NERC | Northeast Recycling Council
Completed Projects
2008Promoting Source Reduction & Increasing the Use of Recycled Materials through the Green Procurement of Electronics (EPA Region 1 Resource Conservation Challenge Grant Program) The goal of this project was to promote source reduction and increase the use of recycled materials through the environmentally preferable purchasing of computers by public and private sector institutional purchasers. NERC accomplished this by promoting the use of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT™) by institutional purchasers in New England through outreach and education, technical assistance, and demonstrating the environmental benefits of purchasing EPEAT™-qualified products. EPEAT™ is a project spearheaded by the U.S. EPA to help public and private sector institutional purchasers evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, laptops, and monitors based on environmental attributes. EPEAT™ will be the first-available environmentally preferable purchasing tool for computers and will rate product environmental performance based on multiple environmental criteria. This project also quantified the environmental benefits of green electronics procurement by applying the EPA-funded Electronics Environmental Benefits Calculator, developed by the University of Tennessee, to provide the first-ever demonstration of the environmental benefit of actual and projected purchases of EPEAT™-qualified products by states. The calculation of environmental benefits will included reduction in persistent bio-accumulative toxins, energy use, CO2 /greenhouse gas emissions, municipal and hazardous solid waste generation; and increase in use of post-consumer content recycled materials. NERC collaborated in this project with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine State Planning Office, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Protection, and the Vermont Agency for Natural Resources. The project included three specific objectives:
A final report summarizes the efforts and results of this project. 2007EPA Source Reduction Assistance Grant Program: Toxics in Packaging Laws; A Tool to Promote Source Reduction and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Nineteen US states have toxics in packaging laws that prohibit the intentional introduction of four heavy metals -- mercury, lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium -- into packaging and packaging components sold or distributed in the state. While the laws have been in force in most of the 19 states for 10 years or more, there is increasing evidence of non-compliance. Before the start of this project, in August 2005, there had been no comprehensive test program to determine whether companies were in compliance with the toxic in packaging laws. This project assessed compliance with the toxics in packaging laws launched a source reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) educational campaign based on the legal requirements of the laws. The project had three specific objectives:
The project started in August 2005 and was completed in June 2007. Go to the Toxics in Packaging Clearing House Web site to view the full report, An Assessment of Heavy Metals in Packaging: Screening Results Using A Portable X-Ray Flourescence Analyzer.
USDA - RUS Solid Waste Management Grants: a. Rural Special Event Waste Management This project included five primary components:
Special Events Final Reports: Clinton Lions Club Fair, Maine Deerfield Agricultural Fair, New Hampshire HCS Flower Show, New Hampshire Tunbridge Agricultural Fair, Vermont Stowe Celebrates Summer, Vermont For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador. b. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Peer-to-Peer Business Training The core of this project was the development and implementation of a pilot that provides rural businesses with the tools to make environmentally preferable purchasing decisions. A peer-to-peer-mentoring strategy matched businesses with successful EPP programs with rural businesses interested in developing an EPP program. The project resulted in a guidance document and environmentally preferable purchasing resource tools for rural businesses. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
c. Managing Unwanted Medications The improper disposal of unwanted medications presents serious environmental problems. Among these is water pollution from the disposal of medications in wastewater, particularly septic systems, and in landfills. Although management as a hazardous waste is the best management practice for this waste stream, in the Northeast, municipal household hazardous waste (HHW) collections do not generally accept medication. This project developed and implemented a replicable pilot for collecting unwanted medications at HHW collections or in other rural settings. The project focused on Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. A comprehensive guidance document was written that details how to legally and safely conduct an unwanted medication collection in conjuntion with a household hazardous waste event.. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
2006EPA Innovative Waste Management Grant Managing Unwanted Prescription Drugs NERC developed and implemented pilot collection programs for unwanted prescription drugs and bulk compounding chemicals. NERC produced a guidebook that reflects the knowledge acquired about state and federal laws, recommendations for holding collections based on the pilot expeirences, and recommendations develoved by the grant advisory committee. Other pilot activities included writing a guidance document detailing collection methods for these hazardous wastes and developing best management practices (BMPs) for plastic medication associated containers. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
2005ECOS Pollution Prevention Tier II Protocol for TARPNERC planned to have worked in conjunction with the state of New Jersey write a Pollution Prevention Wastewater Technology Protocol, however, the work involving the development of the Wastewater Treatment Systems was suspended in April 2005. For more information, please contact Mary Ann Remolador.
Materials Exchange Marketing Plan Through a grant from EPA Regions I & II, NERC developed a marketing strategy for New England and New York Materials Exchanges that enables them to maintain outreach with schools, municipalities and other potential clients at no- or low-cost. As part of this project, NERC worked with faculty and students of Bryant University’s Sustainable Business Program. In June 2005, NERC and Bryant unveiled the Materials Exchange Marketing Plan at the Annual Materials Exchange Managers Meeting. For more information, please contact Mary Ann Remolador.
2004Assessed Municipal Business Recycling Programs in MassachusettsNERC assessed the effectiveness of municipal business recycling programs in Massachusetts. The project included conducting an in-depth survey of each town to find out the details of existing municipal business recycling programs. The information was organized in a ready-to use database, posted on MA DEP's website and incorporated into the service provider locator on the Earth 911 website. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
Funded by EPA and USDA, this project promoted reuse and waste prevention to New England school and municipal purchasing agents by developing an understanding of the economic and environmental benefits of using Materials Exchanges, as well as state surplus property programs. As a result of the project, NERC developed a Directory of Surplus Property Programs in New England. See the Final Reports for details: For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
Newspaper Publisher's Purchasing Commitments In 1998 NERC brought together state recycling officials, representatives of the newsprint industry and newspaper publishers to spur investment in the facilities needed to make the recycling of millions of tons of old newspapers generated in the region an economic and technical reality. Through a combination of voluntary agreements and legislative mandates initiated by individual states and coordinated by NERC, a significant majority of newsprint publishers in the Northeast were expected to increase purchases of recycled fiber from current levels of about twenty percent to 40-50 percent by the year 2000. Substantial investment has been made by the newsprint industry to accommodate this new demand, resulting in significant growth in demand for old newspapers (ONP) and old magazines (OMG) generated in the Northeast. In 1995, NERC co-sponsored the Old Newspaper and Old Magazine Supply Study to document the availability of feedstock to fuel new capacity for producing recycled-content newsprint. The study was co-sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America, the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NERC issued an annual report assessing the status of the laws and agreements. In 1997 NERC entered into a dialogue with publishers in the region to explore opportunities for updating the agreements, and with partial funding from the U.S. EPA established the Northeast Newspaper Recycling Task Force, made up of NERC members and some of the region's large publishers. Members of the Task Force funded a study of recycled newsprint manufacturing capacity, which informed the Task Force's Final Report and recommendations, published in January, 1999. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
USDA Hazardous Waste Guides for Businesses in New Hampshire and Vermont NERC worked on a USDA Rural Utilities Service-funded project to create a directory of hazardous waste collection and recycling programs for businesses in each, New Hampshire and Vermont. These Guides are a quick reference for businesses to better understand the options available to them for disposing of their hazardous waste and the tools that they will need to get them started. In addition to a list of the towns that include businesses in their hazardous waste collections, the Guides include the information businesses when preparing to use a municipal hazardous waste collection programs. The Guides were updated in 2006 and are available on NERC's website at: The NH Guide For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
USDA Hazardous Waste Small Business Pilot Collections This project included working with coordinators of a municipal hazardous waste collection program in Vermont and New Hampshire and providing assistance to expand their outreach and focus on the programs to include businesses. See the Final Report, the New Hampshire Flyer and the Vermont Flyer for details. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
2003Nebraska E-Waste Toolkit Now Available on NERC's WebsiteThe E-Waste Toolkit is a three-part
resource for setting up electronics recycling programs, and is now available
on NERC's website. The Toolkit was researched and written for the Nebraska
State Recycling Association with funding from EPA Region 7. Section
I - TOOLKIT FOR SETTING UP ELECTRONICS COLLECTIONS Section
II - GUIDANCE FOR POTENTIAL ELECTRONICS RECYCLING ENTREPRENEURS
~ BEFORE WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN Section
III - ELECTRONIC RECYCLING BUSINESS RESOURCE GUIDE For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
NERC worked in conjunction with the state of New Jersey to write a Pollution Prevention Technology Tier II Protocol and promoted its adoption by other states. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
2002Beneficial Use Determination Documentation, MassachusettsWorking with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and Department of Environmental Protection, NERC will develop documents related to beneficial use of non-hazardous waste:
For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
Commercial Recycling in South Hadley, MA NERC worked with the South Hadley Department of Public Works to do the following:
For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
Conducted a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of Massachusetts' EPP Program. This will include cost savings, the environmental and economic benefits, impacts on changed purchasing behavior, and quality of program outreach and education efforts. See the Final Report entitled Environmentally Preferable Products Procurement Program Assessment on MA OSD's website. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
The National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) was created to bring stakeholders together to develop solutions to the issue of electronic products management. NERC was a stakeholder in NEPSI. It was considered to be a non-governmental position. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
Working with rural communities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to design and implement electronics collection programs. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
Assist the City of Northampton with designing revised Integrated Solid Waste Management Program, including full-cost accounting for a pay-as-you-throw system, developing a source reduction policy and plan, and assisting with long range planning. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
2000Recycling Finance Seminars for Business Development SpecialistsThe Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. developed a one-day seminar as a strategy for assisting recycling businesses to access financing. Business service providers were targeted as the seminar audience since they work most closely with businesses that are seeking financing, prior to them approaching financiers. The seminar described in detail the nuances of the recycling industry that financiers often times misunderstand, and the issues faced by recycling firms that are unique from other small businesses. NERC partnered with the Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development in Massachusetts, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to present the seminar in four NERC states from June 2000 - October 2001. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
During 1995 through 1998, NERC coordinated state input on the development of a uniform methodology for reporting state recycling data and calculating state recycling rates. The methodology was developed by Eastern Research Group, Inc., for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The methodology is designed to promote consistency in the way recycling data are collected and reported by state governmental agencies. Through this project four states and the District of Columbia tested the methodology. The state demonstrations were completed in March 1998, and a final report on the project was submitted to EPA in August, 1998. NERC's partner in the project is the Council of State Governments' Midwestern Office. Funding for NERC's work was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. See the Northeast States' Recycling Data Collection Programs to learn more. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
1999Northeast Recycling Investment ForumThe Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. (NERC) was one of the primary organizations that developed the Recycling Investment Forum (RIF) as a strategy to stimulate the development of businesses processing or manufacturing products from recycled materials. The Northeast RIFs featured select firms making formal presentations to a diverse investor audience. From 1996-1999, 43 recycling firms seeking equity presented their business plans to a total of 93 investors at the Forums. As a result of the Forums, 35% of the presenting businesses received a total of $20.14 million. These investments created or retained a total of 221 jobs, and increased the amount of recycled materials used in processing or manufacturing new products by 181,291 tons/year. Primary sponsors of the Forums included: EPA Regions I, II, and III. Additional sponsors included: the New York State Office of Recycling Market Development, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development, Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, National Recycling Coalition, American Plastics Council, Steel Recycling Institute, Pennsylvania Private Investors Group, Con Edison, and Price Waterhouse, LLP. Further information may be requested from Mary Ann Remolador at NERC: MaryAnn@nerc.org
Recycling business owners, like most entrepreneurs, often do not fully understand the range of financing options available to them. To assist recycling businesses in obtaining financing, and also to assist in finding the best businesses to participate in the Northeast Recycling Investment Forum, NERC sponsored a series of eight Recycling Finance Seminars in Fall 1997 and Fall 1998. The 1997 Seminars were conducted by the Wharton School Small Business Development Center, and the 1998 Seminars were presented by financial consultant William Kraft. Funding for the Seminars was provided by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Jobs Through Recycling Initiative. Further information is available from Mary Ann Remolador at NERC: MaryAnn@nerc.org
1998Recycling Economic Information ProjectThe U.S. recycling industry includes a wide range of firms offering a tremendous variety of products and services. Because of its diversity, standard information on employment, annual sales, wages, value-added, investment trends and other economic measures are generally not available. And yet, financiers, economic developers, entrepreneurs, government policy makers and recycling market development professionals need this basic information to establish priorities for investments, evaluate potential market opportunities and, generally, to intelligently allocate the resources so important to the continued growth of recycling. To address this information gap, NERC undertook the Recycling Economic Information Project. The project’s Final Report, published in April 1998, details a recommended methodology for obtaining economic information on the nation’s recycling and reuse industries. The report also provides a wealth of reference information on the economics of recycling, including SIC classifications of recycling and reuse businesses, a review of available data and descriptions of the 45 different business categories. Through a partnership with the National Recycling Coalition, NERC is implementing the recommended information gathering methodology. This first-ever study of the U.S. recycling and reuse industries is being implemented in two phases. Phase One will target the ten Northeastern states and will test and refine the methodology. In Phase Two, the study will be extended to cover the remainder of the nation. Recycling Economic Information Project: Final Report, April 1998 All of the documents linked below (except the Executive Summary and Table of Contents) are in Adobe Acrobat format and can be viewed and printed with the free browser plugin available at this site.
1997Building a Viable Recycling Infrastructure for Discarded Printing and Writing Paper Providing recycling services to small businesses is often prohibitively expensive, due to the small amount of material they generate. And yet, paper industry representatives are concerned about the long term supply of recovered fiber to fuel U.S. mills. To address this need, NERC, in partnership with several organizations in New England piloted several approaches to encourage small businesses to expand paper recycling efforts. One innovative model is the small business recycling consortium, demonstrated by the Center for Ecological Technology and WasteCap organizations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Also as part of the project, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection worked with several municipalities to offer a variety of drop-off and pick-up recycling services to small businesses. And, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management piloted a program to optimize recycling by state offices throughout that state. In order to disseminate the results of these pilot projects, NERC held a workshop in Orlando, Florida in conjunction with the 1997 National Recycling Congress and Exposition. NERC has also produced a manual, Implementation Guide for Small Business Recycling Cooperatives. The project was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through the President's Climate Change Action Plan. Additional funding was provided by the American Forest and Paper Association. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
1996Fostering Economic Development Through RecyclingThe goal of this two-phase project was to increase investment in the region's recycling industry by promoting the industry to the economic development and financial communities. In the first phase, NERC researched the economic benefits of the Northeast recycling industry. Conducted with technical consulting assistance by Roy F. Weston, Inc., the research was published in 1994 in a report entitled Value Added to Recyclable Material in the Northeast. Key findings were that the recycling industry employs more than 103,000 people and adds over $7 billion in value to the region's economy. NERC presented these findings to an audience of regional economic developers and financiers at a forum held in June 1994. Audience members then developed a list of opportunities and barriers to increasing investment in the recycling industry, and developed a prototype state-specific workshop for promoting recycling to economic developers and other financiers. Funding for Phase One was provided jointly by U.S. EPA, Headquarters and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. In Phase Two of the project, NERC conducted a series of state recycling economic development workshops, based on the model developed in Phase One. The workshops were held in Massachusetts, Maine and New Jersey, with the goal of educating state economic developers and financiers on the state's recycling industry and to explore opportunities for state economic development programs to be applied to recycling businesses. A video on each state's recycling industry was prepared as a final product of the project, as well as the publication Guide to Conducting State Recycling Economic Finance Workshops. Also in Phase Two, NERC worked in partnership with the National Development Council (NDC) to develop a training curriculum for recycling economic development. The curriculum can be offered through arrangement with NDC. Phase Two was funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has a goal of establishing recycling programs for undeliverable bulk business mail (UBBM) in all of their post offices, nationwide. The effort is complicated, however, by a lack of familiarity with UBBM within the paper industry, and by a lack of understanding of recovered paper markets by USPS. To help bridge this information gap, and to encourage the development of infrastructure to recycled both UBBM and other mixed grades of recovered paper, NERC co-sponsored a series of three Market Opportunity Forums in Fall 1996. The Forums were conducted in partnership with USPS and U.S. EPA, with Roy F. Weston, Inc. providing technical consulting assistance. Each of the three forums brought together approximately 50 - 70 USPS staff, paper stock dealers, mill representatives and other market stakeholders involved in paper recycling in each area. The events were successful in assisting USPS with retaining and expanding recycling levels during a marked downturn in the market for mixed paper and enabled USPS facility managers to be more effective players in the recovered paper marketplace. USPS officials reported that increased knowledge of the processor and mill marketing preferences influenced them to be more flexible in their contracting for services. The forums also served to provide information to USPS officials on successfully operating stable recycling programs in a volatile and dynamic recovered paper marketplace. EPA funding for the Forums was provided through the Jobs Through Recycling Initiative. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
Bankers, venture capitalists, economic developers and other financiers sometimes cite the lack of a financial track record as a reason for not financing recycling businesses. And yet, recycling businesses of all types have successfully secured financing from a wide variety of sources. To help address this critical information gap, NERC surveyed three types of recycling firms: paper stock dealers, plastics reclaimers and compost producers. The results of the 1995 surveys are documented in a series of three Reports on Financial Transactions Supporting Recycling Businesses, each of which provides an industry overview, addresses unique issues affecting the financing of the industry and documents specific financial transactions that have occurred within the industry. Funding for the project was provided by EPA New England. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.
In 1991, NERC began exploring options with the Direct Marketing Association on reducing the waste associated with direct mail by increasing their use of recycled materials, as well as source reduction and design for recyclability. As an outgrowth of these efforts, in 1994, DMA announced the DMA Corporate Environmental Stewardship Challenge. The Challenge has been taken by over 100 DMA members. Each participating company is provided a checklist that addresses waste reduction, recycling collection and buying or manufacturing recycled products. DMA has also worked with NERC on an annual recycled paper survey to gauge DMA members use of recycled paper and adoption of environmentally sound business practices. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
NERC has worked cooperatively with the Yellow Pages Publishers Association (YPPA) since 1990 to reduce the environmental impacts of telephone directories. NERC assisted YPPA in developing the organization's Environmental Action Plan, which was subsequently endorsed by NERC. The plan calls for an annual report by YPPA on the status of recycled content purchasing efforts, design for recyclability, source reduction and other related environmental issues. Since 1996, NERC is working most closely with directory publishers in the Northeast - Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Southern New England Telephone, including the sponsorship of forums focused on the status of recycling and waste prevention efforts. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
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