NERC | Northeast Recycling Council
NERC Email Bulletin – February 2009Sustaining Members
TOPICSMEMBERSHIPRenewing Supporting Member
NERC NEWS
STATE UPDATESCONNECTICUTMASSACHUSETTS
NEW YORK
RHODE ISLANDADVISORY MEMBER NEWSSend an email to lynn@nerc.org making the request. Please be sure to include your full name and organization. To leave this list… You may remove your name from this list at any time by sending an email to lynn@nerc.org. In the subject line of the message, enter: Unsubscribe Email Bulletin, and the email address to be unsubscribed.
TOPICSMEMBERSHIPWe are delighted to welcome the Newspaper Association of America and Sims Metal Management as renewing Sustaining Members and the New York State Legislative Commission on Solid Waste Management, Association of New Jersey Recyclers, and RRFB Nova Scotia as renewing Supporting Members. Thank you! Especially in this troubled fiscal time, this demonstration of support for NERC is appreciated. A hallmark of NERC is the strength of multi-stakeholder involvement and problem solving. This is a direct result of the active participation and support of NERC’s Advisory Members. To see a listing of Advisory Members and the benefits of membership, visit the NERC Advisory Membership web page. The broad spectrum of interests represented by NERC’s Advisory Members and Board Members and their willingness to participate significantly contribute to the unique and important role that NERC plays in recycling in the region. NERC NEWSRegister Now for NERC’s Power of Purchasing Webinar Series NERC will be holding a two-part webinar series on the Power of Purchasing - March 17th and 31st. Purchasing green products and services is a practice that we’ve all heard about and many of us may be practicing. Yet many of us face the barriers of existing myths, decision makers’ skepticism, the pull of budget constraints, and apathy towards change that keep us from maximizing our green purchasing. The Power of Purchasing webinar series is geared to address these issues, as well as to remind us why environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) is important and the power it can have in reducing our impact on climate change, developing material markets, and improving the health and safety of the workplace. Webinar Goal: To provide purchasers and purchasing decision makers with the information needed to move forward in developing or increasing EPP at the workplace. Webinar Series Schedule & Agendas
Speakers:
March 31, 1:30 - 3:00, Power of Purchasing, Part II – A panel of three state purchasing department representatives will present their experience and success in purchasing green products. Speakers:
Registration & Cost: The cost for the webinar series is $45 per person if you register by March 2 – even if you only plan on participating in one of the sessions. Register online. Registrations received after March 2 will cost $55. And, registrations received after 11:30 a.m. on the scheduled days of the webinars will not be accommodated. Payment in full must be received prior to the webinar to participate. Please note: NERC maintains a no-refund policy for the webinars. Contact Moon Morgan with questions regarding registration. NERC Board Meeting – March 18, Hartford The spring Board of Directors meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 18, from 11 – 3, at the offices of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, in Hartford, Connecticut. The Board Meeting is open to any interested party. A small fee will be charged for non-Board members for lunch. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein. Vermont Business Materials Exchange Gets a Face Lift Vermont’s Business Materials Exchange (VBMX) just got a face lift. Using a grant from the Agency of Natural Resources, NERC - VBMX’s newest manager – has added several features that make the service easier to use. VBMX is a free matchmaking service that connects businesses that have reusable items they no longer need with others that can use those items. Businesses can find homes for, or get hold of, such items as five-gallon buckets, fabric scraps, leftover insulation, and older (yet still functioning) computers and other electronics. The service helps Vermont businesses lower their trash fees as well as their purchasing costs. At VBMX’s new website, “subscribers” scroll through the Exchange’s 24 categories - such as office equipment, packaging, and construction/salvage - or search by county to find items available in their area. Subscribers can sign up to automatically receive new listings from designated categories, such as listings for containers or textiles and leather, or restaurant equipment. Ultimately, it helps all of us to keep still-useful items out of Vermont’s landfills, by conserving resources, reducing greenhouse gases and saving energy. Remember, energy is generated at every step of a product’s lifecycle – from extracting the raw materials to manufacturing, retailing, and ultimately disposal. The longer most products remain in circulation, the smaller our carbon footprint on the earth will be. In our current economy, such programs help Vermont businesses, nonprofits, schools and towns count their pennies. They save money on the cost of buying new items and/or not having to pay the hauling and disposal fees to throw the items away – materials that could still be useful to someone else. You never know what you’ll get on VBMX:
For more information about VBMX, contact Mary Ann Remolador of NERC. 25th State Electronics Challenge Partner The Town of Greenfield, Massachusetts, Department of Public Works has become the 25th State Electronics Challenge Partner, and the first Partner of 2009. Another milestone has also been reached. The first full year of the State Electronics Challenge (SEC) has been completed and now Partners are submitting reports on their progress in 2008. NERC, as the SEC host, will be calculating the environmental impacts of these actions and reporting them to the Partners, as well as publicizing the results. The SEC Partners collectively represent more than 40,000 employees. Almost all of the Partners committed to changing the way they procure computers by buying at least 95% EPEAT™-qualified products. For every 1,000 EPEAT™ computers that Partners buy and recycle the units taken out of service, they:
For more information about this data, go to the Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator, Version 1.1, 4/18/07. The SEC is a voluntary program that encourages state, regional, and local governments, including schools, colleges, universities, and other public entities in the Northeast, to:
Towns, agencies, and organizations participate as "Partners" in the program. The SEC provides Partners with resources and technical assistance for improving electronics management practices, and offers annual recognition to Partners that have achieved specific goals. For more information, visit the SEC website, or contact Lynn Rubinstein. The State Electronics Challenge is a funded through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NERC has had several of its projects featured in recent articles. A new page on the NERC website - called NERC in the News - highlights recent press coverage. For example, news that the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has joined the State Electronics Challenge was featured in a number of publications in January, there was a feature article about the NERC Manure Management project in Lancaster Farming, and NERC Vermont Board Member Carolyn Grodinsky had an editorial published in the Burlington Free Press. Searching For Recycling Markets?
You should check out the free, on-line New York Recycling Markets Database! With more than 500 recycling and reuse businesses and organizations listed, who manage thousands of facilities, you are likely to find what you’re looking for. The database offers a wealth of recycling and reuse contacts, and more are added regularly. The New York Recycling Markets Database is an interactive, on-line database that helps users locate outlets for materials and items that can be reused, recycled, or composted. The database provides exposure for reuse, recycling and composting businesses around the Northeast. It can help manufacturers that use recovered feedstocks to access the raw materials they need for production. The database allows users to search for brokers, processors/recyclers, manufacturers, reuse organizations, compost operations, end users, re-manufacturers, or other recycling-related service providers by material type within specific geographic regions, predominantly in the Northeast. The Recycling Markets Database is sponsored by New York Empire State Development’s Environmental Services Unit (ESD ESU) and compiled and maintained by the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. (NERC). For more information contact Athena Lee Bradley, NERC’s Projects Manager. NERC Completes Recycling Makes Sen$e Project After two years of working with towns in nine Northeast states to educate municipal offices, businesses, and schools on how to implement recycling programs at the workplace, NERC has completed the USDA-funded project - Recycling Makes Sen$e. NERC would like to thank all of the people in the following towns and states that assisted in making the workshops and technical assistance visits possible.
As part of this project, NERC developed the Recycling Makes Sen$e Guide, Recycling Fact Sheets for each participant town, and the Recycling Makes Sen$e PowerPoint presentation. These resources were distributed to attendees at the Recycling Makes Sen$e workshops and to all technical assistance recipients. All of these are available on the NERC website. In all, NERC conducted 23 workshops and provided direct recycling technical assistance to 48 entities. For more information regarding this project or related materials, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director. STATE NEWSCONNECTICUT During routine inspections, inspectors will provide information including a recycling brochure to businesses to remind them of the mandatory recycling requirements and a new guidance document, and a Business Recycling Profile form, a tool to assist businesses in developing a strong waste management & recycling program. As part of the ongoing and strategic implementation of the State Solid Waste Management Plan, amended December 2006, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s (CT DEP) Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division’s Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste Programs have standardized assessment of businesses’ compliance with the mandatory recycling law. Through this compliance assistance effort, DEP hopes to improve recycling awareness in the business community, increase compliance with mandatory recycling law, and minimize the need for enforcement actions for noncompliance. Whenever CT DEP issues a consent order (Hazardous or Solid Waste issues), a recycling compliance requirement is included with enforcement responses. For more information, please contact Frank Gagliardo. As outlined in the State Solid Waste Management Plan, amended December 2006, Connecticut seeks to increase source reduction, reuse, recycling and beneficial use of various components of the C & D waste stream. One small effort began a couple of months ago with the formation of the Materials Reuse Network – which is currently focusing on Deconstruction. The group is working to identify challenges and opportunities to increase deconstruction activities in Connecticut. The group has identified markets/need for deconstruction contactors, the need for more trained/skilled folks who know how to deconstruct/disassemble/salvage buildings for reuse and recycling, and the need for publicity and promotion to purchase/used building materials. For more information, please contact Sherill Baldwin. Connecticut Recycling Coordinator Listserv In an effort to increase communication between municipalities and other recycling coordinators and professionals, DEP has started a Connecticut Recycling Coordinators listserv. This list is for discussing recycling and solid waste recovery challenges and opportunities to encourage cross-pollination of ideas, hear about new concepts, approaches and technologies, share successes, projects and programs and overall support each other in an effort to increase recycling and solid waste recovery in Connecticut so we can reach 58% recovery by 2024. The listserv, open to recycling coordinators and waste professionals in Connecticut, was launched in November 2008 and as of early January has 106 members and had 130 postings. For more information, please contact Sherill Baldwin. MASSACHUSETTS In September, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) kicked off its 2008 - 2009 school Green Team program, an interactive recycling and environmental education club for Massachusetts K - 12 schools. Brochures were mailed to all public school principals and superintendents, asking them to encourage their teachers to participate. Prior year participants were invited via email to join again. Now in its seventh year, the program continues to grow. Nearly 700 teachers have signed up to date, representing over 400 schools and 99,000 students. Green Team participants receive a classroom poster, lesson plans, and suggested activities. As they complete activities, classes advance through three levels of participation. Each class that takes the Green Team Pledge receives a Certificate of Recognition and is eligible to win great prizes at the end of the school year. Last year, 98 classes received certificates and awards for their students, and their accomplishments are described in the Green Team newsletter. Many classes focus on climate change and energy-related activities, in addition to recycling, composting, and waste reduction efforts. Contracting for Curbside Solid Waste & Recycling Services Workshop
The main speaker was John W. Giorgio, Esq., a principal in the municipal law firm of Kopelman and Paige, P.C. He spoke about his experiences negotiating on behalf of his municipal clients for automated collection and single stream recycling. Other speakers included Gerard Perry, Director of Accounts, Division of Local Services, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and Carolyn Dann, MassDEP Municipal Assistance Coordinator. Mr. Perry discussed enterprise accounts, how they work, and what the Massachusetts statute says as they pertain to solid waste and recycling programs. Ms. Dann gave a presentation on regional contracting for solid waste/recycling services. For more information on these workshops, please contact Regan Clover. Massachusetts 9th Organics Recycling Summit Join MassDEP on March 4th for Massachusetts 9th Organics Recycling Summit, Greening from the Ground Up! being held at the Devens Common Center (SpringHill Suites by Marriott) in Devens, Massachusetts. Attracting over 200 people from 14 states, the Summit brings together speakers and topics relevant to food waste diversion efforts in Massachusetts. This year we are excited to explore agriculture and carbon offset credits. In addition you will hear updates on local anaerobic digestion projects as well as efforts to use compost in storm water control and green building applications. Learn how your community can implement food waste collection through school initiatives and municipal drop-off programs. Don’t forget to check out the ever popular exhibit hall and on-site equipment demonstrations. Take this opportunity to talk with like-minded individuals on how to advance food waste diversion efforts! A second dayincludes a free tour of local compost sites. Click here for more information or contact Morgan Harriman. NEW YORK The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Pollution Prevention Unit hosted a Pharmaceuticals Collection Day event on December 11, 2008. The event supported NYS DEC Commissioner Grannis’ Do Not Flush campaign, increased staff awareness of the pharmaceutical take-back programs, kept the collected pharmaceuticals out of New York’s waters, and got a lot of drugs out of our homes (including hydrocodone, the most frequently dispensed opiate, a controlled substance associated with illicit drug trafficking, abuse, and accidental deaths). The event was limited to DEC employees and ran from 9 am until noon. A total of 79 employees participated, turning in 95 pounds of unwanted or expired pharmaceuticals. The successful event was a truly collaborative effort, involving NYSDEC staff from numerous divisions and regions, Building Management, NYS Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and two pharmacists from Price Chopper who volunteered their time. The collected pharmaceuticals were destroyed under a full witnessed burn at Wheelabrator Hudson Falls, a permitted waste-to-energy facility in New York State. The collection day event plan is being modified into a template. The template will contain all the forms and letters an event sponsor should need to gain regulatory approvals in New York. The Pollution Prevention Unit hopes the template will simplify the process for event sponsors, shorten the regulatory agencies’ review time, and result in many more collection events across the state. Watch for the Pharmaceutical Collection Day Event Template on DEC’s website! New York’s Plastic Bag Reduction, Reuse, & Recycling Act Becomes Law What Is the Law? While changes are expected pursuant to an agreement reached between the Governor and Legislature, effective January 1, 2009, the law, as adopted, applies to the following retail establishments:
The law requires these retail establishments to:
Labeling of Plastic Bags For more information, contact Debbie Jackson. NY Establishes Green Procurement & Agency Sustainability Program On April 25, 2008, Governor Paterson signed Executive Order 4 (EO-4) establishing a State Green Procurement and Agency Sustainability Program. EO-4 establishes an Interagency Committee on Sustainability and Green Procurement (Interagency Committee) co-chaired by the Commissioners of Environmental Conservation and General Services. The order establishes initial procurement objectives in 2008 for paper; requires the annual development of green specifications and green procurement lists for 36 priority commodities, services and technologies; requires each agency to develop a Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship program; requires each agency to assign a Sustainability and Green Procurement Coordinator; requires annual agency reporting, and establishes a Sustainability and Green Procurement Advisory Council (Advisory Council). The Interagency Committee first met on June 10, 2008 and subsequently identified three broad categories to be addressed in the first year; electronics/appliances, transportation, and office & building operations. Green specifications for laptop computers, desktop computers, engine block heaters, and passenger vehicles have been finalized. Draft specifications have been posted for the following categories: Electronics/appliances - commercial dishwashers, domestic clothes washers, domestic dishwashers, domestic refrigerators, office printing devices, room air conditioners. Transportation - hydraulic oil, motor oil, traffic message boards, traffic safety products. Office and building operations - ink, pest management, printing, turf and ornamental management, and recycling services. Posting of draft specifications for the remaining categories is targeted for February 2009. Final and draft specifications are posted on the Office of General Services' website. The Advisory Council has been appointed and conducted its first meeting. Sustainability and reporting guidance has been drafted and an initial training seminar for all agency coordinators was scheduled for January 29, 2009. EO-4 will save New York State agencies money, reduce their environmental footprint, and spur green economic development within the state while considering form, function, and utility of a commodity. RHODE ISLAND On January 31, 2009, Rhode Island joined the 14 other states who have e-waste producer responsibility laws. The covered electronic products include CPUs, CRTs, flat panel monitors, combination units, laptops (with 9”+ screens diagonally), and televisions (with 9”+ screens diagonally). The landfill ban mandates that “no person shall dispose of any of the covered electronic products in a manner other than by recycling or disposal as hazardous waste.” Four states besides Rhode Island ban the landfilling of e-waste. The new statute mandates that manufacturers of electronics finance a recycling program for all CEPs from households and schools (specifically, elementary and secondary schools). They have the choice to create their own take-back program or contribute through the payment of recycling fees to the cost of RIRRC’s existing program. The manufacturers must have registered with the RI Department of Environmental Management by January 1 of this year and paid the annual $5,000 fee. If the manufacturer fails to register or offer its own recycling program, then retailers in the state of RI are barred from selling its branded merchandise. The retailers must provide e-waste recycling information at the point of sale. RIRRC’s e-waste recycling collections will continue to be free for consumers, as they have since inception in 2000.RI DEM created a Listserv for the e-waste program to effectively communicate with involved parties. RIRRC has suspended charging residents $5 for recycled televisions, effective February 1, 2009. Television recycling should increase in 2009 due to the phase out of over-the-air transmissions of broadcasts starting February 17. During 2009, RIRRC will host 19 Saturday collections of CRTs at nine different locations throughout the state, with at least one collection per month at its headquarters in centrally located Johnston. Last year, RIRRC collected and recycled 600,000 pounds of computer, television, cell phone and other electronic waste and expects the volume to increase in 2009. ADVISORY MEMBER NEWSSharp® Launches Nationwide TV & Electronics Recycling Initiative Sharp Electronics Corporation has established a nationwide program to provide consumers with no-cost, convenient recycling of Sharp televisions and other consumer audio and video products. As of January 15, there were more than 280 sites across all 50 states where consumers can drop off Sharp brand televisions and other Sharp consumer audio and video electronics products for free recycling. Panasonic and Toshiba products will also be accepted at these locations. A complete list of locations where Sharp products can be recycled is available by on the MRM website. Sharp’s recycling program will utilize the infrastructure developed by the Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM). A joint venture between Panasonic, Sharp Electronics, and Toshiba, MRM was established in September of 2007 to efficiently manage collection and recycling programs in the United States for electronics manufacturers. “In all aspects of our business, we continuously seek ways to reduce impact on the environment,” said Doug Koshima, chairman and CEO, Sharp Electronics Corporation. “Together with Panasonic Corporation of North America and Toshiba America Consumer Products, we have created an electronics recycling program that achieves the dual objectives of being easy and convenient for consumers, while offering the industry a path to efficient, environmentally sound recycling.” The program developed by MRM aims to bring the electronic product manufacturing community together into a unified voluntary national program to address America’s e-waste recycling needs. The program will utilize the larger volumes achieved through working with other manufacturers to maximize efficient collection and recycling. To ensure safe, convenient, and responsible recycling, MRM has teamed with leading recycling companies CRT-Processing, Creative Recycling, and Eco-International. The sites MRM has established include drop-off and collections sites, and partnerships with not-for profits such as Goodwill. In addition MRM will be testing a new concept being pioneered by recycling partner Eco International of using public storage sites to provide convenient, cost effective recycling opportunities for consumers. The MRM infrastructure will include 40 of these sites and will expand if these prove to provide the level of service that consumers desire. For more information on all of Sharp’s environmental programs please see its website. |
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