Waste News articles from April 2008

Waste News archives from April 2008

Sustainable shipping.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Another 167 alternative fuel vehicles are now delivering packages for UPS in California, Texas and Georgia. A total of 42 new compressed natural gas-powered delivery vehicles are working in Atlanta with another 25...

Beneath the surface; Climate change's unknowns weigh heavily on wastewater planners.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Climate change is thought of primarily as an air quality issue, but the wastewater treatment industry has its eyes on it, not to mention a lot at stake. "Forget the whole emissions issue. It's the impact of climate...

A clear-cut goal.(Opinion)
April 14, 2008... These days it's commonplace for companies to give well-intentioned but vague commitments to being better environmental stewards. That's why it's significant that Ford Motor Co. has given a specific plan to reduce carbon emissions from its...

Is this a tipping point?(Opinion)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat Even the most ardent environmentalist has to be overwhelmed these days by all the talk of going green. Every business is doing some big project. Every community is trumpeting a new effort. It's to the point that,...

States sue to force EPA's hand on GHG.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Several states, cities and environmental advocacy groups are asking a federal court to force the U.S. EPA to rule quickly on whether greenhouse gases are a pollutant that should be regulated under the Clean Air Act....

Security firm goes neutral.(News)(McAfee Inc.)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini In a company first, technology security company McAfee Inc. measured the carbon footprint of one of its large corporate events and made it carbon neutral. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reduced non-air-travel...

ell goes green at global headquarters.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Dell Inc. has partnered with the waste management and utility industries to power 100 percent of its 2.1-million-square-foot global corporate campus in Round Rock, Texas, with renewable electricity. Dell is using all...

A Look Back.(At Your Disposal)
April 14, 2008... 10 years ago: Maine begins requiring waste-to-energy facilities and manufacturers to meet new mercury emission standards. 5 years ago: The New York State Environmental Board approves regulations targeting sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide,...

Program a success, on the surface.(Opinion)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Pat Franklin At first blush, the new recycling initiative launched on March 17 in Hartford, Conn., sounds great, especially considering the city's low recycling rate. A 10 percent rate is nothing to write home about, and it's...

Sowing seeds of change in the capital; SafeLawns demonstrates the durability of organic lawn care on the National Mall.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Chrissy Kadleck To show that organic lawn care really works, SafeLawns is sowing the seeds of its message in the most demonstrative and arguably the most trampled spot in the country: the National Mall in Washington. Open to...

Enterprise goes ethanol at FlexFuel branches.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson They'll pick you up - in an ethanol-powered vehicle. Enterprise Rent-A-Car is designating its branch at the Classic Chevrolet dealership in Grapevine, Texas, as its newest E85 FlexFuel branch. Approximately 25...

Recycling record set; Paper recovery reach all-time high in 2007.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson More than 1 million more tons of paper was recovered for recycling in the United States last year compared to 2006, helping push the country's recovery rate to an all-time high. America's recovery rate of 56.1...

Software company accused of fraud.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Management Inc. was looking for a way to streamline business operations, add revenue through better business controls and automation, and improve customer satisfaction when the company decided to use SAP software...

CO2 swapper carves niche.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan As nascent carbon swapping fledges from a wobbly toddlerhood, Stephen Lynch is leery of brokers and traders offering services to both buyers and sellers. They remind him of real estate agents who would buy...

Eco-push bad biz?(Opinion)
April 14, 2008... It's disheartening to hear the National Legal and Policy Center has called Wal-Mart's push to highlight environmentally friendly products "bad business.'' Not that the group is saying Wal-Mart's efforts to push green products are wrong, just...

Honda Motor Co. gets hot for hybrids.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Hans Greimel Automotive News Honda Motor Co. is banking on three hybrid models, including the next-generation Civic Hybrid, to reach an ambitious annual sales target of 400,000 hybrids worldwide in the next five years. Honda...

Keeping it clean on the court.(At Your Disposal)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Colorado's largest indoor sports venue - the Pepsi Center in Denver - is undertaking a variety of steps to become a much more environmentally friendly facility. The arena, home to the Denver Nuggets professional...

States' wind rankings hold steady for 2007.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Wind energy leaders gave little ground in 2007. The wind energy rankings remained virtually the same last year, according to the American Wind Energy Association's annual report released this month. "As a clean,...

Byproduct industries face growing pains.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat Finding use for byproducts is catching on, but plenty of challenges still remain. There continue to be regulatory issues - a fundamental disconnect between the business and regulatory communities that helped lead...

Carbon-caring companies are ahead of curve; Nationwide CO2 mandates aren't far off, officials predict.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Companies would serve themselves well by getting a handle on their carbon footprint now because it's only a matter of time before the country mandates a carbon dioxide emission program. That was one view coming out...

Climate change takes on new importance; Funds move to encourage managers to look at risk factor when weighing investments.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Jay Cooper Pensions & Investments Money managers hoping to win or maintain mandates with some of the largest public pension funds soon will need to have a plan about assessing climate change risk. The Florida State Board of...

Personnel.(People)
April 14, 2008... ABB INC. - Aaron Aleithe named vice president and general manager of Low-Voltage Drives, Automation Products unit. ARNOLD & PORTER LLP - Trenton Norris named partner, head of the San Francisco office, and will serve on the firm's Policy...

Supplier News.(Briefs)
April 14, 2008... Mack offers free emergency shipping Mack Trucks Inc. has eliminated freight charges in most cases for shipments of emergency replacement parts from its parts distribution centers. The new program took effect in the U.S. in mid-January...

More mergers, acquisitions.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat Business is good in the scrap industry, and that typically means lots of mergers and acquisitions. The scrap industry has seen its share of that in the past couple years. The deals will continue, but probably on a...

Invista sues DuPont.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Invista, an integrated fiber and polymer business, has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages from DuPont Co. arising from safety and environmental noncompliance issues during the period DuPont owned...

CAPITAL BRIEFS; A summary of recent developments in federal and state environmental legislation and regulation.(Briefs)
April 14, 2008... LEGISLATION SOLID WASTE Louisiana: Senate Bill 383 increases the allowed distance of landfills to airports in certain parishes. Introduced March 31. Maine: House Bill 610 extends the statutory recycling and source reduction...

Coming Events.(Calendar)(Calendar)
April 14, 2008... April 21-24 - NA 2008: Material Handling and Logistics Show and Conference, Cleveland, Ohio. Contact Tom Carbott at (800) 345-1815, (704) 676-1190 or visit www.nashow.com. April 23 - Air and Waste Management Association Niagara Frontier...

At Deadline.(Late News)
April 14, 2008... Senate OKs green energy tax breaks Tax breaks for renewable energy producers found a "home'' in a bipartisan housing-rescue package the Senate approved 84-12 on April 10. But it's unclear if the almost $6 billion in renewable energy...

Experts say industry leftovers beneficial for agricultural use.(News)(Editorial)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat FGD gypsum and agriculture can go together like the sun and plant growth. So said a group of experts from academia, industry and government, speaking at a session on agriculture and byproducts at the Beneficial...

Obstacles remain for engineering support.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat A big part of gaining acceptance for industrial byproducts is getting the engineer to buy into the idea. "Why bother? Why take on additional risks? These are major obstacles. To overcome the risks you need to...

Wal-Mart tries to highlight eco-products.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a campaign to highlight environmentally friendly products on its store shelves, but not everybody is buying it. The Earth Month merchandising and marketing campaign is the most...

Ethanol benefits outlined.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The benefits of increased ethanol production go beyond helping the environment and reducing demand for foreign oil, according to industry supporters. Ethanol is reducing the financial pinch drivers feel every...

Ford vows 30% emission cut.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Ford Motor Co. is the first automaker to release a roadmap to reduce carbon emissions from its vehicles, pledging a 30 percent drop by 2020. Shareholder groups had been pressuring the Dearborn, Mich.-based carmaker...

Mass. probe; House panel seeks info on court ruling.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Happy Massachusetts v. EPA anniversary! Exactly a year after the Supreme Court presented a groundbreaking ruling that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant, a House panel voted unanimously April 2...

Climate policy will ripple out to other areas.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan For a visual on how climate change policy will infiltrate existing statutes, think of an octopus, that "leggy'' marine creature. That's the image an EPA air quality specialist conjured up April 2 on the first...

Waxman presses for ozone documents.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Suspicions that the White House inappropriately influenced the EPA's latest ozone ruling in March has prompted Rep. Henry Waxman to find out exactly what unfolded. On April 1 the California Democrat wrote a...

Puddle scuffle; Sides debate bill's impact on Clean Water Act.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Democrats claim they're repairing a Clean Water Act pollution permit muddle. Republicans fear that fix could mean environmental restrictions on a mere puddle. So it's understandable if regulators remain, well,...

As scrap prices rise, so do thefts.(News)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman As nonferrous and ferrous scrap metal prices have gone up over the past two years, so have reports of scrap metal thefts. Dealing with those thefts may be one of the greatest challenges facing scrap processors...

ISRI breaks show attendance record.(News)(Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries)(Brief article)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The 2008 ISRI Convention and Exhibition held April 6-10 will be the largest in the scrap recycling association's history, according to organizers. However, it may be a while before they know exactly how many...

Inbox.(At Your Disposal)
April 14, 2008... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach A Matter Of Time: It looks like New York City's Department of Sanitation may soon join the city's Police and Fire Departments and Transportation Authority as agencies that have their own museums. The Sanitation...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)
April 14, 2008... Electronics HP program to cut 500 tons of GHG Hewlett-Packard Co. has partnered with California on a printer cartridge recycling program that is expected to cut 500 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save the state $2 million...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)(Survey)
April 14, 2008... Recycling Survey: Most consumers will recycle TVs Consumers plan to recycle 95 percent of the television sets they replace after the federally mandated switch to digital television in 2009. A Consumer Electronics Association study...

Stock Report.(At Your Disposal)
April 14, 2008... 3 graphs: Waste News Stock Index * Calvert Social Index Fund * Dow Jones Industrial Average * table: Percentage Change by Market Segment: see print copy.

New Products.(Products)
April 14, 2008... CASE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT has introduced remanufactured hydraulic pumps for its CX and 90B series excavators. The pumps include all-new servo pistons and bores with improved seal design. They also feature calibrated regulators, power takeoff,...

CAPITAL BRIEFS; A summary of recent developments in federal and state environmental legislation and regulation.(Briefs)
April 28, 2008... LEGISLATION SOLID WASTE Hawaii: House Bill 2347 affirms that criminal penalties are applicable for scrap dealers who operate without a license and who fail to keep or falsify records of scrap metal purchases. Sent to the governor...

Coming Events.(Calendar)
April 28, 2008... May 4-7 - Federation of New York Solid Waste Association Solid Waste and Recycling Conference with Trade Show, Lake George, N.Y. Contact Jill Daly (518) 783-2827 or visit www.nyfederation.org. May 5-7 - Sixth Annual Carpet America Recovery...

A Look Back.(At Your Disposal)
April 28, 2008... 10 years ago: The Pen Argyl City Council files an appeal with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board over the agency's decision to let the Grand Central Landfill expand. 5 years ago: Budget problems in New York City force 5,000 jobs...

Dingell: Congress should take lead on GHG.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Be careful what you wish for. That was the warning Rep. John Dingell sounded April 10 when he sensed some of his colleagues would prefer that the EPA - and not Congress - regulate the heat-trapping gases...

Ozone levels already contributing to deaths.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Breathing current levels of ozone pollution even for short periods in many areas of the country likely contributes to premature deaths, according to an advisory report prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection...

Feds hike CAFE standards 25%.(corporate average fuel economy)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The federal government is hiking fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks, drawing applause from the auto industry and at least some members of the environmental community. The U.S....

Knight forgoes shortcut.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Trucking company Knight Transportation Inc., which says it is not interested in buying trucks ahead of time to avoid new environmental protection mandates, recently acquired its 1,000th truck that meets 2007 federal...

Pepsi to promote recycling on cans.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini PepsiCo Inc. has earmarked upwards of $40 million in advertising space for a campaign to communicate the benefits of aluminum can recycling to its customers. The Purchase, N.Y.-based beverage maker will feature a...

Inflationary trend; More and more, companies' sustainability claims are favoring fluff over fact.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini It may not be easy being green, but it's not too tough to claim to be. Environmental advertising and green marketing have increased dramatically as companies try to share their sustainable side to consumers. In some...

Where is the green? Campaigns' enviro efforts leave room for improvement.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Sen. John McCain's presidential chase came within a razor's edge of becoming the ultimate exercise in environmental sustainability - when the wheels almost came off the Straight Talk Express' finances last summer....

First Waste Expo almost didn't happen; Original show director shares memories on event's 40th anniversary.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson As thousands of garbage men prepare to descend on Chicago in early May for Waste Expo, Jeanne Hayes remembers how the very first show 40 years ago almost never happened. Arriving to coordinate setup one day before...

Keeping an open mind.(Opinion)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Allan Gerlat There continues to be a community of people who stubbornly resist jumping on the global warming bandwagon. They're the people who will ruin your Earth Day party. To a lot of us, they seem as out of touch as "the world...

Is Earth Day the new Christmas? As more marketers pile on, consumerism may eclipse the spirit of the event.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Natalie Zmuda Advertising Age Earth day - a time to consume more to save the planet. Each year, as Earth Day approaches, marketers of all stripes bombard consumers with green promotions and products designed to get them to buy...

An efficient standard.(Opinion)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The government is getting a rare consensus endorsement on an environmental decision. The U.S. Department of Transportation's plan to increase fuel efficiency standards by 4.5 percent annually over a five-year period received support from the...

At Deadline.(Late News)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Calif. city begins recycle-sort program San Jose, Calif., will begin sorting and recycling all garbage from city facilities and trash cans along sidewalks and at parks, libraries and other public areas next month. Recovering recyclable...

Plan holds promise to boost perception.(News)(Conference notes)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman ISRI officials hope a marketing firm can help the association improve the public's perception of the scrap metal industry. Fleishman Hillard, a Washington, D.C., marketing and public relations firm, is working...

Climate change law would pose challenges.(News)(Conference notes)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Congress will likely pass climate change legislation in the near future, and it would pose both challenges and opportunities for the scrap recycling industry. That was the consensus of a panel at the annual ISRI...

Governors unite against global climate change.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Twenty of the nation's governors have signed a declaration committing their states to addressing global climate change. They made public the declaration April 18 at the 2008 Conference on Climate Change at Yale...

High court nixes Exxon bid for reversal.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman ExxonMobil Corp. failed in its effort to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a $112 million environmental contamination verdict against the company. The High Court on April 21 rejected the oil giant's plea...

Senate ponders tax breaks.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Though they're still seeking a funding source, two Senate Finance Committee leaders are peddling a measure to continue tax credits for investments in renewables and energy efficiency. The legislation...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)
April 28, 2008... Recycling Bag makers push recycling as option Plastic bag manufacturers have launched an initiative to encourage consumers to recycle plastic bags at supermarkets, retailers and other participating stores. Several of the nation's...

Waste Industry Briefs.(briefs)(United States. Environmental Protection Agency)(Costa Rica International Inc.)(Dole Food Company Inc.)(World Wildlife Fund)
April 28, 2008... Energy Efficiency NAM pledges efficiency improvements The National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. EPA have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on improving the energy efficiency of U.S. manufacturers. ...

Weird science; Survey: 56% of scientists report political interference.(United States. Environmental Protection Agency)(Survey)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Political heavy-handedness from federal-level appointees has spawned a crisis among Environmental Protection Agency scientists, a nonprofit advocacy organization reports. A Union of Concerned Scientists survey...

Inbox.(At Your Disposal)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach President Bush, you've no doubt heard, spoke last week about some new ideas he has for the nation's climate change strategy. He called for the U.S. to halt increases in greenhouse emissions by 2025, mainly by...

ISRI selects new leadership, sets show record.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries board elected a new leadership team during its annual convention in Las Vegas April 6-10. The board selected George Adams Jr. as chairman; John Sacco as...

Senators tweak climate bill's budget.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Though they are senators and not surgeons, the co-authors of a complex climate change bill performed a speedy nip-and-tuck to stanch potential spurts of red ink from their bipartisan measure. And, to their...

Politicians make Earth Day pledges.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Politicians popped out like spring posies Tuesday, promising to do their part to preserve and protect the planet they share with 6 billion other human beings. On the House side, three key Democrats on the...

Waste Connections' profit up slightly in 1Q.(News)(Financial report)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson Earnings were up slightly for Waste Connections Inc. during the first quarter despite rising fuel costs, the Folsom, Calif.-based company said. "We continue to be extremely pleased with the underlying strength of...

Brewer observes a week of green.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Green beer is coming out of St. Louis well past St. Patrick's Day. Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. raised environmental awareness among its thousands of employees at its 12 U.S. breweries and aired four television...

Sony begins recycling end-of-life goods; Free electronics collection will complete 'closed-loop' system.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Sony of Canada Ltd. began recycling all of its end-of-life products April 14. Sony of Canada will accept all Sony electronics at no charge at 25 nonretail collection sites it will open across Canada. The sites will...

Md. mandates energy cuts.(News)(Maryland. General Assembly)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Maryland General Assembly has passed legislation proposed by Gov. Martin O'Malley that mandates a 15 percent reduction in per capita energy use by 2015. The passage of the bill will help reduce consumers'...

Mutual funders warm up to global warming; Industry softens stance on climate change reporting.(News)(Industry overview)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The mutual fund industry is slowly warming to the idea of encouraging companies to address climate change, but some mutual fund companies are demonstrating "schizophrenic'' behavior, according to a report from...

Brownfields full of risks and rewards.(Opinion)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Daniel Johnson, Michael McLaughlin As the greening of real estate development and construction increases in popularity, more companies have begun to develop abandoned or underutilized properties known as brownfields. Although recent...

The Doubting-Thomas contingent; A group of skeptics remain cool to the idea that global warming is mainly man-made.(News)(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Bruce Geiselman When the subject is global warming, the question is almost always what we should do to fix it, not whether it needs fixed at all. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Union of...

Cereplast seeks sustainability overseas.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Cereplast Inc. is expanding overseas to take advantage of the growing demand for sustainable plastics throughout Europe. The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company has opened a European headquarters in Velizy Cedex, France....

Clothier exposes impact; Company hopes its chronicles will yield suggestions.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini A California apparel maker is exposing itself. Patagonia Inc. has dedicated an interactive Web site to track and expose the environmental and social impact of the garments it sells. The site, called The Footprint...

Recycler registers Web domains, 800 number; E-scrap CEO hopes to make recycling more memorable.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini A California recycler wants to revolutionize the recycling industry, making it as consumer-friendly and memorable as some of the most well-known brands. "We want to be the 1-800-FLOWERS of our industry,'' said John...

Paperboard capacity falls 3.5%.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Jim Johnson America's capacity to produce recycled-based paperboard fell by 3.5 percent last year and is part of an overall declining trend that reaches back several years. The American Forest & Paper Association recently...

Electric avenue; Fuel prices, pollution concerns renew electric vehicle research.(News)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Joe Truini Climbing gasoline prices and growing pollution concerns are driving a renaissance in the development of electric vehicles. "It is a bit of a back-to-the-future discussion we're having about electric vehicles,'' said...

Who you callin' trashy? Artist's 'trash people' bring litter to life.(At Your Disposal)
April 28, 2008... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Undaunted by a sprinkling of raindrops, two young brothers sidle up to the stationary figure they quickly christen "Computer Man'' and smile for their camera-wielding mother. The hulk between them - its head and...