NERC | Northeast Recycling Council
NERC Email Bulletin – May 2010Sustaining Members
TOPICSMEMBERSHIPNew Supporting Members
NERC NEWS
STATE UPDATESMAINE MASSACHUSETTS OF GENERAL INTEREST
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State and Advisory Member Updates, as well articles of General Interest are provided as submissions to NERC and may not reflect the policy or position of the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. NERC is an equal opportunity provider and employer. TOPICSMEMBERSHIPWe are delighted to welcome WasteCap Resource Solutions and DSM Environmental Services, Inc. as new Supporting Members and the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) as a renewing Supporting Member of NERC. 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 NEWSToxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) Receives EPA Environmental Merit Award
The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) was honored to receive an EPA New England Environmental Merit Award on April 22 for its achievements in reducing the toxicity of packaging entering the solid waste stream. The Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. administers and supports TPCH. On hand to accept the award were several TPCH members Sharon Yergeau, New Hampshire; TPCH Program Manager, Patty Dillon; David Westcott, Connecticut; and Peter Pettit, New York State. The ceremony took place in historic Faneuil Hall in Boston. EPA’s Environmental Merit Award is an annual award that recognizes outstanding environmental advocates who have made significant contributions toward preserving and protecting our natural resources. This annual ceremony has recognized the environmental achievements of New Englanders for more than three decades. For more information on TPCH, contact Patty Dillon, TPCH Program Manager. Supporting Waste Management Efforts in Delaware Schools NERC staff recently visited two schools in rural Delaware as a part of its USDA-funded rural assistance project to promote source reduction, recycling, and composting in schools. These schools included Frankford Elementary School and New Castle Charter High School. The school visits included a waste sort and meeting with each school’s Recycling Advisory Committee. As part of the meetings, each school’s Committee identified specific goals and objectives to work on over the next year. NERC will provide onsite technical assistance to the schools to support their waste management efforts. Frankford Elementary is interested in reducing their overall use of paper by 25%, which will greatly reduce their paper costs and the volume of paper discards. They will also be undertaking composting of their food waste. New Castle Charter is interested in focusing on paper recycling. The students spearheaded the collection of paper a month ago, and need to find a vendor to take it. Once that hauling agreement has been secured, they plan on expanding their program to include plastics. As part of this project, NERC is developing tip sheets on reuse, recycling, and composting, as well as project ideas and case studies. All of these resources will be posted on the NERC Website. For more information regarding the work with the Delaware schools, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director. For more information regarding the project in general, contact Athena Lee Bradley, NERC’s Projects Manager. What’s the Difference between the State Electronics Challenge (SEC) & the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC)? Are you confused about the difference between the SEC and ERCC? Too many initials that are too similar? You’re not alone! Here are some key facts to help clarify each of these programs and the benefits they offer.
*CO, CT, DE, ME, MA, MT, ND, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SD, UT, VT, WY Disposal Bans & Mandatory Recycling in the NERC States Document Updated An overview of the disposal bans and mandatory recycling requirements in the ten NERC states has been updated and posted on the NERC Website. Since this document was last updated in 2005, a number of new disposal bans and mandatory recycling provisions have been adopted by the states. In particular, disposal bans for CRTs (seven states as compared to two in 2005) and mercury-containing products, such as mercuric oxide batteries (seven as compared to five in 2005), have become more commonplace. In fact, there were no disposal bans for the general category of mercury-containing products in 2005, and now five states have such bans. Two states added bans on the disposal of tires, bringing the total to nine. The only state in the region without a tire disposal ban is Rhode Island. While disposal bans are a more popular strategy than mandatory recycling, mandatory recycling has gained in popularity since the 2005 report. In 2005, only five states had mandatory recycling requirements, but now only one state remains without such a requirement: Delaware. For more information, you can download the complete document from the NERC Website, or contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director. New Resources on Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC) Website The ERCC has posted several new resources on its Website. The new resources will help aid in comparisons of the state and local electronics recycling laws and include maps with breakdowns of the product scope, covered entities, and landfill bans. Within each map, users can see an overview of what is covered and click on the state for more detail. In addition, the ERCC is tracking collection results from each state law on the per capita basis and posting the latest results in the context of the covered products and other differences. For ERCC members, a more detailed part of the Website with specialized comparisons and research, in addition to a customized registration tracking database, will soon be released. The ERCC is working with four subcommittees on projects such as performance measures, return share data collection (including sampling), market share data coordination, and online manufacturer/recycler registration. For more information on how to be involved in these projects, please contact Jason Linnell or Lynn Rubinstein. Upcoming & Recent NERC Speaking Engagements Looking for a chance to learn more about NERC projects? Plan on attending one of the upcoming speaking engagements where staff will be presenting: May 7, ISRI Electronics Recycling Program/ISRI Annual Convention June 7, Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) Annual Recycling Conference June 7, Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR) Summit for Recycling In addition to the upcoming presentations, Athena Lee Bradley has recently presented at several events:
NERC staff make many contributions to their communities — both as a result of NERC projects and their volunteer efforts. Lynn Rubinstein, Executive Director
Mary Ann Remolador, Assistant Director
Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager Patricia Dillon, Program Manager Moon Morgan, Office Manager As he was winding down his activities at RRP, Moon joined a small group of therapists and other professionals to establish another non-profit, the Northeast PNI Institute for Healing, in Brattleboro, Vermont. PNI stands for psychoneuroimmunology, a field that investigates the relationship between the brain and the immune system as a way of understanding how emotions, feelings, and intensions affect health. The field gained attention when Norman Cousins, the editor of Saturday Review magazine, developed a recovery program incorporating large doses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films. His work eventually led to the creation of the Cousins Center for PNI at UCLA. The Northeast PNI Institute was established to provide public education, professional training, and individual and group treatment using PNI techniques. STATE UPDATESMAINE Beware the Ides of March?? The State Planning Office has submitted its annual Solid Waste Generation & Disposal Capacity report to the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee in accordance with 38 MRSA, section 2124-A. The report provides an overview of Maine’s municipal solid waste generation, recycling, combustion, and landfill activities for 2008 in order to: 1) Determine the impact of these activities on available solid waste disposal capacity, The report also determines the state’s recycling rate, which stands at 38.7% for 2008. The report is available on-line. For more information, contact Sam Morris. MASSACHUSETTS MassDEP Announces the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program & Issues Municipal Grant Application The Sustainable Materials Recovery Program (SMRP) will provide grants and technical assistance to municipalities, regional groups, schools, businesses, recycling processors, and manufacturers in support of increased recycling and waste reduction efforts in Massachusetts. This program was authorized under the Green Communities Act and corresponding MassDEP regulations (310 CMR 19.300). MassDEP is pleased to issue the Municipal Grant Application, the first of several initiatives under SMRP. This application will assist Massachusetts’ cities, towns, and regional government entities with recycling, composting, reuse, and source reduction activities that will increase diversion of municipal solid waste and household hazardous waste from landfills and incinerators. The funding categories in SMRP are designed to foster innovative strategies and regional partnerships that will save communities money and protect the environment. For more information visit the MassDEP grant Website or contact Tina Klein. OF GENERAL INTERESTPSI’s Spring 2010 Informational Networking Conference Calls Series
Plastic Bags: What’s the Fuss? What’s the Cure?
Safer Cosmetic Products: Product Stewardship Meets Chemicals Policy
Managing Food Waste: Opportunities for Product Stewardship
Product Stewardship Laws for Electronics in the U.S.: Learning Through Experience
Life Cycle Thinking for Product Stewardship Professionals Here is the link: www.productstewardship.us/networkingcalls Questions? Contact Lisa Gould, PSI. Please help us by forwarding the information below to your colleagues or to a distribution list so that it would reach those who would benefit from these calls. Thanks! Want to know more about product stewardship? Interested in Product Stewardship 101? Over 130 joined us for the call on this topic! If you are interested in hearing this call for free, go to the website for Product Stewardship 101 to access the first call. The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) is a national non-profit environmental institute with membership from 45 states, over 150 local governments, tribes, and more than 55 businesses, organizations and universities working to establish cooperative agreements to reduce the health and environmental impacts from consumer products. Consumer products are growing in number and complexity, and their environmental impacts pose long-term challenges for state and local governments at a time when agency resources have diminished. PSI represents the interests of state and local governments in product policy and seeks to shift responsibility for managing products at end-of-life from governments to producers, thus saving money on local waste management costs. Product stewardship, however, cannot be achieved without private sector leadership. PSI partners with corporations, organizations and academic institutions that support our mission and recognize our Principles of Product Stewardship, which include producer responsibility. WASTECON® 2010 Comes to the Northeast this August Whether you are looking for training and certification opportunities, new products and services, or just more information about what’s happening in the recycling world, WASTECON® has you covered. WASTECON® is the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA) largest annual trade show and conference. Join SWANA August 15-17, 2010, in Boston and take advantage of:
If you are interested in other facets of solid waste, there are a variety of training courses and technical sessions available. View the entire WASTECON schedule or email SWANA’s Marketing Department for additional information on this year’s event. Along with providing the leading education and training in the solid waste management field, SWANA also knows how to have a good time! WASTECON® offers a variety of fun networking opportunities. This year’s events will include a Saturday Night Opening Reception and a Monday Night Networking Event at Fenway Park – not to mention the many other attractions that historic Boston has to offer. Visit www.WASTECON.org/save to learn how to save $200 off your full conference or training registration. We hope to see you there! |
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