons per year of waste sand from its
mold-making operation and save $233,730 on avoided sand purchases
and shipping costs.
- The Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. will make a $300,000
EIP award available to Sea Crest Linen Supply Company in Brooklyn
to help the business purchase and install a new LAVATECH Tunnel
Wash System that will replace several outdated and inefficient
washers extractors. This investment will significantly improve
the economics of the business by saving $134,263 per year on reduced
water purchases, $77,000 on electricity, $194,000 on natural gas,
and $1,300 on steam usage. The project will also increase Sea
Crest's annual revenue by at least $1.5 million, and assure the
company can continue to operate in Brooklyn where it employs 250
people.
- Knight Settlement Sand & Gravel, LLC will benefit from a
$98,611 EIP award that will help buy a hydrocylone system that
will separate slurry from gravel washing into fine solids and
water. The company will then reuse the solids in their bituminous
sand product and sell it as bedding sand, resulting in the diversion
of 59,460 tons of sand from disposal each year and saving $394,000
on avoided dredging costs and revenues from the sale of the recycled
product.
- High Tread International's Lockport, NY plant will expand into
passenger tire recycling and the manufacturing of colored rubber
mulch (a new product) with the help of a $388,150 EIP investment.
High Tread will use the award toward the purchase of a granulator
and buffing machines to make crumb rubber and colored mulch. The
project is expected to increase tire recycling by 1,750 tons/year,
increase EPDM scrap rubber recycling by 216 tons/year, and increase
revenues by $770,800/year.
NY Company Touted for its Environmental Performance
A recent beneficiary of New York's Environmental Investment Program
(EIP), Harbec Plastics, Inc. in Ontario, NY, received the Society of
Plastics Engineers' 2004 Environmental Division's Environmental Stewardship
award at its annual conference in Detroit. Harbec produces highly engineered
custom plastic parts for customers in the medical, automotive, consumer
goods, and other industries. Every aspect of Harbec's ISO 9002, QS 9000,
and ISO 14001-certified operation is designed to minimize waste through
re-use and recycling, right down to their floor sweepings that, combined
with re-ground plastic scrap and other waste products, are re-melted
to produce long-lasting, decay-resistant plastic lumber at a nearby
company.
Harbec continues to seek ways to minimize its environmental impact,
and is using a EIP award (via the Wayne County Industrial Development
Agency) of $195,000 toward a $420,000 project that will purchase and
install a system to capture, cleanse and re-circulate industrial wastewater,
capture roof run-off water to be used as "make-up water,"
and feed a new fire suppression system. When completed this spring,
the project will result in the conservation of 900,000 gallons of water
annually and save the company $61,500 per year.
NY Develops Tire Recycling Investment Strategy
The Waste Tire Management and Recycling Act of 2003 created and
will fund a new program to eliminate waste tire stockpiles and develop
new markets to reuse waste tires in New York State. Primary responsibility
for program management is assigned to the Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) and Empire State Development (ESD).
ESD is charged with developing markets that can make economically viable
use of newly generated waste tire material. An estimated 18-20 million
waste tires are generated annually in New York. Waste tires remain a
difficult and economically challenging commodity to reuse. Because the
barriers to reuse have been significant, an estimated 50 million tires
are presently stockpiled across the state. DEC is charged with abating
the stockpiled tires.
ESD issued an RFP for a consultant study to conduct a thorough analysis
of current waste tire markets, particularly in the Northeast, and existing
capacity in New York to recycle waste tires. The consultant study will
guide development of an investment strategy to assist New York businesses
to create the market capacity to process and reuse waste tire material
in new products and operations.
The consultant market analysis and investment strategy will form the
basis for ESD's report to the legislature, directed by the Waste Tire
Act, and due in March 2005.
ESD will develop a Waste Tire Investment program designed to leverage
private sector investment in the development of value-added products
and uses for waste tires, creating new jobs and business opportunities
across New York State.
Preliminary Draft Standards for Management
of Elemental Mercury & Dental Amalgam Wastes at Dental Facilities
The NYSDEC recently completed public workshops at three locations
for the preliminary draft of proposed regulations to add a new Subpart
374-4 of Title 6 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations
(6 NYCRR) of the State of New York. The preliminary draft regulation
proposes to establish waste management standards for dental facilities
that use mercury or generate mercury-containing dental amalgam wastes.
The workshops were held in Albany, Avon and New York City. The workshop
agenda included: a presentation explaining Chapter 506, laws of 2002;
a summary of best management practices for mercury pollution prevention
at dental facilities; an explanation of the provisions of the proposed
regulations; and, a discussion of public comments, questions and suggestions
for revisions of the regulation.
About forty participants attended the workshops and included representatives
from State and local dental associations, dentists, dental schools,
Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs), dental supply companies, mercury
and amalgam waste collection companies, the State legislature, local
government and environmental groups.
The public comment period closed May 20, 2004. Department staff will
compile the comments from the workshops and from the written comments
received and prepare a responsiveness summary. Staff will then revise
the proposed regulation and prepare the regulatory package for further
review and processing. Once a final draft is approved for release as
additional public review period will be held.
NYSARRR Recycling Conference, Fall 2004
The New York State Association of Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
(NYSARRR) has announced their 15th
Annual New York State Recycling Conference. The Conference is scheduled
for October 20 - 21, 2004 at the Syracuse Holiday Inn, in Syracuse,
New York. Agenda topics include; Legislative Leadership, The 3R's at
Their Best, The Power of Buying Recycled, Compost Quick Tales, Deconstruction
& Reuse, and Trash Across State Borders. When the final agenda is
completed it will be posted on the NYSARRR website,
http://www.nysar3.org/. The contact for this conference is Linda Ochs,
she can be reached at PO BOX 295, Waterloo, NY 13165, by phone: 315-539-5607,
fax: 315-539-8558, or by E-mail.
- Chromated Copper Arsenate Pressure Treated
Lumber
New York State law required the New York Sate Department of Conservation
to develop outreach information regarding chromated copper arsenate
(CCA) pressure treated lumber. CCA has been used extensively in this
country as a wood preservative. CCA is composed of:
- Copper, which acts as a fungicide,
- Arsenate, a form of arsenic, which is an insecticide, and
- Chromium, which binds the ingredients to the wood.
Article 37-0109 of the Substances Hazardous to the Environment legislation
required the Department to:
- Compile and publish information on the dangers and hazards to
public health and the environment of the use of CCA pressure treated
lumber;
- Compile and publish a list of less toxic materials that may
be used as an alternative to the use of CCA pressure treated lumber;
- Compile and publish information on non-toxic methods and materials
that are available to adequately maintain playground structures
and picnic tables constructed with CCA pressure treated lumber
in a manner that minimizes CCA from leaching from such structures
and picnic tables; and,
- Disseminate this information to the general public.
The Department has completed the development of a webpage
that contains this information and provides links to the specific legislation
and other appropriate informational websites.
- Included within the website is a list of Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is chromated copper arsenate (CCA)?
- Is all pressure-treated lumber the same?
- How do I know if my outdoor wood is pressure treated with CCA?
- Does CCA-treated wood present any health risks to my family
or me?
- What precautions should be taken when working with CCA-treated
wood?
- What can I do to limit exposure to CCA-treated wood?
- Does CCA-treated wood pose any environmental risks?
- What steps has New York State taken to limit exposure to CCA-treated
wood?
- What are some alternatives to using CCA pressure-treated lumber?
The Department continues to work on additional outreach materials to
bring this information to a wider audience.
| New York Announces New York Recycles
Custom License Plates |
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DMV COMMISSIONER MARTINEZ UNVEILS NEW CUSTOM
LICENSE PLATE
"New York Recycles" Plates Now Available
State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles Raymond P. Martinez recently
unveiled New York's custom license plate -"New York Recycles."
The unveiling was held at the Federation of New York Solid Waste
Associations' annual spring conference and trade show at the Sagamore
on Lake George.
Commissioner Martinez said, "Reducing, reusing, and recycling
materials are important steps to take to preserve our environment.
Now, New Yorkers passionate about environmental preservation can
help to raise awareness and demonstrate their commitment to New
York's environment by purchasing a 'New York Recycles' license
plate."
Marjorie Torelli, President of the New York State Association
for Reduction, Reuse & Recycling said, "The 'New York
Recycles' license plate is a very exciting program in New York
State. Now drivers can choose to promote sensible waste management
practices everywhere they go. I am very excited that the New York
State Association for Reduction, Reuse & Recycling can be
a part of this new license plate."
The initial cost for the "New York Recycles" plate
with a plate number assigned by the Department of Motor Vehicles
is $43 with an annual renewal fee of $25. A personalized version
of the "New York Recycles" plate with the motorists'
choice of up to six characters, including spaces, is available
for $68, with an annual renewal fee of $50.
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| This plate is available to anyone who has a passenger
or commercial vehicle registered in New York State. To order the
"New York Recycles" license plate visit any DMV issuing
office, DMV's website.
New York State maintains a gallery of the over 300 custom plates
and ordering information for each on the DMV website as well. Individuals
who qualify for the International Symbol of Access must order through
DMV's Custom Plates office. |
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