10 Things You Need to Know For the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (June 3, 2014)

CT waste future leaves trash-to-energy in dust “The state legislature has rung the death knell for trash-to-energy in Connecticut. The burning of the Nutmeg State's garbage for electricity likely will continue in some form as environmental officials develop a plan for future waste disposal, but the days where two-thirds of Connecticut's trash gets sent to six trash-to-energy plants throughout the state are fading away.” (HartfordBusiness.com)

Landfill seeks dismissal of Putnam lawsuit over MCHM “The company that owns a Hurricane landfill is seeking the dismissal of a Putnam County lawsuit filed over the dumping of MCHM wastewater into the landfill, saying MCHM isn’t classified as a ‘hazardous waste’ under federal law. Last month, the city of Hurricane and the Putnam County Commission sued Disposal Service Inc. and Waste Management in federal court, asking them to inspect the site and address any threats to the public.” (Charleston Daily Mail)

Mass. AG settles with Safety-Kleen Systems over transported waste oil “Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a $100,000 settlement on Friday with a waste transportation company that allegedly transported waste oil from unregistered facilities and submitted inaccurate reports to the state. Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., a Texas-based company operating in Massachusetts, allegedly transported hazardous waste from facilities that did not first receive legally required identification numbers. Safety-Kleen also allegedly submitted inaccurate electronic monthly operating reports to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).” (Washington Examiner)

Brookhaven's new single-stream recycling program a financial success “Recycling in Brookhaven has spiked nearly 25 percent since single-stream recycling was introduced in January, saving the town $253,000 in disposal costs while bringing in $34,000 in revenue, officials said. Town officials said residents recycled an average of 9.1 tons of material during the first four months of this year. That compares with an average of 7.4 tons of material recycled during the first four months of the previous three years before single-stream recycling was introduced.” (Newsday)

Dougherty County Landfill brings in big bucks “The Dougherty County Commission discussed the financial condition of the Dougherty Landfill Monday morning. The landfill employees 17 people with about 250 acres . The budget for this year is about $3 million dollars in expenses, and about $3.3 million dollars in revenue.” (MySouthwestGa.com)

Solid waste proposal includes automated recycling “If Columbia County opts to borrow $55 million for an array of building projects, about $1 million of that would be spent at the county’s solid waste department. A County Board committee Monday heard some details as to improvements that Greg Kaminski, solid waste operations supervisor, proposes for the department, located at W7465 Highway 16 in the town of Pacific.” (Portage Daily Register)

Maple Ridge council asks to delay waste-to-energy incinerator “Maple Ridge council is letting Metro Vancouver know they have concerns about a planned waste-to-energy incinerator and is asking for a two-year delay so a business case can be proven. At last Tuesday’s council meeting, all councillors voted in favour of a motion put forward by Councillor Bob Masse to write to the regional government to express concerns about the planned facility.” (Maple Ridge Times)

Bottle bill supporters could strike compromise with lawmakers “Efforts to expand the Massachusetts Bottle Bill that places a nickel deposit on drink containers has seen little progress in the past, but this year supporters plan to let voters decide. ‘The coalition decided, let’s literally take the law into our own hands, here’s the initiative right here and we’ll bring it to the people if the legislature won’t do it,’ said MassPIRG’s Janet Domenitz. Supporters want to expand the 30 year-old Bottle Bill to cover water, juice and sports drink containers. As groups gather signatures and prepare for a possible November ballot question, a group of lawmakers is preparing recommendations on a compromise.” (WWLP.com)

More than 150 Brownsville recycling bins swiped “A pilot recycling project in South Texas has been hampered by the removal of something other than plastic items, newspapers and aluminum cans. Thieves have stolen more than 150 curbside recycling bins in Brownsville.” (KSAT.com)

County to expand use of roll-out recycling carts “County officials say an experiment with using roll-out carts for rural recycling has been a success, and it will be expanded to more households in fiscal 2014-15. The pilot program affected about 2,000 households, which saw small, hand-carried bins replaced with roll-out carts similar to those the city has used since 2009-10. The county’s expansion will take in about 7,000 more homes.” (The Herald-Sun)