News &
Updates

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

November 2013

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 Member

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)

Renewing Supporting Member

Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP)

NERC NEWS

NEWLY POSTED

NERC Annual Report Now Available

STATE NEWS

RHODE ISLAND

Gold Award for RIRRC Single Stream Facility

VERMONT

Vermont Tackles Food Waste

OF GENERAL INTEREST

Keep America Beautiful Offers Tools Businesses & Organizations for Workplace Recycling Programs

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 and guest blogs 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 thank renewing Sustaining Member Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), as well as renewing Supporting Member the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP). Thank you to all of our members and individual supporters.

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 more than 40 Advisory Members. To see a complete listing and the benefits of membership, visit the NERC Advisor y Mem bership web p age.

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’s Organics Management Conference Packs the House

NERC fall conference 2013 NERC drew a record-breaking crowd with its Fall Conference—Organics Management in the Northeast – It’s Time Has Come! The level of attendance and interest of attendees is proof that the time is right for diverting organics. Conference presenters and attendees came from all over the U.S.

The Conference agenda and presentations will be available in the Conference & Workshop Archives section of NERC’s website by November 4.

For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director & Events Organizer.

NERC Staff Presents at Eastern Aerosol Association Fall Meeting

Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director, presented the keynote address—Moving Towards Sustainability: Creating a Plan of Action—at the Eastern Aerosol Association’s fall meeting in October. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director & Events Organizer.

The Knowledge Center at NERC

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) is a nationally recognized leader in sustainable materials management for the public and private sector. It boasts a 27 year history of innovative and effective research, program design and implementation, educational materials, and public-private dialogue. NERC’s outstanding staff is expert in a wide range of topics, including source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, environmental education, and green procurement. This expertise is now available through consulting services. Fact sheets about this service and more detail can be found on the NERC website.

Please be in touch with any questions.

More & More Commit to State Electronics Challenge

In the past two months alone, 5 more organizations and groups have joined the State Electronics Challenge. There are now 124 Partners, with more than 166,000 employees, in 36 states participating in this free program. The latest Partners are:

Connecticut Valley Hospital (CT)
Bermudian Springs High School Recycling Club (PA)
Colgate University (NY)
City of Fort Collins, Colorado (CO)
City of Monroe, Georgia (GA)

Participants – known as Partners - are state and local government agencies, tribal governments, any school, college or university, and other public entities that sign up to join in the program.

How does the program work? The Challenge provides free strategies, tools and support that assist Partners in:

Buying green office equipment, using the EPEAT^® rating system
Using equipment efficiently by reducing energy and paper consumption
Recycling unwanted equipment responsibly using certified recyclers

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

NERC Executive Director Selected to Participate on NSF International Joint Committee for Environmental Leadership Standard for Servers

NSF International in collaboration with the Green Electronics Council has formed this new NSF joint committee to develop an environmental leadership standard for servers. This new standard will be used to evaluate server products for listing on the EPEAT Registry.

This is an environmental leadership standard targeting computer servers, including managed servers and blade servers. This standard addresses multiple attributes and environmental performance areas including reduction of substances of concern, preferable materials use, energy efficiency, design for end of life, product packaging, product longevity, responsible end of life management, and corporate responsibility.

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

International Sustainability Initiative Competition – NERC’s Executive Director Serving as a Judge

The Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI) at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is dedicated to the development and implementation of a more sustainable system for designing, producing, reusing, remanufacturing, and recycling electronic devices. One of the main educational projects of the SEI is the annual International Sustainable Electronics Competition (formerly known as the International E-Waste Design Competition). Participants explore solutions to electronics waste issues and making electronic devices more environmentally friendly throughout their lifecycles in innovative ways. The competition focuses on two categories “Product” and “Non-product” with a variety of criteria that incorporate the ideas of reuse and prevention throughout. This allows for students of all disciplines to participate in ways to reduce the generation of electronic waste and extend electronic product life cycles.

This year, NERC’s Executive Director, Lynn Rubinstein, is serving as a member of the expert judging team. Other judges include: Jason Linnell, Executive Director, National Center for Electronics Recycling; Bill Olson, Director of Sustainability and Stewardship for Motorola Mobile Devices; Craig Boswell, Co-Founder and President of HOBI International, Inc.; Kyle Wiens to this year’s jury. Kyle is the co-founder and CEO of iFixit; and UIUC Industrial Design Professor and Product Interaction Research Laboratory (PIRL) Director William Bullock.

NERC Staff Speaks at Massachusetts Reuse Summit

Mary Ann Remolador, NERC’s Assistant Director, made a presentation about the Reuse Marketplace at the Massachusetts Reuse Summit. The Reuse Marketplace is a free website that businesses, government, non-profits, and institutions from participating states can post surplus and reusable items. The Reuse Summit was a one-day event to promote reuse throughout the state. The Summit was organized by the Reuse Alliance Massachusetts Chapter. For more information, contact Mary Ann Remolador.

Blog Worth Repeating – Case Study: Marketing On-Farm Compost, Devine Gardens

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Case Study: Marketing On-Farm Compost Devine Gardens

To expand and support farm-based compost markets in the Northeast, NERC was awarded a grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Resources developed by NERC for the project, as well as presentations from seven compost marketing workshops, are posted on NERC’s website. NERC provided technical assistance to farm compost operations, including development of operation-specific marketing plans.

This blog features a case study on Devine Gardens, a farm compost operation which participated in NERC’s project.

Overview

Devine Gardens, a 70-acre farm, was purchased in November 2009, by Tina and Mike Jacobs. A livestock barn and some pasture land on the farm are leased by a farmer for raising 30 head of cattle, as well as pigs. The farm includes around 15 acres of hay fields, about 20 acres of woods, and additional pasture. Tina and Mike’s hope is to slowly bring the livestock barn and the land back into productive agriculture. In 2013, the fields were plowed and reseeded with hay. Rotting fence posts and old barbed wire removed, and a high tensile fence installed near the livestock barn to allow the cows to pasture. The farmer who raises the cattle has also planted corn for feed. Devine Gardens has a license from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets to sell live plants.

Tina Jacobs, proprietor of Devine Gardens, runs a vermicompost (worm composting) business on the farm. The previous owner of the farm had a vermicompost operation. When the operation closed, the remaining vermicast (worm castings) stock and worms were purchased by Devine Gardens. The Devine Gardens vermicompost operation continues to operate, with additional containers and equipment for the operation undertaken by Devine Gardens.

Devine Gardens presents a unique agricultural business model. The farm business uses farmland for growing hay and pasture, and leases the livestock barn to a farmer for raising cattle and pigs. The bedding and manure generated from the cattle and pigs is in turn composted to produce a variety of value-added farm products.

Materials Composted

Manure and bedding from the livestock operation run through the lease arrangement, is used for feedstock in an aerated compost bay prior to being transferred to the operation’s worm bins. This business relationship assures an ongoing, quality feedstock. Some used horse bedding (chopped straw with some sawdust) is also collected from a nearby horse operation by Devine Gardens and first used as bedded pack for the cattle, prior to use in the compost.

Compost Method and Equipment

The collected manure and bedded pack along with additional horse bedding, as needed, is mixed to obtain a good carbon nitrogen ratio A TMR horizontal mixer is used. The material is then transferred to an aerated compost bay to be composted. The aerated bay system, constructed in 2012, is an O2Compost system consisting of four bays. PVC piping is laid into grooves in the cement flooring of the bays. The piping is connected to an electric blower system designed to effectively aerate the composting organics.

The blower cycles on and off 24 hours a day with the objective of maintaining the materials at temperature of 131 °F, or higher, for a minimum of three days to sufficiently destroy any pathogens and weed seeds and to promote rapid decomposition. The pile temperature can be easily controlled by adjusting the airflow into the pile. The bays have concrete retainer and divider walls. A roof covers all bays to keep rain and snow off the piles and to provide shade during the summer months.

The system is arranged so that one bay is filled up and actively composting for 30 days or more. Additional materials are placed in the second bay, where material is aerated and actively composts while materials are placed in the third bay, and then the fourth bay. The compost in the first bay is then removed to a separate area for curing and storage, allowing for the cycle to begin again with fresh manure and bedding.

Finished compost from the aerated bays is either cured for sale or is used as a pre-composted feedstock for the Devine Garden’s vermicomposting operation. Compost destined for direct sale is cured for at least two months in a used truck body storage container placed next to the livestock barn.

Pre-composted material used for vermicompost feedstock is fed to the worms every four days. The worms are misted with water twice a day, or as needed, depending on weather conditions. The worm bins were constructed by Devine Gardens. The bins are 8 feet long by 4 feet wide by 2 feet high. The bins were designed with a proprietary mechanism on the bottom to allow for easy removal and harvesting of worm castings. The bins are lined with electrical heat cables with temperatures maintained at about 55° F during the winter months. This allows the worms to remain active all year around.

In the summer of 2013, additional worm bins were constructed with the goal of producing four times as much vermicompost as produced the prior year.

The finished vermicompost is screened to 1/8" prior to packaging and sale.

Marketing

Studies have shown that vermicompost enhances plant growth, suppresses disease in plants, and helps to increase microbial activity in soil. Using vermicompost also improves water retention, aeration, and porosity in soils. Devine Gardens effectively promotes these and other qualities of using vermicompost through its website marketing and customer education. Its marketing not only promotes the benefits of vermicompost, but effectively focusses on Devine Gardens' products and what sets Devine Gardens’ vermicompost apart from regular compost and other soil supplements.

Devine Gardens’ vermicompost is tested using a regular compost analysis to test for nutrient levels and also a food web analysis from Soil Foodweb, which shows what microorganisms are present and at what levels. These tests are posted on the website, and discussed, and promoted as demonstrating that Devine Gardens’ vermicompost product is a quality product.

Compost Utilization, Customer Base, and Sales

Land is leased to a farmer to raise cattle and pigs. This arrangement provides some revenue for the farm operation along with a guaranteed feedstock for the vermicompost operation.

Devine Gardens markets its vermicompost in “Earth-friendly” packaging. The bags and box used in the packaging are both biodegradable.

Vermicompost packaging and pricing is as follows:

1 quart bag sells for $3
16 quart box sells for $15
Bulk sales, call for pricing
Delivery by the yard is available, rates based on location

Devine Garden Vermicompost is sold at several retail outlets in Central New York and Devine Gardens also sells its packaged product at the Central New York Regional Farmers Market in Syracuse, the Cazenovia Farmers Market, and through e-commerce on the Devine Gardens website. In addition, the product is marketed at numerous festivals and garden shows.

Devine Gardens also sells composting worms for customers to start their own vermicompost bin. Composting worms are sold through the Devine Garden’s website:

1 pound of red wigglers sells for $29 + shipping
1/2 pound red wigglers sells for $15 + shipping

In its first three years of operation, sales increased 60%. In 2012, product sales were just under $3,200. Inventory in each of these years has sold out.

Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: Developing a business model to cost-effectively use available farm land and buildings resulting in sales of a value-added product.

Solution: Developing a sound foundation in how to run a vermicomposting business by attending conferences, conducting research, and consulting with experts, as well as compost marketing workshops and researching effective marketing techniques. This knowledge was then applied to the design and construction of worm bins, feedstock and recipe development, and product marketing.

Challenge: Determining the appropriate investment in equipment and infrastructure in order to maximize product development and sales potential in the most cost effective manner.

Solution: Sales of vermicompost stock obtained with the purchase of the farm enabled immediate product sales and the ability to “test” marketing strategies and product packaging. Developing an effective packaging and marketing strategy to lay the foundation for expanding the vermicompost business, construction of new worm bins and the aerated composting system to improve vermicompost feedstock and allow for a diversity of compost products.

Challenge: Working with the farmer leasing the barn and pasture to increase bedding used for bedded pack in order to both more humanely house the animals and to increase the proper mix of carbon materials (bedding) and manure removed from the barn for composting.

Solution: Ongoing negotiations and providing the farmer with animal bedding for use at no cost.

Future Plans

Vermicompost is increasingly used by organic growers and horticulturalists. It is also used and sold by nurseries as a soil amendment or planting medium for ornamental plants. Research demonstrating the beneficial uses of vermicompost on plants and soil is helping to increase market outlets. Blending vermicompost with compost can give the product a competitive edge.

Devine Gardens is manufacturing compost and vermicompost with the intention of offering a diversity of products for sale.

Future plans include:

Sales of compost beginning in the spring of 2014.
Ongoing and expanded sales of vermicompost and increasing customer base.
Expansion of product line to include a mixed compost and vermicompost product.
Quadrupling of production capabilities in 2013 will contribute to corresponding increases in vermicompost inventory in the next few years.
Expand fall sales, with a focus on the local farmer’s market in Hamilton and outreach to potential retail outlets in Hamilton.

For more information on Devine Gardens, see the complete case study.

NEWLY POSTED

NERC Annual Report Now Available

NERC’s Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Report is now available on the NERC website. As part of its commitment to source reduction and sustainability, NERC does not publish or distribute its Annual Report as a hard copy. For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director.

STATE NEWS

RHODE ISLAND

Gold Award for RIRRC Single Stream Facility

In September, the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) was awarded a gold medal by the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA) for excellence in the retrofit of its MRF to a single stream facility. This national recognition was awarded at SWANA’s WASTECON conference.

VERMONT

Vermont Tackles Food Waste

As part of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resource's broad outreach efforts around the Universal Recycling law (Act 148), Solid Waste Program staff are working to conduct presentations this fall and winter to grocers and supermarkets, hospitals, and colleges and universities and other large generators of food waste.

One of the first of these presentations was made in early October at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington, to members of the Vermont Health Care Association during their annual meeting. Approximately 30 representatives and administrators from nursing homes, residential care, and assisted living facilities were in attendance. ANR received positive feedback on the presentation. Josh Kelly, Environmental Analyst, Solid Waste Program, VT Agency of Natural Resources made the presentation and addressed Vermont’s new Universal Recycling law (Act 148).

Vermont's Universal Recycling law (Act 148) is designed to change all that by instituting phased-in bans on recyclables, food scraps, and yard debris from landfills. The presentation covered the key features of the Universal Recycling law, including when a facility might need to comply, how to comply, and what haulers and compost facilities are currently available to help facilities to comply with the law. He also discussed how to estimate how much food waste a facility produces, what it looks like to separate food scraps for composting or other beneficial uses, how other facilities in Vermont; including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living and residential care facilities, schools, etc. are currently separating food scraps, what the costs might be, how to create and manage a food scrap separation and composting program at your facility and how to trouble shoot, manage, and mitigate issues before they occur. For more information, contact Josh Kelly, Environmental Analyst, Solid Waste Program, VT Agency of Natural Resources.

OF GENERAL INTEREST

Keep America Beautiful Offers Tools Businesses & Organizations for Workplace Recycling Programs

EPA estimates that as much as 45 percent of the 250 million tons of municipal waste generated annually is generated at workplaces. Whether your business or organization is new to recycling or you’re looking for creative ways to increase employee participation, Keep America Beautiful’s Recycling@Work program can help you achieve your recycling goals.

Recycling@Work is a national voluntary initiative encouraging businesses, government agencies, schools, hospitals and other institutions to pledge to increase workplace recycling. By going to www.RecyclingatWork.org and taking the pledge, businesses and organizations can access exclusive recycling bin discounts and a number of valuable resources including a 10-Step Action Plan; a suite of workplace recycling tools, tips and templates, customizable promotional materials, employee engagement activities, and best management practices.

Recycling@Work is a joint Clinton Global Initiative commitment between KAB and Alcoa Foundation, one of the sponsors of the program, to increase U.S. recycling rates. The program is also sponsored by Microsoft and Pepsico and is guided by a hand-picked advisory council, comprised of government officials, sustainability experts and nonprofit partners of KAB.

To take the Recycling@Work.org pledge or learn more, visit Recycling@Work.org.