Waste Minimization Program

The Region 8 Hazardous Waste Minimization Program (HWMP) provides advice and assistance to authorized state governments on matters related to the development, execution, and monitoring of hazardous waste minimization policies, plans, and programs. The HWMP places special emphasis on and supports national, regional, and state efforts to reduce the most persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals in hazardous waste streams.

GOALS
DEFINITION
BACKGROUND

Program Goals
The Hazardous Waste Minimization Program strives to:

Facilitate the achievement of PBT reduction goals by developing and providing necessary resources and waste minimization tools to state hazardous waste programs;

Measure the effectiveness and impact of state hazardous waste minimization activities on priority chemical reductions by conducting chemical and waste generation data analyses;

Disseminate technical and program information to the states, industry, and the general public;

Integrate waste minimization into other EPA programs and divisions.
What is Waste Minimization?
Waste Minimization is the reduction of wastes at their source before they are generated. Waste Minimization techniques focus on source reduction or environmentally sound recycling activities that reduce the volume and/or toxicity of hazardous wastes generated.
Even when hazardous wastes are stringently regulated and managed, they may sometimes pose environmental concerns. Accidents during handling and transportation of hazardous wastes can result in releases to the environment. EPA and the public devote billions of dollars annually to cleaning up contamination from past mismanagement of chemical wastes and properly managing wastes that are currently being generated. Better efforts to reduce chemical waste before it is even generated (i.e. waste minimization) would help lessen these concerns, as well as the need for these public and private expenditures on cleanups in the future.

Background
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has historically devoted much of its efforts on the "cradle-to-grave" management of hazardous wastes, including the development of controls at the ends of waste streams and the treatment and cleanup of pollutants after their generation. The shift in recent years from this traditional emphasis has been to a growing focus on the prevention of pollution at the source wherever possible.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984, describes a national policy emphasizing the primary priority as source reduction. In 1990, Congress further confirmed the key role of pollution prevention over waste management in environmental protection by passing the Pollution Prevention Act. On November 18, 1994, EPA released the Waste Minimization National Plan, which focuses on reducing the generation and subsequent release to the environment of the most persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic constituents (PBTs) in hazardous wastes.

Earth 911

Earth 911

Electronics
Electronics have revolutionized our lifestyle. Telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones are items we use daily. These items make up the bulk of electronics that threaten the environment, because of their hazardous ingredients.

This section of waste is referred to as electronic waste, or e-waste.

Reuse and proper recycling prevents e-waste from reaching landfills, provides usable items to organizations that need them and recaptures valuable resources.

As new products hit the market, relevant information and resources are necessary to ensure old items are properly discarded. So, next time you upgrade that cell phone, or get the latest video game system, think twice about what happens to the old gadget:


Donate it. Either give it to a friend or family member that could benefit from a change. Old to you, is new to someone else. There are also organizations that collect old electronics and resell them for profit.
Consider renting or leasing electronics. If you’re going to upgrade in a year anyway, why waste the money?
If you do buy, buy green! With the ever changing and growing field of technology, companies make better devices that are more aware of their environmental impact. Research a product before you purchase it and support businesses that are doing their part.

Top 10 communities?

Is your municipal program in the top 10?

Municipalities across the U.S. and Canada are diverting e-scrap from landfills by providing opportunities for residents to drop off obsolete electronics for recycling. E-Scrap News is collecting data on the volume of e-waste being collected by municipalities and municipal program partners in order to compile a Top 10 list of municipal programs.
Two lists will be generated, covering both the top 10 programs in terms of overall volumes collected, as well as the top 10 programs based on pounds collected per capita. To do this, we need data from you, our readers, including:


Total tons of electronic scrap collected for recycling through the years
Number of years having offered the collection program
Population of the area served by your program.
This information will be shared at the upcoming E-Scrap 2008 Conference, as well as in one of our publications. If your program is in the top 10, we will contact you for a little more information about program dynamics.
Please submit the requested information via email to Henry Leineweber at henry@resource-recycling.com by June 1st.

Energy

ENERGY
2 big projects will amp up solar power in Southland


Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, at podium, announces that Southern California Edison(SCE) will build the nation's largest solar energy installation during a news conference on the roof of a ProLogis building in Fontana, Calif.
Edison plans a massive installation of photovoltaic cells on rooftops, and FPL Energy proposes a 250-megawatt plant.
By Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 27, 2008
Solar energy is getting a big boost in Southern California with the unveiling of two projects that will be capable of generating a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve more than 300,000 homes.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Southern California Edison plan to announce today the country's largest rooftop solar installation project ever proposed by a utility company. And on Wednesday, FPL Energy, the largest operator of solar power in the U.S., said it planned to build and operate a 250-megawatt solar plant in the Mojave Desert.

The projects would help California meet its goal of obtaining 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. In 2006, about 13% of the retail electricity delivered by Edison and the state's other two big investor-owned utilities came from renewable sources such as sun and wind, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.

Energy experts were struck by the size of the two projects, which would bolster the state's current total of about 965 megawatts of solar power flowing to the electricity grid.

"Five hundred megawatts -- that's substantial," said spokesman George Douglas of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "Projects of that size begin to show that solar energy can produce electricity on a utility scale, on the kind of scale that we're going to need."

The Edison rooftop project will place photovoltaic cells on 65 million square feet of commercial building roofs in Southern California. The cells will generate as much as 250 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power about 162,500 average homes, based on the utility's estimate that one megawatt would serve about 650 average homes.

"These are the kinds of big ideas we need to meet California's long-term energy and climate change goals," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "If commercial buildings statewide partnered with utilities to put this solar technology on their rooftops, it would set off a huge wave of renewable-energy growth."

The project, subject to approval by state utility regulators, will cost an estimated $875 million and take five years to complete, Edison spokesman Gil Alexander said. The utility, a subsidiary of Edison International, plans to begin installation work immediately on commercial roofs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties and spread to other locations in Southern California at a rate of one megawatt a week.

The first of the solar rooftops, which will use advanced photovoltaic generating technology, is expected to be in service by August.

"This is a breakthrough. This is hugely accelerating to a scale that is the largest in the country -- a kind of virtual solar generation facility," John E. Bryson, chairman and chief executive of Edison International, said in an interview. "It's a big deal for the state of California; it's a big deal for the renewable-energy sector."

Rosemead-based Southern California Edison provides power to 13 million people in a 50,000-square-mile area of Central and Southern California.

FPL Energy's proposed 250-megawatt plant, dubbed the Beacon Solar Energy Project, will be situated on about 2,000 acres in eastern Kern County.

More than half a million parabolic mirrors will be assembled in rows to receive and concentrate the sun's rays to produce steam for a turbine generator -- a process known as solar thermal power. The generator will produce electricity for delivery to a nearby electric grid. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2009 and will take about two years to complete, the Juno Beach, Fla.-based company said.

"At a time of rising and volatile fossil-fuel costs and increasing concerns about greenhouse gases, solar electricity can have a meaningful impact," FPL Energy President Mitch Davidson said in a statement. "We believe that solar power has similar long-term potential as wind energy, and we are well positioned to play a leading role in the growth of this renewable technology."

Longer term, the company aims to add at least 600 megawatts of new solar by 2015. FPL Energy currently has facilities with a capacity to produce 310 megawatts of solar power.

ID Theft

Your Taxes are Done, Now What?


Whether you did your taxes yourself or took them to someone, you probably have a stack of paper for things you were saving but no longer need. This is also a great time to clean out your file cabinets of all the other documents you are needlessly saving. These documents left around pose a threat to your identity from a break-in as well as from people you know.

The IRS can audit your tax returns for three years but that increases to six years if you fail to report 25% of your income and there are no restrictions is you fail to file or file a fraudulent return.

Collect all of this paper and get it shredded to reduce your risk to identity theft.

Full retention schedule.

World Environment Day
by Earth 911 Staff on June 5th, 2008



1 Comment World Environment Day, commemorated each year on June 5, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP.

Plastic bottle chemical may be harmful

A boy carries used plastic bottles in a shop which will be sent to recycling plants in Dhaka January 29, 2007. (Rafiqur Rahman./Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A chemical in some plastic food and drink packaging including baby bottles may be tied to early puberty and prostate and breast cancer, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.

Based on draft findings by the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, senior congressional Democrats asked the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children.

The chemical, also called BPA, is used in many baby bottles and the plastic lining of cans of infant formula.

The National Toxicology Program went further than previous U.S. government statements on possible health risks from BPA.

It said: "There is some concern for neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures." The findings expressed concern about exposure in these populations, "based on effects in the prostate gland, mammary gland, and an earlier age for puberty in females."

Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, said the draft cast doubt on the FDA's position that BPA was safe.

"I hope the FDA is willing to reconsider their position on BPA for the safety of our infants and children," he said.

The National Toxicology Program said laboratory rodents exposed to BPA levels similar to human exposures developed precancerous lesions in the prostate and mammary glands, among other things.

"The possibility that bisphenol A may impact human development cannot be dismissed. More research is needed," the agency said.

Bisphenol A is used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and can be found in food and drink packaging as well as compact discs and some medical devices. Some dental sealants or composites contain it as well.

The National Toxicology Program expressed "negligible concern" that exposure of pregnant women to BPA causes fetal or neonatal death, birth defects or reduced birth weight and growth in babies. It also had "negligible concern" that exposure causes reproductive problems in adults.

The American Chemistry Council industry group said the conclusions confirmed that human exposure to bisphenol A is extremely low and noted no direct evidence that exposure adversely affects reproduction or development in humans.

In Canada, the Globe and Mail newspaper said the Canadian health ministry was ready to declare BPA a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination. The newspaper said the ministry could announce the decision as soon as Wednesday.

Environmental activists long have warned about health concerns regarding the chemical. They praised the draft findings of the National Toxicology Program, which cited more potential worries about the chemical than did a panel of experts that advised the program last year.

"NTP's decision corrects the scientific record. It reflects a significant body of science showing that BPA may play a larger role than previously thought in a host of common health problems," Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group said in a statement.

(Editing by Alan Elsner and Maggie Fox)

The Recycling Advocate - April 16, 2008 - Volume 13, Number 3


Bottle Bill Expansion Advances

CAW sponsored legislation that aims to update the state's Bottle and Can Recycling Law by expanding the program to include all plastic bottles among other measures, passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee 5-2. SB 1625 (Corbett) now heads to the Appropriations Committee.

Toughest Plastic Bag Reduction Measure in Nation Moves Out of Committee

CAW sponsored AB 2058 (Levine) passed out of Assembly Natural Resources committee April 14 with a 5-3 vote. The bill will require retailers to meet a tough plastic bag diversion mandate--as high as 70%--if they wish to continue freely distributing plastic bags. If the benchmark is not met, retailers will only be able to hand out bags if they charge a fee of not less than 15 cents. A similar approach has reduced plastic bag consumption in Ireland by over 90%.

Other CAW Bills Pass Out of Committees

CAW sponsored AB 2505 (Brownley) passed out of Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee April 15. The bill proposes to phase out the use of PVC resin in certain consumer packaging. Consumer packaging represents the largest segment of PVC in the solid waste stream, as it is virtually non-recyclable. PVC consumer packaging also presents a human health threat as it can contain high levels of phthalates and heavy metals, and is a costly and potent contaminant in the recycling stream of other, non-toxic alternative plastics.

AB 2640 (Huffman) passed out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee April 14 with a 5-3 vote. The bill will assist in reaching the CIWMB's goal to divert 50% of organics from landfills by 2020 by creating a program to support and handle this organic waste. AB 2640 will next be heard in the Appropriations Committee.

Vote in our Poll! Question: Plastic bags cost $250/household in retail costs and taxes. What fee level will motivate consumers to bring their own bag?

Apr 14 - San Francisco Expands Curbside Recycling to Include More Plastics
Submitted by Recycling News on April 14, 2008 - 10:17.
Starting Earth Day, April 22, San Francisco residents will be able to dump more plastic items into their recycling bins. Almost all types of plastic, including buckets, disposal utensils and see through plastic cups and take out containers will be accepted. The only plastic items that are not included are bags, film wrap, bubble wrap and any polsytrene. Bags and film are not included because those items usually get tangled in the recycling equipment.


Read an article.

What You Can Do

Learn more about CAW's work on plastic issues.

Earth Day

Earth Day
by Earth 911 Staff on April 22nd, 2008



3 Comments Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet.

Source: http://www.earthday.gov/

New York City

Mar 13 - New York City Council Replaces E-waste Bill with Two New Bills

The New York City Council yesterday recalled the e-waste legislation they passed last month and has replaced it with two new bills. The change comes after Mayor Bloomberg threatened to veto the first bill. The two bills split up the first bill with one requiring electronics manufacturers to collect and recycling their used and unwanted products and the other focusing on mandatory collection goals to be met. The latter was what the Mayor was mostly opposed to that led to the splitting of the original bill. So instead of having the entire bill be vetoed, the City Council split up the bill and still hopes to be the first city in the country with an e-waste recycling bill.

Read a New York Times article.

What You Can Do

Learn more about California's e-waste legislation.
Find a place to recycling your unwanted electronics.

Pacific Ocean Plastic

Pacific Ocean Plastic Mistaken for Plankton Threatens Wildlife

By Adam Satariano

April 10 -- Marine researchers Charles Moore and Marcus Eriksen surveyed the dark water of the Pacific Ocean aboard a catamaran about 700 miles (1,126 kilometers) north of Hawaii in January and found trash everywhere.

They were in the eye of the North Pacific subtropical gyre, where opposing ocean currents form a vortex bigger than Australia, trapping tons of floating debris in its circular flow.

Trash that wound up there used to decompose. Now, with 403 billion pounds of plastic produced annually, according to the Houston-based consulting group Chemical Markets Associates Inc., areas of the gyre have turned into a soup of indigestible shards that can break down to the size of plankton and be mistaken for food, endangering millions of fish and birds.

``No matter where we go, we find plastic,'' said Moore, 60. ``The ocean is now this plastic soup, and we just don't know what that's doing.''

Marine debris worldwide kills more than 1 million sea birds and 100,000 mammals each year, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The chemical-laden materials have been found in the stomachs of dead fish and birds.

``We know that these plastics can carry high levels of toxins that they collect as they float,'' said Eriksen, 40, an oceanographer with Moore at the nonprofit Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach, California. ``The next step is to see if it bio-accumulates up the food chain onto your dinner plate.''

No clean-up efforts are under way, according to the NOAA and researchers. Moore and Eriksen said such an endeavor wouldn't be feasible because of the distance from land. The oceanographic agency has focused on removing derelict fishing gear threatening marine mammals and corals. The plastic industry is funding litter-reduction efforts.

Garbage Patch

The gyre isn't a solid floating trash heap visible from the air, Moore said. Instead, billions of tiny plastic scraps bob on the water's surface along with occasional larger pieces like fishing gear, wood, bottles, toothbrushes and cigarette lighters. Ocean sampling shows that there are as many as 1 million plastic pieces, each 1 to 2 millimeters across, in each square kilometer (0.4 square mile) in the area, Moore says.

The vortex covers about 10 million square miles north of the equator, rotating clockwise from about 300 miles off California's coast to near Japan. It's the result of prevailing winds that move west to east on the northern side and in the opposite direction to the south.

Though a comprehensive study on the garbage patch's size hasn't been conducted, Moore estimates debris accumulates in about half the gyre, mostly in separate swirls in the east and west. The highest concentrations are near Hawaii, he said.

Moore discovered the garbage patch in 1997. He was testing his boat's engine by traveling through an area of the Pacific known for its calm winds. For days, he saw plastic shards glistening in the flat ocean 1,000 miles from the nearest port.

`No End Game'

In January, Moore, Eriksen and other researchers boarded a 25-ton, aluminum-hull catamaran for a monthlong trip to the gyre. The concentration of debris increased to 0.01 grams of plastic in each square meter of water from 0.002 grams in 1999, Eriksen said.

``Every product now is expected to be wrapped in plastic, and there is no take-back infrastructure for that packaging,'' Moore said. ``This lubricant of globalization has no end game. There's no after-life for it and since the ocean is downhill from everywhere, that's where it ends up.''

The United Nations in 2006 estimated that each square mile of ocean carries 46,000 pieces of debris. Water samples of the garbage patches show six times as much plastic as plankton, Moore said. He will receive an award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his research on marine debris on April 14 in San Francisco.

Plastic Production

U.S. plastic production surged four-fold to 113 billion pounds in 2006 from 29 billion in 1973, according to the Washington-based American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group. There is no correlation between plastic production and marine debris, said Sharon Kneiss, vice president of the organization.

``Plastics don't belong in the ocean; they don't belong in the roadway; they belong in the recycling bin,'' Kneiss said. ``Yes, there are plastics and other debris in the gyre. It is a problem that we're concerned about.''

About 80 percent of ocean trash starts on land and is carried along by wind, rivers and storm drains, according to the UN. Water bottles discarded in Tokyo or beach toys thrown out in San Diego wind up in the whirlpools after breaking down into smaller pieces along the way.

Threat to Hawaii

About 600 tons of industrial fishing gear washed up on Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the past decade, threatening the Hawaiian monk seal, the most endangered U.S. marine mammal, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Climate change and marine debris are the most serious threats to the islands' ocean habitats, said Rusty Brainard, head of coral reef ecosystem research at the NOAA.

``All the plastic is unbelievable,'' said Brainard, 49. ``These are places that are uninhabited, thousands of miles from where anybody lives, and yet they are just covered in human trash.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net

Printed wiring board scrap holds its record course

The average price of printed wiring board scrap metals hit yet another record high in March, at $5.03 per pound. The March price was up 43.8-percent over the year-earlier level and 5.2-percent over February's level, which also had been a record high. The price for the first quarter of 2008 was $4.74 per pound, up 38.6-percent over the first quarter 2007.
This data represents the full metallic values of boards over time and are not the recycling values, as those values do not include the costs involved in actually extracting metal from boards, including freight, sampling charges, assay assessments, smelting, refining, process loss, return on investment, and penalties for various elements, including beryllium, bismuth and nickel.
These values are for the estimated intrinsic metal content of recovered PC boards. Some consumers label such material as mid-value. Lower-value scrap includes monitor and television boards. Higher-value scrap includes network, video and IT cards and mainframe boards.
The March 2008 numbers were the highest of the last six-plus years, with a printed-wiring board value at $5.03 per pound; the lowest was $1.62 per pound (November, 2001).

Tibetans Flock to San Francisco to Protest Olympics
by Richard Gonzales


Morning Edition, April 9, 2008 · San Francisco is bracing for big protests from Tibetan activists as the city hosts the Olympic torch relay Wednesday. Security is being tightened for the flame's only U.S. appearance following turmoil during stops this week in London and Paris directed at Olympic host China.


Related NPR Stories
April 8, 2008
Olympic Relay Highlights China's Public Image CrisisApril 9, 2008
Olympic Games May Have Run Their CourseApril 7, 2008
Paris Olympic Torch Relay Cut Short by ProtestsMarch 26, 2008
Secrets of the Olympic Torch TrailblazersMarch 25, 2008
How Do You Transport a Burning Olympic Torch?March 24, 2008
Olympic Torch Lit amid Protest in Greek CeremonyApril 7, 2008
In Paris, Olympic Torch Inflames ProtestersApril 3, 2008
San Francisco Braces for Olympic Torch ProtestsMarch 28, 2008
Activists Target San Francisco's Olympic Torch Visit

This is something I (and a lot of other people) have been wondering about for a while in regards to plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs, like the Chevy Volt) and pure electric vehicles (EVs, like the Lightning GT and Subaru R1e). PHEVs are not a new thing, and they have been discussed on Gas2.0 before, but there is some interesting news that recently came out of Carnegie Mellon University suggesting that if we don’t make our power generation system less carbon intensive, PHEVs could have little benefit over regular hybrids (HEVs).

More after the jump!


Unfortunately, if you want to see the original article, you’ll have to buy it, but for the rest of us, Green Car Congress has written a good article about the findings and the implications of this study.

There is no doubt that PHEVs result in good fuel economy figures — GM is currently touting its PHEV-to be, the Volt, as getting 150MPG over all. However, they aren’t necessarily super efficient. Instead, they achieve these high numbers by supplementing the power produced by their gasoline engines with power taken from the grid. This has caused controversy lately, as hybrid-opponents often claim that battery production and the use of energy from the grid actually makes these cars bigger GHG polluters. However, if you look at this chart posted by GCC, you can see that both HEVs and PHEVs have a clear advantage over conventional cars, even when battery production is factored in:


This chart assumes the national mix of power from the grid, and as I said, shows pretty clearly the advantage of HEVs over conventional vehicles (CVs), but also shows that with the current mix of power sources on the grid, PHEVs aren’t that much better than your standard HEVs. I don’t say this to suggest that we should be shutting down PHEV research or production, but rather I think we should embrace the ability to consolidate our efforts in “greening” only one particular industry rather than trying to attack every one separately.

What I mean by this is that if our vehicles all drew power from the grid, making the grid more efficient would both improve standard energy usage as well as make motor vehicles less polluting. As it stands now there is a huge rift, where some are trying to improve the grid by adding things like wind power and others are trying to improve vehicle fuel economy or introduce hydrogen cars.

In fact, as noted by GCC, if the grid were low-carbon, PHEVs would reduce lifecycle GHG emissions of 51-63%, something anyone would admit is a huge improvement for motor vehicles.

You can check out this chart (if you can read it, click for a bigger version) to see how the different vehicles compare under different scenarios:


How do you all feel about PHEVs? Are they the new thing of the future or just another set-back on the way to pure EVs? Or is a hydrogen economy in store for us in the future?

Related Posts:
How Solar Panels Could Power 90% of US Transportation
Algae Could Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source
Toyota to Pioneer Hybrid Racing Technology?
Google To Spend $10 Million on Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Project
Subaru Unleashes R1e Electric Car on New York
Plug-In Hybrids Could Require 160 New Power Plants By 2030 (Or None At All)
100 MPG+ Plug-In Hybrids Already Available (Check ‘em Out)
Plug-In Hybrids Use Over 17 Times More Water Than Regular Cars, Researchers Say

Hydrogen Fuel Stops

Hydrogen fueling stations stall in Calif.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for a statewide network of hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell cars has stalled.



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Schwarzenegger promised four years ago that hundreds of stations would be built across California but not a single hydrogen fueling station has been built under the program, the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said there are only 175 vehicles in California running on hydrogen and nearly all of those are in government fleets.

Mary Nichols of the state Air Resources Board said the hydrogen fueling station program is still on track.

"Hydrogen vehicles are definitely going to be part of our future," she told the newspaper. "They are just not as big a part today as was hoped in 2004."

Fuel cells produce electricity by taking in oxygen and hydrogen and using electrons to create an electrical current that powers a vehicle's motor, the newspaper said.

E-cycling begins with you.
Click on your state below to find reuse, recycling, and donation programs across the country for your electronic products. If you aren't sure what to look for in a recycler, take a look at a series of questions we suggest to ask. Want to recycle your batteries or mercury containing lamps? Take a look at our Links section for additional resources.





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This website is brought to you by The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), a national trade organization that includes the full spectrum of U.S. manufacturers. The Alliance is a partnership of electronic and high-tech associations and companies whose mission is promoting the market development and competitiveness of the U.S. high-tech industry through domestic and international policy efforts.

Batteries simplicity coming to the US

Responses to the Defra-led consultation on the UK's introduction of the Batteries Directive have indicated strong support for a single compliance scheme from both the local authority sector and the Waste & Resources Action Programme, writes Nick Mann.

Kerbside collections are one of the issues commented on by consultees
In its response, WRAP states that the Directive's requirement for the UK to collect 25% of batteries by 2012 makes it unnecessary to introduce a multiple producer compliance system.

It states: "WRAP believes that the relatively small weight of batteries which will need to be collected to meet the 2012 collection rate target (estimated to be between 5000 and 7500 tonnes per annum) does not warrant the establishment of multiple compliance schemes, and the considerably increased administration burden which could be required for large numbers of schemes."

At the same time, it stresses the importance of the schedule for meeting the Directive's targets, explaining that: "The time period allowed for achievement of the 25% and 45% targets is short. Multiple compliance schemes may view competitive advantage as preferable to the achievement of targets in the short to medium term."

Simplicity

The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, LARAC, also backs the idea of a single scheme, arguing that "simplicity is the key".

"Multiple schemes may offer the element of competition but this system could lead to different collection schemes, leading to higher communication costs to explain the multiple costs on offer," it explains.

Similarly, the Local Government Association, LGA, advocates a single compliance scheme, claiming that it would benefit both producers and local authorities.

The LGA consultation response reveals that "local authorities favour a single compliance scheme because they believe it will help producers keep costs down".

"This is because the single compliance system would allow for a negotiated or brokered approach between producers and the many councils in England whereby councils can help producers discharge their duty at low cost," it adds.

Collections
The issue of the methods that should be used to collect batteries to meet the requirements of the Directive has attracted particular debate in recent months (see letsrecycle.com story), and the consultation responses reveal continued differences of opinion.

Despite concerns over kerbside collections, LARAC's response reveals support for the method as part of a mixed approach to the issue.

"An element of kerbside collections will be needed at (arguably) greater cost, in order for targets to be met," it argues. "A compliance scheme needs to be able to select and control the mix of options that are needed for targets to be achieved."

Advising against relying purely on collections from civic amenity sites, it instead suggests using locations such as schools and libraries as potential collection points.

Mixed collection methods also win support from WRAP, with the organisation citing its involvement in trials of kerbside collection of batteries (see letsrecycle.com story) as evidence of their effectiveness.

"Kerbside has proved particularly effective as it is both relatively easy to introduce and appears to be the preferred method for many householders according to our research," it states.

"We also believe that the mix will be different in different areas as some collection routes will not be readily available in some areas, or will not be cost-effective (for example a postal scheme in an urban area)."

However, WRAP warns of the cost to producers that kerbside schemes might entail, adding that "we must stress that kerbside collection is not free of cost".

"Some local authorities appear to have absorbed costs (for example management and staff costs) during the trial schemes as part of their local commitment to the trial; however it must not be assumed that this would be acceptable once producer responsibility is established."

The issue of cost has led the LGA to express its doubts over kerbside collections (see letsrecycle.com story), and its response to the consultation reiterates that view.

As well as revealing concerns over the possible contamination of other materials from batteries collected in commingled kerbside collections, it calls for the establishment of a "network" of consumer drop-off points to keep costs down.

"Systems which collect large quantities of batteries from strategic drop-off points in a range of collections including retail outlets, schools, offices etc. - with infrequent collections or otherwise collections only when there is a large enough quantity to pick up...will be cheaper than kerbside collection systems which involve large numbers of pick-ups for small numbers of batteries," it argues.

Targets

Both LARAC and WRAP offer clear support for the idea of interim targets to allow the UK to meet its battery collection goals, with LARAC emphasising the benefits that it believes a single scheme would play.

However, it avoids recommending specific interim goals, or definite action to be taken if the compliance scheme fails to meet its targets.

On the other hand, WRAP outlines a series of targets to increase the UK's current portable battery collection rate of 3%, calling for a rate of 8% by 2009, 14% by 2010 and 20% by 2011.

It also calls for a system of fines to be introduced, stating that: "If interim targets are not met then a series of fines should be imposed on the compliance scheme.

"It should be a requirement of membership that these fines are passed on to those producers who are members of the scheme during the year that the interim target is not met," it adds.

The UK is set to introduce producer responsibility for battery collections under the Directive at the end of September.

Plastic and the Ocean

Two San Diego environmental groups are saying 80-percent of the trash washed up on San Diego beaches last year was made of plastic. Reporter David Nogueras has more.

Twice a month, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation organize beach cleanups throughout San Diego County. Beginning last year, they asked their volunteers to fill out surveys about what they found.

The groups say that volunteers picked up more 3 and a half tons of trash in San Diego County, most of it plastic products and cigarette butts.

Danielle Miller is with San Diego Coastkeeper. She says the problem of plastics in the ocean isn't just specific to San Diego.

She describes a giant soup of plastic swirling in the Pacific Ocean.
Miller: Past studies have shown this island to be twice the size of texas, more recently I'm hearing statistics from scientists that's more like twice the size of the continental United States.

Miller says there are currently 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating on every square mile of the ocean.

Green yard waste from recycling bins is being buried in county landfills by the ton. It’s happening in several communities in San Diego County. It’s legal. In fact, the state of California calls it recycling. KPBS reporter Joanne Faryon has more.

At the Sycamore Landfill in Santee, the grinder works throughout the day to shred all the green waste that is dumped here. In 2006, this machine devoured 128,000 tons of leaves, branches and other yard waste collected from recycling bins in several neighborhoods.


WEB EXTRA: Explore the interactive map to find out where your community's yard waste is going.
Once the green material passes through the grinder it’s called Alternative Daily Cover, or ADC. That transformation, in size and name, makes it a recycled material in California.

Landfills are free to use it to cover garbage to keep rats away and smells at bay. And communities are free to count every ton dumped in the landfill, as recycling.

Wayne Williams, county recycling expert: The green waste is not recycled in the way people would expect.

Wayne Williams is the recycling expert for San Diego County. He says green yard waste is an organic material and organics in landfills create greenhouse gasses.

Williams: Green material in the landfill is bad because it rots. During the rotting process, methane is produced, all kinds of noxious gasses, cancer causing volatile organic compounds are produced, a lot of carbon dioxide is produced and water is produced. And these gasses either are some of them are poisonous and very dangerous.

According to the state agency that regulates recycling in California, more than 260,000 tons of ground up green yard waste, or ADC, was buried in two of the county’s three largest landfills. And every ton is counted as recycling.

In fact, four jurisdictions in San Diego County would not meet their required 50 percent recycling rate if it wasn’t for all that green going into the landfill. Escondido, Chula Vista, La Mesa and unincorporated San Diego County would fall below 50 percent.

Faryon: Is using green waste as ADC recycling?
Mary Matava: Of course not. ADC is a method of utilizing green waste that does not go to a compost facility.

Mary Matava owns and operates a compost facility in Oceanside. One of the few cities where all green waste is recycled by composting, rather than putting it in a landfill.

Matava: That is an income stream and it’s a very lucrative income stream for landfill owners to take in this green waste, grind it up and put it in the landfill and say it’s a beneficial reuse.

Faryon: The more you put in the landfill, the more money you make.”

Facts & Figures

Economics
The rapidly growing quantities of e-waste make for some astonishing facts. Did you know that the annual amount of e-waste generated from end-of-life electrical and electronic products (WEEE) is estimated to be a two digit amount, in million tons! And this is predicted to double in the coming decades. Explore further statistical data showing global comparisons and country specific factsheets on quantities of e-waste, per capita e-waste generation, composition of different appliances in the waste pile etc.



Valuable Materials
Electronic appliances are composed of hundreds of different materials that can be both toxic but also of high value. Gold, silver, copper, platinum etc. are valuable materials which recyclers recover from e-waste.



Hazardous Material
Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) are made of a multitude of components which contain toxic / hazardous substances, e.g. carcinogens such as lead and arsenic. The recycling processes and disposal of these components, while being a lucrative business proposition for some, poses serious health risks and environment dangers.

Californians Against Waste

With towering redwood forests, pristine mountain peaks, and rugged desert landscapes, the wild lands of California encompass some of the most beautiful and diverse places on earth. These are refuges where eagles still soar across the horizon and salmon still swim from ocean to river–-lands where nature thrives and the human spirit is free.

California’s wild places offer a retreat from the frenetic pace of everyday life, and are also critically important to the ecological health of our region. Wilderness provides homes to threatened wildlife, supplies clean drinking water to California’s growing communities, and contributes to clean air in our skies.

CWC's primary goal has been and remains achieving formal wilderness designation and protection by the state or federal government for as much of the wild California landscape as possible. Usually this requires legislative action and deep grass-roots organizing. CWC also monitors and responds to development threats to proposed or existing wilderness areas as staff resources permit.

Since 1976, we have been a key player in achieving wilderness protection for more than 10 million acres in California. Most recently, CWC helped pass the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, which protects 275,000 acres of oak woodlands, salmon rivers and old growth forest -- including the fabled Lost Coast. In addition to other projects, we are currently working on wilderness legislation covering 200,000 acres of desert, chaparral, and oak forest in Riverside County.

We believe that local activism is often the most effective defense of our wild lands. To support local efforts, CWC has field offices in Redding and San Bernardino County, and a central office in Oakland. We publish a quarterly news journal, the Wilderness Record, guides and white papers on wilderness issues, an e-mail newsletter, Untrammeled, and periodic action alerts on key conservation issues.

CWC has more than 3,700 members - individuals, organizations, and business sponsors - including the California Native Plant Society, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Desert Survivors, the South Yuba River Citizens League, and the Los Angeles Chapter of the Audubon Society.

Dead Zones

In case you didn’t know, the “dead zone” isn’t just a novel by Steven King or an old TV show, it’s an area about the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico that during the summer months is incapable of supporting sea life. The dead zone is created when fertilizer run off promote algae growth, which in turn throws off the oceans equilibrium by using all the available oxygen, killing everything else. So, good for algae perhaps, but bad for the sea life in general.

Carectomy recently reported that ethanol production for passenger vehicles could be responsible for a growth in this dead zone. In their words:

Corn is the biggest culprit in creating these environments, and now that the U.S. is looking to biofuels as a solution to its energy needs, the problem’s only getting worse. Bush signed legislation at the end of 2007 that will triple the amount of corn ethanol produced over the next several years.

More after the jump!


Because corn is the crop most used for ethanol in the US (other countries, such as Brazil, use sugar cane), it is clear that corn will have an adverse affect on the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem as the fertilizer heavy crop’s run off travels down the Mississippi and dumps itself into the ocean.

Carectomy goes on to give a scathing overview of how ethanol is the wrong direction for the US and the world, as it solves no problems, but simply makes it seems like problems have been solved. While I would heartily agree with them on many counts, there is much more to ethanol than meets the eye. Political pressures have made most US ethanol production corn based thus far, but other technologies have a promising future.

Cellulosic ethanol, for example, can use any plant matter and turn it into ethanol. That means that food waste, grasses, and just about anything that’s a plant could be made into ethanol. With this technology extremely efficient ways of producing ethanol with environmentally friendly crops could be used, therefore lowering the impact ethanol has on the environment.

With that said, the dead zone is truly an alarming spectacle, and if the US wants to continue to hurdle towards an ethanol economy, it’s going to have to reform its ways and “kick the corn habit” as much as it needs to kick the oil habit.

Where and what to recycle

RecycleWhere to Recycle | Schools and State Agencies | Resources

Recycling is the practice of recovering used materials from the waste stream and then incorporating those same materials into the manufacturing process.

Many communities in California now offer curbside collection or drop-off sites for certain recyclable materials. But collecting materials is only the first step toward making the recycling process work.

Successful recycling also depends on manufacturers making products from recovered materials and, in turn, consumers purchasing products made of recycled materials. Do your part--"close the loop" and buy products made of recycled materials whenever possible.

Where to Recycle
Construction debris. You can search for facilities by county that reuse or recycle types of construction and demolition (C&D) debris, such as asphalt, drywall, and metal, on our site.
Plastic. You can also find facilities that reuse or recycle specific types of plastic, such as acrylic, nylon, high density polyethylene (HDPE), and low density polyethylene (LDPE) on our site.
Electronic Waste. Discarded electronic products can present environmental hazards if not properly managed. Search this directory by county and/or product type to find an organization near you that may handle anything from televisions and monitors to cell phones and CPUs. To find out more about California's electronic waste recycling law and what it means to you, please visit eRecycle.org.
The Waste Prevention Information Exchange recycling page includes a comprehensive list of recycling databases.
Find Your Nearest Recycling Center. Enter your ZIP code to go to the "Earth's 911" website and find local centers for recycling materials, including household hazardous waste.
Recycling for Schools and State Agencies
School Waste Reduction and Recycling. Schools can help communities reduce their waste, while saving money and teaching kids valuable lessons.
Project Recycle. Recycling programs for State agencies.
Resources and Tools
Beverage Containers. Beverage container recycling is managed by the Department of Conservation, Division of Recycling.
Food Waste. Food scraps can be turned into valuable soil amendments through the simple techniques of composting or feeding a worm box.
Recycling Tools. Helpful tools listed on this page include lists of manufacturers of containers for home and office and of recycling processing equipment.
Tire Recycling. Californians use a lot of tires, which can be recycled in California to produce crumb rubber for new products, recycled in rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC), used in civil engineering applications, or combusted as fuel.
Used Oil Recycling. Oil doesn't wear out, it just gets dirty! Find out more...
Recycling Coordinator Information and Resources. Materials and assistance to help you set up and operate a successful waste reduction program in your business, office, or locality.

Recycling

Recycling

Recycling is the third R of the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Recycling means taking a product or material at the end of its useful life and turning it into a usable raw material to make another product.

This section provides information about how to recycle, why to recycle and what you can recycle. The Earth 911 green recycling locator box can also help you find where you can recycle by entering a product and your location.

Curbside Recycling

Curbside recycling now serves half of the U.S. population, providing the most convenient means for households to recycle a variety of materials.

While all curbside programs differ, the most commonly included materials are The Big Five: aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, plastic and steel/tin cans.

Electronics

Technology has revolutionized our lifestyle through telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones. However, the brisk pace of technology means these devices become obsolete quickly.

A more recent issue is how our old electronics should be disposed of, because they often contain dangerous elements such as lead and mercury that can contaminate our soil and water supply.

Composting

Managing organic material at your home can not only decrease the amount of material you send to the landfill; it can also help turn your organic waste into a landscape asset.

Composting will reduce the amount of food waste in your garbage can, while creating nutrient-rich fertilizer for your garden.

Garage Garbage

Did you know that used motor oil can be recycled? How about paint? It turns out many of the items in your garage are recyclable.

Claim your garage back, learn what to do with the mess and help the planet while you’re at it.

Recycling for everyone!

Bringing the Opportunity to Recycle to Everyone

California may have reached it's goal of a 50 percent diversion rate, but many Californians still do not have access to recycling in their homes. Of the 37 million residents of California, 7.1 million live in a multifamily dwelling (apartments), yet only 40 percent have access to a convenient recycling program. Even in single family homes, no more than 70 percent have access to curbside recycling. Apartments or multifamily dwellings account for 8 percent (3.3 million tons) of the disposed waste stream in California, but only 15% of this waste is actually diverted from landfills. Bringing this waste stream in line with the current diversion rates for single family homes would greatly help local governments reach their waste diversion goals, as well as reduce green house gas emissions from California landfills.

More about this Issue:

Learn more about California's disparity of recycling opportunities
Learn what CAW is doing to make multifamily recycling a reality
Additional Resources:

Check out the California Integrated Waste Management Board report: Recycling in Multifamily Dwellings: A Model for Local Government Recycling and Waste Reduction
See if your county has access to multifamily recycling
Help CAW bring recycling to all Californians by making a donation
Apartment Recycling Opportunities Lacking
What CAW is Doing to Make Multifamily Recycling a Reality
‹ Where Can I Recycle My Cellphone and Batteries?

envelops

USPS Approves Reusable Envelope Line
by Earth 911 on February 22nd, 2008
1 Comment
Tired of all the paper associated with credit card bills and your electricity statement? You may soon have one less piece to worry about.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has certified ecoEnvelopes’ reusable envelopes for use in U.S. mail. These allow for the initial envelope to also be used as the reply envelope.
While there is no word on which companies will utilize this service, it has the potential to save 80 billion reply envelopes from being processed.
Regardless, you can recycle your commercial mail using Earth 911’s recycling locator. Check out some of the benefits of paper recycling.

Across the country, local governments are faced with the challenge of meeting recycling goals, reducing solid waste tonnage and minimizing costs. Glass is one of the most challenging materials to recycle, with most county and city recycling programs incurring net costs to recycle the material. Over the years, several alternative uses for recycled glass have been identified, such as “glassphalt” and landscaping applications. However, a Florida program evaluating the feasibility of using pulverized recycled glass for beach renourishment may provide a cost-effective approach for managing this material.
In the July 2005 issue of Waste Age, an article entitled “Beach in a Bottle” (www.wasteage.com/mag/waste_beach_bottle/index.html) described a project that Broward County, Fla., is conducting to investigate the feasibility of using recycled glass for beach renourishment. The following is an update on that project.
The first phase was designed to gauge public perception of the project while conducting a comparative analysis of the properties of natural beach sand and the artificial sand made from glass cullet. On the public perception side, tourism officials and beach professionals were very interested in the concept, while Broward County residents found the idea equally appealing. Meanwhile, geotechnical and contaminant analyses of grain size, distribution, munsell color, carbonate content, grain angularity and chemical composition revealed that glass cullet compares closely to natural sand.
More recently, the county has been conducting additional research to determine the long-term viability of using recycled glass for beach erosion control and renourishment.
Aquarium and Abiotic Testing
In 2005, the county developed a biological analysis program to monitor the survivability of fish and other fauna species within specific proportions of natural sand and glass cullet. Species then were introduced into a matrix comprised of varying ratios of cullet and natural sand. The species' ability to survive was monitored for any deviations from natural sand. The glass cullet utilized for these and subsequent tests was similar in grain size to natural beach sand (approx. 0.33 to 0.90 mm). After two months of testing, officials determined that pulverized glass cullet does not adversely affect macro or microorganisms. The species studied displayed normal active behavior with the glass cullet and showed no adverse signs of physical stress. Results indicated that the organism mortality rate was equivalent to natural sand.
In March 2006, a test plot was constructed on the upland portion of Hollywood Beach for a six-month experiment to determine if glass cullet mixtures exhibit the same abiotic characteristics (temperature, moisture content, gas exchange) when compared to natural beach sand. The test plot simulated a sea turtle hatchery enclosure and contained 16 individual test areas, each measuring 5 feet square and 3 feet deep. The results indicated that the glass cullet/sand mixtures displayed no significant difference from natural sand, and the mixtures could allow for proper sea turtle embryo development.
Next Steps
The overall results of the geotechnical, public perception, aquarium and abiotic tests indicate that the project is technically feasible. In Broward County, the presence of nesting loggerhead turtles and the beach-based economy create unique concerns that must be considered and addressed in all beach erosion control and renourishment efforts. However, research shows that manufacturing a sand product from recycled glass is a promising solution anywhere beaches are eroding and glass is a net cost to recycle.
Broward County currently is permitting phase two of this demonstration project, which will involve experimental testing at the shoreline on Hollywood Beach. Approximately 2,000 cubic yards of pulverized glass cullet will be placed at the shoreline, allowing the county and its project consultants to monitor its performance and evaluate its similarities to the existing beach sand when subjected to wind and waves. Specifically, the testing will determine if glass cullet can be used to address erosion “hot spots” on the beach, which are smaller areas that suffer from critical erosion problems. As part of this phase, the county also will be investigating the feasibility of long-term methods of producing the pulverized glass.
Peter Foye, Director, Recycling and Contract Division, Broward County, Fla.; Phil Bresee, Recycling Program Manager, Broward County, Fla.; Sanford Gutner, PE, Senior Associate, Malcolm Pirnie Inc.; Holly M. P. Burton, PE, Associate, Malcolm Pirnie Inc.; Ryann M. Davis, Engineer, Malcolm Pirnie Inc.