Waste News articles from June 2006

Waste News archives from June 2006

Stock Report.(At Your Disposal)
June 5, 2006... 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)
June 5, 2006... VERMEER MANUFACTURING CO. has introduced three new products targeted at waste recycling and tree care customers. The BC 1400TX Brush Chipper can process wood up to 15 inches in diameter and is powered by a 122-hp engine. The SC352 Stump Cutter...

Calif. e-recycling program succeeding; Year-old law overcoming growing pains.(News)(The California Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003)(2006 International Symposium on Electronics & the Environment and the Electronics Recycling Summit)(CIWMB's Waste Prevention and Market Development)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini The nation's first mandatory electronics recycling program has entered its second year resembling any other toddler - mostly likable, but unsteady and prone to fits at times. California electronics collectors and...

Safe nukes; President Bush touts nuclear energy at Pa. plant.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Developing more nuclear energy plants should play a significant role in the America's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants, President Bush said during a May 24 visit to a Pennsylvania...

Letters.(Letter to the editor)
June 5, 2006... Fed funds not needed In regard to the Waste News Poll question "Should the U.S. government contribute a larger share of the funding to upgrade cities' wastewater systems?'' [March 6], in my dealings with the local government and knowing...

Cell phone recycling reception improving.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini While no one was looking, an industry has evolved. Computers have overshadowed cell phones as the electronic waste poster child. Despite the lack of attention, wireless phone recyclers not only are addressing the...

Waste Services mulls stock split.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Services Inc. is proposing a reverse stock split that would cut the number of common shares by two-thirds. The Burlington, Ontario-based solid waste management company said it will propose a reverse 1-for-3...

We Energies wins stewardship award.(News)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... We Energies, a Milwaukee-based energy company, has received the Environmental Stewardship Award from Veolia Environmental Services. Veolia Environmental Services created the Environmental Stewardship Award in 2003 to recognize customers who...

N.Y. becomes latest state to unveil mercury proposal; Plan calls for 50% reduction by 2010, 90% by 2015.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The state of New York has introduced its own mercury plan to reduce emissions from electric power plants. It joins several other states, including Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania, in advocating tougher mercury...

China to take first major recycling step.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Katherine Sima Plastics News Officials say China plans to pass recycling legislation in the first half of 2007. The proposed legislation would be the first national laws aimed at addressing recycling issues in China. Officials...

Coming Events.(Calendar)(Calendar)
June 5, 2006... June 12-14 - Illinois Recycling Association 26th Annual Conference & Trade Show, Alsip, Ill. Contact Mike Mitchell (708) 358-0050 or visit www.illinoisrecycles.org. June 12-15 - Managing Waste in Wide Open Spaces, Albuquerque, N.M. Contact...

Correction.
June 5, 2006... A news brief on Page 6 of the May 22 issue should have said Californians recycled a total of 12.4 billion containers in 2005.

Waste Industry Briefs.(earnings and acquisition)
June 5, 2006... Hauling Waste Connections makes $20M deal Waste Connections Inc. is acquiring Waste Management Inc.'s operations in El Dorado County, Calif., in a deal that will add about $20 million in annual revenue. Waste Connections, of...

Personnel.(appoinments)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... AMERICAN LAFRANCE LLC - Gene Parker appointed national sales manager, vocational products. AMERICAN WATER - George MacKenzie appointed nonexecutive chairman of the board of directors. BUDGET WASTE INC. - Mike Hammer appointed fencing...

Author's unsavory journey finds him flush with ideas.(News)(Book review)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan W. Hodding Carter IV is among the rarefied few. The curious author recasts a boyhood fascination with bodily functions into a clarion call for a nation to clean up its antiquated wastewater treatment act. What...

Waste sites near rail lines face criticism and scrutiny.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Congress is looking into controversial solid waste facilities located along railroad lines that can use federal protection to avoid state and local regulations. And the chairman of a U.S. House subcommittee on...

2nd GM plant reaches zero-landfill status.(News)(General Motors Corp)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Recycling, thy name is Tonawanda. General Motors Corp.'s Tonawanda Engine Plant is no longer sending any waste to landfills. The world's largest engine manufacturing site near Buffalo, N.Y., is diverting more...

Majority of recyclable plastic heads to landfills.(News)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Mike Verespej Plastics News The demand for recycled plastics has never been higher. But even the 1 billion pounds of PET plastic bottles and 1 billion pounds of high density polyethylene containers recycled annually in the United...

At deadline.(Late News)(training to improve socio-environmental responsibility practices)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... HP reaches out to its Chinese suppliers Hewlett-Packard Co. is offering a yearlong training program for its Chinese suppliers to improve social and environmental responsibility practices in their factories. The initiative, unveiled...

Can't contain her frustration.(Opinion)(Beverage Producers Environmental Council)(Beverage Container Recycling Challenge)(beverage container recycling)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Pat Franklin It's no wonder that even among the National Recycling Coalition membership, few know what the Beverage Producers Environmental Council is, or what formal relationship these two organizations have. BPEC has been...

Utility PPL jumps onboard; company becomes 10th to join FutureGen clean-coal project.(News)(PPL Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Another major U.S. electric utility company has joined an international public-private partnership to develop the world's cleanest coal-fired power plant. PPL Corp. signed on to the FutureGen project, which seeks to...

Capital briefs.(Netzwelt)
June 5, 2006... LEGISLATION GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Hawaii: House Bill 2175 authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds to implement a pilot project to install photovoltaic systems at public schools within the counties of Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, and...

Senate committee rejects chlorine amendment.(News)(Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and Democrats on the Senate environment committee have failed to pass an amendment that would have forced operators of large wastewater plants to transition away from using chlorine and...

Finding common ground; trade groups see room for bioreactor landfills and composting.(News)(U.S. Composting Council )
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson There's a place for both composting and bioreactor landfills, the Solid Waste Association of North America and the U.S. Composting Council agreed. The two groups have issued a joint statement regarding the...

Auto coalition launches alt-fuel vehicle promotion.(News)(Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson A consortium of automobile manufacturers is launching a program to help promote alternative vehicles. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing nine companies, has created a new Web site...

It's time to act; Senate panel says U.S. must address global warming.(News)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bipartisan resolution expressing the Senate's belief that the United States must address global climate change through the negotiation of fair and effective...

Waste generator briefs.(Briefs)(waste management)
June 5, 2006... Electronics Apple customers can recycle for free Apple Computer Inc. launched a free U.S. computer recycling program May 31, allowing any customer who buys a new Mac computer to recycle their old one at no cost. The program is...

Too green for Treasury? Nominee has environmental track record.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman President Bush's selection of Henry M. Paulson as the country's next Treasury secretary has won accolades from many environmentalists and much of the business community. However, some conservative business groups...

Adding green to the cabinet.(Opinion)(Henry M. Paulson's environmental policy)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... President Bush's nominee for the next Treasury secretary of the United States, Henry M. Paulson, is getting some resistance from certain groups. Interestingly, it's not for his fiscal polices but rather his environmental stance. Paulson is...

N.J. ruling could cost Exxon dearly.(News)(New Jersey)(Exxon Mobil Corp.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Exxon Mobil Corp. may have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to address natural resource damage around refineries the company operated for more than a century, a New Jersey judge ruled May 26. Superior Court...

Report: global CO2 rose 15% from '92 to '02.(News)(Brief article)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Carbon dioxide emissions increased by 15 percent between 1992 and 2002, topping 24 billion metric tons, according to a new report by the World Bank. The rapidly expanding economies of China and India are...

A look back.(At Your Disposal)
June 5, 2006... 1928: Cellophane is invented by the DuPont Cellophane Co. The transparent material is used as protective wrapping for food and other products. Five years ago: A federal appeals court rules that four Virginia laws designed to restrict the...

Frustrated carpet maker walks out; Tandus wanted more from industry recycling initiative.(Tandus Group Inc.)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Tandus Group Inc. has notified the executive director of the voluntary Carpet America Recovery Effort that it will no longer participate in the program. "In my opinion, CARE has been an obstacle to recycling carpet...

Inbox.(solid waste transfered at Georgetown)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Peter Fehrenbach A Pearl Of A Jam: Seattle Weekly last week published a good, detailed update about the looming fight over the proposed siting of a solid waste transfer station in Georgetown, a neighborhood on Seattle's south side....

Solid waste school; Okla. landfill helps teach students about environmental issues.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson It's all about being neighborly, teacher Susan Croston figures. "We are fairly close neighbors. We can actually see the landfill from the front of our school if you're standing in the right spot,'' said Croston, a...

Medical device reuse group battles Mass. bill.(News)(Association of Medical Device Reprocessors )
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Association of Medical Device Reprocessors is criticizing legislation in Massachusetts that would make it more difficult for hospitals to use reprocessed single-use medical devices. State Sen. Susan Tucker...

Recyclers aim at white box products; web site to track hard-to-identify electronics.(News)(National Center for Electronics Recycling)
June 5, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini As more states pass electronic waste regulations, identifying orphaned and white box products is becoming increasingly vital. The National Center for Electronics Recycling plans to go live at the end of this month...

Changing TRI may spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e; Congress or courts may decide the fate of the president's plan.
June 5, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman The Bush administration's efforts to reduce reporting burdens for businesses handling toxic chemicals may be headed for a battle in Congress and the courts. Environmentalists and health care advocates who oppose...

Stock Report.(At Your Disposal)
June 19, 2006... 3 graphs: Waste News Stock Index * Calvert Social Index Fund * Dow Jones Indusrial Average: see print copy

Wind proponents seek 20% piece of U.S. electricity pie.(Department of Energy)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini The U.S. wind power industry and the federal government have agreed it's time to move the nation toward generating 20 percent of its electricity from wind farms. Representatives from the American Wind Energy...

Arm-twisting not necessary.(Opinion)(Brief article)(Column)
June 19, 2006... Climate change has become a hot topic lately, from Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth,'' to a new initiative by investors calling for publicly traded companies to disclose the financial risks to the business from global warming. The idea is...

Paint makers crawl toward consensus.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini U.S. paint producers are inching toward a national paint recovery and recycling program, but reaching agreement among industry members is a challenge - and they haven't even begun discussing financing the program. ...

At Deadline.(Maritime Administration signs contracts)
June 19, 2006... MARAD signs pacts for scrapping 8 ships The U.S. Maritime Administration on June 15 and 16 announced signing contracts for the scrapping of eight vessels from its reserve or ghost fleets of retired government vessels. The Maritime...

Oakleaf Waste assists Habitat; Waste broker aids green building project near its Connecticut headquarters.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Oakleaf Waste Management is teaming with Habitat for Humanity to make a couple of homes in Hartford, Conn., greener. The local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for low-income families in need of...

New Ore. hospital powered by wind.(Providence Health System)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Providence Health System is opening the first hospital in the country powered entirely by renewable wind energy. Providence Newberg Medical Center, in Newberg, Ore., opens June 16, and is built according to the...

Online trader hopes to make splash in China.(Paul Roszel)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Katherine Sima Paul Roszel has big plans for his U.S.-based company in China. Roszel, chairman of Recyclenet Corp., which owns the online secondary commodities exchange www.recycle.net, asked the U.S. Embassy's Commercial...

'We still have a long way to go'; China registers 3,353 foreign waste importers in first full year.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Katherine Sima In an effort to guard against radiation elements, infectious diseases and pollutants entering the country, China's government began requiring foreign importers to register with the Administration of Quality...

Dems, GOP find common ground on renewables.(Grand Old Party)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Elected officials are banking on agriculture. A bipartisan coalition of senators and representatives are introducing a congressional resolution that would establish a goal of producing 25 percent of the...

Enjoying the view up here.(Opinion)(Column)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Allan Gerlat It's an idea that's just crazy enough to work. Green roofs. We're not talking about decorations for St. Patrick's Day. It's even more than a label for environmentally friendly construction. We're talking about the...

Stakeholders push for shift in marketplace.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Attitudes toward waste generation need to shift, and stakeholders need to work together to spark that change, according to participants at the 2nd Annual Product Stewardship Forum. "I think people who are working on...

Car, paper maker find other green reason to go green.(Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing )
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Large and small, U.S. manufacturers are awakening to the concept of producer responsibility, but not primarily for environmental reasons or bowing to pressure from advocacy groups. Toyota Motor Engineering and...

A Look Back.(At Your Disposal)
June 19, 2006... 1810: King George III of England grants a patent for the tin can to a British merchant, Peter Durand. Five years ago: A decision by Gerber Products Co. to package three of its baby-food flavors in No. 7 plastic instead of glass jars raises...

Inbox.(Mayor Rudolph Giuliani)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Pete Fehrenbach Run Rudolph Run: Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has started making noises that some interpret as the first stirrings of a 2008 presidential bid. The other day Giuliani spoke to the Manhattan Institute...

Smelter to fund ecological study.(Teck Cominco Ltd.)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini One of the world's largest zinc producers has agreed to fund a study to determine the environmental damage its Canadian smelting operations have caused in the United States. Teck Cominco Ltd. will put $20 million in...

Capital Briefs.(Briefs)
June 19, 2006... LEGISLATION GENERAL ENVIRONMENT Colorado: Senate Bill 138 concerns the requirement that gasoline contain at least a specified percentage of ethanol by volume. Vetoed by governor May 26. Iowa: Senate Bill 2398 provides a sales tax...

Canada attacks metal runoff problem; Wastewater treatment plant near mine opens.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Canada officially opened a $15.5 million wastewater treatment facility June 5 that will mitigate one of North America's largest sources of heavy metal pollution. The Britannia Mine Water Treatment Facility has the...

Coming Events.
June 19, 2006... June 19-21 - 2006 Joint Arkansas Recycling Coalition & the Mississippi Recycling Coalition Recycling Conference & Trade Show, Tunica, Miss. Contact Cherie O'Mary (866) 290-1429 or visit www.recycleark.org. June 24-26 - Canadian Association...

Sop tops: Eco-lids cut sewer spills; Rain-absorbing roofs sprout atop buildings in Washington, elsewhere.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth McGowan Traditionally, engineers tasked with remedying combined sewer overflows peer underground into the bowels of the city, intent on adding more muscular pipes. That perspective, however, is beginning to flip as...

Dispute settled, pallet recycler moves on; Pallet Services will return blue units to CHEP.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson A pallet recycling and repair company in the Pacific Northwest has settled its legal differences with one of the largest pallet providers in the world. Pallet Services Inc. and CHEP USA had been in a dispute...

Recycling rate for steel hits record 75.7 percent.(News)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini After stagnating for three years, steel recycling skyrocketed last year with the single largest recycling rate increase since the industry started tracking it in 1988. The overall U.S. steel recycling rate hit a...

Emerald Waste emerges in Florida.(Waste Recyclers Holdings changes to Emerald Waste Services LLC)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson One northwest Florida waste management company is changing names and making deals. Waste Recyclers Holdings is now Emerald Waste Services LLC, a switch designed to reflect the company's range of residential,...

Tired series' latest episode.(James Galante)(Brief article)(Column)
June 19, 2006... Life imitated art last week when the owner of a trash hauling business was indicted for, among other things, alleged connections to organized crime. James Galante of Automated Waste Disposal in Danbury, Conn., is being held in a state prison...

Awards.(CertainTeed Corp. and Shintech Inc. honored)(Bryan Hubbell receives EPA award)(Brief article)
June 19, 2006... 2 PVC companies receive honors CertainTeed Corp. and Shintech Inc. were honored at the Vinyl Institute's annual meeting May 22 for 15 consecutive years of outstanding performance at their PVC resin manufacturing plants in North America....

Letters.(Letter to the editor)
June 19, 2006... Shared responsibility I just wanted to say that your piece "Illegals: We're all guilty'' (May 22, Page 8) was about as tasteful and sensible an article regarding illegal immigration as I've seen since the uproar began. Thank you for a...

Waste Industry Briefs.(Commercial Metals Co. closes the acqisition)(Aleris International Inc. is biulding a recycling plant)(Los Angeles to inject municipal biosolids)
June 19, 2006... Recycling Commercial Metals explores plastics Commercial Metals Co. has closed the acquisition of Yonack Iron & Metal Co. and Metallic Industries Inc. The move marks Commercial Metals' entry into the plastics recycling business. ...

Hockey team in limbo after owner indicted.(league's championship)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson With a stick-wielding garbage can named "Scrappy'' as a mascot, the Danbury Trashers have enjoyed two years of minor league hockey success, even making it to the league's championship series last month. But just...

Investors seek climate risk disclosure rules.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman More than two dozen institutional investors, including state treasurers and comptrollers from nine states, are calling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to require that publicly traded companies...

29 indicted in trash-mob probe; Conn. waste firm owner among those charged.(Galante's business)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson A prominent Connecticut trash company owner remains behind bars as the federal government claims his business is tied to the mob. A total of 29 people are being charged in a probe of trash carters in Connecticut and...

Waste Generator Briefs.(Briefs)(California gold sustainable carpet standard)
June 19, 2006... Energy Michigan delegation stumps for E85 Sixteen members of Congress from Michigan are urging President Bush to pressure oil companies to increase the number of stations selling E85 biofuel, a cleaner-burning fuel consisting of 85...

More hot water; Ex-McWane exec sentenced for Clean Air Act violations.
June 19, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Trouble continues to pile up for McWane Inc. A federal judge has sentenced a former executive of a foundry owned by a subsidiary of McWane to prison for violating the Clean Air Act. Prosecutors after the...

Renewable energy use made modest gain in '04.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Bruce Geiselman Renewable energy consumption increased a little less than 1 percent between 2003 and 2004, according to a recently released report by the federal government's Energy Information Administration. But while...

Emission credits offset CO2 for climate film.(carbon dioxide emissions)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson A new documentary about global warming, featuring former vice president Al Gore, is doing its part to avoid global warming. "An Inconvenient Truth'' is offsetting all of the carbon dioxide emissions regarding...

Busy times at Waste Services; Ontario company settles dispute, sells Fla. unit, prepares stock.(Waste Management the money)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Jim Johnson Waste Services Inc. and the company's chief operating officer will pay $100,000 to Waste Management Inc. to settle a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, including breach of a noncompete agreement. Charles A. Wilcox...

Mobile unit could assist with bird flu outbreak.(spread of bird flu or mad cow disease)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Tracy Hayhurst Massive livestock kills like those used to stop the spread of bird flu or mad cow disease generate a new set of worries: how to get rid of contaminated carcasses. A new mobile processing unit from Sanitec...

Wind's future: some clouds but sunny; Officials see tax credit, transmission as hurdles.(News)
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini As sure as the wind blows, wind power will be a part of America's energy mix, but policy and infrastructure uncertainty is limiting its development. Representatives from some of the nation's largest utilities and...

Surprise Escape; New York woman wins grand prize, a hybrid vehicle, in America Recycles Day contest.(Department of Environmental Conservation )
June 19, 2006... Byline: Joe Truini Well, it isn't The Price Is Right game show, but a New York woman has won a new car for promising to recycle. America Recycles Day Inc. awarded its national grand prize, a new Ford Escape hybrid, to Myrna Gittler of...