News &
Updates

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

March 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

Casella Waste Systems
Metech Recycling

Renewing Supporting Member

Newspaper Association of America

NERC NEWS

STATE UPDATES

Connecticut

Maine

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

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 Casella Waste Systems and Metech Recycling as renewing Sustaining Members, and the Newspaper Association of America as a renewing Supporting Member.

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

C&D Materials Management Doesn’t Have to Be Daunting

If talking about reuse and recycling of construction & demolition materials (C&D), writing a waste management plan, and identifying and selecting markets and haulers makes your head hurt, NERC has the solution for you. This spring, NERC is offering a day-long training at two locations that will address these issues in an easy-to- understand format. WasteCap Resource Solutions, a nationally renowned waste reduction specialist, will teach the course.

Training: Building for the Future – A Construction & Demolition Waste Reuse and Recycling Training (USGBC Education Provider Program)

Training Dates & Locations
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
NERC’s Spring Training, Hotel Northampton,
Northampton, Massachusetts

Thursday, April 21, 2011
SyracuseCoE Center for Sustainable Community Solutions
Syracuse, New York

For more information, contact: Mary Ann Remolador, NERC.

Free Compost Marketing Workshops Offered in New Hampshire & Massachusetts

Whether selling compost is your primary business or a side business, these workshops are for you! The workshops will provide marketing insights and sales techniques, including technical information on compost applications and benefits, feedstocks, quality standards, and marketing principles.

Learn how to develop a marketing plan for your compost operation, how to position your product, the ins-and-outs of compost market segments, bulk sales vs. bagged, distribution strategies, and making money on tipping fees. Sales strategies will also be covered, including sales points, using social media and new media techniques, branding, and customer education tips.

This workshop is being offered twice in March — Concord, NH, on March 26, and Wrentham, MA, on March 28. Funding for the workshops is from the Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education) program.

Concord, NH — Saturday, March 26 from 9:30 to 4:30
Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord
274 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH

Presenters: Bob Kelly, Seacoast Farms Compost Products, Inc.; Peter Schmidt, Compostwerks LLC; Harry Lewis, Lewis Farm; and Athena Lee Bradley, NERC. The workshop will include a tour of the Lewis Farm Compost Operation.

Sponsors: USDA SARE, NERC, and the Northeast Organic Farming Association New Hampshire

The workshop is free, but all attendees must register by March 23. Capacity is strictly limited to 25. Please bring your own brown bag lunch; beverages and dessert provided. To register or for more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley at 802.254.3636, or by email.

Wrentham, MA — Monday, March 28 from 9:00 to 4:00
Wrentham Developmental Center
7 Littlefield Road, Graves Hall, Wrentham, MA

Presenters: Geoffrey Kuter, Agresource, Inc.; John Engwer, Groundscapes Express, Inc.; and Athena Lee Bradley, NERC. The workshop will include a tour of Wrentham Farm (Groundscapes Express, Inc.).

Sponsors: USDA SARE, NERC, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

The workshop is free, but all attendees must register by March 23. To register or for more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley at 802.254.3636, or by email. Lunch can be purchased for $10, but must be ordered at the time of registering. Otherwise please bring your own bagged lunch. Beverages provided.

For more composting marketing information and presentations from previous workshops visit NERC’s website. For more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, NERC Projects Manager.

Two Previous NERC Workshops on Compost Marketing Training Well Attended

The two workshops mentioned above are part of a series of eight that NERC is offering in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire through the SARE funding. Two others — held in New York and New Jersey in January — were very well attended. In fact, so many registrations were received that a waiting list was required.

Compost Marketing Workshop
Cornell Waste Management Institute

A wide range of compost marketing principles were presented at the workshops. Topics included: the importance of compost quality; compost as a commodity; market sectors; product positioning; volume vs. value markets; distribution and delivery options; making money from tipping fees; establishing a fair market return; finding a niche; meeting customer needs; branding; social marketing; customer education tips; and sales principles and strategies.

The first workshop was held in Ithaca, New York, at the Cornell Waste Management Institute. Despite an unexpectedly powerful snow storm, 36 people from New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania braved the weather to attend. Presenters included Jean Bonhotal, Associate Director, Cornell Waste Management Institute; Dr. Robert Rynk, SUNY Cobleskill, Agricultural Engineering Department; and Mark Wittig, Cayuga Compost. Sponsors for the workshop included NERC, the Cornell Waste Management Institute, SUNY Cobleskill, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Tour of Mulch Facility at Duke Farms

The second workshop, attended by 33 people, was held at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey. Presenters included Dr. Michael L. Westendorf, Rutgers University, Department of Animal Sciences; Loren S. Muldowney, Staff Scientist Rutgers/NJAES Soil Testing Lab; Erich V. Bremer, Supervisor, Organic Certification Program, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Marketing and Development; and Athena Lee Bradley, NERC. Sponsors for the workshop were NERC, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of NJ, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

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

Making Your Compost Product Work for You
Model Marketing Plan Template
Compost Marketing Resources

Resources developed by NERC for the project, as well as presentations from the workshops, are posted on NERC’s website.

Residential e-Waste Recycling Programs in the NE – Updated

An updated state-by-state directory of information about how individuals can identify e-waste recycling opportunities is now available.

The document includes Websites and phone numbers. With many of the Northeast states having newly implemented statewide e-waste recycling opportunities, this information is particularly relevant. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director.

Dramatic Expansion in State Electronics Challenge Participation Thanks to Webinars

Since going national in January, the number of State Electronics Challenge (SEC) Partners has increased by more than 20%, with 58 Partners as of mid-February. And, there are now Partners in 23 states. The full list of Partners, and a map showing their locations, is available on the SEC Website.

The introductory Webinars in January and February had 200 audience members. The next introductory Webinar will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2 p.m. eastern.

SEC Program Requirements & End-of-Life Resource Document Updated

The State Electronics Challenge (SEC) program is now three years old and during that time there have been significant changes in the opportunities for ensuring that equipment is appropriately managed and recycled at its end-of-life. Most particularly, for more than a year there have been two certification programs available to which electronics recyclers may achieve third-party certification. The certification standards are the e-Stewards and Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) programs.

During the year of their tenure many electronics recyclers around the country have achieved third party certification to these standards. The SEC determined that a sufficient number of recyclers and facilities around the country had achieved certification to make requiring their use a component of the SEC program. As such, the requirement for end-of-life management was changed from requiring that a Partner ensure that they are using a recycler that meets environmental management standards, to requiring them to use a recycler that has achieved either R2 or e-Steward third-party certification. The full program requirements can be found at http://stateelectronicschallenge.net/requirements_checklist.html.

Along with the change in requirements, the SEC resource document on defining environmentally sound management has been replaced with a document about Third-Party Certification of Electronics Recyclers.

Another significant change to the program requirements is the addition of a requirement pertaining to double-sided printing. Partners that elect to work on operations & maintenance of computer equipment must now ensure that double-sided printing features are utilized on 75% of printers and copiers.

The new and modified program requirements are effective as of January 1, 2011.

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

STATE UPDATES

Connecticut

Windshield Company Cracks a Tough Recycling Problem

Many parts of a car — the metals, tires, oil, oil filters, and batteries - have been recycled for decades, but windshields have been a challenge because of how they are made. The windshield is really a glass sandwich with a filling of polyvinyl butyrate (PVB), a resin which makes it very strong, but still keeps the glass clear. This laminated glass is less likely to shatter and reduces the risk of injury to passengers in the event of an accident. It had been very difficult to separate the layers — but improvements in technology are making recycling easier. A company that does a lot of business in Connecticut is leading the way.

JN Phillips is a Woburn, MA based glass installer with 40 retail locations in New England, including 4 in Connecticut and mobile units that service most of the state. They began their GreenShield SM program in November 2010 with a Midwest recycling partner. The company’s president, Bob Rosenfield, felt it was the right thing to do for the environment and his company is now committed to recycling 100% of the windshields they replace. Since the program began, they have recycled 400,000 pounds (200 tons) of glass and plastic. They estimate that in one year, they will recycle 2,200 tons.

The windshields are collected and stored in a warehouse until they are shipped to their recycling partner for processing. At the processing facility, the windshields are pulverized and the glass and plastic are separated. The resultant cullet (crushed glass) and plastic are recycled into products such as fiberglass insulation, carpet glue and even as an additive to concrete blocks.

What are their customers’ reactions? JN Phillips has received very positive feedback about the program by email. They are also getting some support from one insurance company that informs its customers about this greener option.

Did you know?

15 million automobile windshields that are replaced each year in the U.S. end up as trash — 600 million pounds each year!

Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy than producing it from crushed, used glass.

One ton of recycled glass saves 42 KwH of energy, 0.12 barrels of oil (5 gallons), 714,000 BTUs of energy, and 7.5 pounds of air pollutants from being released.

Show me the Numbers!

You notice that most of your neighbors put their recycling containers out every week and your town’s transfer station is busy with people dropping off scrap metal and electronics. Have you ever wondered how your town compares to other towns in your state when it comes to recycling? Curious about what your state’s recycling rate is?

In Connecticut, municipalities and permitted solid waste facilities are required by state law to report solid waste and recycling data to the CTDEP. The data helps the agency track state and municipal recycling, disposal and generation rates, calculate the environmental benefits of recycling, plan for future needs and much more. You can now check out the numbers on CTDEP’s Website. Questions?

CT Businesses Attend Sustainability Summit

Over 250 people attended the CT Summit on Business Sustainability, held on December 7, 2010 at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The Summit was co-hosted by John Rathgeber, President of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), and Amey Marrella, Commissioner of the CTDEP. Businesses had the opportunity to network and learn from each other’s successes and tell State leaders about how government can support their greening efforts, including innovative recycling programs.

Maine

Annual Waste Generation & Disposal Capacity Available

Maine’s 2009 Waste Generation and Disposal Capacity Report has been completed and submitted to the Governor’s Office and the Legislature for their information and consideration.

As in 2008, Waste Generation again in 2009 dipped in Maine, which was also mirrored by a decline in recyclables tonnage; however, the State’s recycling rate remained at 38.7%. Municipalities accounted for approximately 40% of the recyclables reported with businesses contributing the balance.

The four waste-to-energy facilities operated at capacity in 2009. A blend of municipally owned, state owned and commercially owned landfill capacity remains sufficient for disposal of unprocessed municipal solid waste, construction or demolition debris, and for the residues from the various processing operations for the next nine to ten years.

Recycling Outreach Assistance Grants Available Again

Matching Funds are available once again to assist with municipal recycling outreach efforts.

ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS

NRRA’S 30th Annual Northeast Recycling Conference & Expo

“Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow” Learn from Yesterday, Do it Today, Save Tomorrow!
June 6 & 7, 2011
Radisson Hotel Manchester/Center of New Hampshire, Manchester, NH

For 30 years, the Northeast Resource Recovery Association has brought cutting-edge recycling and resource recovery issues to the forefront. Our conference provides two days of interactive, educational workshops on all aspects of the recycling and the solid waste industry. The Expo area will host over 60 vendors who provide recycling and solid waste equipment and services and typically includes; equipment manufacturers, recycling facilities, end mills, environmental consultants, engineering firms, recycling suppliers and other industry specific non-profits.

The NRRA conference also provides an invaluable networking opportunity for those interested in recycling and waste reduction to come together for two days to discover new technologies, exchange ideas, share philosophies, and further promote waste reduction efforts. This year we are again offering workshops and plenary sessions where waste managers and other recycling officials can come together to discuss common problems, challenges and solutions.

You won’t want to miss this year’s keynote speakers, which will feature two of the founders of NRRA, Liz Bedard and Fred Moody, to start us off with a valuable “I was there” look at the founding of NRRA and recycling in the Northeast. Following will be over 12 separate workshops and two plenary sessions featuring nationally recognized experts on Monday and Tuesday focusing on today’s best practices. Early Monday evening will feature a recycling/resource recovery retrospective in the exhibit hall featuring past NRRA Presidents and Executive Directors to share their experience over the 30 year history of the organization and the development of resource recovery in the Northeast. Monday noon will see awards presented for Municipal recycling achievements, and after the noontime School Recycling Awards presentations on Tuesday, the conference will wrap up with a plenary session for all to attend that will look into the future trends of recycling and waste stream management.

NRRA understands that you need this valuable information, and our goal is to get it to you at the lowest possible cost. NRRA membership allows you to attend the conference at a discount. In addition, we offer substantial discounts for multiple attendees. If you want to send more than one recycling operator or volunteer to the conference, you’re in luck. With one fully-paid admission, you can send as many other attendees as you’d like for nearly half the price!

Our conference has it all, and you can even get credit for your NH Solid Waste Operator Training requirements through the NH DES. Some of the issues we will be addressing in our workshops this year include Producer Responsibility Initiatives, Organics and Composting, new technologies for MSW and Recyclables and much, much more.

Don’t miss out on your chance to be part of this milestone conference. Sponsors and exhibitors are encouraged to register early before the Exhibit Hall completely fills, and speakers should submit their abstracts ASAP to insure consideration.

A New Approach to Achieving Triple-Bottom Line Results

Blue Star Recyclers provides Southern Colorado with ethical electronics recycling. The business was founded in September 2009, with a primary mission to ethically recycle electronics as a way to create jobs in the community for adults with developmental disabilities. To date, Blue Star has provided paid employment and work skills training for over 30 disabled adults. This program involves three primary elements:

A strategic partnership between a for-profit e-waste recycling business (Blue Star Recyclers) and a non-profit agency serving disabled adults (Community Intersections)
A work skills training program and electronics consumer collection depot at their facility
A paid employment program for electronics disassembly at the Blue Star facility

CI worker at Blue Star Recyclers

Program History: The work skills and employment program was created in Spring 2008 by Bill Morris, President of Blue Star Recyclers – who at that time was Program Manager for Community Intersections (CI). He noticed a number of the individuals with developmental disabilities in his program demonstrated interest and aptitude for electronics disassembly work; which at the time was an unpaid “volunteer” work activity. Bill developed a paid employment model with GRX (an e-waste recycler in Denver at the time) to help fund an enclave of four CI workers to separate computers and other specific components into base materials. The program officially began at the GRX facility in Colorado Springs in November 2008. A year later, together with Tony and Mary Fagnant, Bill helped found a new locally owned and operated electronics business in Colorado Springs (Blue Star Recyclers), and the program was moved to Blue Star Recyclers in March of 2010. There are currently nine individuals with developmental disabilities employed at the Blue Star facility.

Program/Payroll Funding: One of the most significant assets of this program is the purity of funding. All payroll costs for the individuals enrolled in the paid employment program come from three primary sources:

Net proceeds from e-waste collection at the CI depot location
Electronics separation fees paid to CI by Blue Star Recyclers
Electronics recycling community events and other fundraising efforts

Aside from a very minimal marketing budget to support the depot collections program, there are no salaries, rent, or supply costs deducted from the payroll fund. The program funding is so dynamic that a paid position for a disabled worker can be added with only a $500 increase in revenue to the monthly budget. The goal for 2011 is to grow the program to serve 12 disabled adults. During the two-plus years in existence, the program has never failed to be self-supporting through its own contributions.

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Environmental Commitment: The program is committed to environmentally responsible recycling. Worker health and safety is always of paramount concern. For this reason, the disabled workers only work on computers and other specific component electronics. All display materials (CRT monitors and televisions) are sent directly to either an R2 Standard or e-Steward certified processor. Furthermore, all materials disassembled by the workers in the program are sent to processors that can demonstrate that they handle material in an ethical manner. No hazardous or unprocessed components are exported to developing countries. Blue Star is currently working toward R2 and e-Steward certification.

Program Scalability and Exportability: Since larger cities and markets generally have multiple electronics recycling providers, the model for this partnership and program may actually have a greater overall impact in smaller/rural communities around the state and country – for the following reasons:

In the state of Colorado, individuals with developmental disabilities receive services through Community Center Boards (CCB) located throughout the state; CCBs are located in both urban and rural areas. Funding for programs to serve disabled adults has been dwindling. Furthermore, as a group, individuals with developmental disabilities face over 88% unemployment. The unemployment rate in rural areas is often even higher.
At the same time, smaller communities (as a rule) do not have a local e-waste recycling solution. Worse yet, many of their landfills are often unlined, understaffed, and prey to dumping of universal and other toxic waste streams.

Since the Blue Star program and partnership is entirely scalable based on material throughput, a program can be implemented with as few as one individual in an existing program to collect, separate, and stage materials for pickup by an ethical for-profit recycling business partner.

The following is a basic diagram of the required program components:

Program Partner Benefits: All successful partnerships must be mutually beneficial to both partners and this program is no exception. Here are just a few benefits realized to date:

For Blue Star Recyclers:

Enables us to develop and deploy trained workforce in our facility without normal employee costs, process a much larger quantity of material, and enabled us to facilitate separation of valuable commodity base materials faster.
Provides the “motivation” component for customers who select Blue Star because of our mission

For CI/Adults with developmental disabilities:

Provides paid employment for eight individuals with developmental disabilities, most of whom had never enjoyed sustained paid employment prior to this opportunity.
Provides independence, interaction with non-disabled workforce, and positive work environment. The mental and physical wellbeing of the individuals at our facility has vastly improved.
Payroll helps fill gap in program funding

Blue Star Recyclers – 2010 Triple Bottom Line Report Card

PEOPLE:

Expanded Blue Star Recyclers team from one to five employees
Created partnership with Community Intersections to provide vocational training and employment for nine disabled adults at Blue Star Recyclers facility
Received Business Champion Award for Diversity & Inclusion
Donated over 200 hours of paid employee time to community education, advocacy, committees and events

PLANET:

Ethically recycled over 700,000 lbs of electronic waste from Southern Colorado businesses, organizations, agencies, and residents
Collected 200,000 lbs of e-waste from 32 community recycling events throughout Southern Colorado to promote and facilitate residential-waste recycling
Assigned EPA classification as a large quantity handler of universal waste
Created and implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) and reduced energy and fuel consumption within Blue Star operations by 20%

PROFIT:

Created five new consumer collection depot partnerships with area businesses
Served over 250 new business accounts in Colorado
Raised over $13,000 for area non-profits through CFP events and fundraising
Invested over $200,000 in payroll and capital expenditures in area economy

Deployed first hard drive shredder in Southern Colorado
Expanded fleet to add alternative fuels truck
Expanded warehouse operation space by one third

For more information contact Bill Morris, Blue Star Recyclers.

Trade Wings Joins e-Stewards Enterprise Program, Champions Responsible E-Waste Recycling

Portsmouth, NH-based Trade Wings announced that the company has joined the Basel Action Network's (BAN) e-Stewards Enterprise initiative, a collective of organizations committed to championing the world's highest standards for responsible electronics recycling.

Through a combination of technology-enabled services, Trade Wings helps the world's largest telecom companies drive supply chain sustainability initiatives, and reduce environmental waste.

As an e-Stewards Enterprise, Trade Wings has joined other global and Fortune 500 organizations in pledging to utilize only e-Stewards-certified recyclers for electronics disposal.

"The responsible disposal of network material is an integral component of the reuse and exit markets we create for telecom service providers and equipment manufacturers," said Todd Adelman, Founder and CEO of Trade Wings. "Our ability to leverage e-Stewards-compliant recyclers further enhances our ability to help clients achieve their operational and corporate sustainability objectives."

"Developing a long-term solution to the e-waste dilemma requires the involvement of forward-thinking companies such as Trade Wings," said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN. "Their advocacy for greater environmental stewardship is the type of leadership that we believe can have a tangible impact in an industry experiencing a dramatic turnover in technology infrastructure. We're delighted to welcome them to the e-Stewards Enterprise group."