N.C. delays rules for power from swine waste “N.C. regulators have agreed for the third consecutive year to delay enforcement of state law that requires utilities to generate a small fraction of the power they sell from swine waste. The utilities contend they cannot comply with the requirements because there is no national or regional market for swine-waste power. They note that North Carolina is the only state that requires the generation of electricity from hog waste.” (Charlotte Business Journal)

Louisville Is Recycling Fewer Batteries—But Does It Matter? “You used to be able to drop off batteries at any of the 13 unstaffed recycling locations, but that was discontinued due to concerns about methamphetamine cooks raiding those locations for dead batteries. The service also used to be offered at the city’s four staffed recycling centers, but that stopped after inspectors raised issue with the lack of eye-washes at those locations. This cutting of locations, said Solid Waste Management District advisory committee member Sarah Lynn Cunningham, is pretty much the opposite way to increase recycling.” (WFPL.org)

City to decide in May on ‘pay as you throw’ garbage system “The city of Charlotte will make a recommendation by May about whether to adopt a new garbage collection method called ‘pay as you throw,’ which could change how residents dispose of their trash as well as how they pay for it. If the city’s Solid Waste Services department recommends moving forward with the new system, it would then decide by fall how to implement the new collection process.” (CharlotteObserver.com)

Public Works: How Houston Is Putting All Its Waste in One Bin “Currently Houston is rolling out a single-stream recycling program (the same kind of program we have in Toronto), in which everyone uses a single recycling bin for all recyclable materials instead of having to separate paper, plastics, and cans like a Neanderthal. Even more ambitiously, Houston is pursuing ‘One Bin for All,’ a waste collection model that would see all refuse—recycling, compost, and regular garbage—thrown into the same container. The mixed waste would then be collected and trucked off to a private facility where a waste management firm would separate the different kinds of waste and divert each one to its proper resting place.” (Torontoist.com)

Winery Receives Zero Waste Certification “Fetzer Vineyards has received platinum level zero waste certification from the US Zero Waste Business Council, making it the first wine company to achieve zero waste certification. Platinum certification, the highest level offered by the USZWBC, recognizes the company for successfully diverting 97.7 percent of its waste from landfill, incineration and the environment.” (Environmental Leader)

City takes over operations at Waste to Energy facility “Starting Monday, the City of Spokane has taken over operations of the Waste to Energy facility. The change comes after 23 years of operation by a private-sector company under contract with the city.” (KHQ.com)

Up-cyclers keep hundreds of mattresses out of Nacogdoches landfill “The Nacogdoches City Council will consider an agreement Tuesday to recycle all of its mattresses that enter its landfill. The mattresses would go to a Whitehouse, Texas, couple who makes art out of the coils and sells it at Canton Trade Days in Canton, Texas.” (WWNO.org)

Recycling rates in England have stalled “Households appear to have given up trying to recycle more of their rubbish, official statistics suggest, which show that recycling rates in England have stalled. Recycling rates flatlined in England last year, rising just 0.1 percentage point on the year before, to 44.2%. Officials admitted last year that a European target of recycling 50% of waste by 2020 will be missed, after rates increased by just 0.2 percentage points on the year before.” (TheGuardian.com)

Wilmington compost plant to fight shutdown order “A long-troubled food waste composting business near the Port of Wilmington has appealed a state-ordered shutdown and cleanup, saying regulators acted unreasonably and lacked evidence to support the closing. Peninsula Compost LLC requested an Environmental Appeals Board hearing, now scheduled for March 10.” (DelawareOnline.com)

City of Edmonton plan to sell waste expertise needs more cash “City officials have a $3.9 million plan to spend money to make money, by selling the city’s waste management expertise. The city created Waste RE solutions over the last two years, with a goal of selling Edmonton’s expertise in waste management to municipalities around the world that are struggling with the same challenges the city has faced.” (MetroNews.ca)