Waste News articles from December 2004

Waste News archives from December 2004

Personnel.(People)(appointments)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... AL-JON - Bernie Melcher promoted to solid waste division vice president, sales manager. AMERICAN FOREST & PAPER ASSOCIATION - Aubra Anthony Jr. elected chairman. ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS - Charles Stamp Jr. elected...

Systems would gauge products' impact.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken If some green-minded designers have their way, soon it will be possible to get a quick, easy-to-digest rating that measures the environmental impact of a product, including the materials it uses. The Industrial...

HP tones down reuse; Remanufacturers take issue with cartridge report.(Hewlett-Packard Co.)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Remanufacturing is better for the environment, right? Officials at Hewlett-Packard Co. asked themselves that same question. The company questioned whether remanufactured cartridges were more environmentally...

Waste News Pricing Report.(News)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... (With graph: Sorted white ledger): STEADY OCC: Old corrugated container generation is up, as it usually is this time of year, but most consumers still are buying material and storing it in anticipation of increased export demand at the...

A whale of a fish tale.(Opinion)(BFI Canada acquires IESI Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Something about the waste industry: The little fish like to swallow the big fish. In the past, that's caused some indigestion. BFI Canada has agreed to buy IESI Corp. If the deal is approved, it will create one of 10 largest waste companies...

Construction sites on slow road to green.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Recycling and waste management at construction sites is an evolving process that's been slowly improving over the years, the head of the U.S. Green Building Council says. "I don't necessarily see a trend. I think...

Fueling a push; Group backs changes to fuel, equipment at WTC.(News)(World Trade Center)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Imagine hundreds of pollution-belching buses circling the World Trade Center in New York 12 hours a day, every day for months. That's how much pollution the more than 200 machines and pieces of equipment clearing and...

NW stereotypes prove true.(Pacific Northwest)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson The Pacific Northwest has enjoyed a reputation of being particularly green when it comes to environmental issues. Now a new survey released in conjunction with the recent Greenbuild International Conference & Expo...

Comments by the bucketload; EPA logs 680,000 responses on mercury power plant proposal.(News)(Environmental Protection Agency)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Federal regulators have received more than 680,000 public comments about proposed rules to regulate mercury emissions from power plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed two alternatives for...

BFI Canada enters U.S. with IESI buy.
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson BFI Canada is drastically increasing its reach through a nearly $1 billion deal to acquire IESI Corp. that gives the company strong U.S. footing in both the South and the Northeast. BFI Canada's purchase of IESI...

Ontario OKs fuel standard.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Ontario has adopted a renewable fuel standard that could spark similar requirements in other provinces. But some are concerned about whether the province is ready for it. Gasoline wholesalers' annual gasoline sales...

A Look Back.(News)
December 6, 2004... 1885: Benjamin Franklin uses slaves to carry Philadelphia's waste downstream. Five years ago: The U.S. EPA proposes a rule that would for the first time regulate air emissions for operators of small commercial and industrial incinerators....

Small accounts cost Republic.(News)(Republic Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Republic Services Inc. is paying a hefty price for not taking care of its own trash. The nation's third-largest solid waste management company has been hit with a $1.5 million civil penalty for not abiding to...

Office Depot opens books.(publishes environmental auditing report)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Office Depot Inc. has made good on a promise to subject its environmental claims to the same scrutiny as its financial reporting. The Delray Beach, Fla., company published the office product industry's first...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)
December 6, 2004... Paper FedEx ups recycled paper at Kinko's FedEx Corp. is increasing the amount of recycled content in the paper that its Kinko's office and print centers use behind the counter, the company said Dec. 1. The company will move from...

Auditing snickerdoodles.(environmental impact of products)(Column)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Allan Gerlat It's logic that's really obvious. If someone tells you he or she makes great Christmas cookies, you're going to be skeptical. If independent observers (or eaters) say the same thing about that person, you're a lot more...

WMI offers Chicago site plan.(News)(Waste Management Inc.)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Management wants to reopen the CID landfill in southeast Chicago to municipal solid waste and is willing to give away more than half of the profits from the site in a $20 million deal in an effort to overcome...

At Deadline.(Late News)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Protesters target Victoria's Secret stores Environmental activists demonstrated at Victoria's Secret stores nationwide Dec. 2 to protest the company's lack of recycled-content paper in its catalogs. ForestEthics, a San Francisco...

Bay bag battle.(taxation on paper and plastic bags)(Brief Article)(Column)
December 6, 2004... The San Francisco bag-tax battle bears watching because if it passes, other cities are likely to follow suit. The result could be a big drop in dollars spent to clean up and recycle the ubiquitous blue bags, and a big shift in the composition...

Pa. renewable standard awaits signature.(News)(Pennsylvania)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Pennsylvania utilities will have to generate more of their electricity through renewable energy sources if Gov. Edward G. Rendell signs legislation passed last month. The Pennsylvania legislature passed a statewide...

Close, but no Newsmaker cigars.(News)(waste mangement plan)
December 6, 2004... These three individuals received strong consideration by Waste News editors for 2004 Newsmaker of the Year. Michael Bloomberg New York City does not know how to do small. And that includes trash. New York's long-awaited Solid...

Stirring the pot; Michael Knaub may have pushed the right buttons that push two major trade shows toward consolidation.(Waste Expo, Wastecon)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Michael L. Knaub isn't out to change the world. He's just out to change an industry, at least how an industry does business. The senior vice president at Schaefer Systems International Inc. is a driving force behind...

Stately letter; House members seek global warming action.(News)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A bipartisan group of House members has written a letter to the State Department urging it work with other countries to address global warming. Eight members of the Congressional Climate Change Caucus wrote a...

Pa. grants investment; Penn State center will track recyclables.(News)(Pennsylvania)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Penn State University is trying to find a home for the state's recyclables. The state Department of Environmental Protection awarded the university a grant Nov. 18 to create the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center...

Dell saves biggest bite to date for Big Apple.(News)(signs a pact with New York City Department of Education)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini The New York City Department of Education will recycle more than 50,000 pieces of computer equipment through an agreement with Dell Inc. The project is the largest the Round Rock, Texas-based computer company has...

Moving target; Generators contend with changing rules.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Allan Gerlat While waste generators try to find uses for their industrial byproducts, the legal landscape keeps shifting. Two significant factors that can affect what generators can and can't do are changing. Financial...

Feedyard finds ways to use waste.(News)(Teague Diversified Inc.)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini For Gary Teague and his wife, Laura, being neighborly has opened up several business opportunities to beneficially reuse organic waste. The couple owns and operates Teague Diversified Inc., a Fort Morgan, Colo.-based...

Fund could enter fray; Duo coaxing Calif. fund to back emissions plan.(News)(California)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman California's chief financial officer is urging the California Public Employees Retirement System to use its clout as an investor to pressure automakers to comply with the state's new, stricter emissions standards...

Goal: Induce reuse; San Francisco officials ponder 17-cent tax on grocery bags.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken San Francisco is considering a 17-cent tax on each plastic and paper bag used at grocery stores, as a way to reduce litter and cut costs for the city. The city would be the first in the United States to tax bags,...

System binds heavy metals, averts leaching.(product development)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Tracy Hayhurst A new process by a company known for its ability to clean up contaminated soils aims to prevent such pollution from happening in the first place. Solucorp Industries Ltd., which has its home office in West Nyack,...

FDA finds perchorate in lettuce, milk.(News)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found perchlorate contamination in nearly all of the more than 200 samples of lettuce and milk it collected and tested nationwide. The agency collected the data through...

Coming Events.(Calendar)(Calendar)
December 6, 2004... North America Dec. 6-9 - Mixed Waste Treatment Forum, Nashville, Tenn. Contact Andrew Lavin (212) 290-9540 or visit www.perma-fix.com. Dec. 6-10 - Environmental Compliance Boot Camp, Honolulu. Call (800) 769-1199 or visit...

N.J. tarries with solid waste plan.(News)(New Jersey)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Roger Renstrom An overdue update of New Jersey's solid waste management plan remains months away from adoption, and not everyone is pleased. New Jersey law requires that the Department of Environmental Protection update the...

No flow; Federal court in Ky. rejects waste law.(News)(Kentucky)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A federal court in Kentucky has struck down a law that would require waste haulers in Daviess County, Ky., to use only a county-owned transfer station or landfill. The decision benefits waste management...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)
December 6, 2004... Metal Recycling Canadian recycler opens $55M plant Canada's largest ferrous and nonferrous metal recycler planned to break ground on its $55 million aluminum remelt plant Nov. 24 in Brampton, Ontario. Matalco Inc., a unit of...

New Products & Technology.(product introduction)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Tracy Hayhurst JOHNSON MADVAC has introduced the Madvac 101 vacuum litter collector and the MX450 street sweeper. The vacuum litter collector has an engine cutoff option that shuts the engine off if the operator attempts to leave...

Congress OKs $500M to develop Yucca Mt.(News)
December 6, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Congress adopted a $338 billion spending bill for the federal government in 2005 that would include more than $500 million to further development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada. ...

Letters.
December 20, 2004... Cart before horse I read with total astonishment that our show consolidation effort was selected as the Waste News Story of 2004 [Dec. 6 issue]. Although gratified that this topic is garnering such widespread attention, it was...

Farm debate; Court hears pleas about runoff, permits.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A federal appeals court on Dec. 13 heard oral arguments in challenges filed by the American Farm Bureau and environmental groups to federal environmental rules regulating livestock operations. The Farm Bureau...

Waste News Pricing Report.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... (With graph: Atlanta recovered HDPE): PLASTICS PUSH: Increased virgin resin prices are pushing the market for recovered high-density polyethylene into some pretty high numbers for the month of December. Baled colored HDPE, picked up at the...

Vinyl users like Microsoft feel heat.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken A coalition of environmental groups is pressuring Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft Corp. not to use polyvinyl chloride as a packaging material, and plans to target other companies using vinyl. The Center for...

An issue of intensity; Power groups say they'll reduce emissions; green groups say they're playing semantics.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini The power industry says it will do its part to curb U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Seven organizations representing all of the U.S. electric power generation signed an agreement Dec. 13 to voluntarily reduce...

Nominee faces multiple energy issues.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman President Bush has nominated Sam Bodman, deputy Treasury secretary, to succeed Spencer Abraham as head of the Energy Department. As Energy secretary, Bodman's responsibilities would include overseeing the...

Buying season? Casella points to acquisitions with funds.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Casella Waste Systems Inc. is planning to raise up to $250 million that could be used, in part, to make acquisitions. Casella, a solid waste company based in Rutland, Vt., has filed paperwork with the U.S....

NAPCOR rebounds; Group adds staff, targets recycling.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken After laying off most of its staff in a budget cutting move in May, the National Association for PET Container Resources plans to hire an executive director and contract out its routine administrative work. NAPCOR...

Coming Events.(Calendar)(Calendar)
December 20, 2004... North America Jan. 10-13 - ProMat 2005, sponsored by the Material Handling Industry of America, Chicago. Call (704) 676-1190 or visit www.promat2005.org. Jan. 20-23 - Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Operations Forum, San...

Cleaning up a Super mess; Superfund property owners receive little help from Supreme Court.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman A U.S. Supreme Court decision may make it more difficult for companies that voluntarily clean up contaminated property to recover costs from prior property owners. It also could discourage some property owners...

A Look Back.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Five years ago: Three waste hauling companies in Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania say they were bilked by a fly-by-night software company that sold them a faulty Y2K computer program. A year ago: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)
December 20, 2004... Transportation California toughens emission standards California regulators voted Dec. 9 to end a voluntary program and instead force owners of nearly 60,000 heavy-duty trucks, school buses and diesel-powered motor homes to upgrade...

Moving right along.(Opinion)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Allan Gerlat Mike Leavitt, we hardly knew ya. The shift change going on with the Bush administration's cabinet moved through the environmental office last week, as the president nominated the U.S. Environmental Protection...

AW's Slager moves up.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson Allied Waste Industries Inc.'s chief operating officer is taking on the additional title of president, just weeks after an upper level management shakeup at the nation's second-largest solid waste management company....

Plastics group snatches Web name; Calif. initiative to clean up debris dealt blow as parties tangle over move by APC.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Steve Toloken The California Coastal Commission had big plans for an education campaign aimed at reducing plastic litter, and it started with an effort to get industry, environmental groups and government agencies to work together...

Tiny & getting tinier; Report: Fine particle pollution is dropping.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Roger Renstrom The 2003 levels of fine particle pollution, known as PM2.5, were the lowest since nationwide monitoring started in 1999, according to a new federal environment report. Monitored concentrations of the particles,...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)
December 20, 2004... Landfills Calif. board OKs Gregory Canyon permit The California Integrated Waste Management Board has narrowly approved a crucial permit for the proposed Gregory Canyon landfill in northern San Diego County. The board heard...

Corrections.(Correction)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
December 20, 2004... * In A Look Back on Page 9 of the Dec. 6 issue, the year for which Benjamin Franklin used slaves to carry Philadelphia waste downstream was misstated. The correct year is 1792. * An article on Page 16 of the Dec. 6 issue should have stated...

Complex equations.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Numbers, like other facts, can usually be made to say whatever you want them to say. That seems to be the case with a new agreement developed by the U.S. electric power industry to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity. In...

Switch at top won't alter EPA's course.(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman While leadership continues to change at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, both business and environmental leaders agree the agency will stay on course. Where they differ is whether that's a positive or...

DuPont faces another claim.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Federal regulators have filed a new claim against DuPont, saying the chemical company withheld information concerning chemical exposure to humans living near a DuPont plant in West Virginia. The U.S....

Automakers sue California over emission rule.
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman An association representing major automobile manufacturers has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state of California's new regulation that requires automakers to sell cars with reduced greenhouse gas...

Managers erect red light for green resolutions.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Mutual fund managers are ignoring or rejecting proxy resolutions that would force companies to address global warming issues, according to a study commissioned by a coalition of investment funds, environmental...

Debate rages on mining waste.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Joe Truini Environmental groups and the federal government are sparring over a West Virginia mining waste ruling, with each side filing fresh court documents. Environmental groups filed a contempt motion this month in federal...

LFG to power drug company.(News)(Landfill Gas)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson A high-tech drug delivery company will rely on a decidedly low-tech way to power company facilities in California. ALZA Corp. has struck a deal with the city of Mountain View, Calif., to create a landfill...

Pushme shoveya.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... California's battle with automakers is a bit of a paradox because both sides have argued they are working toward a common goal. The state - looking for more immediate results - is trying to force the issue with its new regulation that...

Quote of the Week.(News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... In the past three decades, they have claimed that everything from seat belts to the catalytic converter would bankrupt the industry. They're starting to sound like a broken record. Philip E. Clapp, president of the National Environmental...

At Deadline.(Late News)(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Agency unveils medical waste guidelines Federal environmental officials, working with medical and solid waste interests, have released new recommendations for the disposal of used syringes generated at home. The purpose is to remove as...

2004 in Review: Top 10 Stories.(Special Report)
December 20, 2004... 1. Metal prices soar as storm brews A perfect storm of economic factors, including soaring world demand for scrap steel, especially from China, caused scrap prices to skyrocket to record highs in 2004. While the price increase was a...

Seattle says switch program successful; Washington county removes 500 mercury devices from vehicle trunks and hoods.(News)
December 20, 2004... Byline: Jim Johnson A pilot program in the Seattle area expects to collect hundreds of mercury switches from vehicles this year from public fleets and plans are to extend the effort to private vehicle owners in 2005. Mercury was...

2005 DIRECTORY; Using the Directory & Buyers Guide.(Special Issue)
December 27, 2004... Company Directory: Pg. 5 This section provides an alphabetical listing of all companies in the Directory. Each reference provides the company's address, phone number, fax number, Web address and contacts. The company's primary function,...