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october 2022
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Inside the October Issue |
Four Recycling
Trends Not to Ignore
Curbside recycling programs
have been in place in the U.S.
for over 40 years, with Woodbury,
New Jersey, launching the nation’s
very first in 1980.
But for the past 20 years, national recycling levels have plateaued at around 30 percent. This makes it clear that to realize the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Recycling Goal of lifting that number to 50 percent by 2030, significant improvement will need to come — and fast.
Fortunately, recent years have seen advances in the processing of plastics, paper and metals pick up steam. And new innovations in recycling seem to be coming at a faster pace than ever before. But that’s not all — a number of other current trends are providing big boosts to national recycling efforts.
1. More stringent recycling laws —With landfills filling up and social consciousness growing around the importance of recycling, increasing numbers of U.S. cities are enacting laws and/or introducing legislation geared toward reducing waste and boosting recycling.
Examples include:
• New York, where a bill has been introduced that would require manufacturers
to pay for programs promoting the recycling
of the paper, plastic, glass and metal
their products produce. The ultimate goal
of the legislation is to incentivize more
sustainable products and packaging.
• Boise, Idaho, where an innovative
program encourages residents to vert lightweight plastics from landfills for conversion into a
diesel fuel with one-third the production cost and a 75 percent
lower carbon footprint than that of standard diesel.
• San Francisco, where a city ordinance requires residents
and businesses to separate their waste into three streams —
mixed recycling, compostables and trash. According to the
EPA, the city’s 80 percent rate of waste diversion from landfills
is the highest of any major U.S. city.
• Seattle, where recycling is collected free of charge, but
residents are required to pay a per-bundle fee for overflow
garbage pickup and having a smaller trash can reduces the
monthly rate for garbage disposal.
2. Plastics-recycling innovations — Today’s typical commercial
recycling facility can break down only certain types
of plastics for reuse — primarily Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PET), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Polypropylene
(PP) plastics. But advances in technology (including the
chemical-free PureCycle process, for example) are supporting
the creation of more types of recyclable plastics. And perhaps
even more important to long-term recycling goals,
scientists are moving closer to the goal of creating new types
of plastic that can be recycled over and over again — so they
never have to end up in landfills. Full story »
today's news
AIHA’s Ames Joins Board of BASIC
FALLS CHURCH, VA – AIHA’s director of government relations Mark Ames has joined the board of directors of the [Re]Build America’s Schools Infrastructure Coalition (BASIC).
4M Acquires Eagle Enterprises
ST. LOUIS -- 4M Building Solutions, a commercial cleaning and janitorial services provider, has acquired Wisconsin-based Eagle Enterprises, Ltd., a commercial cleaning company serving Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.
Allset Joins Cleaning for a Reason Efforts
LEWISVILLE, Texas -- Cleaning for a Reason, an ISSA Charities signature program that provides clean homes for cancer patients, is collaborating with Allset, an automated payment platform, to further serve people and families experiencing cancer.
Network to Present at 2022 BSCAI Conference
SCHAUMBURG, IL -- Network Distribution, will present at the 2022 Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) Contracting Success Conference in Chicago, IL on Thursday, October 13, 2022.
NFL Foundation Installs Sports Turf at MLK Field
RICHMOND, Calif. -- The City of Richmond is a recent recipient of $250,000 to fund improvements to its Martin Luther King Jr. Field as part of the NFL Foundation Grassroots Program.
Horrible Ian: Western Branches Staged to Respond
ST. LOUIS -- Western Specialty Contractors’ branches in Florida, Texas and Georgia are serving as staging locations for Gulf Coast disaster recovery services after hurricane Ian.
