September 2023
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
Advisory Member Spotlights
New & Renewing Members
- Samsung
- Henkel Corporation
- Eco Products
- Republic Services
- Nestle USA
- Rockland County Solid Waste Management Rockland Green
- Northern Virginia Waste Management Board
- Addison County Solid Waste Management District
- RECYC-QUÉBEC
- MSW Consultants
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
NERC News
- NERC's 2023 Fall Conference - A Resourceful Future for Sustainable Materials Management
- Introducing NERC's Emerging Professionals Program
- NERC's past seminars are available to watch on our site, our most recent seminar on Materials Reuse is now posted.
Upcoming Events
- Residential Food Waste Regulatory Strategies
- October 4, 1:30 - 3:00 eastern
- 2023 Annual Fall Conference
- November 1 - 2
- Biden administration backing changes to mining act.
- Glass recycling on Long Island hampered by hodgepodge approach, limited uses, experts say.
- Vermont's Unique Approach to Recycling: Should Other States Follow Suit?
- Booming Demand for Collation Shrink Films: United States & Canada Market Set to Reach US$ 1,451.1 million by 2030.
- Elevating equity.
- NERC’s Glass Committee releases report on postconsumer glass used as ADC.
- New England state imposes food scraps disposal ban.
- News from California, Schnitzer Steel and more.
State Updates
- Massachusetts recently published its Annual Report for MassDEP Fiscal Year 2023.
- New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a contractor to conduct a statewide waste characterization study.
- Vermont Released a Press Release on 2023 State and Local Government Municipal Day.
Advisory Member News
- AMP Robotics Next week at New York Climate Week, AMP will be featured in the Action Speaks Summit.
- Casella's 2023 Sustainability Progress Report is now available.
- Good Point Recycling gives a project update.
- Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) has created three new toolkits for solid waste operators.
- Sunoco has provided a detailed video on how to recycle their rigid paper containers.
ADVISORY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
We are pleased to welcome a new Supporting Advisory Members to Northeast Recycling Council: Circular Polymers
Circular Polymers is headquartered in Houston with its plant located in Lincoln CA, new NERC Advisory Member Circular Polymers by Ascend has redirected about 85 million pounds of waste from landfills since 2018 and plans to further expand its operations. The Nylon 6,6, Nylon 6, PET and Polypropylene derived by the company from post-consumer carpet become feedstock for chemical recycling, and also provide polymer for traditional industries. Learn more about Circular Polymers, including their new line of recycled polymers, called Cerene.
NEW & RENEWING MEMBERs
Membership is key to Northeast Recycling Council's regional and national commitment to circularity and sustainable materials management. For more information about NERC's Advisory Member program, please visit Nerc.org/Advisory-Members/What-Is-A-NERC-Advisory-Member and view our Advisory Membership Brochure.
Thank you to the following members for their support. We appreciate your commitment to Northeast Recycling Council and its mission.
Sustaining Members
Supporting Members
- Rockland County Solid Waste Management Rockland Green
- Northern Virginia Waste Management Board
- Addison County Solid Waste Management District
- RECYC-QUÉBEC
- MSW Consultants
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
nerc news
NERC's 2023 Fall Conference - A Resourceful Future for Sustainable Materials Management | September 12, 2023
The Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) 2023 Fall Conference—A Resourceful Future for Sustainable Materials Management—offers attendees a multitude of opportunities for engaging in critical discussions with colleagues and promote circular economy practices while hearing from noteworthy speakers, panelists, and exhibiters. The Conference topics include Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Recycling Market Development, Recycling Media Literacy, Recycling and Composting in Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities, and Policies to Support Organics Programs. The one-and-a-half-day Conference will be held in-person on November 1-2 at the Hotel Providence in Providence, Rhode Island.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Residential Food Waste Regulatory Strategies
October 4, 1:30 - 3:00 eastern | View presenters and register
The seminar will look at the different regulatory strategies chosen by two states for residential food waste diversion, as well as their strategies for implementing them. As the 3rd largest state in the US, California has a food waste recycling requirement for residents (SB1383). In Vermont, one of the smallest states, a food scraps ban is implemented. This is part of the state's Universal Recycling Law.
2023 Annual Fall Conference
November 1 - 2 | Register
The event will be held at The Hotel Providence in Providence, Rhode Island. The Conference provides an opportunity for government and industry to discuss critical and timely issues related to advancing a circular economy. The annual event attracts an expert speaker pool and a diverse audience of individuals from government, industry, and other organizations, all working in sustainable materials management. Topics will include Product Stewardship and EPR Programs, Media Literacy, New Approaches to Recycling Market Development, and more.
State News
Massachusetts
Recycling Works in Massachusetts recently published its Annual Report for MassDEP Fiscal Year 2023. The following represents approximated measurable impacts this fiscal year:
- Approximately 1,430 tons of material diverted from disposal, contributing to an overall cumulative direct program impact of nearly 324,000tons of material diverted since 2013
- 533 units of fluorescent lamps recycled
- 1,784 total phone and email hotline inquiries
- In-person or virtual technical assistance (TA) provided to232 businesses
- Compost site TAs provided to 4 operations
- Over 110,600 visits to www.recyclingworksma.com
- 16 speaking engagements/events, reaching 1,117 attendees
- Two new case studies focused on food waste, as well as mattresses and textiles.
Read the full report to learn more!
New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a contractor to conduct a statewide waste characterization study. The purpose of the study is to analyze the types and quantities of solid waste disposed in New Hampshire.
The RFP is available on the NH Bids & Proposals website (RFP DES 20224-02) and is open until 5:00pm on October 10, 2023. The RFP can also be accessed directly here.
Vermont
Montpelier, VT – The Agency of Natural Resources is announcing its tenth State and Local Government Municipal Day. The day-long event is hosted by the Agency of Natural Resources in partnership with the Agency of Agriculture, Agency of Transportation, Vermont Emergency Management, Vermont Center for Geographic Information, and the Natural Resource Board, and is dedicated to the education of municipal officials on a variety of state programs and resources.
Municipal Day has always aimed to strengthen the partnership between the State and local government, but this year in particular, the informational event will be key in helping communities build back stronger after the summer floods.
“As we transition from response and into flood recovery, Municipal Day provides a timely opportunity for collaboration between State and local officials,” says ANR Secretary Julie Moore. “Recovery will be a long road, but I look forward for this chance to share our most up-to-date information and set towns up for long-term success.”
After opening remarks and a chance for questions with the State of Vermont’s Chief Recovery Officer Doug Farnham, participants will split off to attend trainings, discussions, and workshops of their choice to learn more about the tools available to help their communities.
Traditional Municipal Day topics such as Act 250, Required Agricultural Practices, Land-Use Planning, and more will also be available as in prior years. Municipal government staff, regional planning commissioners, volunteer conservation advocates, and interested community members are invited to attend.
To read the full report and learn more visit their website! https://anr.vermont.gov/news
Advisory Member News
Next week at New York Climate Week, AMP will be featured in the Action Speaks Summit, which showcases the work of organizations working on effective and impactful climate solutions, so that business, government and other leaders can be inspired and commit to bigger climate action efforts. The exhibition space is two floors of a building in Manhattan, and will show, for the selected 20-30 projects, impactful exhibition materials that highlights the impact these solutions are having on the fight against climate change.
Casella’s 2023 Sustainability Progress Report is now available. The report details recent infrastructure investments and customer achievements, as well as describes the progress being made towards the company’s 2023 sustainability goals.
Learn more about Casella’s investment in sustainability and commitment to the future at casella.com/sustainability.
Good Point Recycling made its first full shipment of secondhand solar panels to set up an Urban Eco Tourism site in Tamale Ghana. Photos of the "Good Point Recycling Hotel" are available at this link (towards bottom of 100+ photos). Guests at the hotel will see repair, reuse, litter collections, live music, as well as visit wildlife at nearby Mole National Wildlife Park. The first full containerload of decommissioned used solar voltaic panels was shipped in August 2023. The load was overseen by Muhammed Muhamed, a solar panel technician working in Chicago who is from Ghana and is coordinating receipt at the hotel. View photos here (scroll to the end to see the solar panels). 
ENPROSA Action, a University of Cameroun Yaounde non-profit was funded by FairTradeRecycling.net (an international non-profit trade consortium) for the project "Plastic litter offsets in Cameroon, Africa." The project included collections of over 10 tons of ocean bound litter from three African cities, to show the relatively low cost of diverting plastic during the first week of "rainy season" when street litter is concentrated in gutters and city canals. Read the project report by French Intern Meline Maruget here.
National Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) has created a new Municipal Composting Toolkit for solid waste operators. This toolkit includes a video overview of options transfer stations have when it comes to composting, as well as considerations they will need to consider as they choose a food waste diversion program that best fits their community. The toolkit also includes resources for operators including a compost calculator, a troubleshooting sheet, and information about permits. You can learn more by checking out the toolkit: https://www.nrrarecycles.org/waste-reduction-toolkits/composting-toolkit
Learn how to recycle Sunoco’s rigid paper containers!
The paper container with a steel bottom not only meets the performance needs of the markets we are committed to serving, but it can also be recycled. Unfortunately, many consumers don’t have access to recycle EnviroCanTM through their municipal recycling programs, meaning our paper container, like many other packages, is under-recycled. Find out more at https://www.sonoco.com/yes-we-can,or reach out to Michelle.Jeffords@sonoco.com if you’re interested in recycling paper containers with steel bottoms in your community.