10 Things You Need to Know For the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (June 9, 2014)

Groups Slam Walmart’s Recycling Fund “A consortium of recycling-focused organizations have slammed the Closed Loop Fund recycling loan program launched in April by Walmart and eight other companies for being ineffectual, and called upon the companies involved to instead back what they term proven policies to boost recycling such as extended producer responsibility. Walmart’s $100m recycling loan fund aims to provide 100 percent of US consumers with access to recycling where and when they need it.” (Environmental Leader)

Profits for Metal Recyclers Likely to be Squeezed, Warns BIR “The metal recycling industry is likely to suffer from squeezed margins for some time, the BIR Non-Ferrous Metals Division has warned. Speaking at the organisation’s recent convention in Miami, the division’s president Robert Stein of Alter Trading in the USA said: ‘Margins for the scrap that merchants are handling through their processing yards continue to be compressed. Prices being paid don’t allow the merchants to replace what they sell at acceptable margins.’” (Resource Efficient Business)

First Waste-Free Supermarket in Germany is Opening its Doors “To eliminate all of the food packaging waste in supermarkets, a new supermarket over in Germany is working to eliminate all of the packaging waste before the items ever go into your cart. They are encouraging customers to bring reusable containers with them to get their groceries. Talk about an ingenious concept.” (UndergroundHealth.com)

From Waste To Reward: Reimagining A $55B Industry “Quest Recycling Services, a branch of what is now under the publicly traded QRHC, operates as a “one-stop shop” for clients looking to better manage and reduce their entire waste stream. Since everyone produces waste, the company recruits a broad clientele base from grocery stores to multi family apartments. Previously working as an environmental health and safety executive, Dick launched the project in 2007 out of his home in Frisco. With a small team, he sought to and succeeded in selling the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, on the concept.” (Forbes)

Michigan lawmakers consider other uses for coal ash “It's considered a low-level hazardous waste, so should coal ash go in your soil? That's what could happen if a three-bill package gets the governor's signature. Those bills, which are in the works, would take the leftovers from coal plants and paper mills and put them to use. ‘Right now, what happens is materials get landfilled. And so we're filling up our landfills with products that have productive other uses,’ said Rep. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan).” (RFDTV.com)

Attorney General files criminal charges against Marcellus Shale waste hauler “State Attorney General Kathleen Kane has filed 64 criminal charges against the owner of a Northumberland County company that hauls waste and equipment for the natural gas industry. The extensive list of charges against Milton-based Minuteman include multiple counts of fraud and criminal conspiracy related to illegal dumping and overbilling major natural gas companies.” (StateImpact.com)

Expansion of gas collection system completed at Ontario County landfill “Ontario County landfill manager Casella Waste Systems announced Friday it has completed its expansion of the landfill gas collection system. Casella installed additional horizontal and vertical gas wells that are now hooked into the landfill’s on-site power-production plant. To address ongoing complaints of odor from the landfill on Routes 5 and 20 in the town of Seneca, Casella added the gas wells that supply the plant that converts the gas to electricity.” (Victor Post)

New Type of Rock Formed From Plastic Waste “Researchers have discovered a new type of rock created by melted plastic trash on a beach in Hawaii. The new rock material dubbed plastiglomerate is the result of melted plastic trash on beaches mixing with sediment, basaltic lava fragments and organic debris, such as shells.” (NDTV.com)

Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Recycling Called “Spotty At Best” “Last year, we found that Pittsburgh Public Schools like Minadeo in Squirrel Hill did not recycle, and that cardboard, bottles and cans – that were actually sorted inside the school – were being thrown in the dumpsters outside and hauled away to landfills with the general trash. David Hughes petitioned the board of education to make recycling mandatory at all the district’s 57 schools — on both environmental and fiscal grounds.” (CBS Pittsburgh)

Company city paid to handle recycling falling short “A recycling company paid millions to empty containers in Charlotte says former mayor Patrick Cannon’s arrest is partially to blame for a spike in customer complaints and hundreds of missed collections all over town. City officials call Inland Waste Solutions’ current performance unacceptable.” (WCNC.com)