Dell Advances Green Packaging, Closed-Loop Recycling

GreenBiz.com (05/20/14) Clancy, Heather

Dell is working with Wistron GreenTech to become the first technology company to earn a closed-loop recycling validation from UL Environment. Dell’s OptiPlex 3030 All-in-One desktop computer will be the first to contain a minimum of 10 percent postconsumer recycled plastic sourced from Dell’s ongoing electronic-scrap recovery processes, the company says. The plan was inspired by EPEAT certification, which requires vendors to use a minimum percentage of recycled plastics in computer chassis. EPEAT also is used by government agencies and businesses to guide volume technology procurement, according to Dell’s Scott O’Connell. Dell plans to include up to 50 million pounds of recycled-content plastics and other «sustainable» materials in its products by 2020. The company also plans to use AirCarbon, a plastic material from Newlight Technologies, for sleeves to protect new Latitude series notebooks. The decision to use AirCarbon was made based on Dell’s earlier experience with green packaging, including bamboo, mushroom cushions, and wheat grass, which the company estimates helped eliminate 20 million pounds of packaging and saved $18 million. Dell’s Oliver Campbell notes the feedstock for the AirCarbon plastic comes from greenhouse gases collected from the air at landfills, farms, wastewater treatment plants, and other facilities.

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Recycling Changes Start at Some B.C. Curbsides, Businesses

CBC News (Canada) (05/18/14)

A controversial new recycling program in British Columbia, Canada, requires businesses that supply packaging and printed paper to residential customers to be responsible for collecting and recycling the material once the customers are finished with it. Critics say the program, which launched May 19, will increase costs for businesses, which will then be passed along to customers. However, Multi-Material BC’s Allan Langdon, director of the recycling program on behalf of 940 participating companies, says the new rules would only hurt small businesses, most of which are exempt from the regulations. «From our perspective that’s really taken away the impact on the kind of small businesses that maybe have had a problem with the administration or costs,» Langdon says. He notes that up to 3,000 corporations are affected by the new regulations, and companies that are not a part of MMBC will have to coordinate their own recycling efforts. Langdon says MMBC will serve about 1.25 million households, and the organization either will offer cash incentives to existing recycling programs or it will provide pickup service to areas for the first time.

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Private Recyclers Say They See Rise in Business

Great Falls Tribune (MT) (05/16/14) Stergionis, Marc

After the closure of the municipal Citizens Convenience Center in Great Falls, Mont., in July 2012, private recycling services started seeing an increase in business. Scrap metal firm Steel Etc. started accepting household recyclables in 2012. Steel Etc. recycling manager Joe Filipowicz says the consumer business has resulted in an overall increase in traffic to the facility. The company now accepts newspapers, brass, batteries, steel, and tin cans in addition to cars, appliances, and scrap metal. Dillon Lane, recycling manager at Pacific Steel & Recycling, says the facility is «seeing a lot of walk-in customers with aluminum, cans, paper, and [corrugated]. Roughly half the customers prefer payment for their materials and wait for weighing and payment, while others can just leave recyclables in designated bins in the outside lot.» In Helena, Mont., a private company called Helena Recycling picks up aluminum, tin, paper, corrugated, and all plastics every other week for residential and commercial customers throughout the Helena area for $15 a month. The city diverted 5,566 tons of recyclables and green waste in fiscal year 2013, says Helena Recycling’s Kim Carley.

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Hewlett-Packard Introduces Large-Scale E-Waste Recycling in Africa

The Guardian (05/15/14) Fox, Nicolette

Hewlett-Packard is expanding its sustainable e-scrap recycling program, which began in Kenya in 2010, into the rest of Africa. Recycling obsolete electronics such as mobile phones is a growing industry as the devices can be salvaged for valuable materials, but relatively few recycling facilities exist in Africa. The company partnered with the Kenyan government, the East African Compliant Recycling, the University of Northampton, and a Dutch investment organization to create a system to separate and dismantle e-scrap. The project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs by the end of 2014, and it has expanded into Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. «This is the first model of its kind, not just in Africa but anywhere in the world,» says EACR chief executive Robert Truscott. «This model is about connecting the collector to the global markets for the materials, and providing them with a fair and transparent price, to ensure they get the maximum value for the waste,» Truscott adds.

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ESCO Marine to Recycle Former USS Saratoga

MarineLog.com (05/13/14)

The U.S. Navy will pay just one cent to ESCO Marine in Brownsville, Texas, to dismantle and recycle the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. The price reflects the net price proposed by ESCO Marine, which considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be generated from the dismantling process. The Navy says «this is not a sales contract, it is a procurement contract» and notes it «continues to own the ship during the dismantling process.» The contractor takes ownership of the scrap metal as it is produced and sells the scrap to offset its costs of operations. ESCO Marine will now develop its final tow plan for the Navy’s approval for towing the Saratoga from its current berth at the Naval Station in Newport, R.I., to ESCO Marine’s facility in Brownsville. The ship is expected to depart Newport this summer. Navy civilian personnel will be on site full time to monitor the contractor’s performance during the ship’s dismantling. The USS Saratoga was decommissioned Sept. 30, 1994, after more than 38 years of service. For 12 years, until April 2010, the ship was available for donation to a state or nonprofit organization for public display as a museum or memorial, but no viable applications were received and the vessel was redesignated for recycling.

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Rumpke Starts $2.5M Recycling Facility Upgrade

Dayton Daily News (OH) (05/13/14)

Rumpke Recycling has launched a $2.5 million project to upgrade its recycling facility in Dayton, Ohio. A new sorting system will help improve the plant’s efficiency by separating glass and corrugated from the more than 500 tons of mixed materials brought to the plant daily. Corrugated will be baled and shipped to manufacturers, and glass will be further processed on site. Other recyclables, including metal, paper, and plastic, will be sent to the company’s new plant in Cincinnati for further sorting and processing. «This investment will allow us to recycle more efficiently, ultimately leading to a larger volume of recycling,» says Rumpke’s Mike Bramkamp. He notes «the new Dayton model could serve as a template for our other regional facilities as we continue to develop methods of recycling more.» In addition, the company is installing a dust collection system that will enhance the efficiency and quality of glass cullet. Rumpke’s recycling plant has been in Dayton for more than 20 years and employs more than 200 people. The company has 11 recycling plants throughout the region that collectively process 350,000 tons of materials annually.

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Portsmouth Recycling Company’s Growth Boosts Business, Environment

New Hampshire Union Leader (05/12/14) Quinn, John

Poly Recovery CEO John Pelech says the company recycles a variety of items, including bulletproof glass, canoes, and plastic bottles, to provide raw materials to other businesses in the Portsmouth, N.H., area. The company doubled its output through the use of the state’s first plastic washing facility, which officially started operating May 12. Pelech notes recycling the bottles reuses resources and creates jobs in the state. He estimates that Poly Recovery’s expansion of its facilities and recycling operations will enable it to process 15.2 million to 20 million pounds annually of PET. The company’s previous capacity was 10,000 pounds of PET annually. The process of washing PET will reduce the carbon footprint in the area and save 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 88,000 pounds of carbon monoxide annually, says Poly general manager Mike Mooney. Just 30 percent of PET currently is recycled, but Mooney hopes to raise that number to 75 percent. He says the recycled PET is shipped just 11 miles away to Foss Manufacturing, which makes non-woven fabrics and specialty synthetic fibers at its facility in Hampton, N.H.

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Porter County Iron & Metal Reopens After Upgrades

Northwest Indiana Times (05/09/14) Pete, Joseph S.

Hebron, Ind.-based Porter County Iron & Metal has reopened under new ownership after Oscar Winski Co. spent the past year upgrading the metal recycling facility. The company specializes in recycling both ferrous and nonferrous metals. The Hebron site will enable Oscar Winski to improve operational standards and customer service as well as expand, says the company’s David Bluestein. «Our new proximity to the steel mills and industry will allow for more impactful growth,» he says. Oscar Winski is a full-service metal recycling company that operates steel and aluminum service centers in Lafayette, Indianapolis, and Chicago. The business supplies sheets, coils, plates, structural steel, and tubing. Oscar Winski says it annually recycles more than 400 million pounds of metal.

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Zero Waste Strategies Create New Revenue Streams

Environmental Leader (05/07/14)

U.S. industrial facilities increasingly see a revenue opportunity in industrial waste and are diverting more materials from landfills to other channels, such as recycling. For example, General Motors recycles 90 percent of its global manufacturing waste and has committed to increase its landfill-free facilities to 125 by 2020. Pratt & Whitney plans to achieve zero waste—100-percent recycled—in its factories by 2025. Companies are establishing programs to reduce waste, in addition to identifying ways to repurpose waste into useful raw materials. Waste from Charmin, Pampers, and Gillette facilities is being used to make roofing tiles, upholstery filling, and turf, respectively, according to Procter & Gamble. The company says its Waste to Worth program has created more than $1 billion in value over the past five years. «You save money each time you reduce waste going to landfill,» says P&G’s Len Sauers. «This has led to significant cost savings in our supply chain, which helps the bottom line.»

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