May 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
New Supporting Member
Renewing Supporting Member
NERC NEWS
- Follow NERC on Facebook & Twitter
- State Electronics Challenge: 2010 Partner Awards
- State Electronics Challenge: 2010 Partner Environmental Results
- NERC Participates in Press Conference — Launch of National eCycling Initiative
- NERC Meets with Council on Environmental Quality in D.C.
- There’s Still Time to Register for NERC’s Free School Recycling Webinar
- Compost Marketing Workshops a Success with Participants
- Second Company Identified for NERC’s Paper Project
- NERC Continues to Work Towards Zero Waste for C&D Jobsites
- NERC Holds Two C&D Reuse and Recycling Trainings
STATE UPDATES
Connecticut
Maine
Rhode Island
ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS
- Electronic Recyclers International’s California Facilities Receive e-Stewards Certification
- Leading OEM Nvidia Becomes e-Stewards Enterprise
- RPN Webinar: Compostable Food Service Ware
OF GENERAL INTEREST
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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 Call2Recycle as NERC’s newest Supporting Member, and the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) 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
Follow NERC on Facebook & Twitter
NERC is now on Facebook! Please follow NERC’s Facebook page for the latest on our projects and other news. Be sure to press the “Like” icon to make us popular! You can also connect with NERC on Twitter: @NERecycling. Next up — a NERC Blog.
Thanks to the support of the American Chemistry Council and Steel Recycling Institute in helping to launch NERC’s social marketing program. Stay tuned!
For more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, NERC Projects Manager.
State Electronics Challenge: 2010 Partner Awards
The State Electronics Challenge has recognized five Partners for their outstanding work in electronics stewardship in 2010 by completing SEC program requirements in the areas listed. Two Partners achieved Gold level status for successful implementation of all three lifecycle program requirements. Three additional Partners were recognized with Silver level awards for their accomplishments.
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Partner |
Recognition Level |
Lifecycle Phase |
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Gold |
Procurement, Operations & Maintenance, End-of-Life Management |
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Gold |
Procurement, Operations & Maintenance, End-of-Life Management |
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Silver |
Procurement and |
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Silver |
Procurement and |
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Regional Technology Cooperative, Borough of State College, Pennsylvania |
Silver |
Procurement and |
State Electronics Challenge: 2010 Partner Environmental Results
In its third year, the SEC expanded from its Northeast roots to serve state, regional, tribal, and local governments in the Rocky Mountain and Great Lake States. The program grew from 33 Partners in 10 states at the close of 2009, to 48 Partners in 16 states in December 2010. At the end of April, there were 63 Partners!
The table below summarizes the aggregate environmental results of Partners efforts in 2010 to “green” the lifecycle of their computer assets; from purchasing EPEAT registered products to lowering the energy consumption of computers in use, extending the lifetime of equipment, and recycling equipment at the end of its service life. (Click here to see combined results for 2008–2010 or prior year results for 2008 and 2009.)
The following environmental benefits resulted from the efforts of 26 Partners that reported year-end data on their activities to the SEC.
2010 Aggregate Partner Benefits
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Purchasing EPEAT® Products |
Operations & Maintenance |
Equipment Reuse & Recycling |
TOTAL BENEFITS |
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Reduction In |
How Much? |
How Much? |
Equivalent To |
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Energy use |
4.2 million kWh |
29.9 million kWh |
33.6 million kWh |
67.7 million kWh |
Electricity to power 5,656 U.S. households/ year |
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Greenhouse gas emissions |
769 metric tons of carbon equivalents |
5,692 metric tons of carbon equivalents |
1,782 metric tons of carbon equivalent |
8,243 metric tons of carbon equivalents |
Removing 5,535 cars from the road/year |
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Toxic materials, including lead & mercury |
919 lbs |
1,157 lbs |
711 lbs |
2,787 lbs |
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Municipal solid waste |
20,413 lbs |
334,840 lbs |
627,884 lbs |
983,137 lbs |
Waste generated by 223 households annually |
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Hazardous waste |
35,299 lbs |
200,465 lbs |
176,850 lbs |
412,614 lbs |
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For information about the State Electronics Challenge and how to get involved, visit its Website or contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director and Challenge Program Manager.
NERC Participates in Press Conference — Launch of National eCycling Initiative
In mid-April a significant development occurred in the world of e-waste recycling. The consumer electronics industry leaders launched the first-ever industry-wide electronics recycling initiative to recycle one billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016, which would be a more than threefold increase over 2010.
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| Left to right: Chris Harrington, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Toshiba America; Mark Small, Vice President for Corporate ES&H, Sony; David Thompson, Director, Panasonic & President, MRM; Walter Alcorn, Vice President, Environmental Affairs & Industry Sustainability, CEA; Lynn Rubinstein, Executive Director, NERC; Gary Shapiro, President & CEO, CEA; George Sherman, Senior Vice President of Services, Best Buy |
The eCycling Leadership Initiative seeks to improve consumer awareness of the more than 5,000 collection sites currently sponsored by industry; increase the amount of electronics recycled responsibly; increase the number of collection opportunities available; and provide transparent metrics on eCycling efforts.
“The launch of the eCycling Leadership Initiative is a watershed moment in the history of electronics recycling in the United States,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®. “Our members have been on the forefront of eCycling advancements, and today a forward-thinking industry is challenging itself to go even further.”
The eCycling Leadership Initiative is a collaboration among consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers, collectors, recyclers, non-governmental organizations and governments at all levels, coordinated by CEA.
“The billion pound challenge is about both the quality and quantity of electronics recycling,” said Walter Alcorn, CEA’s vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability. “But we won’t stop at a billion pounds. The eCycling Leadership initiative is an ongoing, permanent initiative that will follow the best practices and commitment of industry, including practices that prohibit the use of recyclers and downstream processors who dump end-of-life electronics in developing nations.”
NERC’s Executive Director Lynn Rubinstein, participated in the press conference and offered the following remarks. “NERC will be working with this initiative to help see that it is promoted and that consumers are aware of it and take advantage of it.” She added that “right now half of the states have laws and manufacturers have programs in those states. This initiative will see to it that all those opportunities are in place nationally. And we are greatly looking forward to seeing this initiative become a reality.”
NERC Meets with Council on Environmental Quality in D.C.
NERC recently was invited to meet with President Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in Washington, D.C. The topic was how to grow the electronics recycling industry in the United States.
Lynn Rubinstein, NERC’s Executive Director, met with representatives of the CEQ as well as the National Economic Council, within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The discussion was lively and focused not only on current market conditions, but what would help to improve those conditions, and questions about the patchwork of state laws.
For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein.
There’s Still Time to Register for NERC’s Free School Recycling Webinar
The first of two Webinars to assist schools in implementing waste reduction, recycling, and composting will be held on Wednesday, May 4, from 3:00 to 4:15 pm. The topic will be “Small Town/Rural School Waste Reduction & Recycling.” The Webinar is free and open to all.
Presenters include:
- Norm Staunton, Executive Director of the Association of Vermont Recyclers and Grants Manager for the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA). He will provide an overview of the NRRA’s School Recycling Club.
- Eric Magers and Scott Morrison from the Manchester Essex (CT) Regional Middle School. They will discuss their school’s Green Team, as well as many other innovative environmental efforts at their school; including a new Honor’s course in waste reduction and recycling.
The second Webinar will be in September and will focus on composting at schools. The date for this Webinar will be announced soon.
NERC’s school project is funded through a USDA grant. Tips on school waste reduction, recycling, composting, and more can be found on NERC’s website. For more information on the Webinars or on the school project, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.
Compost Marketing Workshops a Success with Participants
Effective marketing can influence whether a company survives in today’s economy or not. This is true in any business, including compost. Compost operations must compete with other compost operations, as well as gardening supply centers and retail stores selling multiple brands of compost, peat moss, and fertilizers. NERC’s compost marketing workshops offer participants marketing insights and sales techniques, technical information on compost applications and benefits, quality standards, marketing principles, and customer education. Developing a marketing plan, product positioning, compost market segments, distribution and sales strategies, and making money on tipping fees are also discussed.
NERC organized two recent compost marketing workshops. The first was held in Concord, New Hampshire in March. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farming Association New Hampshire (NOFA NH). Twenty-three people participated.
Presenters included:
- Athena Lee Bradley, NERC staff
- Bob Kelly, Seacoast Farms Compost Products, Inc.
- Peter Schmidt, Compostworks, LLC
The workshop was followed by a tour of Lewis Farm Composting and a talk given by Harry Lewis about his operation and marketing.
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| Above: Compost marketing workshop participants tour the Groundscapes Express Inc. compost facility. Below: Wrentham, Massachusetts workshop. |
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A second workshop, in Wrentham, Massachusetts, was also held in March, in conjunction with the annual Massachusetts Organic Summit. Sponsors for the workshop were NERC and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Forty-two people participated.
Presenters included:
- Athena Lee Bradley, NERC staff
- Geoffrey Kuter, Agresource, Inc.
- Gary Mottau, Groundscapes Express, Inc. (Wrentham Farm)
The workshop was followed by a tour of Groundscapes Express and an overview of the operation presented by Butch Goodwin, Operations Manager.
To date, NERC has held six compost marketing workshops in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York, with 231 participants from states around the Northeast. Funding for the workshops and NERC’s Compost Marketing project is from the Northeast SARE (Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education). One final workshop will be held in August in Massachusetts. The date is yet to be determined.
Networking opportunities, interaction with presenters, Q&A, and a roundtable with all participants are features of each of the workshops. Additionally, workshop participants receive a “CD toolkit” of resources on composting, marketing principles, and compost marketing specifics. Participants are asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of each workshop. The questionnaire inquires about current operation and marketing, marketing needs, and how the workshop may have helped them. Reviews of the workshops have been overwhelmingly favorable and successful in meeting the marketing skills training goals of participants in the workshops.
Toolkit resources and workshop presentations can be found on NERC’s website.
For more information, contact Athena Lee Bradley, Projects Manager.
Second Company Identified for NERC’s Paper Project
As reported in last month’s Bulletin, NERC has an EPA, Region I grant to assist two New England-based companies, with multiple facilities, on the recycling of paper and other materials. We are pleased to announce that the second participant company has been identified — St. Mary’s Health Systems in Lewiston, Maine. St. Mary’s is part of Covenant Health Systems that has multiple hospitals and nursing homes throughout New England.
NERC will begin working with St. Mary’s Health Systems and Akamai Technologies of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the coming months. The work will include waste sorts at both facilities, meetings with key management and staff, making suggestions on how to improve their existing recycling programs, and assisting with sourcing end markets for their materials.
For more information on the project, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director.
NERC Continues to Work Towards Zero Waste for C&D Jobsites
NERC is in its second year of a project on C&D source reduction, reuse, and recycling issues with building projects in New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York. With this EPA-funded grant, NERC last year worked with the City of New Haven Economic Development Office on a project that included training local contractors on how to deconstruct a single-family residence deemed for demolition. The project focused on expanding builder skills to help make them more employable in a tough economy, as well as on the impact of building materials reuse and recycling on the environment. More information about this project can be found in a previous Bulletin article.
The three project partners for upcoming trainings include: Paterson Habitat for Humanity in Paterson, New Jersey; the Capital District Habitat for Humanity in Albany, New York; and Preferred Building Systems (PBS) of Claremont, New Hampshire. The Paterson project will include a rehab of a two-family home and new construction of a multi-family unit on the same property. The Albany project consists of new construction of 16 unit two-storey brownstone in the heart of the city. PBS is a modular home manufacturer that is seeking to better understand the reuse and recycling options for their in-house operations, as well as for the contractors who finish the houses on site.
For more information on the project, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director.
NERC Holds Two C&D Reuse and Recycling Trainings
On April 19 and 21, NERC held the Building for the Future: A C&D Reuse and Recycling Training in Northampton, Massachusetts and Syracuse, New York. These day-long trainings, presented by WasteCap Resource Solutions, focused on helping contractors and others working with contractors to understand the importance of reuse and recycling of C&D materials and how to make it work at the jobsite.
NERC is finalizing plans with the New Jersey Department of Environment Protection to bring this same training to the Garden State, later this year.
For more information on the trainings, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director & Event Organizer.
STATE UPDATES
Connecticut
Upcoming C&D Events: DECON, Building Deconstruction, C&D Recycling
DECON’11 Conference at Yale University — May 15–19
The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) will hold its bi-annual international conference on building deconstruction, building materials reuse, and construction and demolition waste recycling on May 15–18, at the prestigious and historic Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. DECON’11 will address many important and timely issues in the green building and green jobs fields, including building material salvage best practices, building materials reuse and LEED, deconstruction and workforce development, rebuilding distressed neighborhoods, recycling of construction and demolition debris, and many other topics. The conference is being held to support the growth of the building materials reuse industry and to encourage the sharing of information, and is co-sponsored by EPA Region 1 and 2, CT Department of Environmental Protection, City of New Haven, and Yale University.
DECON’11 will feature experts from the field sharing case studies and emerging research, panel discussions, demonstrations, as well as tours of projects and businesses engaged in deconstruction, building materials reuse, construction & demolition recycling, and green building. There will be two hands-on training programs, both a full-day of learning, a deconstruction workshop organized by the BMRA and an accredited construction and demolition waste recycling training taught by WasteCap Resource Solutions. Many opportunities to network are planned, including a welcoming reception at ArtSpace (coordinated by the CT Materials Reuse Network), sponsored lunches, and a conference barbeque.
Building deconstruction is becoming widely recognized as a means to recover and reuse the millions of tons of used, but still serviceable, materials generated each year in the demolition and remodeling of buildings. In addition to being environmentally preferable to disposal, reuse helps conserve our Nation’s natural resources and makes available a source of quality building materials. An alternative to hauling away a community’s building assets to the landfill, deconstruction also offers a way to keep the value of the materials in the local economy. This reinfusion of material value can help in creating jobs, developing local businesses, and helping turn distressed neighborhoods into more sustainable communities.
The conference will include an exhibitor’s hall at Yale’s Commons, an architectural landmark. Vendors will display new tools, services, and other industry information. Anyone involved in green building, community planning and redevelopment, or sustainability issues will benefit from attending this conference. Deconstruction and demolition contractors, recycling coordinators, waste haulers and other waste management professionals should also plan to attend.
The first major event of its type in New England, DECON’11 is expected to attract considerable attention and early registration is suggested.
BMRA Accreditation in Building Deconstruction Training — May 19
The Building Materials Reuse Association has established a first of its kind national deconstruction accreditation program that will give participants the skills needed to develop, manage, monitor and document safe and efficient deconstruction and building materials salvage projects. This one-day course will teach you how to assess a building for deconstruction or salvage, estimating and contracting a project, organizing and managing a project, safety and environmental awareness, best practices and tools, and documenting a project for clients, funding agencies, and LEED credits. Even if you have deconstructed before, you will learn something new from the BMRA deconstruction experts who teach this course.
The $150 course fee includes: course workbook, a free copy of the new book on building deconstruction, “Unbuilding: Salvaging Architectural Treasures from Unwanted Houses” by Bob Falk & Brad Guy, BMRA certificate of completion, and catered lunch.
C&D Recycling Training and Accreditation Course — May 19
WasteCap Resource Solutions will provide this day-long training. The program provides the skills to develop, manage, monitor, document and promote a successful recycling program for construction and demolition debris. Participants receive three year Accreditation in Construction Waste Recycling and training to obtain LEED construction waste management points.
Learning objectives include how to: develop reuse and recycling programs on construction or demolition sites; prepare a construction waste management plan; document reuse and recycling results; and educate crews and monitor programs for best compliance and efficiency.
The $285 Course fee includes: course workbook and CD which includes market information, educational material, monitoring checklists, worksheets for conducting economic analyses and construction waste management plans and more, accreditation certificate and catered lunch.
Maine
2011 Maine School Garden Day Celebrated
The Maine State Planning Office’s recycling program participated in this year's event hosted by the Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro to assist local schools with recycling and composting opportunities. Over 60 participants from across the state, from Oxford County, to the MidCoast and as from as far north as Bangor and Rangely attended, representing over 50 schools that largely have at least one school garden in operation. Keynote speaker was Paul Tukey who spoke on ‘Gardening from the Classroom to the Community’. Presentations ranged from designing school gardens, using worms to compost food scraps to ‘kids in the kitchen’.
18th Annual Maine Recycling & Solid Waste Conference
This conference, organized by the Maine Resource Recovery Association, was held in late April at the Point Lookout in Northport. This is the only statewide conference dedicated to solid waste management and recycling activities. There were more than dozen exhibitors showing the latest in equipment and services aimed at assisting municipal and private solid waste programs. Attendees participated in two days of training and educational opportunities. The State Planning Office, Waste Management and Recycling Program, was again a major sponsor of this conference.
Rhode Island
RIRRC Participates in Forum on Food Waste Recycling
Rhode Islanders with an interest in the food waste stream have publicly shared their expectations and support for a new collection and composting system in the Ocean State. In March, environmentalists and waste experts gathered to explore the feasibility of combining efforts that would remove food scraps from the waste stream.
Hosted by Compost Initiative and sponsored by the Environment Council of Rhode Island Education Forum and the Southside Community Land Trust, the best minds outlined the challenges of the local landscape and offered predictions of what the results could be if all worked together.
Among the benefits of a collaborative effort would be extending the life of the Central Landfill, creating green jobs, and producing electricity. Orbit Energy has announced plans to build a $15-million anaerobic digesting plant that would process 150 tons per day of food waste and is negotiating to sell the biogas to National Grid. After the deal is signed with National Grid, the terms must be approved by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
Michael OConnell, Executive Director of the RIRRC, believes that the low tipping fees at the landfill is a hindrance to large-scale composting in Rhode Island. Added to this is the high cost of constructing the necessary composting infrastructure and the difficulties in creating a comprehensive transportation system for food scraps. However, the revenue stream from the sale of electricity can be a solution and can offset some of the capital costs involved. "We're really hopeful. It's in the right spot because trucks come here anyway."
ADVISORY MEMBER NEWS
Electronic Recyclers International’s California Facilities Receive e-Stewards Certification
Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), one of the nation’s leading recyclers of electronic waste, announced today that its three Northern California recycling facilities in Fresno, California have received certification to the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment.
The e-Stewards Certification program is a third-party audited certification program created by the Basel Action Network (BAN). The standard requires recyclers to eliminate exports of hazardous e-wastes to developing countries; to halt the dumping of such wastes in municipal landfills or incinerators; and to cease the use of captive prison populations to manage toxic e-wastes. It also calls for strict protection of customers’ private data and occupational health safeguards to ensure that workers in recycling plants are not exposed to toxic dusts and fumes.
Certification body QMI-SAI Global conducted the audit that independently determined ERI’s Fresno facility to be operating within all the parameters set by the e-Stewards Standard. In the process, the facility also received its ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification for environmental management and health and safety management systems, respectively.
"We are extremely proud to have met the strictest standards of environmental and operational excellence,” said John S. Shegerian, Chairman and CEO of ERI. "We strongly support BAN’s certified, third-party audited program.”
Shegerian also noted that ERI continues to see steady growth and will soon be expanding nationally and internationally. The company currently has six locations in California, Washington, Colorado, Indianapolis, Massachusetts, and Texas and expects all of these facilities to be e-Stewards certified by summer of this year.
For more information on ERI or electronic recycling in general, visit ERI.
Leading OEM Nvidia Becomes e-Stewards Enterprise
Nvidia, the world leader in visual computing technologies, has joined the e-Stewards Enterprise program, committing to pursuing and using e-Stewards Recyclers wherever possible. The OEM designs, develops, and markets the digital graphics processors and equipment used in workstations, personal computers, gaming devices, and mobile devices.
“At this pivotal moment in the worldwide e-waste crisis, Nvidia joins a growing number of business, academic, and governmental leaders taking action to stem a toxic tide,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the Basel Action Network, creator of the e-Stewards program.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Nvidia invented the graphics processing unit (GPU) in 1999 and now has some 5,700 employees worldwide. The company holds more than 1,800 patents, including ones covering designs and insights that are essential to modern computing.
RPN Webinar: Compostable Food Service Ware
Thursday, May 12, 8:00–9:30 a.m. EDT
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Please join the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN) and the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative (SBC) for a detailed workshop on compostable food service ware.
This comprehensive Webinar is geared to both experienced "green" purchasers and those just getting started and will cover important aspects of a successful food service ware program from an environmental purchasing perspective, and explain how to conduct product performance testing. It will also provide detailed purchasing specifications, useful resources, and successful case studies. Compostable food service ware includes bio-based bowls, cups, plates, clamshells, and cutlery.
The Webinar will cover:
- An introduction to compostable bio-based food service ware
- An overview of the importance of sustainable biomass feedstocks, toxic-free additives, and compostability
- A description of recently created purchasing specifications (BioSpecs) for this product category
- A summary of important certifications and other useful resources for purchasers
- How to prepare for and conduct product performance testing for your organizations' needs
- Successful case studies from public and private sector organizations
- RPN and SBC will be looking for partners to pilot test its new BioSpecs for Purchasers.
Speakers include:
- Brenda Platt, SBC
- Alicia Culver, RPN
- Susan Kinsella, Conservatree and RPN
- Other speakers TBD
RPN and SBC will be looking for partners to pilot test its new BioSpecs for Purchasers.
OF GENERAL INTEREST
Carpet Recycling Procurement by the Public Sector: How Much?
Each year, since 2002, Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) has reported on the amount of carpet diverted from landfills and recycled in the United States.
As large purchasers of product, government entities have an important role in the procurement of products made with post-consumer carpet recycled content, and in recycling carpet at the end of its useful life. CARE is asking for assistance in reporting on the progress being made in procuring products made with post-consumer carpet recycled content, and in recycling carpet at the end of its useful life.