Today's Topics:
disposables
Help New Zealand
Recycled Toner Cartridges
Send Replies or notes for publication to: <greenyes@UCSD.Edu>
Send subscription requests to: <greenyes-Digest-Request@UCSD.Edu>
Problems you can't solve otherwise to postmaster@ucsd.edu.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--- Loop-Detect: GreenYes:98/140 ----------------------------------------------------------------------Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 09:25:50 -0400 From: "Diamond, Craig" <DiamondC@mail.ci.tlh.fl.us> Subject: disposables
I've tracked this issue for years (also driven in part by the need to balance my sense or perception of professional integrity with the rest of the real world). My first was strictly cloth (except for travel), the last almost entirely in disposables. I assiduously researched all that was available (mid eighties on) to evaluate what the complete life cycle costs were (energy, pro-rata share of final disposal, impacts of agriculture versus silviculture, water consumption for manufacturing etc) and at the end could not come up with meaningful differences, which surprised me. Maybe the source reports (probably still in a bug-infested storage box in my attic) were biased; there definitely were some gaps in the knowledge which perhaps by now have been closed. And, it appears, there have been continued industry shifts towards less material per unit and away from plastic covers towards 'paper' which I presume to mean less total energy costs and increased opportunity for composting. [never found a good pilot project involving disposables even though we've plenty of operations that compost sludge without the wrapper!] Sometimes social conventions are intentionally wasteful and we collectively accept the impacts of being so. CD Craig Diamond, Chief, Environmental Planning Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Dept. City Hall 300 S. Adams Tallahassee, FL 32301 USA E-mail: diamondc@mail.ci.tlh.fl.us Tel: (850) 891-8621; Fax (850) 891-8734 *******************************
> ---------- >=20
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 17:11:56 -0400 From: chelsea center for recycling and economic development <amyp@ici.net> Subject: Help New Zealand
Thought you folks would be interested in this:
>This is an invitation for your involvement in our campaign to bring an end to landfills in New Zealand. This is not a request for financial support.= =20 >Background >Since 1995 the strategy of The Tindall Foundation has been to take a community development approach to environmental initiatives. This has resulted in a number of unemployed people finding work in habitat and species protection, waste reduction, environmental education, organic agriculture, recycling and development of new products from recovered materials. >As a result of the success of these first steps to sustainability, the Foundation has established a new national initiative - The Zero Waste New Zealand Trust. Gerard Gillespie who previously helped to develop the Canberra Zero Waste policy has been appointed Programme Director. Stephen Tindall and Warren Snow are Trustees.=20 >New Zealand has in the past made quite rapid change on controversial issues. The first country in the world to give women the vote, the anti-nuclear policy and the overnight change from a command economy to an almost completely free market. =20 >Now we have Zero Waste on the horizon. Our aim is to make Zero Waste the next popular movement in New Zealand. >The Objective >The objective of Zero Waste New Zealand is to have New Zealand become the first country in the world to adopt a National policy of no waste to landfill.=20 >The goal is ambitious but we are confident of success and that for the long-term sustainability of society there is truly no alternative. We believe that all waste in nature is a resource for other organisms and processes and that human society to survive has no option but to operate within the same laws of nature.=20 >The Strategy >The strategy of Zero Waste New Zealand is threefold. >1. The Zero Waste Network >This is a newly formed network of non-profits, businesses, individuals and local governments from around New Zealand working together to eliminate the need for landfills - forever. The Tindall Foundation and Zero Waste will bring these groups together regularly to assist in the networking process. Zero Waste New Zealand also provides training and best practice tools for network members to use in developing local waste reduction strategies. Considerable resources are being targeted at nurturing and supporting the Network. >2. Funding Support >The Tindall Foundation is currently the main funding source for Zero Waste NZ and has a long-term commitment to the campaign. Zero Waste in turn provides funds to eligible non-profits, individuals and businesses who are adding value to the overall campaign goal. Examples include new technology development, a recovered materials loan fund, research, trials, pilot projects, training for employees in new community based projects, waste reduction education programmes, recycling and composting initiatives, and promotional/educational campaigns. Other funding agencies and some local governments in New Zealand have provided matching funds for some of the programmes. >3. Advocacy & Policy Development >Zero Waste New Zealand staff and consultants are working at all levels of Government, business and community to achieve policy strategies that will bring New Zealand society to the prime goal of ending landfill as a disposal option (Incineration is not a disposal option in NZ). Zero Waste Network members lobby and work with local politicians and Zero Waste NZ staff are called on to assist when needed to lend a national context and support for local activities.=20 >How you can help > We are seeking statements of support from people involved in environmental protection in other countries who have a sense that Zero Waste is not only possible but also essential. This will put an international spotlight on our efforts, which has in the past been effective at providing impetus for change. The National launch of the Zero Waste NZ campaign will be at the Annual Mayors of New Zealand Conference - 29th June 1998. >These statements will be used in press releases, displays, newspaper articles and other promotional material leading up to and after the launch. The effect of your messages will be to encourage our leaders and decision-makers to take risks to help achieve the goal and to break through the institutional limitations that prevent change. =20 >Because NZ is a small country with a history at times of rapid change, this is possible - more so perhaps than much larger countries such as the USA. If we are successful then there will be a model that will serve as an example to other countries. >If you wish to make a statement of support (it need only be one sentence), or wish to be involved in any way please write to the below address or email myself at Wsnow@voyager.co.nz or Gerard Gillespie at zerwast@icarus.ihug.co.nz. Alternatively you can post it directly onto the Zero Waste NZ web site at: >http://www.zerowaste.co.nz/ >Please feel free to add any ideas you may have that will help us achieve this goal. Thanks so much to those that have already sent messages. >Kind regards > =20 > >Warren Snow >The Tindall Foundation > > > Amy Perlmutter Executive Director Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development 180 Second Street Chelsea, MA 02150 617-887-2300/fax 617-887-0399
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 15:24:15 -0400 From: Todd Paglia <tpaglia@essential.org> Subject: Recycled Toner Cartridges
To the list,
I have been trying to get the FTC to look into Lexmark's Optra S line of printers and toner cartridges--the cartridges are sold on a "single use" basis (the most recent letter is attached below). The consumer must 1. return the= spent cartridge to Lexmark, or 2. throw it away. There is nothing wrong with the first option if Lexmark actually recycles them--but requiring that disposal be the only other option for a consumer is obviously bad policy (use of toner cartridges avoids some 38,000 tons of landfilling per year). This focus on disposable products as a way to eliminate competition from recyclers also has potentially broad implications beyond the toner cartridge market. Have any procurement people come across= this issue or similar issues? Other letters to the FTC would be helpful. = Thanks.
Todd
-- ___________________________________________________________Todd J. Paglia, Esq. PO Box 19367 Todd@gpp.org Washington, DC= 20036
Project Coordinator, Government Purchasing Project: http://www.gpp.org Staff Attorney, Consumer Project on Technology: http://www.cptech.org
GOVERNMENT PURCHASING PROJECT PO Box 19367 =95 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 387-8030 =95 (fax) 234-5176 =95 http://www.gpp.org __________________________________________________________
June 10, 1998
William J. Baer, Director Bureau of Competition Federal Trade Commission 6th & Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20580
Re: Antitrust and Environmental Issues Relating to Lexmark Optra S Printers= and Toner Cartridges
Dear Mr. Baer:
Ralph Nader and I recently requested an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into the marketing practices of Lexmark International,= Inc., a manufacturer of printers and toner cartridges. Our April 22, 1998 letter to Chairman Robert Pitofsky is attached along with Chairman Pitofsky's reply. = I am writing to request a meeting with representatives from the Bureau of Competition, the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and any other FTC employees or other= federal personnel that may be able to contribute to a discussion of the Lexmark= Optra S line of printers and toner cartridges.
As was discussed in greater detail in the attached letter, Lexmark's Optra S line of printing products is of serious concern because Lexmark is marketing its toner cartridges subject to what purports to be a single use license. In other= words, the purchaser allegedly must choose between returning the used toner cartridge to Lexmark or throwing it away -- recycling by a third party remanufacturer is= no longer an option. This is a serious matter as remanufacturers employ thousands of people across the United States and provide an environmentally preferable and cost effective option for consumers by offering recycled toner cartridges.
Moreover, this is an issue that may impact federal purchasing mandates if it is not addressed. As you may know, remanufactured toner cartridges must be purchased by the federal government pursuant to Executive Order 12873 and the= Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines. Lexmark's= marketing practices will certainly restrict if not eliminate a competitive marketplace= for remanufactured Optra S toner cartridges. Lexmark must not be permitted to employ its legally questionable single-use licensing scheme as a means to eliminate competition offered by remanufacturers. I believe this marketing practice,= in addition to stretching the law of licensing beyond recognition, represents= an illegal tying arrangement in violation of federal antitrust laws.
Of even greater concern -- to consumers, remanufacturers and federal= procurement officials -- is the possibility that Lexmark's example will be followed by= other laser printer manufacturers. This would surely have a disastrous impact on= the robust recycled toner cartridge sector that now represents $1 billion= dollars in annual sales. Recently, Hewlett Packard (HP) introduced a line of printers, the HP 2000C Professional Series, that utilizes a new ink cartridge which for the= first time includes a "single use only" restriction. Although HP's marketing practices differ in some ways from the Lexmark example, it may have the same result of restricting competition from toner remanufacturers. While HP claims that a remanufacturer will be able to recycle the spent cartridge for resale, this= will only be permissible, according to HP, if the remanufacturer replaces a microchip in the cartridge that contains HP's embedded "Jet Series" trademark. This may create a sufficient hurdle to restrict or eliminate competition for this line of HP printers cartridges.
The FTC should investigate this matter before more of the printer/toner= market shifts to single use only and does irreparable damage to the remanufacturing sector. In the long term, this move toward restricting recycling of toner cartridges and encouraging use of disposable products will have serious consequences for the environment and may result in impeding federal recycled purchasing requirements.
Thank you for your consideration of these important issues and I look= forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
/s/Todd J. Paglia
cc: Joan Z. Bernstein Fran McPoland
------------------------------
End of GreenYes Digest V98 #140 ******************************