News &
Updates

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

June 2010

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

NERC NEWS

STATE UPDATES

MAINE

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

OF GENERAL INTEREST

Long after the Disaster is Gone, the Debris Remains

To join the EMail Bulletin list …
Send an email to executive.director@nerc.org making the request. Please be sure to include your full name and organization.

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.

TOPICS

MEMBERSHIP

We are delighted to welcome Sharp Electronics and Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM) as renewing Sustaining Members 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 NEWS

NERC Board Elects New Leadership

The Board of Directors has elected its new leadership for the coming fiscal year. Representatives from New York, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were chosen for their demonstrated commitment to the organization and to environmental sustainability throughout the ten-state region.

Jeff Schmitt, President; Sarah Kite, Vice President; and Donald E. Maurer, Treasurer were elected to serve as the new Executive Committee, along with the standing position of Secretary held by NERC’s Executive Director Lynn Rubinstein.

President of the Board Jeff Schmitt is the Director of the Bureau of Solid Waste, Reduction & Recycling at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, where for the past seven years he has managed all facets of the New York State Solid (non-hazardous) waste regulatory program. This program includes regulatory permit programs for solid waste facilities ranging from landfills, energy recovery incinerators, transfer, recycling, composting and sludge management facilities, municipal grants for recycling and household hazardous waste, non-compliant waste tire site abatement program, beneficial use determinations (BUD), and pharmaceutical collection programs and outreach and education for recycling. For 10 years prior, Mr. Schmitt had responsibility for New York State's BUD program and served on the Advisory Board of the Recycled Materials Resource Center (RMRC) at the University of New Hampshire. Mr. Schmitt is a graduate of the Manhattan College School of Engineering and a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State.

Sarah Kite, Vice President, is the Director of Recycling Services for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation. She has more than 10 years of experience in the solid waste and recycling industry. Ms. Kite worked at the grassroots level as an advocate for increasing recycling, reducing waste, and composting, and as a municipal recycling coordinator with responsibility for solid waste contract management and resident education and programming. In her current position, Ms. Kite manages the statewide municipal recycling program, the Corporation’s recycling education program, legislative and public relations, and also has general oversight of the Materials Recycling Facility, one of the largest MRFs in New England.

Donald E. Maurer will continue in his fourth year as the Treasurer for NERC. Mr. Maurer is the supervisor of the Solid Waste Compliance Assurance Section of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. This section oversees motor vehicle salvage yards, municipal and commercial solid waste facilities, encourages recycling and waste reduction through education and outreach, and is responsible for maintaining and analyzing data on solid waste and recycling. Mr. Maurer has been with the Department of Environmental Services for eight years. Prior to this, he was the Corporate Director of Environment, Health, and Safety for a multinational company.

Compost Marketing Web Page Posted

Through a grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, NERC is working with on-farm composting operations to enhance their marketing skills and capacity. A number of resources have been developed to support this effort and a new Web page created on the NERC Website to provide a single point of reference to obtain these resources. Please take a look!

Resources include:

Making Your Compost Product Work for You
Model Marketing Plan Template, an MS Word document
Compost Marketing Resources
Compost Quality and Best Management Practices, by Athena Lee Bradley, NERC – PowerPoint
Composting Facilities – Quality Standards & Solid Waste Regulations, by Sally Rowland, Ph.D., P.E., NYSDEC, Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials - PowerPoint
Marketing Compost: On & Off Farms, by Jean Bonhotal, Cornell Waste Management Institute - PowerPoint
Quality Control and Compost Products, by Bruce Fulford, City Soil & Greenhouse Co. - PowerPoint
Compost Marketing, by Geoff Kuter, Agresource, Inc. - PowerPoint

For additional information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.

Make Your Compost Product Work for You!

Successful marketing of compost requires a foundation of knowledge about compost—benefits to potential customers, uses for compost, the composting process, and compost characteristics. NERC was awarded a 4-year grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to provide technical assistance and support to farmers to expand the marketing of compost. Through its “Marketing On-farm Compost for Sustainability & Economic Viability” project, NERC is working with on-farm compost operators in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. Two workshops were recently held as a part of the project.

The first workshop conducted for the project was held in Millerton, New York. The event was sponsored by NERC, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, SUNY Cobleskill, and Cornell Waste Management Institute, in conjunction with McEnroe Organics. Speakers included: Athena Lee Bradley, NERC; Sally Rowland, Ph.D., P.E., NYSDEC, Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials; Jean Bonhotal, Cornell Waste Management Institute; and Charles Duprey, WeCare Organics, LLC. A lively roundtable discussion involving all participants provided valuable insight into the many issues affecting compost operations. More than 50 people attended the event, representing public and private compost operators, consultants, and others from New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

The second workshop was held in Belchertown, Massachusetts. NERC, along with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and New England Small Farm Institute, sponsored the event. Bruce Fulford, City Soil & Greenhouse Co. and Geoff Kuter, Agresource, Inc. presented. A tour of the Small Farm Institute/Lampson Brook Farm compost operation maintained by Farmer's Friend Compost followed the presentations. More than 40 people attended from Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.

Small Farm Institute/Lampson Brook Farm compost operation

The workshops provide marketing insights and sales techniques, including technical information on compost applications and benefits, feedstocks, quality standards, and marketing principles. Developing a marketing plan, product positioning, compost market segments, distribution and sales strategies, and making money on tipping fees are also presented. Additional workshops will be held in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.

A free resource toolkit is distributed to workshop participants. Resources include:

Making Your Compost Product Work for You
Model Marketing Plan Template, an MS Word document
Compost Marketing Resources

Toolkit resources and workshop presentations can be found on NERC’s new Compost Marketing Web page. For additional information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.

Impressive Student Leadership in Waste Diversion in Rural Schools

Schools generate a significant amount of recyclable and compostable waste. Through a USDA funded project, NERC is providing eight rural schools with the information and training needed to implement programs that decrease the generation of solid waste. While there are many successful school waste reduction efforts, schools in rural areas and small towns often lack the resources to know where to start tackling the issue.

The project is working with schools in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. Through school visits, technical assistance, and ongoing support, NERC is working with School Recycling Advisory Committees — comprised of students, teachers, and staff — to develop and implement at least two programs in each participating school for waste reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, or toxics use reductions. The students in each of these schools are taking an active role in program development and implementation. The results have been impressive.

NERC staff conducted waste sorts at two schools in Delaware and found that between 66 and 86 percent of the school waste was material that could be recycled or composted. At one of these schools, Frankford Elementary School in Frankford, Delaware, population under 800, NERC met with the School Recycling Advisory Committee after conducting the waste sort. Bill Miller, Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control, assisted.

Preliminary goals for the school include reducing paper use by 25 percent. Ideas for how to achieve the goal included discontinuing the printing of weekly spelling lists and instead asking students to use their individual white boards for copying the spelling list.

Advisory Committee members hope to begin a food waste composting program next year when they move to a new school location.

At Pencader Charter High School, located in New Castle City, Delaware, a town of just over 4,800 in population, NERC also conducted a waste sort and met with the School Recycling Advisory Committee, which is comprised of students from an entrepreneurial business class and their advisor. Goals for the group include finding a vendor for hauling paper and implementing plastic beverage container recycling.

Following NERC’s visit, the Advisory Committee students negotiated with the school’s waste hauler to provide commingled paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum can recycling. The combined recycling and garbage hauling reduces costs for the school by nearly $220 per month and allows the school to divert much of its waste. The Advisory Committee students expect to implement the recycling effort school-wide over the next few weeks.

Sayles Recycling Advisory Committee

NERC also conducted a second visit to schools in Sprague, Connecticut, to see the progress they are making in their waste reduction programs and to offer assistance as needed.

The Sayles Elementary Student Recycling Advisory Committee has been particularly active and enthusiastic. Members of the Committee have distributed paper recycling bins and beverage container recycling boxes to all classrooms and created signs for all bins and boxes. They also presented an overview of the recycling program to all classrooms. Committee members developed posters and other information for display around the school. They are also working with the computer science instructor to recycle used inkjet and printer cartridges accumulated from the school. Next year, the Student Recycling Advisory Committee will work with the kindergarten class to mentor them in collecting empty Capri Sun drinks for recycling.

As a part of its annual parent-student event called “Sayles Showcase,” kindergarten, seventh, and eighth grade students created art and science displays with used and found objects. The kindergarteners studied circles and shapes using bottle caps and similar objects, as well as creating junk art, models, etc. with used materials. The seventh grade created statues using 2-gallon soda bottles, covered with cloth and paper mache heads to depict their heroes. The eighth graders used found objects in making biomes and other models.

The Academy of the Holy Family (AHF), a Catholic High School, has also been very active. It has implemented a school-wide collection of all paper and containers. With NERC’s assistance, the school received containers from the Town of Sprague for use in the classrooms, library, hallways, and the school dormitory.

Members of the School Environmental Club conducted an assembly with all students to explain the importance of recycling and how to participate in the school’s new recycling program. Environmental Club members take turns to collect recyclable materials one day per week. Students and a Sister transport collected materials to a recycling center. Club members also organized a school-wide book “rip-a-thon and recycling” event where students tore pages out of unusable school books in order to recycle the paper.

Environmental Day at AHF

Environmental Club members have also brought the recycling message to the community. They addressed the Town Council about the importance of recycling and the school’s recycling efforts. Club members also conducted an Arbor Day town beautification and clean-up event in an area of the town and planted bulbs and flowers.

Environmental Club members recently organized a campus “Environmental Day,” which started with a presentation by club members to students on recycling and the environment. Students, Sisters, and other staff also participated in a campus clean-up, planting of flowers and shrubs, and other beautification efforts. NERC staff made a presentation to the student body on materials made from recycled materials and the energy and resource benefits of recycling.

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

NERC Presents at ISRI Convention & Exposition

In May, NERC Executive Director Lynn Rubinstein participated in a panel discussion as part of the Electronics Summit at the ISRI Convention & Exposition. Held in San Diego, the topic for the panel was Managing Change. With an audience of more than 60, the session was moderated by Steve Skurnac, President of Sims Recycling, and included experts with a variety of perspectives on the electronics recycling industry — including recyclers, manufacturers, states, and media. Among the topics that were discussed were the value of achieving the designation of Certified Electronics Recycler™, the variety of state electronics laws and how to best manage them as a processor, and the status of electronics laws in the United States. Joining Ms. Rubinstein on the panel were Bob Erie, E-World Recyclers, Vista, Calif.; Bill McGeever, ECS Refining, Santa Clara, Calif.; Doug Smith, Sony Electronics, Inc., San Diego, Calif.; and Henry Leineweber, Resource Recycling/E-Scrap News; Portland, Ore.

STATE UPDATES

MAINE

New Juniper Ridge Landfill Website
The State Planning Office has created a new Web page for the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town. In 1989, the Maine Legislature banned new commercial solid waste disposal facilities and placed the responsibility for providing future disposal capacity on the State itself. In accordance with this policy, in 2003, the Legislature directed the State to acquire the Juniper Ridge Landfill to address the solid waste disposal needs of Maine residents and businesses. The new Website contains landfill reports, frequently-asked questions, a virtual tour, and more.

Solid Waste Policy Studied by Natural Resources Committee

The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee has scheduled four days of meetings to examine Maine’s solid waste policies. The committee will study interstate commerce and solid waste, solid waste disposal capacity issues, and oversight of the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in the interim. At their first meeting, they heard presentations from the Attorney General’s Office on interstate commerce; from Sherry Huber on the history of the former Maine Waste Management Agency; and from Paula Clark of DEP on a timeline for solid waste management in Maine. At their meeting on May 20, the State Planning Office presented an overview of Maine’s solid waste disposal capacity and, with the Attorney General’s Office, reviewed the operating services agreement for the Juniper Ridge landfill. Presentations will be held in Room 214 of the Cross State Office Building in Augusta.

SPO Hosts Composting Workshops

In May and June, the State Planning Office’s Waste Management and Recycling Program has/will host four workshops titled, ‘Moving towards Zero-Waste: managing your unwanted organic wastes for composting.’ The workshops focus on integrating the separation, collection, and composting of food and other organic wastes into business, institution, and local municipal solid waste plans and programs.

Maine Recycles Week Steering Committee Holds First Meeting to Prepare for this Year’s Event

The Maine Recycles Week Steering Committee is a public-private partnership that has guided the Maine Recycles Week project for each of the past eleven years. Participants at this first meeting included: John Albertini, Maine Resource Recovery Association; Beth Young, FCR – Goodman Recycling; Janet Cummings, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments; and Suzanne Duplissis and Bruce White from the State Planning Office. Jeff McGown of Waste Management Inc. and Diane Doe of the Auburn SHARECenter offered insight and advice to the Committee beforehand, as they were unable to attend.

The meeting focused on a review of last year’s effort, what was accomplished and learned, and included an overview of the proposed organization, planning, and fundraising planned for the current year’s project. Maine Recycles Week relies heavily upon the support and sponsorships from Maine businesses and industries. That funding supports the publication and statewide distribution of the poster announcing the November 8 - 15 event as well as the calendar showcasing the winning posters submitted by students carrying the recycling message to the public, to be displayed throughout the year. It also provides for the awards made to schools that clearly demonstrate their support of environmental education. Businesses and other groups have consistently shown their commitment to support Maine’s continued efforts to improve waste reduction and recycling strategies in Maine. F

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

BioCycle Releases Special Report on Landfills & “Green Energy”

For 51 years, BioCycle magazine has covered the organic waste stream and the science and policies that inform how we deal with what we discard. In the Spring 1960 inaugural issue, our founder Jerome Goldstein wrote: “We are publishers and editors thoroughly convinced that there is a need to conserve this country’s as well as the world’s natural resources. We believe that converting municipal and industrial organic waste into useful products would be an effective step forward in a long-range conservation program.”

Half a century later, the generally accepted reality and challenges of global warming have underscored the importance of that mission. We believe we no longer have the luxury of time to debate questions that science has already clearly answered.

Recently legislation in Florida and Georgia dealt with the question of whether landfills should encourage increased production of methane for capture as renewable energy by repealing bans on disposing of yard waste in those facilities. In Florida, legislators decided this made sense and repealed the ban. Georgia’s yard waste ban was preserved.

BioCycle editors were so perplexed by what seemed to be faulted logic — purposely exacerbating a problem (methane is a major greenhouse gas) in the name of “green energy” — that we commissioned Sally Brown, PhD, a soil scientist and University of Washington Research Associate Professor, to thoroughly study the issue.

Dr. Brown’s exhaustive Special Report published in the May 2010 issue of BioCycle, puts to rest the myth of landfills as renewable energy generators. Her bottom-line conclusion is that landfills are best suited as a place to throw things away rather than to optimize the carbon, energy and nutrient values of organics and that there are much more efficient and productive ways to do the latter.

The May issue also contains a news story on the recent activity in Florida and Georgia and similar legislation being considered in other states. Find this story and BioCycle’s Special Report “Waste of Resources” online.

CRRA Begins Accepting All Plastic Food, Beverage Containers

For years, people have been asking when they’d be able to put their yogurt cups, margarine tubs, ketchup bottles and other containers made from No. 3 through No. 7 plastics into their recycling bins.

For more than 1.1 million people in 64 cities and towns, here’s the answer: May Day 2010.

Beginning May 1, residents of the towns whose recyclables go to the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority’s (CRRA) Mid-Connecticut Project were able to recycle all plastic food and beverage containers, not just those made from No. 1 and No. 2 plastics.

Two recent developments made this expansion of CRRA’s recycling program possible:

CRRA and the operator of its Mid-Connecticut Project recycling facility, FCR, Inc., identified buyers willing to commit to long-term agreements to purchase these new plastics.
CRRA invested $65,000 in the new equipment needed to sort and manage the new materials.

Recycling depends on the ability to sell recycled materials to processors who manufacture them into new products. Those revenues enable CRRA to operate the recycling program without charging towns a disposal fee for their recyclables. Last November, the CRRA Board of Directors approved the purchase of the new equipment based on projections that showed the money would be recouped through the sale of the additional plastics.

“For years, people have wanted us to take all their plastic containers, not just the ones and twos,” said Thomas D. Kirk, CRRA president. “We’re excited to grant their wishes.”

A list of the additional items the Mid-Connecticut Project will now accept reads almost like a household grocery shopping list: ketchup bottles, plastic ice cream containers, yogurt cups, margarine tubs and lids, cream cheese tubs and lids, lunchbox-size pudding and gelatin cups, sour cream tubs – just about anything that contained food or beverages and is made of plastic. There will still be some notable unacceptable items:

Foam plastics, such as Styrofoam and polystyrene foam;
Plastic film, including food wrap, sandwich bags, dry-cleaning bags, trash bags and shopping bags;
Any jug or bottle that held motor oil, paint, anti-freeze, fertilizers, insecticides; and
Plant and seedling pots and trays.

A complete guide to recycling is on CRRA’s Website. Residents of Mid-Connecticut Project recycling towns will find a link to recycling information specifically for them at http://www.crra.org/pages/proj_midconn.htm.

The upgrade marks CRRA’s fourth major expansion of its Mid-Connecticut Project recycling program since 2005. The others:

2005 – Junk mail, magazines, catalogs, home computer paper, and other types of mixed paper are added to the recycling menu.
2007 – Oversized glass, metal and plastic containers, boxboard, or chipboard (such as cereal boxes, shoe boxes and shirt cardboard) and aerosol cans are added to the recycling menu.
2008 – CRRA introduces single-stream recycling to Connecticut with the retrofit of the Hartford recycling processing center.

Expansion of the plastics menu is just one of CRRA’s efforts to increase recycling.

Since CRRA launched its residential electronics recycling collections in 1999, almost 6 million pounds of old, broken, and unwanted televisions, VCRs, computers, cell phones, and other devices have been kept out of the waste stream.
In 2008 and 2009, CRRA rebated to Mid-Connecticut Project towns a total of more than $1.2 million for recyclables delivered to the Project.
Since 2007, CRRA has run an advertising/public awareness campaign focused on radio and on-line media.
CRRA’s education centers, the Trash Museum in Hartford and the Garbage Museum in Stratford, continue to reach more and more people each year; topping 56,000 in 2009.

As a result, the Mid-Connecticut Project’s recycling rate has steadily increased since 2007.

The state Solid Waste Management Plan, which CRRA is charged with implementing, calls for increasing the state’s recycling rate from its current level of about 30 percent to 58 percent by the year 2024. The state’s recycling rate includes items not managed by CRRA, such as deposit container redemption, composting of grass clippings, yard waste and food, and recycling of other commodities including scrap metal, waste oil, lead-acid batteries.

The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority is a quasi-public agency whose mission is to work for – and in – the best interests of the municipalities of the state of Connecticut. CRRA’s new board of directors and new management team develop and implement environmentally sound solutions and best practices for solid waste disposal and recycling management on behalf of municipalities. CRRA serves more than 100 Connecticut cities and towns. CRRA also runs sustainability education programs through the Trash Museum in Hartford and Garbage Museum in Stratford. For more information about CRRA and its activities, visit http://www.crra.org. Computer users can also discuss CRRA at its blog, http://crra-blog.blogspot.com.

Reducing Construction Demolition Debris in Landfills

Join in WasteCap Webinars throughout 2010 to hear some of the nation's most important leaders in recycling and waste reduction share their expertise and insights on a variety of topics.

Topics
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 11a.m. CST to 12:30p.m. CST
The ABCs of Deconstruction
This Webinar will look at the new and emerging trend of deconstruction recycling, as well as offer tips for writing RFPs and finding new markets for materials.

THURSDAY, JULY 22, 11a.m. CST to 12:30p.m. CST
How Selecting the Right Waste Hauler Impacts the Success of your Recycling Program
Do you feel like you are comparing apples and oranges when looking at bids from C&D waste haulers? Different haulers approach construction and demolition materials differently. Which kind of hauler you choose can significantly impact the success of your recycling program on your project. This Webinar will demystify the hauler selection process and offer advice on hauler relations in order to optimize your project recycling rates.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 11a.m. CST to 12:30p.m. CST
Emerging Recycling Market: Asphalt Shingles
Asphalt shingles are quickly growing as an important recycling material in the United States. Get on the forefront of this trend by becoming informed about options for asphalt shingles. This Webinar will focus on how to separate materials to reduce costs and save resources on your project.

Centre County’s Successful Household Hazardous Waste Collection

In celebration of Earth Day, folks from 887 households took advantage of Centre County’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program at the Centre County (Pennsylvania) Solid Waste Authority.

37,800 pounds of material was collected during the 2-day event. In all, 872 vehicles brought hazardous chemicals from 887 households. Residents from 32 of the county’s 35 municipalities participated. There was also a smattering of participation from seven surrounding counties.

The contracted hauler was PSC of Hatfield, PA, and was part of a seven county RFP for household hazardous waste disposal and recycling services.

Volunteers from Penn State Environmental Health and Safety were on-site to assist in checking vehicles and representatives from the Penn State Pesticide Education Program were present to distribute information on safe alternatives to pesticide use.

The event was co-sponsored by Centre County Solid Waste Authority and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“Centre County residents showed up in force and really showed their environmental caring.” said Joanne Shafer, Centre County’s Deputy Executive Director/Recycling Coordinator. “What a wonderful way to connect people and the environment on this weekend after the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.”

Collection and disposal costs for all 37,800 pounds will be split between the County Household Hazardous Waste Fund and DEP.

The Centre County Solid Waste Authority will be holding another Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event in 2011. For more information, contact Joanne Shafer, Deputy Executive Director/Recycling Coordinator, Centre County Solid Waste Authority.

OF GENERAL INTEREST

Long after the Disaster is Gone, the Debris Remains

Flooding in Rhode Island
March 2010

Disaster can strike anywhere and anytime--spring flooding in the Northeast earlier this spring, recent massive flooding in Tennessee, tornados throughout the mid-west, earthquake in Haiti, and an oil rig explosion off the Gulf of Mexico. Each year disasters affect communities around the world, bringing suffering to thousands, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, and generating thousands of tons of debris. Communities can’t reduce the amount of debris that a disaster leaves in its wake, but the impact can be reduced through government and public preparedness.

Pre-disaster planning allows for more cost-effective options in dealing with disaster debris. It can help communities avoid costly mistakes, speeds recovery, and can assist in obtaining reimbursement from FEMA. Disasters can substantially impact disposal capacity and costs. Including debris diversion through recycling, mulching, reuse and other means in a disaster debris management plan can help communities reduce this impact.

Steps to a debris management plan include: assessing a community’s available resources (staff, equipment, etc.); developing mutual aid agreements and regional cooperation; setting up standby contracts for haulers and processors; knowing potential markets for materials; and effective and timely public information. The public wants to know how disaster debris will be handled, how to sort materials, where items will be collected, etc. Prepared outreach information—press releases, brochures, guides, newspaper, TV and radio announcements—can quickly reach residents and ensure their cooperation.

NERC staff recently spoke on disaster preparedness at the Maine Resource Recovery Association Annual Conference. Sam Morris and Eric Hamlin with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Recycling and Waste Management Program provided an overview of the issue and discussed the agency’s role and involvement in disaster preparedness. NERC staff presented an overview of what to include in a disaster debris management plan and NERC’s Debris Management Guide. Ginnie Ricker, Deputy Director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency spoke on the state’s draft disaster debris, along with Ray Sisk, the county emergency management director.

Both the presentation and the guide can be downloaded from NERC’s Website. For more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.