Projects

Current

Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC)

EPPnet (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing) Archive

Increasing Paper Recycling by Businesses in the Northeast

Marketing On-Farm Compost for Sustainability & Economic Viability

New York State's Recycling Markets Database

Promoting Agricultural Environmental Sustainability in Western Massachusetts

Special Events Food Waste Diversion in Pennsylvania and Delaware

State Electronics Challenge

Toward Zero Waste as a Practical Strategy in the Construction and Demolition Industry

Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse

Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC)

The Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC) was launched in 2010 by the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) and the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC).  The ERCC is a forum for coordination and information exchange among the state/local agencies that are implementing electronics recycling laws and all impacted stakeholders.  Both government and non-government entities are invited to join.  For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director, or visit the ERCC Website.

EPPnet (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing) Archive

EPPnet is a listserv that NERC offers that links federal, state, and local environmental officials, and private procurement specialists charged with purchasing green products and services and developing policies for the procurement of these products. EPPnet is intended to provide subscribers with quick access to information, such as: availability of product specifications, vendors of particular products, pricing information, and strategies to achieve recycled product procurement goals and federal procurement policies. Please note: Private vendors are precluded from joining the listserv.

EPPnet is a Yahoo! Group, and membership must be approved. To join the listserv go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPPnet/ and click on “Join this Group!”  You will be required to log into a Yahoo! Account.  If you do not have one, you can set one up at that time, or sign in with Facebook or Google.

You will be taken to a join form.  In the “Comment to Owner” box, please be sure to describe your interest in EPPnet and your role in your organization.  Your application must be approved by the NERC moderator. Once you are approved, you will receive a welcome message from Yahoo! Groups with detailed instructions on how to use the listserv.

An alternative way of joining is to email Moon Morgan, letting him know of your interest in EPPnet, and your role in your organization. 

If you have any questions about EPPnet or the application process, please contact Moon Morgan.

Increasing Paper Recycling by Businesses in the Northeast

With a Resource Conservation Challenge grant from EPA New England, NERC continues to work with two New England – based businesses that are large generators of paper and have satellite offices elsewhere in the Northeast.  This work includes providing direct technical assistance, site visits, staff trainings, recycling program development, troubleshooting, assistance with monitoring progress, and providing outreach and promotion of results.

For more information about this two- project, contact Mary Ann Remolador, Assistant Director.

Marketing On-Farm Compost for Sustainability & Economic Viability

Through a 4-year grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, NERC is providing technical assistance and support to farmers to enhance the marketing of compost in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. 

NERC and project team members are providing the tools to help farmers:

• Explore composting as a value-added product to support their current business operation.
• Understand the importance of quality control and compost recipe develop.
• Learn how to acquire the necessary permits to operate and market compost in their state.
• Explore potential feedstocks and pricing structures.
• Develop marketing and sales strategies to effectively meet local and regional demand. And,
• Develop and implement a compost marketing plan.

A number of resources have been developed and posted on NERC’s Compost Marketing Web page.

Resources include:

• Making Your Compost Product Work for You
• Model Marketing Plan Template
• Compost Marketing Resource List
• Powerpoint Presentations from each of the workshops offered through the project.

For additional information contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.

New York State's Recycling Markets Database

NERC is engaged in a multi-year contract with Empire State Development’s Environmental Services Unit (ESU) to update and further develop its recycling markets database. The intent of this interactive, on-line database is to help users locate outlets for materials that can be reused, recycled or composted. The database provides exposure to recycling and reuse businesses and helps end markets for recovered materials in and around New York State access the raw materials they need for production. This database allows the user to search for brokers, processors/recyclers, manufacturers, reuse organizations, compost operations, re-manufacturers, or other recycling-related service providers by material type within specific geographic regions. This information is being compiled and maintained by NERC under the direction of ESU.

For more information on the project contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.

Promoting Agricultural Environmental Sustainability in Western Massachusetts

NERC was awarded a grant from the Lydia B. Stokes Foundation to promote agricultural environmental sustainability in Western Massachusetts.  The grant allows NERC to provide information on manure management, composting, and compost market development to farmers and the organizations representing these constituencies in Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire Counties, Massachusetts.

Three-hundred CDs containing manure management, composting, and compost marketing resources are being distributed through the project. Two workshops are being offered, the first on Manure Management and Compost Technique;” the other on “Compost Marketing.” The workshops are co-sponsored by the Community in Support of Agriculture (CISA) and the New England Small Farm Institute.

For more information on the project, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.

Special Events Food Waste Diversion in Pennsylvania and Delaware

NERC’s new Special Events Composting Project, funded by EPA Region 3, builds upon the experience and knowledge that NERC developed with previous special event waste reduction, recycling, and composting projects. The project focuses on food waste diversion and implementing solutions to the challenges that it presents.  It includes one event in each of two states: Delaware and Pennsylvania. Materials to be diverted include pre- and post-consumer food, as well as compostable flatware, plates, packaging, and napkins.

Through the project, NERC is working with two events to implement food waste composting – the Philadelphia Folk Festival, an annual four-day event held at Old Pool Farm in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania in August and  The University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program annual Coast Day event held in October.

State Electronics Challenge

The State Electronics Challenge (SEC) is a voluntary program that encourages state, tribal, regional, and local governments, including schools, colleges, universities, and other public entities to:

• Purchase greener computer products.
• Reduce the impacts of computer equipment during use.
• Decrease paper usage
• Manage obsolete computer equipment in an environmentally safe way.

Government agencies and organizations participate as "Partners" in the program.  The SEC provides Partners with resources and technical assistance for improving computer equipment management practices, and offers annual recognition to Partners that have achieved specific goals.

To date, government entities — representing 100,000 employees — have signed on as SEC Partners, making a commitment to improve the environmental footprint of their computer assets.  For the current list of Partners, visit
http://stateelectronicschallenge.net/current_partners.html.

Why Should Government Get Involved?
Collectively, state and local governments purchase more than $35 billion worth of technology equipment annually, and has the opportunity to provide leadership in the environmentally sound and cost-effective management of electronic assets.  The SEC helps state, tribal, local, and regional governments, schools and agencies to become leaders and face the new challenges posed by this waste stream. 

Why Become an SEC Partner?  By becoming a Partner, you will receive free support and assistance to implement change; demonstrating environmental leadership in your state, region, and the nation.  And, your actions as a Partner will have significant environmental impacts. 

Annual Recognition.  Partners have the opportunity to obtain annual recognition for their accomplishments. 

Partner-Only Resources.  The State Electronics Challenge provides free support to help implement the life cycle practice changess.   

• Implementation Tools provide Partners with resources to implement program goals for procurement, energy conservation, equipment reuse and donations, and recycling.
• Environmental Impact Tools provide you with the ability to calculate the environmental benefits of your program, or we’ll do it for you.
• Free Technical Assistance to Partners on such issues as program requirements, available resources, mentor organizations, and completion of data collection forms.
• Partner-only Teleconferences provide focused presentations on selected topics.

Visit the Website at www.StateElectronicsChallenge.net to sign-up, or for more information contact info@stateelectronicschallenge.net. A fact sheet is available at http://stateelectronicschallenge.net/pdf/fact_sheet_for_potential_partners.pdf.

Support for the State Electronics Challenge is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, sponsorship by Samsung Electronics, the Consumer Electronics Association, ISRI R2/RIOS, Panasonic, Sims Recycling Solutions, and Metech Recycling.

Toward Zero Waste as a Practical Strategy in the Construction and Demolition Industry

With an EPA Resource Conservation Challenge grant, NERC continues to work on construction and demolition pilots.  Over this last year, NERC completed the pilot project in Connecticut. This year, the focus will be on completing pilot projects in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York. The project focuses on working towards zero waste through source reduction, reuse, and recycling at the jobsites.   As part of this project, NERC is working directly with construction site managers to develop zero waste materials plans; provide on-site technical assistance; document materials diverted at each pilot location; and develop training tips, implementation tools, fact sheets, and case studies.

One of the resources completed this year was the Winning Bids & Gaining Customers Through Waste Management: Minimizing Waste and Material Reuse and Recycling. The tip sheet was developed to help contractors understand the important role that reuse and recycling plays in new construction andremodeling jobs, and provides detailed steps for incorporating reuse and recycling into each job. 

For additional information, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director and Project Manager.

Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse

NERC provides administration and staff support to Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH). The Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) was formed in 1992 to promote the Model Toxics in Packaging Legislation. The Source Reduction Council of CONEG originally drafted this model legislation in 1989. It was developed in an effort to reduce the amount of heavy metals in packaging and packaging components that are sold or distributed throughout the United States. Specifically, the law is designed to phase out the use and presence of mercury, lead, cadmium and hexavalent chromium in packaging within four years in states that enact the legislation.

With funding from EPA Region 1 Resource Conservaton challenge Grant Program,, TPCH continues its outreach and testing of packaging aimed at reducing the amount of toxic heavy metals entering solid waste and recycling streams. This project addresses and builds on the results of the 2005-2006 TPCH packaging screening project that documented a significant amount of retail packaging containing heavy metals restricted by state toxics in packaging laws.

For more information, contact Patricia Dillon.