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08 Nov 00 - state programs; software; green tax; jobs; dry cleaners; hospitals; ecolabelling ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Julia Wolfe, business waste reduction program, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA: This is a question for the state contacts on the listserve. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is in the process of expanding our commercial waste reduction program (we consider "commercial" anything that's not residential, including business, universities, and state agencies). I'm interested to find out which states have already developed commercial waste reduction programs and if you have any strategic planning documents (this could be a master plan, a division plan, a program plan, etc.) that I might be able to get copies of or download from your state website? Thanks very much for your help! E-mail: julia (DOT) wolfe (AT) state (DOT) ma (DOT) us Phone: (617) 292-5987 -------------------- From Jeffrey Smedberg, recycling program, County of Santa Cruz Public Works Department, Santa Cruz, CA, responding to the 10/30/00 posting asking about municipal government strategies for promoting waste prevention to local businesses: In Santa Cruz County's Business Waste Reduction Assistance Program, we conduct some free waste assessments for businesses through our non-profit contractor, Ecology Action of Santa Cruz. Ecology Action uses a waste assessment software application that they developed and are willing to make available to other jurisdictions. The program directs a lot of attention to source reduction as well as diversion. Please contact Victor Aguiar for software information and terms at: vaguiar ( A T ) ecoact ( D O T ) org "Why not be delighted? It won't cost you a damn thing." - Harvey Jackins Jeffrey's e-mail: recycle (A T) co (D O T) santa-cruz (D O T) ca (D O T) us -------------------- Excerpted from the 10/30/00 Gallon Environment Letter, published by the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment, Montreal, Quebec: DENMARK PROPOSES GREEN TAX ON PACKAGING Denmark's environmental protection agency has proposed setting taxes on packaging materials based on their environmental impacts, the first national government to do so. Based on a new life-cycle assessment, the agency said in September that relatively low taxes should apply to paper, cardboard, and glass, and much higher ones to aluminum, expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam), and polyvinyl chloride. The move comes in anticipation of a government proposal to revise Denmark's current packaging tax system. The current system, introduced last year, is weight-based. Tax rates per kilogram vary among materials, but in such a way that the rate for all materials averages about 3 cents per litre of goods delivered. Packaging covered by the new proposal includes wine, vinegar, edible oils, lubricants, pesticides, paints, milk, margarine, dog and cat foods, and food sauces. -------------------- Excerpted from announcement from Washington Toxics Coalition, Seattle, WA (forwarded by Jeff Cohn): The Washington Toxics Coalition, based in Seattle, is seeking an executive director. The Coalition is a non-profit, member-based organization dedicated to protecting public health and the environment by identifying and promoting alternatives to toxic chemicals. The salary for the position is $40,000 to $50,000, depending on experience. The deadline for applications is Nov. 15, 2000. For the full job announcement, see: http://www.watoxics.org/uaEDjob.htm -------------------- From an announcement on the website of the Tellus Institute (first seen in the Gallon Environment Letter); Tellus Institute, a non-profit research and consulting organization based in Boston, is seeking a Research Associate to work primarily in its newly formed Business and Sustainability Program. Current projects in this program include: performance-based contracting to enhance material resource efficiency; environmental accounting; greening the supply chain; lifecycle analysis; and pollution prevention and recycling. Applications are due by Nov. 15, 2000. For the full job announcement, see: http://www.tellus.org/general/careers.html Scroll down. -------------------- Link to an article by Damon Franz in the Sept./Oct. 2000 issue of E - the Environmental Magazine about the Model Cleaners Project, the National Waste Prevention Coalition's 1999 project to promote the reduction of toxics and solid wastes in the dry cleaning industry: http://www.emagazine.com/september-october_2000/0900curr_cleaners.html ------------------- Link to an article by Manny Frishberg in the 11/3/00 Puget Sound Business Journal about the Medical Industry Waste Prevention Roundtable, a Seattle-area program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the King County (WA) Department of Natural Resources, and coordinated by King County (forwarded by Kinley Deller): http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2000/11/06/focus3.html -------------------- Link to the website for Environmental Choice, the national ecolabelling program operated by Canada's federal environmental agency, Environment Canada (first seen in the bulletin sent out by Jim DiPeso, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Seattle): http://www.environmentalchoice.com/index_main.cfm The Environmental Choice Program certifies products and services that are proven to have less of an impact on the environment because of how they are manufactured, consumed or disposed of. - end -