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[X] CLOSEMENU

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Executive Director, executive.director@nerc.org
Date: June 26, 2017

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) & Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) Agree to Jointly Address Solid Waste Challenges

NEWMOA and NERC have agreed to a unique and unprecedented partnership to help advance sustainable materials management in the Northeast over the next five years. The

“NEWMOA & NERC Joint Strategic Action Plan, 2018 – 2022” identifies the following areas for collaboration:

  • Food scraps reduction, recovery, and management
  • Recyclables collection and impacts on manufacturing and end-users
  • Product stewardship
  • Climate and impacts on the recycling and solid waste infrastructure
  • Construction and demolition materials

The plan identifies key strategies and actions the two organizations will take jointly to address these solid waste challenges.  

“The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) applauds NERC and NEWMOA for their vision and collaboration in adopting their Joint Strategic Action Plan,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee.  “These nationally recognized interstate organizations have a proven record of success with projects that support and advance our work efforts here in Connecticut.  Working together to implement the joint NERC and NEWMOA strategic plan is closely aligned with the mission of DEEP and our goal of doubling the recycling rate in CT to 60%.“

Lynn Rubinstein, Executive Director of NERC noted that “this is an exciting collaboration for NERC.  As an organization celebrating its 30th anniversary, it is a moment of dynamic change and to be entering into a significant action plan with a fellow organization presents a significant opportunity to further our mission and effect great change in the region.”

Terri Goldberg, Executive Director of NEWMOA stated that, “our partnership with NERC has been evolving over the past few years, and this Strategic Action represents an exciting milestone as we embark on collaborating to address critical solid waste issues in the region.”

NEWMOA is a non-profit, non-partisan, interstate association whose membership is composed of the state environment agency programs that address pollution prevention, toxics use reduction, sustainability, materials management, hazardous waste, solid waste, emergency response, waste site cleanup, underground storage tanks, and related environmental challenges in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Association provides a strategic forum for effectively solving environmental problems through collaborative regional initiatives that advance pollution prevention and sustainability, promote safer alternatives to toxic materials in products, identify and assess emerging contaminants, facilitate adaption to climate change, mitigate greenhouse gas sources, promote reuse and recycling of wastes and diversion of organics; support proper management of hazardous and solid wastes, and facilitate clean-up of contaminant releases to the environment.

Peter Pettit, Director Bureau of Waste Reduction & Recycling, New York Department of Environmental Conservation commented that “this partnership will help support the activities of these two great organizations and benefit our members as we address common environmental challenges and develop joint solutions.”     

The Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. (NERC) is a multi-state non-profit organization that is committed to environmental and economic sustainability through responsible solid waste management. Its programs emphasize source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP), and decreasing the toxicity of the solid waste stream in the 11-state region comprised of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NERC’s mission is to promote sustainable materials management by supporting traditional and innovative solid waste best practices, focusing on waste prevention, toxics reduction, reuse, recycling and organics recovery.

The Action Plan is available at:

https://nerc.org/documents/Joint_NEWMOA_NERC_Strategic_Action_Plan.pdf and http://newmoa.org/publications/Joint_NEWMOA-NERC_Strategic_Action_Plan-June_2017.pdf

For more information, contact Lynn Rubinstein, NERC Executive Director, executive.director@nerc.org  or Terri Goldberg, NEWMOA Executive Director, tgoldberg@newmoa.org.