Contracting for Solid Waste and Recycling Services Workshop
Consumer Programs will hold two workshops for municipal officials
entitled "Contracting For Solid Waste and Recycling Services".
Speakers include John Giorgio, attorney for Kopelman and Paige, speaking
on municipal procurement regulations and practices, and Natalie Starr
of DSM Environmental Services, in Vermont. Brooke Nash and DEP's Municipal
Assistance Coordinators (MACs) will also participate in the presentation.
Locations are Mansfield Town Hall on December 7th
and the DEP's Northeast Regional Office in Wilmington on December 1st.
For more information, contact Brooke
Nash.
State Hospital, Defense Contractor Honored for Promoting Waste Reduction
and Recycling
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have presented Massachusetts
WasteWise Waste Reduction Leadership Awards to Lemuel Shattuck State
Hospital and Raytheon Company for using innovative, incentive-based
solid waste contracting techniques to reduce trash and increase recycling
in their operations.
Both the hospital and the company use an approach known as resource
management (RM) contracting - through which they have given their solid
waste contractors clear financial incentives not to haul as much trash
as possible, but to manage resources in economically and environmentally
responsible ways - to reduce their disposal costs and dramatically increase
the amount of material they recycle.
"Shattuck Hospital and Raytheon are environmental leaders by example
for other Massachusetts institutions and businesses," said MassDEP
Commissioner Robert W. Golledge, Jr. "By working with their solid
waste contractor on the common goal of cost effectively reducing and
recycling their wastes, they are prime examples of how incentive-based
contracting can be implemented in the waste management industry."
Most organizations that generate large quantities of waste would like
to recycle more and pay less for disposal, but optimizing their trash
and recycling services is rarely a priority compared with other, more
pressing financial and organizational concerns. Yet because virtually
all businesses and most towns and cities obtain these services by hiring
waste management companies, RM contracting is an opportunity to make
a real difference.
"Using this common sense approach to waste management, we are
likely to see a win-win: less solid waste going to landfills, more materials
being recycled, and financial advantages for all parties," said
Robert W. Varney, Regional Administrator at EPA's New England regional
office in Boston. "RM contracting has the potential to transform
the waste disposal industry."
Lemuel Shattuck, a 278-bed in-patient state hospital located in Jamaica
Plain, is in the second year of its contract with Save That Stuff, a
Charlestown-based recycler. During the first year, Shattuck generated
11 percent less trash, saved roughly $11,000 in avoided disposal costs,
and more than quadrupled its recycling - from 14 tons to 58 tons - by
adding five new materials to the list of those it collected for recycling.
"I have worked in this business for more than 20 years, and this
is by far one of the best waste management programs I have seen,"
said Lemuel Shattuck's Deputy Director of Facility Management Tom Campbell.
"Instead of managing many contracts, now I manage only one, and
that allows me to focus on other needs within the hospital."
Headquartered in Waltham and one of the nation's largest defense contractors,
Raytheon went out to bid for solid waste and recycling services at eight
of its Massachusetts facilities, with an aim of giving its new contractor
incentives for helping the company throw away less and recycle more,
and for continuously doing better.
"Raytheon has been a WasteWise member for years, and has a very
active waste reduction and recycling program," said Brian Balukonis,
Senior Environmental Quality Engineer for the company. "We hope
this new contract will help us get to the next level of managing our
resources more effectively and efficiently."
MassDEP and EPA give Massachusetts WasteWise Waste Reduction Leadership
Awards annually in recognition of organizations that have demonstrated
recycling leadership, sustainability, and innovation. The two agencies
jointly fund the Massachusetts WasteWise Program, which provides waste
reduction assistance to businesses and organizations. Participation
is voluntary. For more information, contact Julia
Wolfe.
NERC
is proud to announce that it has joined the ranks of 
The
Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) hosted a Recognition Ceremony
on Tuesday, November 15 to recognize the leadership and commitment of
five Delaware communities that have established community-wide curbside
recycling programs. The Collective Villages of Arden, the Town of Bellefonte,
the City of Dover, the City of New Castle and the Town of Odessa have
each become models of environmental action. Two waste collection firms,
Waste Management and Independent Disposal Service, were also recognized
for their support of the DSWA curbside recycling program.
Each
community was given a certificate to place in their public office and
a park bench made of recycled materials. The bench is a symbol of the
partnership between the communities, DSWA and the environment. Engraved
with the words, "Make Every Day Earth Day," and made from
2,400 recovered plastic milk bottles, the bench represents the collective
impact of recovering waste materials.