10 Things You Need to Know for the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (December 16, 2014)

Montana DEQ wants more from Bozeman on landfill “State environmental regulators want the city of Bozeman to drill more monitoring wells and provide more information on the city’s plan for cleaning up contamination seeping out of an old landfill. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality wrote a letter to the city this past week stating that two additional wells will be helpful in verifying that landfill gas is the primary source of pollution detected south and west of the landfill and help gauge how far a plume of volatile organic chemicals has traveled.” (Great Falls Tribune)

Price Tag of Park Atop Landfill Jumps from $15M to $21M “Revised estimates for Naples' proposed $15 million Baker Park have been released, and the price tag has risen to more than $21 million - even after key features were scrapped. The city's environmental engineering consultant, CDM Smith of Fort Myers, will present cost estimates at City Council's workshop Monday, when supporters and detractors are expected to pack council chambers to speak out.” (Athletic Business)

Recycling scheme lost state $1 million “Five years ago, the state-run CI launched its own mattress-recycling operation, taking in used mattresses for a fee and then selling their recyclable components. CI promised not to cost tax dollars nor harm private businesses like Spring Back. Instead, the CI mattress program lost at least $1 million while squeezing out competitors by offering cheap inmate labor to mattress retailers in Seattle and statewide, a Seattle Times investigation has found.” (Seattle Times)

Town reps OK draft budget for waste management district “Windham Solid Waste Management District town representatives have preliminarily approved a proposed FY 16 budget that will raise town assessments 5.6 percent. At a WSWMD meeting Thursday night representatives from the 19 member towns voted on the proposed Finance Committee budget and most of the towns agreed to allow the proposed budget to advance to the next stage.” (Brattleboro Reformer)

Santa Rosa Co and ECUA have reached agreement on solid waste pickup “The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners has entered an agreement with ECUA to provide solid waste pickup north of the Yellow River. The collections will start Friday, January 2nd. The services include garbage pick up twice a week, recycling pick up, yard and bulky waste pick up, and side door pickup for disabled customers.” (WEARTV.com)

Lake County BOS approve waste hauler contract extensions, pilot program “Contracts with two waste haulers were once again debated by the Lake County Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting this week. The discussion began on Dec. 2, but was continued in order to allow time for the County Counsel Office to assist in drafting additional language to the contracts. On Tuesday the board approved the measure.” (Record-Bee)

Abu Dhabi recycles millions of tonnes of solid waste “Recycled construction and demolition waste used in infrastructure projects. Abu Dhabi has been recycling millions of tonnes of solid waste and reusing this in infrastructure projects. About 1.72 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste was recycled in 2013 and a major share of its recycled aggregate has been reused in infrastructure projects, especially for constructing base layer of roads.” (Gulf News)

Residents sue Waste Management over Tullytown landfill in Pennsylvania “A Pennsylvania landfill's putrid stench has forced irate neighbors into kicking up a serious stink of their own. Citizens in Levittown, Pa., and nearby Florence, N.J., are suing Waste Management, which owns Tullytown landfill, over claims the site's noxious odors force them to stay indoors.” (New York Daily News)

Mason County Landfill Methane Gas Project Discontinued “Mason County officials learned Tuesday during a fiscal court meeting the methane gas-to-energy project at the landfill between East Kentucky Power Cooperative and the county has been discontinued. Negotiations to locate a methane plant at the landfill began between EKPC and the county in 2007: ground was broken on the project in 2008.” (WMKY.org)

Oregon electronics recycling set to expand “Beginning on Jan. 1,  the Oregon Electronics Recycling Program, Oregon E-Cycles, will expand to include the collection and recycling of computer peripherals (keyboards and mice) and printers. The program, administered by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, is completing its sixth year to collect and recycle computers, monitors and TVs throughout Oregon.” (KTVZ.com)