Recycling Box News
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MRF Grants Awarded
Grants totaling $38,000 were awarded in January to 50 western Massachusetts MRF communities, representing a population of over 400,000 people. This is the second year that the MRF grants were competitive and, according to MAB Chairman, Eric Weiss, "that certainly was reflected in the quality of the applications."
Under this competitive program, grants ranging from $500-$3,500 were awarded. In addition, towns which work together as solid waste districts were permitted to apply as a total population group. The grant goals were to increase recycling awareness, increase recycling participation, and promote the recycling of accepted MRF materials.
Many of the grant applications that were funded reflected the ongoing need for curbside set-out blue bins for recycling and recycling education. Cities such as Springfield and Westfield, as well as towns like Lee, requested funds for bins. Agawam, Dalton, Granby, Lenox, Longmeadow, Pittsfield, and Wilbraham all looked for assistance with recycling education programs.
A few of the more unique grants included:
 Franklin County Solid Waste District's request to improve their website with "What Do I Do With..." information
Greenfield's request to fund materials and staff to hold a "trash bash"
Hilltown Resource Management Cooperative and the Town of Hampden's request for updated signage for their transfer stations
Other grants that were funded included West Springfield's request for funding to begin a sharps collections program as well as the Southern Berkshire Solid Waste District's and Wilbraham's request for recycled content benches and picnic tables.
Each grant recipient is required to submit a final report which details the total costs of the project and includes pictures or press releases associated with the project. These reports become a valuable resource to other towns who might benefit from lessons learned.
The funding for the mini-grant program comes from public education fees that MRF member municipalities pay to use the MRF for their recycling. The MAB is pleased to be able to assist MRF member communities with their recycling efforts through distribution of grant funds. Thanks to Jimmy Rodriguez, MRF Plant Manager, and Irene Congdon, Central MA Municipal Recycling Coordinator, for their assistance with the grant review process.
For more information, contact
Arlene Miller
567 5027
Arlenem773@aol.com
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All Revved Up with No Place to Go
by
Jenny Gitlitz
According to an article last summer in the Berkshire Eagle (8/7/06), GE Plastics (Pittsfield, MA) has developed a groundbreaking new technology that will allow post-consumer PET bottles to be recycled into a new resin strong enough for use in automotive products. According to the article, resin currently made from reclaimed PET “loses much of its strength and quality and can't be used for heavy-duty uses,” and GE’s new process changes that.
A press release on GE’s website claimed that the new resins, Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ, are polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)-based polymers which can be made with 85% post-consumer waste. GE claims that each ton of the new resins will avoid 1.7 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and will save about 15 barrels of crude oil, compared to PBT made with 100% virgin materials.
"If all PBT was replaced in 2005 with the Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ resins, it would have created an outlet for over 562,000 metric tons/year of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste.…[or] 22.5 billion bottles," GE said.
Scott Stafford, the Eagle reporter, wrote that "because it will be used in automotive parts, a plastic material that previously had a life cycle of several minutes of usefulness as a bottle will now have a life cycle of years."
In theory, Stafford and the GE executives made some useful points about the environmental benefits of this technological breakthrough. But they failed to point out that not enough PET soda and water bottles are being collected in the United States to meet the auto industry’s potential demand for parts made with the new resins.
According to the National Association of PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), in 2005, 23.1% of the 5.1 billion pounds of PET bottles sold in the U.S. were recycled: exported to India and Asia or used domestically to make bottles, strapping, and textile fiber.
A staggering 3.9 billion pounds (almost 2 million tons) of PET bottles were simply wasted - not recycled at all. In other words, only 1 out of 5 bottles sold is recycled; the rest are landfilled, incinerated, or littered. In deposit states, on the other hand, 75%-80% of PET bottles are recycled. The nickel deposit system in Massachusetts captures about 69% of the soda bottles covered; curbside recycling captures about 10%. Were Massachusetts to update its bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverages, an estimated 500 million additional plastic bottles could be recycled annually. If the United States as a whole were to adopt a deposit system, an additional 1.1 million tons of PET could be recycled annually.
Jenny Gitlitz is Research Director for the Container Recycling Institute (Washington DC), Northeast Sales Director for EnviroGLAS Products, Inc., and Chair of the Dalton Waste Management Committee. jenny.gitlitz@verizon.net
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Announcements:
1. It is time once again for the MAB to accept nominations for the Outstanding Recycler Award. The awards will be given to those individuals or organizations that have put forth an exceptional effort to increase recycling in the region.
Nominations should include contact information as well as a brief description (100 words or less) of their efforts in the community. Only those individuals/organizations that live or work in a MRF community are eligible. Please forward your nominations to:
Greg Superneau
413-787-6075
Fax 413-787 -6567
2. To show appreciation for the contributions of local recycling coordinators and the MRF Advisory Board, the Springfield MRF will host the next western Massachusetts Municipal Recycling Coordinator (MRC) meeting at the Delaney House in Holyoke on March 8, 2007. The event will be a breakfast meeting to raise awareness among recycling coordinators about climate change issues and actions that can be taken locally. The meeting is also an opportunity to thank those who have participated in the MRF over the years. There will be a viewing of the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," as well as speakers from MassDEP and the Union of Concerned
Scientists. Stay tuned for more details on the event.
3. The MAB and the newsletter staff wish to thank Athena Bradley for her years of service on the board and for her assistance with the newsletter. Athena has taken a new position with the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and we wish her well.
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WASTE MANAGEMENT RECYCLE AMERICA HOLDS FREE COMPUTER COLLECTION EVENT, COLLECTS TOYS FOR AREA CHILDREN IN NEED
Waste Management Recycle America and the Springfield Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), as part of its commitment to community service and to celebrate America Recycles Day, sponsored a cost saving opportunity for residents of Springfield and surrounding MRF communities. On November 4, 2006, the Springfield MRF collected 162 computer monitors from residents of area towns. Electronicycle in Gardner, MA will refurbish and recycle all computers that were collected. There was no charge for recycling a computer if the individual brought an unwrapped children’s holiday gift for donation to Gray’s House in Springfield. 150 holiday gifts were collected for local children in need. Waste Management Recycle America was pleased to provide these toys to area children, as well as provide another opportunity to Springfield MRF communities to further remove recyclable items from the waste stream. |
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