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13 Jul 99 - Sawdust; junk mail; Israel; selling license info ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- The first four items are in response to the 7/9/99 posting from Chris Wiley seeking suggestions for a company for the reuse of sawdust and bark from the manufacture of cedar shakes. (While most of these replies deal with reuse, some also cover recycling. In the future, if a reply deals with recycling only, please reply directly to the person who asked the question, not to the list. This listserv focuses on reduction and reuse only, not recycling. Thanks!) ------------------- >From Tom Kacandes, New York State Office of Recycling Market Development, Albany, NY: A thought: Doesn't cedar have moth repellent properties? Seems like maybe a closet freshener product-maker might be interested in this material. If it's dry, it might be useful in dog beds - again, just get it to someone who's already making the product - don't try to get a product developed just to get rid of something. To the extent that I'm suggesting a strategy here, it is to focus on what is unique and useful about the available material that might add value to someone else. If that doesn't work, then look at "commodity" -like markets, such as animal bedding. Horse breeders prefer wood sawdust and shavings to other materials if it's reasonably dry. Also, if these folks have cedar bark, that is worth about $12/cubic yard WHOLESALE in this area, and about $35 retail. Maybe it's not in a nice looking form or something else, but that stuff is gold out here on the East Coast, maybe in California, too. Even if it is a bit ugly, it could be blended by a wholesaler to "bulk up" better-looking cedar bark, or make other bark smell better or something. The "going out of business if we can't burn" sounds like serious bullshit that actually means, "we don't want to incur the mental expense of adding up the real cost of running our burner to incinerate moist, crappy wood like bark OR do anything differently." Maybe replacing the "free" energy is an issue, but if they perceive that it is "cheap" to burn such wet wood, then you can bet the stack is putting out some ugly particulate and we're all paying for their "cheap" power. Sounds like they could make more money doing something else with it, though. Another resource: Many states and the U.S. Forest Service have "Utilization and Marketing" agents who do market development work for wood products. Those folks would probably know what other mills are doing with similar waste and could help find an alternative use. E-mail: TKACANDES [ AT ] EMPIRE [ DOT ] STATE [ DOT ] NY [ DOT ] US ----------------- >From Stephen Long, Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Quality Engineering, Boston, MA: First check the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website "Jobs Through Recycling" (JTR) at http://www.epa.gov/jtr/ Check under "Net Share" and you'll find a dialogue about sawdust under commodities/wood. JTR Net is a list serve maintained by U.S. EPA and used by recycling market development professionals, among others. A few other markets you might consider for the sawdust: 1) animal bedding (not hardwoods though) 2) water treatment facilities (used for helping solidify or bulk up waste liquids) 3) mulch 4) paperboard manufacturing 5) composite furniture manufacturers Hope this helps. E-mail: Stephen (D O T) Long (A T) state (D O T) ma (D O T) us ---------------------- >From Kim Bailey, reused materials artist, Seattle, WA: I looked on the Web and found one website that might be of interest regarding the use of sawdust. It is a site for the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The address is: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/fppa/pubs/environ/berry/berry08.htm E-mail: watermelons [AT] earthlink [DOT] net ---------------------- >From Tony Kingsbury, Dow Plastics, Midland, MI: With regard to the question about cedar sawdust, it is my understanding that this is a perfect material for mixing with recycled plastics to make composite lumber products. Companies such as Trex, Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies (AERT), etc. use wood byproducts to make their lumber and decking products. If I'm not mistaken, one of AERT's facilities is located next door to a cedar wood plant for just this reason. I would suggest that Chris contact AERT in Springdale, AR, and get a copy of the May, 1999, issue of Resource Recycling magazine, which has an article (page 33) on this technology and the leading companies. E-mail: RAKINGSBURY (A T) dow (D O T) com -------------------- >From Glenn Meyer, Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, St. Paul, MN: Below is the response I got to my query to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), inquiring about collecting cards from the public for the DMA's Mail Preference Service (to get off direct mail lists) at the Minnesota State Fair and sending them to the DMA in bulk. I still think we should press ahead with a display, but I guess we need to rethink the action. --- July 13, 1999 Dear Mr. Meyer, The policy to register with the Mail Preference Service (MPS) is that the individual (or family members at one address) registers directly by mail; second party requests and bulk requests to register are not accepted. The MPS file has been around since 1971 - I have not! But it is my understanding that this policy was established to maintain the integrity of the file so that someone with an "agenda" does not register those who may not share the same zeal. The purpose of the MPS program is to help folks who really do not want to receive unsolicited advertising mail - it is not for those who just want to cut back on what they receive. For the latter group, they may ask the companies they do business with (credit cards, bank, magazine subscriptions, non-profit or charitable organizations, catalogs, insurance, Department of Motor Vehicles, etc.) to not rent or share their name/address with other companies. We also find that often the mail that people object to the most - the "saturation mail" addressed only to RESIDENT, without the person's name - is not affected by registering with MPS. That type of mail (often local business promotions) is not targeted - it goes to everyone in the zip code -and those companies do not use MPS to suppress addresses. I hope this is helpful. Sincerely, Sally Gaskin Director, Consumer Services Direct Marketing Association E-mail: sgaskin (A T) the-dma (D O T) org --- Glenn's e-mail address: glenn [ DOT ] meyer [ AT ] moea [ DOT ] state [ DOT ] mn [ DOT ] us --------------------- Excerpted from an item in the Spring, 1999, Container And Packaging Recycling Update, published by the Container Recycling Institute, Arlington, VA: The Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, approved a law requiring deposits on beverage containers on April 19, 1999, after a hard-fought battle. Lawmakers responded to a postcard campaign organized by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) in which thousands of citizens mailed postcards to their legislators. The deposit requirement on single-serve beverage containers under 1.5 liters goes into effect on April 2, 2000. The proposal was seen as a means of reducing the waste stream and conserving resources, but litter was the issue that captured the attention of the public and legislators. "The law will reduce the amounts of litter polluting the public domain and promote the recycling and reuse of beverage containers," said a IUED member. ---------------------- Excerpted from a column by Kyle Niederpruem in the 7/13/99 Indianapolis Star-News: Some states make a lot of money from selling the personal information listed on residents' drivers' licenses and registrations. >From January 1998 to May 1999, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles collected more than $14 million from the sale of personal data from 25 million records. The proceeds of those sales are funneled into the Motor Vehicle Highway Account to pay for road work. The bureau sells this information to companies including R. L. Polk & Co., Experian Information Solutions and Carfax. The uses vary for those private companies, from the publication of national phone directories to consumer credit reporting services. Many of these commercial companies have come under increasing scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, as consumers have grown wary about the release and consumption of personal data. In turn, some companies feeling the heat of potential regulation are responding more positively. Experian, for example, publicizes its "information stewardship policies" to assure consumers they are responsibly using "information entrusted to us." In other parts of the country, the debate rages. South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges recently signed a bill prohibiting the sale of certain data from drivers' licenses. (Note from Tom: The end result of the sale of this personal information is that people often receive unwanted mail from companies using these lists.) - end -