10 Things You Need to Know For the Waste & Recycling Industry Today (June 17, 2014)

T. Boone Pickens, Waste Management CEO press for stronger energy policy “Famed oil and gas tycoon and Dallas resident T. Boone Pickens and Waste Management Inc. President and CEO David Steiner teamed up to tout the need for more natural gas trucks to decrease emissions and for a comprehensive federal energy policy. Houston-based Waste Management Inc. has changed its trucking fleet from having 400 compressed natural gas trucks in 2007 to more than 3,200 CNG trucks in North America today — 10 percent of the total fleet and growing — 65 of which are in Houston. Many of those trucks are fueled by Pickens' Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which builds natural gas fueling stations nationwide.” (Houston Business Journal)

San Francisco closer to turning zero-waste ambition into reality “Here, in Vacaville, an hour by road north of San Francisco, is an essential part of the city's scheme to eliminate waste that is neither recycled nor composted by 2020, thus doing away with the need for landfill and incinerators – both major sources of pollution. To attain this goal – which no other city in the world of comparable size has done – San Francisco (population 840,000) has displayed great political determination, backed by a raft of legislation. Its latest move is to ban the sale or distribution of small plastic bottles of water on public property – except for big events such as Gay Pride. Instead, the city authorities plan to install drinking fountains. Compostable cups will be handed out at large gatherings.” (The Guardian)

American Eagle Outfitters Expands Clothing Recycling Program “Clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters is expanding its partnership with I:Collect (I:CO), a closed loop textile recycling company. AE added a clothing and shoes recycling program in all of its 823 stores in the U.S. and Canada, beginning June 14. The program allows customers to drop off unwanted clothes, shoes and textiles from any brand into boxes marked I:CO at any North America store.” (TriplePundit.com)

Microsoft Commits to Recycling Electronics “Microsoft is officially a founding member of R2 Leaders, a group dedicated to responsibly recycling used electronics. The company joins other technology companies including Sony America, Xerox and Goodwill Industries in this endeavor. ‘This reflects Microsoft's commitment to support the development of standards for better reuse and recycling of electronic devices around the world,’ said Josh Henretig, group manager of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft.” (GamePolitics.com)

Portland passes a bag fee and Styrofoam ban “Portland has become the first community in Maine to impose a surcharge on disposable bags and one of the first in New England to regulate both bags and polystyrene coffee cups and food containers. Beginning in April of 2015, customers at grocery stores, convenience stores, and farmers's markets will have to pay 5 cents for every paper or plastic bag they use to carry home their purchases.” (WLBZ2.com)

Fracking Waste Moratorium Signed Into Law “Governor Dannel Malloy has signed a bill imposing a moratorium on bringing fracking waste into Connecticut. The moratorium will extend to at least to July 2017. In the meantime, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will draft regulations about what, if any, fracking waste can come to Connecticut.” (WNPR.org)

Arundel council bans rubble landfills “The Anne Arundel County Council banned new rubble landfills throughout the county at its meeting Monday night, dismissing warnings from the county attorney that the measure could be challenged in court. The bill, which started as a ban on rubble landfills in residential areas but was amended to include the entire county, passed by a 7-0 vote in Annapolis. The ban would go into effect Jan. 1. Council members voted for the ban over the objections of the county executive's office and the county attorney. County Attorney David Plymyer described the measure as a property rights issue, and warned that the ban could set the county up for potential lawsuits from two landfill developers who are seeking to open new landfills.” (The Baltimore Sun)

88 out of 113 Wyoming Landfills Show Evidence of Contamination “The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's plan calls for the closure of half of the state’s current landfills in the next ten years. The measure is necessary to prevent leaking into water supplies, begging the question: how will local governments afford the fixes? ‘When you have 99 communities in the state and 90 of those are the small communities that have annual budgets that are less than street projects that go on in some communities,’ said Mathews. Small communities in the state can't afford modifications to their landfills or to truck trash away, so many say the only option is to raise rates to pay for a solution.” (KCWY13.com)

Recycling changes in Mercer County aim to improve efficiency “Mercer County Improvement Authority officials say while curbside recycling pickup scheduling changes announced last week were made to improve efficiency, they don’t expect to save money. ‘We’re not anticipating any savings,’ said Phillip S. Miller, executive director of the authority. The authority announced that effective July 1 Saturday collections would cease in West Windsor, Trenton and for some residents in Hamilton.” (NJ.com)

University of Kentucky gets $12.2 million federal grant to study hazardous waste sites “The University of Kentucky won a $12.2 million federal grant Monday to research the environmental effects of hazardous waste sites. The grant was awarded by the National Institutes of Health and will be administered by the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. It is one of the largest grants the NIH has awarded UK. Kentucky has more than 200 so-called Superfund sites, which the Environmental Protection Agency defines as "uncontrolled or abandoned places where hazardous waste is located." Fourteen of those sites are on a national priority list of 157 sites that have released or threaten to release hazardous material or contaminants, according to the EPA.” (Kentucky.com)