Alcoa Recycling

Oregon Passes First Paint Producer Responsibility Law in Nation

On July 23, 2009, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law the nation's first program requiring paint manufacturers to safely manage leftover latex and oil-based paint from consumer and contractor painting jobs.  The law is expected to result in the proper management of an estimated 800,000 gallons of leftover paint each year and to provide Oregon governments with service valued at over $6 million.  Governments that currently collect leftover paint will realize a direct financial savings.

The new program is the result of a historic national agreement facilitated by the nonprofit Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. (PSI), which convened paint manufacturers, retailers, contractors, recyclers, and government officials to jointly develop an environmentally sound and economically efficient solution to the leftover paint problem. 

An estimated 10 percent of the more than 750 million gallons of architectural paint sold each year in the United States is unused.  Underfunded city and county paint collection programs result in insufficient reuse, recycling, and proper disposal of leftover paint.  Leftover paint is the largest component of local household hazardous waste collection programs and is difficult to manage.  The new system will include the cost of safely managing that leftover paint in the purchase price of new paint, and will set up an industry-led program to reduce paint waste, increase reuse and recycling, and safely dispose of remaining unusable paint. 

This information from Tennessee Recycling Coalition. 

Toronto's Garbage Strike Ends after 36 Days

For roughly the past 35 days Toronto has not had regular trash service due to a strike from union workers who normally pick up residential waste.  The strike was due to some benefits that the union workers wanted to keep but the city was hoping for concessions from the union. 

The strike resulted in a lot of garbage that piled up in city streets and parks, which were used as temporary dump sites during the strike.  Residents often had to wait in long lines just to dispose of a bag of trash at these temporary sites.  Residents were encouraged to hold on to their garbage, if possible, until the strike was over. In addition, dozens of summer camps were canceled and many area pools were closed as a a result of the strike. 

It is hard to believe that garbage could cause such a disruption in normal life and how much garbage can accumulate in a relatively short period of time.  Toronto's garbage pile-up is a visible reminder that garbage is a continual dilemma that society has to deal with on a regular basis. 

Think of the garbage that you generate and what would you do with it if garbage was accumulating on the steps of your house?  Hopefully, recycling would come to mind if you had to figure out what to do with your own garbage, even if your city is not involved with a garbage strike! 

San Francisco Struggles to Rein in Recycling Rustlers (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Well, its trash day in my neighborhood, Bernal Heights," David Brame wrote in an e-mail.  "Beginning last night, a parade of shopping carts began their march up and down the street, picking through the blue (recycling) bins."

Among the vexing annoyances in the city, recycling rustlers are one of the worst. 

What's more, Brame says, he knows the renegades are heading to a recycling center to cash in their loot.  Why, he asks, are recycling centers still in business if nearly everyone is tossing their bottles and cans in a recycling bin?

Kevin Drew, the residential zero waste coordinator for the Department of the Environment, says Californians have a way to get cash for bottles and cans. 

San Francisco's so densely packed that Drew said it makes it easy for professional poachers.  Robert Reed, spokesman for Sunset Scavengers, says his company has a Web site to report professional poachers, some of whom have fleets of trucks and a large operation. 

"They are very aggressive," said Reed.

Money has been added to the city garbage fund to pay overtime for San Fracisco policemen. Drew says they have impounded 59 vehicles this year and issued 157 citations. 

But, Drew admits, with the economy foundering, he doesn't have an easy answer.  Brame says he's come up with one.  He's planning to move to Marin.

This story is from the San Francisco Chronicle.  Go to their site for the complete text on this story. 

Bilingual Tuesdays --- Los Martes Bilingues

Each Tuesday we will have dual text in English and Spanish. 

Cada martés tendrémos texto doble de inglés y español.  

The city of Seattle recycled a record amount of residential and commercial waste in 2008, with over half going to recycling or composting facilities.  Single-family residences led the charge, diverting over 65 percent of their waste from landfills.  Multi-family diversion rates were approximately half that, at 28 percent.  The findings mean Seattle is well on tis way to achieving its 2012 goal of 60 percent of all waste being recycled or composted.  The national average for waste diverted to recycling or composting streams is 32 percent. 

This story is from Resource Recycling. 

La ciudad de Seattle recicló un récord de la basura residencial y comercial en 2008, y más que mitad de los desechos fue entregada a centros de reciclaje o abono.  Las residencias con una familia evitaron más que el 65 por ciento de sus desechos del vertadero.  Las residencias con muchas familias evitaron aproximadamente el 28 por ciento.  Esta información indica que Seattle alcanzará su meta a reciclar o hacer abono el 60 por ciento de su basura antes el año 2012. 

Esta información es de la revista Recource Recycling. 

Mini-Recycling Conference in Tunica, Mississippi Aug. 12-13

The Tennessee Recycling Coalition and the Missippissippi Recycling Coalition areco-hosting a mini recycling conference August 12-13 in Tunica, Mississippi.  This conference will provide an opportunity to network with recycling professionals across the Mid-South.  The conference is attended by city and county officials, colleges and universities, recycling vendors, large and small manufacturers, Keep America Beautiful affiliates, and trade associations. 

Check out TRC's website for more information!

Electronics Recycilng Bill Passes through Wisconsin Senate

Last month in June, the Wisconsin State Senate passed an electronics bill that would require electronics manufacturers to register with the state's Department of Natural Resources, and to collect and recycle or organize for the collection and eventual recycling of specific electronic items.  In addition, the manufacturers would have to pay fees under this system and provide reports. 

This new program aims to improve upon Wisconsin's current rate of electronics recycling which is at about 10%.  The bill is designed to start in September 1, 2009.

For more information on this story, visit Recycling Today.

Delaware Governor Vetoes Repeal of Deposit Law

On Monday of this week Delaware Gov. Jack Markeel chose to veto a bill that would have repealed Delaware's 27-year-old bottle deposit law.  Alternatively, Gov. Markeel opted to work on the bottle bill and try to improve it instead of overturning the law.

The sponsors of this bill argued that the deposit law should end because of the consistent proliferation of curbside recycling programs and limited deposit redemptions. 

Gov. Markeel was quoted as saying, "Although I am sympathetic to those who argue that the current bottle bill system is broken, I am committed to doing what I can to ensure that we replace it with something better."

For more information, visit the Wilmington News Journal article on this story. 

Path of Recyclables-- from RE3

Check out the website run by the North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance called RE3 website, which is short for reduce, reuse, recycle.  Among all the great information on this site, check out their fact sheets for different recyclables that include a visual graphic of what happens to your recyclables after you take them to a drop-off recycling center or after the recycling truck hauls away your recyclable items.  This site includes descriptions for aluminum cans, paper, plastic, and steel cans.  Check the site out to know more about what happens to your recyclables after you are done with them!

Boston Expands Curbside Recycling Service

On July 1 the city of Boston in Massachusetts expanded their single-stream curbside recycling service to include all city residents. Single stream refers to the practice of placing all recyclables mixed together in one container.  Before July, the city offered curbside recycling service to just a few neighborhoods to test out the program.  After determining that participation levels in recycling increased as well as recyclables collected in this pilot program, the city decided to expand service to all residents within the city limits.  Boston's mayor Thomas Menino said the city should save about $1 million through this new program.

Information for this story is from WBZ-TV in Boston. 

More Recycled Metal Makes Up New Jag

The new $72,000 flagship sedan unveiled Thursday by Jaguar and that crushed aluminum soft-drink can in your recycling bin have a lot in common.  The lowly can may someday be part of your new Jag. 

About half of the aluminum body of the new XJ revealed at a reception in London will be recycled metal, Jaguar says.  That's a much higher percentage than for the model it replaces-- and the automaker is aiming for more.  Recycled aluminum saves 95% of the energy needed to make new metal. 

The aluminum body saves about 300 pounds compared with similar-size luxury rivals, Jaguar said. 

This story is from USA Today where you can view the entire article.