In honor of 30 years, the organization will host recycling events in British Columbia, Canada, and provide grants to organizations planning to use recycled tire products in community development projects.
The Tire Stewardship B.C (TSBC)., Victoria, British Columbia, a nonprofit group dedicated to the collection and recycling of scrap tires in British Columbia, is celebrating 30 years of operation. Established in 1991, the group says it is the oldest recycling program in Canada and has recycled more than 100 million tires in the province.
Due to the 30th anniversary celebration being postponed last year because of COVID-19, TSBC will be celebrating throughout 2022. The company says it will partner with other recycling organizations in British Columbia to host events that focus on recycling and environmental sustainability. In addition, several community tire collection events are scheduled across the province throughout the year.
“Every year in British Columbia the equivalent of more than five million scrap vehicle tires are recycled into new, durable, and environmentally friendly products, with 100 percent of all scrap tires collected repurposed within the province,” says Rosemary Sutton, executive director of the Tire Stewardship BC. “In celebration of TSBC’s 30th anniversary, we are excited to be partnering with passionate and innovative community organizations that are creating unique events that help to educate British Columbians on tire recycling and environmental sustainability.”
TSBC says it will also provide grants to British Columbia organizations that plan to use recycled tire products in their community developments throughout the year. Grants go toward a variety of projects including rubber surfacing for playgrounds, water parks, fitness areas, walkways, running tracks and playing fields.
Municipalities, registered nonprofit community groups or organizations, schools, and First Nations and Métis settlements can apply for grants here until March 17. For more information on TSBC community grant program, click here.
The business will limit nitrogen oxides, lead, cadmium and mercury at two of its facilities in the commonwealth.
Covanta, a sustainable waste and energy solutions provider in Morristown, New Jersey, has announced a partnership with Massachusetts to reduce emissions at two of its facilities and to enhance accountability by making continuous emissions tracking available to the public.
The new Massachusetts limits apply to nitrogen oxides (NOx) and air toxins, including lead, cadmium, mercury and dioxins at Covanta's Covanta Haverhill facility in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Covanta SEMASS facility in West Wareham, Massachusetts.
Combined, Haverhill and SEMASS process more than 1.7 million tons of waste annually, the equivalent of avoiding more than 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases by keeping waste out of landfills.
"We are proud to partner with the commonwealth to help achieve lower limits expeditiously,” says Derek Veenhof, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Covanta. “This coupled with the release of our emissions data to the public online demonstrates our commitment to transparency and operational excellence. Waste-to-energy facilities hold an important role in meeting the state's climate goals, preventing waste from being buried in methane-producing landfills and reducing greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere that contribute to global warming."
Following the lead of Covanta facilities in New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania, emissions data for Covanta's Massachusetts WTE facilities are now accessible online. This is the same data used by onsite operators to monitor the operational performance of the company's WTE facilities, according to Covanta.
Continuous emissions monitoring is important in determining a facility's compliance with the strict emission limits outlined in its operating permit established by the federal Clean Air Act and the state's strict regulatory requirements. Covanta says its Massachusetts facilities operate below their permitted air limits.
Brad Karst will be responsible for managing municipal solid waste and organics markets.
Machinex Technologies Inc., High Point, North Carolina, has added Brad Karst as its North American sales manager. Karst specializes in municipal solid waste (MSW) and organics markets.
The company says Karst will be involved in every aspect of a project from beginning to end. In his new role, he will handle developing MSW and organics sorting solutions in collaboration with clients. He also will be responsible for the client's satisfaction and ensure powerful representation across the United States and increasing the company's sales force.
"Brad comes to Machinex with a wealth of knowledge in the organics sector of the waste business,” says Chris Hawn, CEO of Machinex Technologies Inc. “With years of experience in organics recovery from the waste stream as either co-collection, SSO or extraction from MSW streams, we felt Brad could raise the bar in our response to a dire market need.”
Karst has more than 20 years of sales and leadership experience in the organics and MSW sectors. His responsibilities at Machinex include gathering information about organic diversion from landfills and MSW projects. In addition, he responds to clients' project challenges, budgeting and goal setting while also working with the sales engineering department to develop proposals that meet or exceed the customer's individual needs.
"With my past experience in food waste diversion, we will build a Machinex division to keep up with the growing demands in the industry," says Karst.
Karst can be reached at 612-916-5296 or bkarst@machinextechnologies.com.
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act aims to improve data collection on recycling systems and explore the potential of a national composting strategy.
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, Delaware, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) and co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus, along with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia, ranking member of the EPW Committee; and John Boozman, Arkansas, co-chair of the Senate Recycling Caucus and member of the EPW Committee, introduced two pieces of legislation focused on improving recycling and composting systems.
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to collect and make publicly available data on recycling and composting rates across the country, while the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act would establish a pilot rural recycling program at the EPA.
“When we look at opportunities for reducing pollution and waste and creating good-paying jobs domestically, recycling is an area that unites most Americans,” Carper says in a news release announcing the proposed legislation. “Yet, our nation continues to recycle only about one-third of the products we consume each year, leading to more and more waste overflowing from our landfills and polluting our oceans.
“To address this growing problem, I’m pleased to introduce a pair of bipartisan bills with Senators Capito and Boozman that would help strengthen our nation’s recycling and composting efforts. Our legislation would improve data collection for our nation’s recycling systems, explore opportunities for a national composting strategy, and expand recycling access in underserved communities.”
Recycling and Composting Accountability Act
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act aims to improve data collection on recycling systems and explore the potential of a national composting strategy. The legislation would require EPA to collect and publish data on recycling and composting rates across the country to provide an accurate reflection of performance both nationwide and at the state level. Officials supporting the bill say this information is critical to improving existing recycling and composting programs and evaluating future recycling policies.
Bill text is available here.
Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act
The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act would establish a pilot recycling program at the EPA. This program would award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for improving recycling accessibility in a community or communities within the same geographic area. The goal of the program is to fund eligible projects that would significantly improve access to recycling systems in underserved communities through the use of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure development.
Bill text is available here.
Several employees for the company in Memphis, Tennessee, have complained of discarded needles and other medical waste jeopardizing their health and safety.
Collection drivers for Republic Services in Memphis, Tennessee, have complained that medical waste isn’t being properly disposed of, thus jeopardizing their health and safety.
As reported by local news station WREG Memphis, several employees for the company say images captured on video show medical waste improperly disposed at Republic’s South Shelby Landfill.
Employee Terry Moss told WREG that the landfill allows the drivers to dump the medical waste along with regular trash, but that medical waste is supposed to be dumped differently. Drivers say this is creating a hazard, with one employee who asked to remain anonymous claiming he was stuck by a needle.
“It’s [makes me] more angry more than anything because of the fact you have to work in unsafe working conditions,” the driver says.
James E. Jones, president of Teamsters Local 667 which represents some of the drivers, told WREG that employees have complained about the problem for years, but nothing has been done.
“We’ve been working with the company, through the company, filing grievances, sending letters, asking for answers,” Jones says, adding that some medical waste has “even been able to penetrate workers’ thick boots.”
“Just think about getting stuck by a needle that’s been on the ground for days or weeks or whatever,” he says. “…It’s supposed to be sterilized, but who is to say bacteria hasn’t grown inside that needle when it’s just [lying] there?”
Jones and Teamsters Local 667 hope the company can make what they believe is an easy fix, so the medical waste will be dumped differently, for employees’ safety and peace of mind.
A spokesperson with Phoenix-based Republic told WREG a meeting with local company leaders was set for March 1 to discuss the issue. When contacted by Waste Today regarding the meeting, Republic disclosed there were no updates as of yet.