E-Cycling

Cities and businesses are addressing old challenges with innovative thinking

by: Brett Rosenberg

Several notable speakers provided their insights into the state of electronics equipment recycling during the MWMA 2004 Fall Summit Electronics Recycling and Producer Responsibility Session, addressing private and public concerns regarding the rapidly growing need to respond to accumulating used and obsolete electronics.

Several notable speakers provided their insights into the state of electronics equipment recycling during the MWMA 2004 Fall Summit Electronics Recycling and Producer Responsibility Session, addressing private and public concerns regarding the rapidly growing need to respond to accumulating used and obsolete electronics.

Larry King of Hewlett Packard’s Product Recycling Solutions division began the session with a presentation of HP’s wok toward product take-back, design for the environment, known as DfE, and encouraging legislation and collaboration that promotes manufacturer, consumer and government responsibility with regard to electronics equipment. As a corporation that manufactures over 36,000 products for personal use, business, industry, engineering, scientific and educational use, HP recognizes the importance of reusing or recycling as much as possible for both economic and environmental reasons.

As King remarked, “The electronics waste issue is growing and needs to be addressed sooner or later.” In order to ease the economic risk associated with the end of life phase of the product, , HP actively adopted strategies to extend product life, decrease product waste, and ultimately increase value to consumers while addressing environmental concerns Unfortunately, as HP has found, as more electronics accumulate, prices for recycled material have ebbed as recovery costs have increased.

These trends have led HP to promote programs that aim to level the playing field among all levels of government, manufacturers and all types of consumer sales, including internet, catalog, and retail stores. “HP supports regulations and legislation which provide a framework for shared responsibility,” concluded King.

Aaron Aragon, of Federal Prison Industries, Inc., known as UNICOR, described efforts the Federal Prison Bureau has undertaken to address some of the challenges about which Larry King spoke. As a wholly-owned government corporation, UNICOR employs and provides job skills training to the greatest practicable number of inmates confined within the Federal Bureau of Prisons; contributes to the safety and security of our Nation’s federal correctional facilities by keeping inmates constructively occupied; produces market-priced quality goods for sale to the federal Government; operates in a self-sustaining manner, all while seeking to minimize UNICOR’s impact on private sector business and labor.

One of UNICOR’s major business operations involves electronics recycling. UNICOR’s Recycling Business Group provides competitively priced electronic recycling that meets all federal, state, and local requirements. If an item cannot be reused, it is broken down into component parts that are recycled. The Recycling Business Group’s goal is to make sure every part is recycled or resold.

Daphne Washington of the Kern County Waste Management Department then presented her organization’s experiences with a grant-funded e-waste collaborative, an unconventional project created to growing supply of used electronics products. Businesses and residents participate by donating dated electronics to the local, nonprofit thrift store network, including Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Collected electronic waste is transported to and processed by the Bakersfield Association of Retarded Citizens (BARC). Material that is in good working order, refurbishable, or marketable is managed by BARC technical staff and eventually sold or donated through the thrift store network. According to Washington , “Businesses like working with these groups and citizens appreciate seeing the BARC members able to work.”

Tom Henderson of the Washington , DC Public Works wrapped up the e-cycling session with a short presentation about developing sites within communities to accept used electronics equipment for recycling. In Washington , according to Henderson , the most effective strategy so far has involved establishing electronics drop-off points at existing recycling centers. A major challenge, however, has involved acquiring the funds necessary to expand the existing infrastructure to handle new materials and train technicians appropriately.

 

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How Cities May Take Advantage of Renewable Energy Credits:
Finding and Selling RECs from Waste-to-Energy and Other Renewable Power Sources

By: Brett Rosenberg

The Municipal Waste Management Association’s 2004 Fall Summit began with two timely presentations about important benefits that waste-to-energy facilities (WTEs) stand to realize through the use of renewable energy credits (RECs). Maria Zannes, President of the Integrated Waste Services Association and Robin Davidov, Executive Director of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority provided their perspectives on trends involving challenges and opportunities in promoting the advantages of WTEs.

Waste-to-energy facilities combust municipal solid wastes to reduce their volume, produce energy, and recover materials. These facilities, according to Zannes, serve two major public needs: they provide an environmentally sound, reliable means of solid waste disposal, and provide clean, renewable power. The federal government and several states allow consumers to purchase renewable energy credits, which certify that a given amount of electricity is produced in a renewable manner, such as at a WTE facility, through wind power or biomass, for example. REC buyers include utilities trying to meet state renewable energy standards; the federal government, as a means to meet its renewable energy goals under Executive Order 13123; brokers playing the market; and even homeowners.

Buying renewable energy credits offsets energy produced from conventional fossil fuel processes. REC prices differ from state to state, and generally range from $0.50 to $5 per megawatt hour. Prices depend on market trends and state laws, according to Zannes. How states define what constitutes renewable energy often affects prices; the more diverse a renewable portfolio, generally the lower the price available to REC buyers. “To the extent that sources are excluded, for example, WTE, the better the price that those [renewable sources] included can get,” Zannes said, indicating that limiting a renewable energy portfolio’s scope drives up REC prices.

Zannes wrapped up by urging the MWMA to encourage the federal government and the states to support renewable energy credits (RECs) for waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities to promote a growing market for RECs. “Eventually, a renewable energy portfolio standard will allow existing facilities with renewables to make a little more money,” Zannes said. Currently, many states have different definitions of what constitutes renewable energy; a portfolio standard would better integrate state renewable energy credits programs.

Robin Davidov, Executive Director, Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, expanded upon Zannes’ themes. In noting that at least15 states have renewable portfolio standards that allow public and private entities to purchase RECs to offset electricity consumption from traditional sources, Davidov expressed several advantages of REC programs. First, RECs provide a cost efficient renewable energy system. RECs also encourage competitive technological development to generate renewable energy, and they can be used to reduce greenhouse gas intensity

“RECs spur new technology, creating more efficient ways of meeting state and federal guidelines,” Davidov said. In doing so, they create several opportunities. Namely, residential customers can opt for a “green pricing” program offered by local utility or distant utility; an organization can buy RECs to make a specific event “emission free” and a company may decide to purchase a quantity of RECs equivalent to a certain percentage of electricity consumption.

Davidov’s advice regarding REC acquisition includes adopting a mentality similar to public procurement processes: “If you don’t get the price you like, you don’t have to sign the contract.” While she also recommends hiring a consultant that understands the REC process, she also said there is money to be made by using the existing marketplace. For states without REC programs, Davidov encourages MWMA members to work with state legislatures to establish such programs, being especially careful when it comes to building a consensus among stakeholders in defining renewable so that it includes waste-to-energy facilities.

 

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Show Me the Measures! Benchmarking Environmental Services

By: Susan Jarvis

During the Municipal Waste Management Association’s 2004 Fall Summit, held October 20-22 nd in Lexington, KY, attendees were introduced to benchmarking, a management tool which allows cities and departments to “ validate, diagnose and improve,” according to William Schoen, senior manager with the consulting firm of Hilton, Farnkopf and Hobson in XX CA.

“Benchmarking is a process which involves identifying internal and external standards, documenting current operational baselines, and the tracking and comparison of performance versus your baseline” began Mr. Schoen. “Once industry standards and operational baselines have been identified, management teams can target areas for improvement and explore operational best practices.” Common baselines for public works and solid waste departments include expense data, overtime costs, diversion and injury rates and productivity, which can be measured in terms of costs per route.

“ Both large and small operations benchmark,” continued Mr. Schoelen. “If your city isn’t already benchmarking, its not too late to get started.” Mr. Schoelen advises department to focus on safety, customer service, productivity and cost. If cities have completed the validation benchmarking process, which assess the reasonableness of the operation and identify gaps and weakness, Mr. Schoelen encourages departments to “dig deeper” and explore diagnostic benchmarking. Diagnostic benchmarking asks, “Where and how can we improve.” “Diagnostic Benchmarking has a greater focus on maintenance”, explained Mr. Schoelen. “Cities involved in diagnostic benchmarking have begun to peel the onion in order to discover and implement more efficient operations.”

The City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department has taken the benchmarking message to heart. Elmer Heap, the Director of Environmental Services, shared two benchmarking success stories. The City of San Diego’s Mirmar landfill is the first municipally operated landfill to be ISO 14001 certified. The International Environmental Management System standard is the highest standard of certification.

Mr. Heap outlined both the environmental and economic benefits of their efficient landfill operations. “ The one time cost of $220,000 has delivered an on-going annual cost savings of $2,162,000, including savings on heavy equipment, diesel costs, plant protocol and water savings,” explained Mr. Heap. The streamlined operations have also lead to reduced emissions, water use reduction and storm water prevention.

The city’s Collection Services Division collects more than 374,000 tons of refuse annually and covers more than 8,000 miles of streets. Management wanted to find ways to reduce air emissions and reduce mileage traveled. According to Mr. Heap, the department introduced a Geographical Information System, and has reduced mileage, fuel and CO2 since it was implemented. “Collection Services rated 97% on a customer satisfaction survey, administered earlier this year. We had high a standard to begin with and through some innovative thinking, long term planning and ongoing community education, we’ll continue to meet and exceed both our internal and external benchmarks,” concluded Mr. Heap.

 

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Recycling Challenges: Ensuring quality fiber for the United States and emerging markets

By Ted Fischer

“China is a big factor to the US economy when it comes to recovered paper,” Dr. Stan Lancey, Chief Economist of the American Forest and Paper Association (AF& PA) said at the recent MWMA Fall Summit in Lexington. “The demand for US recovered paper is up 85% since 1997 to China and Hong Kong.” The American Forest and Paper Association is in support of a more concerted effort to bring a higher quality of recovered paper back to the market. “In 1995 6% of all American recovered paper was purchased and shipped to China.” “We are predicting that by the end of this year more then 47% of American recovered paper will have been shipped to China.” AF & PA’s concern is that if we don’t make a concerted effort to collect more high quality office paper we will eventually run low on the amount of recovered paper we have available for US markets.

Fred Johnson, Materials Marketing Manager for SP Newsprint Company spoke about the need for finding a way to reduce the amount of contaminants within the current recycling stream. “There is bad news for the paper industry because the quality of recovered paper is declining sharply.” “It is currently costing the paper industry $51 million a year, due to equipment wearing thin due to glass and other contamination. We have made a concerted effort to work with AF & PA and other organizations to push for a recycling goal of 55% of all paper consumed by 2012.” Mr. Johnson went on to say that there is a need for a higher quality fiber for US and Chinese markets. “When discussing alternative collecting efforts, cities want to keep in mind the end user when deciding on new collection programs, concluded Mr. Johnson.

Gerald Young, Recycling Coordinator for the Village of Ridgewood, NJ also spoke about their method of fiber collection and shared the Village’s best practices on curbside recycling with a focus on paper and a multiple stream recycling system. There was much discussion from the audience on the difference in cost savings between single stream recycling methods and traditional methods of collection. Audience members were interested in the competitive market between recovered and virgin paper and wanted to know if there was a major downside to single stream recycling methods. MWMA’s speakers had both pros and cons on why single stream recycling is supported or discouraged by the recycling industry.

 

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MWMA Members Briefed on Local Government’s Role in Improving Air Quality

By Judy Sheahan

MWMA public sector members were briefed on their role regarding improving air quality by Art Williams, Director of Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District at the October 22 meeting.

Williams outlined the challenges that the Louisville Metro area faced including being downwind from a major manufacturing area. As a result of air monitoring, it was determined by Region Four of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the Louisville Metro area had the worst exposure to air toxics and thereby potentially increasing the health risks for the citizens of that region.

Williams told the group that Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson and the Authority developed a plan to reduce air toxics with the initial focus on stationary sources, including 173 companies in their region. After progress is made with these companies, the plan is to then focus on mobile sources and smaller stationary sources.

MWMA members discussed the role cities could play in improving air quality including utilizing low sulfur diesel and replacing fleets with ones that could utilize alternative fuels. Williams told the group that diesel emissions were one of the 33 most prevalent urban air toxics and that EPA has issued new regulations regarding fleets utilizing low sulfur diesel. MWMA members agreed to discuss this topic further at a future conference call or meeting.

 

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How Cities May Take Advantage of Renewable Energy Credits: Finding and Selling RECs from Waste-to-Energy and Other Renewable Power Sources

By: Brett Rosenberg

The Municipal Waste Management Association’s 2004 Fall Summit began with two timely presentations about important benefits that waste-to-energy facilities (WTEs) stand to realize through the use of renewable energy credits (RECs). Maria Zannes, President of the Integrated Waste Services Association and Robin Davidov, Executive Director of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority provided their perspectives on trends involving challenges and opportunities in promoting the advantages of WTEs.

Waste-to-energy facilities combust municipal solid wastes to reduce their volume, produce energy, and recover materials. These facilities, according to Zannes, serve two major public needs: they provide an environmentally sound, reliable means of solid waste disposal, and provide clean, renewable power. The federal government and several states allow consumers to purchase renewable energy credits, which certify that a given amount of electricity is produced in a renewable manner, such as at a WTE facility, through wind power or biomass, for example. REC buyers include utilities trying to meet state renewable energy standards; the federal government, as a means to meet its renewable energy goals under Executive Order 13123; brokers playing the market; and even homeowners.

Buying renewable energy credits offsets energy produced from conventional fossil fuel processes. REC prices differ from state to state, and generally range from $0.50 to $5 per megawatt hour. Prices depend on market trends and state laws, according to Zannes. How states define what constitutes renewable energy often affects prices; the more diverse a renewable portfolio, generally the lower the price available to REC buyers. “To the extent that sources are excluded, for example, WTE, the better the price that those [renewable sources] included can get,” Zannes said, indicating that limiting a renewable energy portfolio’s scope drives up REC prices.

Zannes wrapped up by urging the MWMA to encourage the federal government and the states to support renewable energy credits (RECs) for waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities to promote a growing market for RECs. “Eventually, a renewable energy portfolio standard will allow existing facilities with renewables to make a little more money,” Zannes said. Currently, many states have different definitions of what constitutes renewable energy; a portfolio standard would better integrate state renewable energy credits programs.

 

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Effective Safety Training and Safety Trends:

“ The majority of accidents and injuries in the workplace are related to unsafe behavior, not unsafe conditions,” began Mike Lambert, Corporate Safety Director, Republic Services, at the Safety Training and Trends session during MWMA’s 2004 Fall Summit. Effective safety training, continued Mr. Lambert, has immediate and tangible benefits to your department, including increased productivity and employee retention, less absenteeism and reduced insurance and liability claims.

Mr. Lambert gave the audience four points to consider when designing and implementing a training program, action, relevance, humor, and credibility. Action and interactivity will ensure responses from your audience. “You can’t fall asleep if you’re moving around,” advises Mr. Lambert. “Mix cause and effect stories into your training session and use examples from your own workplace. Show your audience why they should care”. He recommends using humor to get and keep people engaged, and peppering your talk with jokes and funny overheads. “ Credibility is the most important aspect of a successful training program. Make sure your’ re prepared. People don’t want to learn from experts, they want to learn from people with expertise,” concluded Mr. Lambert.

Susan Eppes, president of EST Solutions gave an overview of how and where the more 5-million workplace injuries occur. In the solid waste industry, accidents happen during both commercial and residential collection, at disposal and maintenance facilities and every worker, from truck drivers to mechanics are vulnerable to injury. Ms. Eppes went into details about the most common workplace violations, like lock out/tag out violations, improper personal protection equipment and ergonomics infractions. Ms. Eppes also provide best practices for common workplace hazards, including rear end loaders, space management, and materials storage. She also discussed best practices for collection routes and defensive routing techniques.

Both speakers agreed that effective safety training depends on employee buy in and supervisor involvement and commitment. ‘Effective training is not 6 hours of videotapes,” concluded Ms. Eppes. “ It’s an on-going and interactive process.”

 

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