News &
Updates

To view our archived Bulletins, click on a date below.

July 2011

NERC’s Advisory Members

Distinguished Benefactors

Benefactors

Sustaining Members

A list of all the logos of our Sustaining Members can be found under Advisory Members

MEMBERSHIP

Renewing Sustaining Members

Renewing Supporting Members

NERC NEWS

TOXICS IN PACKAGING CLEARINGHOUSE NEWS

Most Reusable Bags Tested Safe

STATE UPDATE

DELAWARE

Recycling &/or Green Business Operations – Request for Proposals

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

OF GENERAL INTEREST

NERC's mission is to advance an environmentally sustainable economy by promoting source and toxicity reduction, recycling, and the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.

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.

MEMBERSHIP

We are delighted to welcome two renewing Sustaining Members: Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company and UNICOR. In addition we extend our thanks to two renewing Supporting Members: Connecticut Recyclers Coalition (CRC) and Yellowbook.

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. NERC has almost 50 Advisory Members. To see a complete listing and the benefits of membership, visit the NERC Advisory Membership eb 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 NEWS

Topics Identified for NERC's Fall Conference

NERC’s staff is busily planning for its Fall Conference, which will take place on October 25th–26th at the Hotel Northampton, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Two of the topics to be discussed are electronics and bulky rigid plastics. Look at NERC's Website for more details on sessions and speakers in the coming weeks.

Exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities are available.

Conference Sponsors
CAS SRI

NERC's Conference planner: Mary Ann Remolador.

Good News! NERC Conference Presentations Now Public

It has been NERC’s practice to limit access to its conference PowerPoints to its members. But that has all changed. In order to support its mission of promoting a sustainable environment and economy NERC believes that it is important that the resources to accomplish this be as widely available as possible. To that end, it has determined to make all past and future conference PowerPoint presentations publicly available.

For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director.

Free School Composting Webinar

Register early for NERC’s School Webinar – “School Composting at Options.” The Webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 3:00 p.m., Eastern.

Learn how to start and maintain a school composting program. Information to be discussed includes: stakeholders and program set-up; benefits to the school community; the curriculum connection; funding, labor and collection logistics; types of compost bins and bin maintenance for on-site composting; and options for off-site composting.

Virginia Walton (Ginny), Recycling Coordinator for the Town of Mansfield, Connecticut will present “Composting at Mansfield Middle School.” Her presentation will include an overview of the Mansfield Middle School composting program. Karen DiFranza, from Hands to Earth will present “On-site School Composting: Students as Earth Stewards.” Ms. DiFranza has been instrumental in setting up several school composting programs, including Quabbin Regional High School and Hubbardston Center School (MA) composting programs. Additionally, Eric Magers and Scott Morrison from the Manchester Essex (MA) Regional Middle School, who presented in NERC’s first School Webinar, “Small Town/Rural School Waste Reduction & Recycling,” will provide an update on their school’s successful composting program.

NERC’s school project is funded through a USDA grant. Tips on school waste reduction, recycling, and composting, along with presentations from NERC’s first School Webinar can be found on NERC’s Website.

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

State Electronics Challenge Is Now Coast-to-Coast

The State Electronics Challenge newest Partners — Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County, New York; Erie County, Pennsylvania; the City of Tacoma, Washington; the City of Riverside, California; and Hennepin County, Minnesota — bring the total number of Partners to 71, with 85,000 employees participating in the program. And, the SEC is now represented in 27 U.S. states. To view a full list of SEC Partners, go to Current Partners.

The Challenge is a program that works directly with government organizations to decrease the environmental footprint of its computer equipment, through green procurement, energy conservation during use, and proper end-of-life management. It’s a free program available nationally, thanks to the support of its Sponsors: Samsung, Panasonic, ISRI, Sims Recycling Solutions, and the Consumer Electronics Association, as well as EPA Regions 5 and 8.

For more information, visit the State Electronics Challenge Website or contact Lynn Rubinstein, Program Manager for the Challenge.

Please Take a Moment to “Like” Us on Facebook!

NERC now has 16 people who “like us” on Facebook. Have you visited our Facebook page and clicked on the “Like” icon? Clicking on the icon helps expand our presence on Facebook, Twitter, and the Web. Your comments are welcomed too! You can also follow NERC on Twitter: @NERecycling.

Thanks to the support of the American Chemistry Council and Steel Recycling Institute in helping to launch NERC’s social marketing program. Look for more to come in the next couple of months!

To send ideas for Facebook postings and links, contact Athena Lee Bradley, NERC Projects Manager.

TOXICS IN PACKAGING CLEARINGHOUSE NEWS

Most Reusable Bags Tested Safe

Following recent media reports about reusable shopping bags containing lead, two TPCH member states, Washington and Iowa, tested reusable shopping bags to determine compliance with state toxics in packaging requirements. Of 31 reusable shopping bags purchased from major retailers in the states of Washington and Iowa, only one bag was found to contain metals above limits allowed by the states’ laws. In addition, two bags had removable inserts that contained restricted metals.

“The results of this screening process should give consumers confidence in the reusable bags offered by both Iowa and Washington state retailers,” according to Brian Tormey of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

In the past single-use bags purchased in Washington, Iowa, and other TPCH member states have also been found to contain restricted metals above legal limits. The good news is that the restricted metals in single-use or reusable bags can be replaced to make them safer.

For more information, see the press release and test results on reusable bags,

Member states of the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse work cooperatively to educate the packaging supply chain and reduce the use of four metals — lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium — in packaging. For more information on the TPCH, visit the Website.

STATE UPDATE

Delaware

Recycling &/or Green Business Operations – Request for Proposals

The Delaware Solid Waste Authority issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on May 25, 2011, entitled "Recycling and/or Green Business Operations at the Delaware Recycling Center - Contract No. A-11-671-HD." The Delaware Recycling Center (DRC), located in New Castle, Delaware, currently receives and transfers approximately 26,000 tons per year of single stream recyclables to several material recovery facilities in the region. The DRC site consists of approximately 70 acres with several large buildings that are vacant and which DSWA desires to attract private businesses to utilize for Recycling or Green Business Operations. Such Operations could include but not be limited to:

A Material Recovery Facility
A Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling Operation
An Electronics Goods Recycling Operation
A Carpet Recycling Operation
A Green Manufacturing Business:

a) Wind Mills
b) Solar

Proposals are due no later than 2:00 pm on Thursday, July 7, 2011.

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

UNICOR Receives R2 Certification

The Federal Prison Industries (which operates under the trade name UNICOR) is pleased to announce that two of its electronics recycling factories have recently received certification under the “Responsible Recycling Practices for Electronics Recyclers” (R2) standards. The UNICOR factories at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and Leavenworth, Kansas are now R2-certified!

UNICOR operates seven electronics recycling factories, all of which are currently being audited and scheduled to obtain R2 certification by the end of 2011. Two of UNICOR’s recycling factories are in the NERC region — Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and Fort Dix, New Jersey. UNICOR’s Fort Dix factory will receive its R2 certification by early August.

The mission of the UNICOR program is to provide job skills training and work experience to Federal inmates. By keeping Federal inmates constructively occupied, UNICOR greatly contributes to the safe and effective management of our Nation’s prisons. UNICOR’s seven recycling factories have almost 1,000 inmate workers. The UNICOR program benefits society in numerous ways.

By statute, UNICOR must operate in a self-sustaining manner. This means UNICOR receives no appropriated funds from Congress (i.e., UNICOR costs nothing for U.S. tax payers).
Research has shown that inmates who participate in UNICOR are 24% less likely to recidivate (return to a life of crime) than inmates without UNICOR experience.
The annual cost of housing one inmate in a Federal correctional facility is approximately $28,000. For each inmate that does not recidivate due to their experience in UNICOR, this cost savings is passed on to taxpayers.

UNICOR’s electronics recycling program has seven processing factories. In addition to the locations mentioned above, the other factories are: Atwater, California; Marianna, Florida; Texarkana, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona. UNICOR’s electronics recycling program operates under a “landfill avoidance” policy. During FY 2010, UNICOR collected more than 43 million pounds of material. This material was refurbished to usable condition for resale or de-manufactured down to its base components (plastic, glass, metal, circuit boards, etc.) and sold as scrap to eventually be reused in new products.

Obtaining R2 certification is the culmination of 18 months of preparation by UNICOR. To date, UNICOR has spent $150,000 in its effort to obtain R2 certification at all seven of its recycling factories. UNICOR is particularly pleased that the third-party auditors performing the R2 certification audits had long lists of “strengths” for its factories at Lewisburg and Leavenworth.

Among the specific operations in the UNICOR factories earning special praise from the third-party auditors were: the number of safety and environmental inspections performed that are routinely performed, the manner in which worker training is performed, how waste is packaged and shipped in a manner to minimize environmental risk, and that the factories minimize downstream vendors to utilize only those vendors capable of handling waste in a responsible manner.

The area in which the UNICOR factories received the greatest praise was for the extensive use of internal auditing. The third-party auditors particularly lauded UNICOR in this area, saying “The internal auditors did a great job…They clearly understand how to conduct an effective audit. They have comprehensive records, and conduct effective process audits. They have taken internal audits to a high level of effectiveness by looking at the overall processes, how they fit together, and getting the employees involved in continuous improvement.”

The third-party auditors went so far as to say that UNICOR’s inmate workers were more knowledgeable about health, safety, and their job assignments than most private sector recycling workers.

UNICOR is very proud of its R2 certifications and extends an invitation to any NERC member to visit a UNICOR recycling factory

Job Opening — PROP Executive Director

The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP) is seeking applicants for the position of Executive Director.

OF GENERAL INTEREST

C&D Recycling Forum Programmed for Success

The 2011 C&D Recycling Forum, hosted by Construction & Demolition Recycling magazine, is designed to deliver programming to improve the bottom lines for companies that handle C&D materials.

Scheduled for Sept. 25–27 at the Turf Valley Conference Center and Resort in Ellicott City (Baltimore), Md., the event will provide information of value to demolition contractors, general contractors, mixed C&D recyclers, concrete and asphalt recyclers, waste haulers, solid waste and recycling officials, government officials and scrap metal dealers and recyclers striving to improve their businesses.

“We listened to feedback from last year’s attendees and tailored our programming to help them achieve success in an ever-evolving industry and economic climate,” says Brian Taylor, associate publisher and editorial director of Construction & Demolition Recycling. “Our sessions will provide attendees with the knowledge they need to operate successfully and manage projects profitably.”

Session topics include:

Power Surge or Brownout? — Panelists at this session provide updates on current and potential tie-ins between the alternative energy market and C&D scrap and residues;
Dollars and Sense: Two Case Studies — Case studies of two prominent projects, one demolition and one construction, that profited by hitting lofty recycling targets.
A World of Change — The introduction of a mixed C&D facility certification program and changes to the LEED rating system are discussed in this session.
Thriving in a Quiet Zone — Demolition contractors and recyclers share what they've learned from working in hospitals and other quiet zones;
Optimal Crushing Options — Presenters will provide case studies and on-the-job experience to offer helpful, bottom-line advice on concrete and asphalt crushing;
Excelling at Recycling — Several NDA 2010 Environmental Excellence Award Winners offer overviews of their winning projects and strategies.

In addition to the programming, attendees will also be able to meet with equipment and service providers between sessions and at lunch and evening cocktail receptions.

Materials Management & Climate Change Toolkit

You already know that reducing, reusing, and recycling conserves resources, avoids landfilling/ incineration, and creates jobs. But did you know the materials and food are responsible for approximately 42% of domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions? Extracting resources, processing materials, manufacturing, and transporting goods and food contribute significantly to climate change. Luckily there is an opportunity to integrate recycling, composting, and other conservation practices into climate planning. This new toolkit provides resources to integrate material conservation into your community’s GHG inventory and climate action planning. Your participation can make significant climate actions in this little known field.

Materials Management and Climate Change Toolkit

Many local and state governments have taken climate mitigation into their own hands by setting impressive goals for reducing emissions from transportation, industry, and the built environment. While this is an inspiring development in climate action, these inventories and strategies do not account for the enormous upstream emissions attributable to goods and food. We are excited to share this comprehensive resource with you to help you map out how to incorporate material conservation into your community’s climate strategies.

The Toolkit includes:

New approaches to GHG inventories that quantifies impacts from materials;
Model Climate Action Plans that include materials conservation practices;
Innovative policies that can reduce material consumption and increase recycling and composting; and
Example ordinances, standards, and policies to drive GHG reductions from material management.

At a time when limited resources are available for meeting multiple urgent policy goals, programs that focus on material conservation can deliver emissions reductions and contribute to climate action goals, while also producing benefits such as resource conservation, cost savings, job creation and economic development.

The Toolkit is a project of the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum. Please feel free to share it with your colleagues and tweet about your favorite ideas.

Job Opening – Executive Director, Greater New Bedford Regional Refuse Management District

The Refuse District for Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts is seeking a seasoned leader to manage the programs of a state-of-the-art landfill and a municipal recycling system for 120,000 residents. The Executive Director reports to the six members of the District Committee. The successful candidate will have:

A minimum of ten years in a supervisory or leadership position in the solid waste/recycling field, preferred.
Possess a college degree, preferred, in engineering, public administration, environmental science, or related field.
Proven ability to supervise and manage budgeting, marketing, and facility programming.
Exhibit skill in verbal and written communications, maintain accurate records, and foster teamwork.
Provide three (3) pertinent references with resume.