Waste News articles from June 2003

Waste News archives from June 2003

Veto maintains Iowa's yard waste ban.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsak, who had been lobbied by eight environmental and recycling organizations, has vetoed legislation that would have lifted a ban preventing Des Moines and other cities in central Iowa from sending...

Toyota targets zero landfilling.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Lindsay Chappell Toyota's new Alabama engine plant will be a template for its push to build more environmentally benign factories. Huntsville is the first greenfield site to meet Toyota's self-imposed zero-landfill objective....

Study: EPA system obsolete.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The computer system the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses to track water pollution and monitor compliance is "incomplete, obsolete, and difficult to use,'' according to a report from the agency's Inspector...

Personnel.(News)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... STORA ENSO NORTH AMERICA - Palmi Moller named vice president, information technology. CALGON CARBON CORP. - John Stanik elected president, CEO. MWH GLOBAL INC. - Gary Erickson named chief planning officer. BAY WEST INC. - Leo...

Natural gas on upswing; Number of green trash trucks rising fast, officials say.(Special Report)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson The number of natural gas-powered trash trucks is expected to triple within the next 10 years as the technology continues to gain popularity. The total number of trucks running on either compressed or liquefied...

Groups criticize mercury plan.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Environmental activists are demanding that 290 tons of mercury-laden waste imported to New York late last month not be recycled. In actuality, the groups say they want the mercury removed from the waste and retired...

Green Cali's PET paradox.(Opinion; California; plastic waste)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... The image of Californians drinking bottled water seems like the epitome of health. But the reality is that it's resulting in some environmentally unhealthy behavior. A recent study concludes that Californians throw away more than 1 billion...

The things we do for wheels.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... In automaking, environmental progress comes in fits and starts. There are technological and market limitations to grapple with, and those limiters can sometimes stand as legitimate barriers. But other times such obstacles are not so...

Subcommittee mulls Clear Skies change.(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Members of a Senate subcommittee briefly discussed during a June 5 hearing whether to relax an interim mercury reduction target contained in President Bush's Clear Skies proposal after hearing from an administration witness. Randall S....

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 9, 2003... * A story on Page 31 of the May 26 issue misspelled the name of former Detroit Red Wings Goalie Greg Stefan. * A New Products brief on Page 58 of the May 26 issue should have listed the phone number for Eaton Vorad Safety Systems as (800)...

GE back onboard with plan to dredge Hudson River.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson One of the nation's largest companies is pushing closer to eventually cleaning up PCB contamination in the Hudson River. General Electric Co. has reached a draft agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection...

Denver shatters donation mark; E-waste flows at Dell's latest tour stop.(News; Dell Computer Corp. )
June 9, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Dell Computer Corp. has set an unofficial record for one-day computer recycling events, collecting 200 tons of scrap electronics at an event in Denver last month. Some 2,000 residents dropped off the mountain of...

Minn. incinerator up and running again.(Products)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Tracy Hayhurst A once-shuttered incinerator is back on line, this time with higher efficiency and fewer emissions, after old and new technology were combined to handle municipal solid waste. The patented Aireal combustion...

A billion bottles litter California; State report contends discarding portable containers is costly error.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Californians toss more than 1 billion empty water bottles away every year - enough plastic to make 74 million square feet of carpeting, a new state report shows. Only 16 percent of all polyethylene terephthalate...

Safety 1st; Duo gives warning of industry dangers.(Special Report; waste management)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Trash removal can be a dangerous, even deadly, business. "There's certainly room for improvement in the safety record of the industry,'' said David Biderman, general counsel for the National Solid Wastes Management...

Intimidation accusations fly at Nev. waste hearing.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Nevada's two senators have accused the Department of Energy of intimidating witnesses so they wouldn't testify before a hearing about quality issues related to the Yucca Mountain project. Energy Department...

Exxon shareholders upbeat despite defeat.(News)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders have defeated a pair of resolutions calling for more environmental transparency from the gas and oil giant. Twenty-one percent of the shareholders in the May 28 vote favored the company...

No more mercury; Wash. bans most sales of chemical.(News)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The state of Washington is banning the sale of certain mercury-containing products and undertaking a campaign to make citizens more aware of the sources of mercury and how to safely dispose of it. The law, which...

Coalition: Reusable shipping has big edge.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Those in the reusable pallet and container business are making a push to promote the use of their projects, saying their products cut down on the overall amount of packaging waste being generated by users. "In the...

Where's the waste? Report doubts data on haz waste, wastewater.(News)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson A new report suggests that the amount of commercial hazardous waste and wastewater generated in the United States could be a third higher than what is being reported. Reports from hazardous waste generators show...

Troubled by trio; DOE questions spending of 3 Nevada counties.(News; nuclear waste disposal)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Department of Energy's Office of the Inspector General has accused three Nevada counties of misspending federal dollars they received in connection with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal project. ...

Mixed review for W.Va. mine study.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Federal and state agencies released a draft report recommending additional actions to protect Appalachian streams from the effects of mountaintop coal mining, but environmentalists criticized the report for...

WN seeks H&D data.(News; hauling and disposal)
June 9, 2003... Waste News needs your assistance in compiling our annual ranking of the largest hauling and disposal companies in the United States and Canada. To be included in this year's list, visit our Web site (www.wastenews.com/survey2003.html) and...

NYC agency makes case for recycling.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman New York City could save more than $16 million in fiscal year 2004 if it reinstitutes full-scale recycling, according to City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. The city's Sanitation Department, however, issued...

WN Pricing Report.(News)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... A PLASTICS PARTY: Colored high-density polyethylene prices gained an average of 2 cents per pound in most parts of the country last month. Processors were paying an average of 12 cents per pound for baled material picked up at the seller's...

'Lucky in life'; Award-winning Huizenga reflects on 43 years in business.(H. Wayne Huizenga)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Billionaire trashman H. Wayne Huizenga talks about luck and timing as much as hard work when looking back on his business successes during the past four decades. Huizenga - who began in garbage by working for...

A SORTED SWOON.(News; recycled paper)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... A SORTED SWOON: The sorted office paper market remains unsettled. The national average dropped from $138 per ton for baled material in February to $118 per ton last month. The domestic old corrugated container market also has lost some steam,...

General Electric to address Mass. site.(Briefs)
June 9, 2003... PCB Cleanup Boston - General Electric Co. has agreed to pay a $94,380 penalty to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to settle a case involving improper storage of equipment that contains polychlorinated biphenyls at a company...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)
June 9, 2003... Plastics Recycling WMI to open Chicago all-bottles facility Houston - Waste Management Inc. has decided to open a second all-bottles plastic recycling facility, a potentially significant investment on the part of the waste-hauling...

Recycling markets listless, but not entirely hopeless.(Special Report)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Allan Gerlat Recycling markets for plastic, glass and paper are all sluggish, but potential is there if you look, said three officials in the business. Polyethylene terephthalate is facing a variety of challenges, said Phil...

English company may scrap 13 U.S. ships.(News)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The U.S. government may soon export 13 decommissioned ships that are part of the so-called James River "Ghost Fleet'' to England for scrapping, but at least two members of Congress are complaining that the move...

E-waste: Thorny issues aplenty.(Special Report)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Allan Gerlat An electronics waste generator and the largest recycler in the U.S. demonstrated just how complex the electronics waste issue is. While both Renee St. Denis of Hewlett-Packard Co. and Kevin McCarthy of Recycle...

It's the wind, dummy.(Opinion; Enviromemtal Protection Agency)
June 9, 2003... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach I had this idea to write a help wanted ad for the next EPA administrator, and a headline kept flashing in my head: All Things To All People. I thought the ad should say something about the candidate's ability...

A Look Back.(News)
June 9, 2003... Five years ago: Eastern Environmental Services Inc. extends its reach beyond the New York City market by purchasing two upstate trash haulers with combined annual revenue of $35 million. A year ago: Some buyers of garbage hauling trucks...

Utilities seek clean coal technology.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini If coal is to continue to reign as king, it's going to have clean up to keep up with the times. Coal-fired boilers generate more than half of the electricity produced in the United States. And it is likely to stay...

Whitman, Canada, Mexico peers to meet.(Late News)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... EPA Administrator Christie Whitman will participate in two news conferences next week with her counterparts from Canada and Mexico to address actions needed to improve the environment throughout North America. On June 23, Whitman and...

Memo: White House edited EPA report.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman An environmental status report planned for release on the eve of Christie Whitman's departure as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is mired in controversy amid allegations that the White House...

Supplier News.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... Mack finance launches Web site Lehigh Valley, Pa. - Mack Commercial Finance, the financing arm of Mack Trucks Inc., has launched a new Web site to help meet the demand of the Mack dealer network for quality used trucks. The site,...

Rail car garbage vexes neighbors in Buffalo.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Hundreds of rail cars stacked two-high and full of thousands of tons of trash are sitting in a Buffalo rail yard with nowhere to go. Week after week, month after month, the orphaned trash has done nothing but rot and...

Indiana electric company settles NSR case with feds.(News)(New Source Review)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company Inc. will pay millions of dollars to settle a New Source Review complaint filed four years ago by the federal government in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. The...

Corrections.(Correction)
June 23, 2003... * A story on Page 3 of the June 9 issue should have said that each year 1,000 tons of mercury are mined worldwide. * A story on Page 4 of the June 9 issue presented a misleading comment. Phil Cavin of Mohawk Industries Inc. pointed out the...

CO2 regs: It's when, not whether.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini The federal government will regulate carbon dioxide emissions, but when and how is still up in the air. A group of stakeholders, including eight electric power companies and nine investment funds, came to that...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Briefs)
June 23, 2003... Scrap Metal Philip Services files for Chapter 11 Houston - Philip Services Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than five years. The Houston-based company, which operates in the scrap...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)
June 23, 2003... Bottle Recycling Mass. weighs bottle bill expansion Boston - Massachusetts state Sen. Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. introduced legislation June 13 to update Massachusetts' container deposit law to include some 700 million noncarbonated...

Steelmaker says it was framed.(News)(AK Steel Corp.)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini AK Steel Corp. claims the state of Ohio is simply out to get it. The Middletown steelmaker says it has documents and other evidence proving the state has manipulated and overstated the contamination in an Ohio River...

Navigating through a minefield; Group urges EPA to review rules governing disposal of coal combustion waste in mines.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Just because something comes from the ground doesn't necessarily mean it's welcomed back. The Clean Air Task Force, an environmental advocacy group, is raising concerns over the disposal of power plant waste at...

Cleaning brownfields = green; Mayors to feds: Restoring contaminated property would bring cities cash, jobs.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Redeveloping the nation's brownfield sites could create new jobs and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue for the nation's financially beleaguered cities, according to a report released June 9 by the U.S....

Delaware weighs tougher chemical regs.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is asking the state Legislature to consider additional laws regulating companies that deal with hazardous chemicals and for state regulators to better oversee their operations. ...

Forum focuses on business risk.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Elizabeth Thompson Beckley How better to examine and mitigate risk, whether in accounting or environmental practice, dominated a recent forum on corporate social responsibility in Washington. "You need to develop a vocabulary...

Critical condition.(Opinion; National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... NEPSI, the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative, isn't dead. But it appears to be on life support. And that could mean a huge blow for the effective management of electronic waste. A NEPSI meeting earlier this month yielded...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
June 23, 2003... Go for a home run A recent Waste News article on efforts to recycle bottles of all plastic types prompts me to respond with these thoughts. I suppose there are business reasons, and economics reasons, and good explanations, and lousy...

Waste groups forge detente.(News)(National Solid Wastes Management Association)(Solid Waste Association of North America)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Solid waste's two chief professional organizations are trying to put aside past differences and work more closely together while still realizing there will always be some disagreements. The National Solid Wastes...

Q&A with Dale Heydlauff.(Special Report)(Interview)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Dale Heydlauff is senior vice president of governmental and environmental affairs for American Electric Power Company Inc., the largest power generator in the United States. The Columbus, Ohio-based company owns and...

Violence poses risk to workers.(News)(trash workers)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Trash workers - because they don't always receive the respect afforded to other employees - can be more vulnerable to problems that lead to workplace violence. "I don't think the people view garbage people, trash...

A Look Back.(News)
June 23, 2003... 1989: Sudden growth in the curbside collection of newspaper creates a glut in the market. Prices drop to zero, and some communities have to pay to have the material taken away. Five years ago: New York City Sanitation Commissioner John...

Awards.(News)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... WASTEC names top engineer New Orleans - Wastec has named Gary Kolbert of Vecoplan LLC as its Engineering Employee of the Year. Vecoplan designs, engineers, manufactures, installs and services systems for processing solid waste. ...

Waste News Pricing Report.(News)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... (Steel can prices) STEEL TUMBLES: Scrap steel markets suffered again this month, with prices for recovered steel cans and white goods falling in many parts of the country. The lack of demand from steel mills has undone months of much-needed...

Senate energy bill seeks MTBE ban, ethanol boost.(News)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman American cars may soon be burning more gasoline containing ethanol - some manufactured from agricultural waste - and less containing the controversial additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, better known as MTBE. ...

Swimming in muddy water.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... It's a debate literally as old as America: How much power should the federal government have, and how much should states have? And that's the central contention in the effort to clarify the Clean Water Act. All agree that the act needs...

Scrambled circuits; E-waste recycling initiative staggers; pessimism grows.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Some participants are losing faith in the national dialogue to develop a nationwide electronic waste recycling program and are telling states to look out for themselves. The group of about 45 industry officials...

Breaking new ground; Three states sue EPA for failing to regulate carbon dioxide.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Three New England states filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this month for failing to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Attorneys general from Connecticut, Massachusetts and...

Cleanup time; Congress to clarify Clean Water Act.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Republicans and Democrats speaking during a recent Senate subcommittee meeting agreed that Congress needs to clarify the Clean Water Act in the wake of a 2-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the siting of...

Many still regard coal ash as hazardous waste.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini What a kick in the ash. It's been three years since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reaffirmed its position that coal combustion byproducts are not hazardous waste and are safe for beneficial use. Not...

The politics of trash; It pays to know your legislators, waste vets say.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Solid waste companies must make an effort to plug in to their local communities as a way to make sure their operations succeed. "From the beginning, I understood how important it was to get involved in local...

Solutia files PCB lawsuit.(News)(Brief Article)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Solutia Inc. is suing 19 other companies, mostly foundries, in an attempt to force them to help pay for a PCB and hazardous metals cleanup project. Solutia, a specialty chemicals company based in St. Louis, is on...

Casella sells brokerage; Management purchases commodities business.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson Casella Waste Systems Inc. is winding down efforts to shed unwanted businesses as part of a two-year effort to refocus on its core solid waste management business. The company sold a recycled commodities brokerage...

Waste Expo 2003.(Briefs)
June 23, 2003... Hundreds of exhibitors attended Waste Expo 2003 in New Orleans this year, bringing new products for use in waste management, recycling and environmental technology. The following are some of the products that were introduced. REHRIG...

A mighty wind; Renewable energy is becoming more price-competitive.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Being full of hot air can be a good thing. Renewable energy use is increasing, albeit slowly, in the United States. As renewable energy becomes more competitive, business and residential customers are turning to...

Coming Events.(waste management industry)(Calendar)
June 23, 2003... North America July 14-17 - Solid Waste Association of North America Training Center, Cleveland. Call (800) 467-9262. July 21-23 - Corporate Social Responsibility for the Energy Industry Conference, Houston. Call (973) 256-0211. ...

Truckers plug in, cut emissions.(News)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Jim Johnson A Tennesee company is rolling out its truck electrification business designed to eliminate engine idling and the resulting pollution. IdleAire Technologies Corp. joined U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

High hopes; Atlanta-based utility launches biomass pilot plan.(Special Report)
June 23, 2003... Byline: Joe Truini Workers at Southern Co.'s power plant near Albany, Ga., are smoking grass, and the corporation's top brass is encouraging more of it. Based on its initial success, Southern Co., the second-largest U.S. electricity...