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16 Apr 02 - electronics; Olympics; Ohio; webcast; NYC; loans ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from a message and a prospectus from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, MD (forwarded by Dwight Mercer): SWANA Executive Director John Skinner has begun sending around a prospectus, dated 4/9/02, for the development of a new "SWANA Training and Certification Program for Managers of Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Programs." SWANA is sending it to the Electronics Industries Association, computer manufacturers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others, seeking their financial support to develop this program. SWANA estimates that the funding needed to develop this training and certification program is $80,000. The purpose of the Training Course would be to train individuals on the subjects important for the environmentally and economically sound design and operation of electronics recycling and reuse programs. The purpose of the Certification Program would be to allow individuals to demonstrate their competence in the management of electronic equipment recycling and reuse programs. This would be accomplished through a certification exam that would test for essential skills, knowledge and abilities of a manager of such programs. Individuals with specified education and experience who passed the exam would become certified by SWANA as a Manager of Electronics Recycling and Reuse Programs. The intended audience for the Training Course and Certification Program are management-level individuals involved in the oversight and management of electronics recycling and reuse programs. The intended audience includes local government and private sector solid waste professionals that would like to develop new electronics recycling and reuse programs or add electronics recycling and reuse programs to their existing municipal solid waste collection, recycling and disposal operations. The training course would use as reference material the Manual for Municipalities and Counties on Setting up & Operating Electronics Recycling/Reuse Programs developed by the Northeast Recycling Council and funded by U.S. EPA. For more information, contact SWANA at 800-467-9262 or by e-mail at: info [ A T ] swana [ D O T ] org -------------------- Link to a 4/10/02 Environment News Service article about new European Parliament amendments that would require a producer-financed system in the European Union for dealing with electronics scrap (forwarded by Jeff Gaisford): http://www.ens-news.com/ens/apr2002/2002L-04-10-02.html The article notes that the European Parliament also passed amendments regarding restrictions on hazardous substances used in the manufacture of electronics products. -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Jerry Powell, Resource Recycling magazine, Portland, OR, and from a news item from Resource Recycling's electronic newsletter, in response to the 4/11/02 posting about recycling, composting and waste reduction at the Winter Olympics held in February in Salt Lake City: I suggest that maybe we need to wait a little while before awarding the 2002 Salt Lake City Organizing Committee (SLOC) a gold medal for their environmental efforts. Environmental groups and others have applauded efforts by SLOC to attain a "zero waste" goal at the Olympics. Groups such as the GrassRoots Recycling Network (Athens, Georgia) say the recycling and composting system achieved a 96 percent waste reduction level. However, disturbing local reports in Utah suggest this announcement may require revision. Wasatch Energy Systems (WES), the quasi-governmental agency that operates the Davis County, Utah, waste incinerator, has stepped in to manage some 2,600 tons of material generated at Olympic sites. The material, which is stored on WES property about a mile from the incinerator in Layton, will be used to make compost or will be landfilled. WES took over management after Green Valley Recycle & Compost (Minneapolis), the contracted recycling service provider, abandoned the composting project, with the concurrence of SLOC. According to published reports, WES is charging SLOC $38 per ton to handle the material. The agency expects to complete the composting activities by September, 2003. Until then, SLOC will not know if it has attained its 85 percent recycling and composting goal. E-mail: JPowell [ AT ] resource-recycling [ DOT ] com -------------------- Link to a March, 2002, article in a state of Ohio newsletter, describing recent internal waste prevention efforts at state agencies: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/recycling/sarcs/newsletter/0203/reduction.htm The article includes this link to an extensive list of internal waste prevention projects and activities at Ohio state agencies from 1998 to 2000: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/recycling/sarcs/sa_wrpa.htm -------------------- Link to information on the Waste Reduction and Reuse Professional Development Course, recently presented in videoconference and webcast format by the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (forwarded by Carl Hursh): http://www.greenworks.tv/events/wastereductionwebcast.htm From this website, people can watch the archived webcast (if they have RealPlayer software). The website also includes the slides and photos that presenters used in their presentations (these materials are in Microsoft PowerPoint). Presenters were: Julie Rhodes, Reuse Development Organization, Indianapolis; Mark Mazick, Channels Food Rescue, Harrisburg, PA; Mike Gable, Construction Junction reuse center, Pittsburgh; Laura Cohen, Clean Air Council, Philadelphia; Albert Fralinger, Public Service Enterprise Group, Gibbstown, NJ; and Greg Harder, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, PA. -------------------- Excerpted from an opinion piece by Maggie Clarke in the 4/14/02 New York Times, opposing the idea that New York City reopen its Fresh Kills landfill: Reduction of waste at the source, along with reuse, recycling and composting, are the solutions favored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the city's official citizens' advisory boards. The city has pursued these ideas halfheartedly, continually cutting important programs. Ten years ago, the city came close to building its own recycling plants and was developing local markets for the materials. But it awarded the opportunity to sort and market recyclable items to multinational conglomerates. The city could save tens of millions of dollars with approaches like setting up buy-back centers for recyclables in low-income areas, leaving grass clippings on lawns and offering economic incentives to encourage recycling and reduction of garbage. - In a brief bio with the article, it notes that Maggie is scientist in residence at Lehman College, the author of many articles on waste management, and vice chairwoman of the Citywide Recycling Advisory Board. (She is also a frequent contributor to the Waste Prevention Forum.) -------------------- Link to information on a new Portland (OR) Metro loan program for businesses using recycled or reused materials, from the Metro website (forwarded by Steve Engel): http://www.metro-region.org/rem/rbl/recycling_loans.html The loans, for a maximum of $250,000, are for businesses that use recycled or reused materials generated in the Portland metropolitan region. Metro, a regional government agency, provides planning and various other services for three counties and 24 cities in the Portland metropolitan area. - end -