10 Things You Need to Know For the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (June 11, 2014)

Another ‘fine mess’ for Buffalo’s City Hall “Buffalo is facing more than $100,000 in fines because of its mishandling of hazardous materials that put city employees and neighborhood residents at risk of everything from mercury poisoning to chemical explosions.” (InvestigativePost.org)

The depressing truth about e-waste: 10 things to know “In 2012, the United Nations reported that in five years, the world's electronic waste would grow by 33% from 49.7 million tons to 65.4 million tons. That's the weight of 200 Empire State Buildings or 11 Great Pyramids of Giza. Considering the lifespan of a cell phone is now only 18 months and a laptop's life span is only around two years, that rapid growth rate isn't surprising. What is surprising, however, is how little the public knows about e-waste and how to properly dispose of electronics. Here are 10 things to know about the e-waste life cycle.” (TechRepublic.com)

Landfill expansion aims to provide full range of disposal services to oil and gas industries “Max Environmental Technologies, an Upper St. Clair firm that operates two landfills and provides half a dozen other services to the oil and gas industry, is planning a major expansion at its Bulger waste disposal site in Washington County. The new project, which is still several years from breaking ground, would cost about $20 million to complete and is being driven by the needs of companies tapping the Marcellus Shale in southwestern Pennsylvania.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Region's recycling rate at 58.4% for 2013 “Thanks to the efforts and commitment to recycling by central Virginia citizens and businesses, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has notified Central Virginia Waste Management Authority that its regional recycling rate has once again exceeded 55 percent. This means that an estimated 58.4 percent of the waste generated in the region for calendar year 2013 was recycled and kept out of area landfills. This is a slight increase from CVWMA's rate of 57.4 percent for CY 2012.” (Progress-Index.com)

Plan to Expand Utility’s Coal Ash Landfill Debated “Environmentalists are urging Springfield officials to reject a plan to expand the landfill where City Utilities of Springfield dumps its coal ash, but city officials say they have limited power over the utility company. Members of the Sierra Club told the Springfield City Council on Monday that expanding the current coal ash landfill southwest of Springfield would allow some of the ash into the groundwater because the ground is so porous.” (Associated Press)

DTE Energy Foundation expands “Greening” programs at Michigan festivals “The DTE Energy Foundation announced today it will expand its support for its ‘Greening,’ or recycling, programs to the GrandJazz Fest in Grand Rapids and Muskegon’s Lakeshore Art Festival. The Foundation already supports recycling programs at the Detroit Jazz Festival and the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.” (Nassau News Live)

Commissioners may raise rural solid-waste fee “County officials are leaning toward increasing the rural solid-waste fee by $14 a household to pay for the expansion of roll-out recycling and ease pressure on other parts of their fiscal 2014-15 budget. The move would boost the annual fee to $139, General Services Director Motiryo Keambiroiro said, adding that 20 or so households not in Durham County that use the county’s solid-waste services would pay double that.” (The Herald-Sun)

Spokane facility becomes first Franz Bakery to reach zero-waste status “he Franz Bakery in Spokane became 100% landfill-free, achieving zero-waste status in the spring of 2014. The 110,000-square-foot facility quit using landfills by recycling, reusing and re-purposing all of its waste. The President and Chief Operating Officer at the 108-year-old family-owned bakery said leaders challenged all nine Franz facilities to reach zero-waste status.” (KREM.com)

New MMBC program causing havoc at curbside “The new MMBC program for residential recycling is creating some serious challenges for local residents and their collector on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Sonbird Refuse & Recycling Ltd. Under the MMBC rules there are some new items that can now be included but there are also items such as soft plastics that can't be included at curbside.” (Courier-Islander)

City of Guelph working to include multi-residential buildings in waste pick-up system “If Guelph is going to increase its solid waste diversion rate from 68 per cent to 70 per cent over five years, it's going to take new service-users to embrace the three-stream garbage system. City staff presented the 2014 Solid Waste Management Master Plan to the Planning & Building, Engineering and Environment Committee Tuesday afternoon and it contains recommendations for the municipality, residential, multi-residential, industrial, commercial and institutional organizations, and the construction and demolition sectors.” (GuelphMercury.com)