More than a dozen speakers appeared in front of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) last week to testify on the exporting of used electronics. Those testifying included representatives from Sims Recycling Solutions, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). The meeting was part of the ITC’s investigation into [...] Read more »
Alcoa Inc. Sets 75% National Aluminum Can Recycling Goal
Alcoa Inc., one of the world’s top aluminum producers announced last week that it has set a goal to increase the U.S. beverage can recycling rate from 58% to 75% by 2015 and the global recycling rate from 73% to 90% by 2030. Alcoa is working with customers in all of its major markets to [...] Read more »
Pilot Home Deconstruction Projects Prove Both Environmentally Friendly and Economically Viable
Along with longer daylight hours, outdoor barbecues and daily trips to the pool, the summer brings an increase in construction jobs, particularly home construction. One new trend in house construction/demolition is a method called deconstruction. This process involves taking down blighted homes piece by piece, essentially building the house backwards. This method allows more products [...] Read more »
Overflow of Plastic Debris Leads to New Plastics Recycling Plants Worldwide
Unrecycled plastic debris is becoming an increasing issue. Plastic bags end up in trees and bushes, filling with water and becoming a breeding ground for insects, or they end up polluting the ocean and decreasing the value of life of the organisms living there. Plastic bottles are discarded improperly and end up on the streets [...] Read more »
Summer Brings an Increase in Composting Initiatives
As summer is approaching and the farming season is beginning, a variety of industries have begun implementing new composting procedures. Composted materials are in high demand, especially among planters and growers wishing to use the material as fertilizer. With the constantly increasing price of fertilizers and other soil amendments, high-quality compost is quickly becoming a [...] Read more »
Comerica Bank and Iron Mountain, Inc. Break Paper Shredding World Record
On April 14th, 2012, Comerica Bank and Iron Mountain, Inc. set the world paper shredding record at the bank’s Mockingbird Service Center in Dallas during a public shred day event. A total of 111,920 pounds of paper were shredded, breaking the Guinness World Record of 87,260 pounds. All of the shredded paper is being recycled [...] Read more »
New Techniques in Medical Waste Recycling
Medical waste disposal’s impact on disease transmission and the environment continues to be a growing concern it today’s society. Both state and federal guidelines stringently dictate how this hazardous waste can and cannot be disposed of. Medical waste is considered to be any waste generated as a result of patient diagnosis and treatment, and the [...] Read more »
Bellingham, Washington Paves the Road with Crushed Toilets
The Public Works Department for the city of Bellingham, Washington found a unique way to take care of the 400 toilets collected as waste from a low-income house project that was being renovated. Rather than sending these no longer usable or functioning toilets to be landfilled, Freeman Anthony, the public works department project engineer, came [...] Read more »
Number of Electronic Waste Drop Off Sites and Reconditioning Facilities Increase in 2011
As more and more knowledge comes to light on the damaging environmental effects of improperly discarding electronics, politicians and government agencies are stepping to create regulations for how the material is handled. Throwing old electronics in the trash so that they end up landfilled is a safety hazard. Most electronics contain toxic materials that can [...] Read more »
Food Composting Programs Benefit Recyclers and End-Users
The Hilton Garden Inn in Devens, Massachusetts found a unique way to significantly cut down their trash collections. The number of monthly trash collections was cut in half after the hotel’s kitchen staff implemented a food composting program. The kitchen went from requiring four pickups per month to two and now uses an on-call trash [...] Read more »