greenyes-d Digest V98 #14

greenyes-d-request@earthsystems.org
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 17:24:05 -0500


greenyes-d Digest Volume 98 : Issue 14

Today's Topics:
[GreenYes] measuring reduction [ Solid Waste Abatement Intern <Solid ]
[GreenYes] Environmental packaging [ Megan Fleming <mfleming@crain.com> ]
[GreenYes] Industry Help Needed to Solve [ "Bill Sheehan" <bill_sheehan@mindsp ]
Re: [GreenYes] Environmental packaging [ aschneid@cats.ucsc.edu ]
[GreenYes] Plastics Recycling [ mlsutton@doh.dot.state.nc.us (by wa ]
[GreenYes] Job opportunity in Wisconsin [ "John Reindl" <reindl@co.dane.wi.us ]
Re: greenyes-d Digest V98 #10 [ Katharine Bennett <katbennett@usa.n ]

Administrivia:
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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 08:45:11 -0600
From: Solid Waste Abatement Intern <Solid.Waste.Abate.Intern@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>
To: "'WASTENOT@maelstrom.stjohns.edu'" <WASTENOT@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>,
"'greenyes@ucsd.edu'" <greenyes@ucsd.edu>,
"'recycle@envirolink.org'" <recycle@envirolink.org>
Subject: [GreenYes] measuring reduction
Message-Id: <1C62D04A483CD111B1630000F67C6F9FB9C08F@MAILSERVER>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"

Hello all! I am currently doing some research on different strategies that
have been used to evaluate the success of waste reduction/prevention
techniques. Does anyone have any ideas/experience on what is a good
yardstick to measure the success of programs? What information is gathered?
Etc.etc. Any information on studies that have been done would be much
appreciated. Thanks. Kari Ramstrom

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Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 10:54:00 -0500
From: Megan Fleming <mfleming@crain.com>
To: greenyes@earthsystems.org
Subject: [GreenYes] Environmental packaging
Message-ID: <7991773681636AD1@smtp.crain.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
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Does anyone have any good websites that
would provide information concerning
environmental packaging, packaging
source reductions issues and the like?

Thanks,
Megan

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 11:35:26 -0500
From: "Bill Sheehan" <bill_sheehan@mindspring.com>
To: "GreenYes" <greenyes@earthsystems.org>
Subject: [GreenYes] Industry Help Needed to Solve Dismal Plastic Situation
Message-ID: <017301be2913$724fc360$ef1756d1@desktop>
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[Forwarded from Anne Morse <AMorse@NT1.Co.Winona.MN.US> This is the text of
an article by Anne that ran in the Winona Daily News.]

INDUSTRY HAS BIG ROLE TO PLAY IN SOLVING PLASTICS PROBLEMS
by Anne Morse

Jeff Dankert's story in last Sunday's (12/6/98) Winona Daily News
about the dismal circumstances of plastics recycling in Winona County,
as well as across the nation, was a good one. We have big problems
related to the recycling of plastics, and many of us are starting to
think that the businesses and industries that have a hand in creating
the problems should play a part in solving them.

For the last two months counties across Minnesota have had to
stockpile bales of the plastic soda bottles (coded #1 PET) that they
collect at curbside. PET plastic that sold for over $240/ton earlier
this year is today literally unmarketable. And the businesses and
local governments that have invested in recycling plastics are in
desperate circumstances.

What are the reasons for this oversupply of plastics, and what can be
done about it?

First and foremost, we can improve things considerably by making sure
that insofar as plastic is concerned, only bottles that have a #1 or a
#2 on the bottom are recycled. Additionally, all the caps must be
removed. The resulting increase in the quality of our plastics will
go far to resolve our immediate marketing crisis.

A much larger problem for plastics recycling looms on the horizon,
however, caused by recent developments in the beverage industry. As
you may have noticed, bottlers are increasingly turning to the use of
plastic for their soft drinks. It's getting harder to find Coke and
Pepsi in an aluminum can in vending machines and convenience stores.
And even Miller Brewing is test marketing beer in PET bottles.

What's the cause of this big push away from high value aluminum and
glass packaging to low value plastics? Simply put, the plastic PET
bottle has brought windfall profits to the soft drink industry.
Plastics Recycling Update estimates the profit margin on a soft drink
packaged in PET plastic at more than 21 cents! Not bad, considering
that more than 50 million PET beverage containers are consumed in this
country every day.

This change in packaging has been bad for others, however, including
the groups and organizations that have long used revenues from
aluminum cans to fund projects and events. Consider also our
roadsides, where the aluminum cans that are tossed from cars are
recovered by people who redeem them for cash. Unless we establish a
bottle bill in our state, the plastic bottles will remain in the
ditches year after year, degrading not at all in the elements.

So today we find ourselves with a burgeoning supply of PET bottles
which, while popular with consumers, result in big losses to recycling
businesses and taxpayers because there is little if any demand for
them.

And at this same moment in time there is one simple step the companies
that are reaping these huge profits from the PET bottle could take,
one small decision they could make that would change overnight the
entire landscape of PET recycling across the nation. What is this
small step that could so significantly improve profitability in
plastics recycling and prevent recycling programs from dropping
plastics altogether?

Coca-Cola and Pepsi could choose to do in the United States what they
have been doing in Europe, Australia and elsewhere for many years.
They could use 25% recycled plastic in their bottles, as Coke once
promised to do back in 1990.

The viablility of this option was documented as recently as May 11,
1998 in Plastics News, wherein Ian Roberts, director of package
development for Coca-Cola stated that, "We have all of the
qualifications in place to utilize those materials whenever they're
available to us, both in the United States, Europe and the Far East".

Moreover, Plastics Recycling Update estimates that the use of 25%
recycled plastic would likely cost the industry only an additional
one-tenth of a penny per bottle. Profits would still be 20.9 cents
per bottle, and the demand for recycled PET would increase by more
than one million pounds per day!

Perhaps the biggest losers if plastic bottles must be dropped from the
recycling stream will be those of us who are careful to recycle all
that we can. With the recent addition of paper and cardboard to our
recycling program, and the $1 per bag disposal rate offered by several
local haulers at their drop-off sites, many residents have been able
to reduce their garbage to a mere $2 or $3 per month.

We earnestly hope that the soft drink industry giants step up to the
plate soon and do their part to conserve our nation's resources, and
affirm to the 200 million Americans who recycle every day that our
finite petroleum resources have value, and should not be squandered.

If you'd like to encourage the soft drink industry to use recycled
content in their bottles, you can drop a note, or better yet mail an
empty plastic PET bottle, rinsed out and with the cap back on, to M.
Douglas Ivester at One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30313. The
postage required is only 55 cents. Tell them to Take-It-Back & Reuse
It.

Anne Morse is a solid waste specialist with Winona County, Minnesota

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 11:00:58 -0800
From: aschneid@cats.ucsc.edu
To: Megan Fleming <mfleming@crain.com>
CC: greenyes@earthsystems.org
Subject: Re: [GreenYes] Environmental packaging
Message-ID: <36780367.4BA2@cats.ucsc.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Hi All:

This was done back in 1992 but still sets some good goals for today.
The document "Handbook for Environmentally Responsible Packaging in the
Electronics Industry" was written by a group of packaging engineers and
some local recyclers (me and Julie Fisher) here in Silicon Valley and
published for the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP). The WDC
based organization was afraid of some of the goals set in the guide and
froze publishing and advertising.

But,.... you can get it from this website:

http://www.corp.hp.com/publish/talkpkg

Other sources:

www.gruener-punktDualesSystemDeutschland.de/e

or

www.thompson.com/tpg/enviro/pack/packstates.html

Hope this helps,

Ann Schneider
UCSC-BEAC
3120 De la Cruz Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95054

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 15:00:11 -0500
From: mlsutton@doh.dot.state.nc.us (by way of Shay Mitchell
<shay@earthsystems.org>)
To: greenyes@earthsystems.org
Subject: [GreenYes] Plastics Recycling
Message-Id: <199812161958.OAA15932@gaea.earthsystems.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I have been reading all the information as far as recycling plastic
and the "Coke Take it Back" Campaign and I personally refuse to buy
soft drinks or other items in plastic containers if I am given an
alternate - such as glass containers or aluminum cans. I think if
more consumers would ban the purchase of the plastic bottles, Coke
and others would get the message when it started cutting into their
profits and do something about it.
mlsutton@dot.state.nc.us

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 16:22:02 -0600
From: "John Reindl" <reindl@co.dane.wi.us>
To: Recycle@envirolink.org, GreenYes@earthsystems.org,
Waste@cedar.univie.ac.at
Subject: [GreenYes] Job opportunity in Wisconsin
Message-ID: <10A31E0E2C97@co.dane.wi.us>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
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Program Director - Wisconsin Green Building Alliance, Madison, WI

Position Summary

The Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (WGBA), an independent program
of Wisconsin Environmental Initiative (WEP, seeks a Program Director
responsible for program development, fundraising, marketing,
promotion and management of all programs and activities of WGBA.

The Organization

WGBA is dedicated to facilitating and promoting the development and
use of ecologically sustainable materials and practices within
Wisconsin's built environment. WEI is a non-profit, nonpartisan
educational organization serving as a catalyst for cooperation among
business, citizen groups and government to facilitate outcomes for
the benefit of Wisconsin's environment, economy and quality of life.

Responsibilities

Passion: Actively promote the mission of WGBA utilizing strong
networking and social skills. Demonstrated ability to work with the
architecture, construction, energy, environmental, recycling and
renewable technology sectors. Develop working partnerships and
channels of communication with diverse stakeholder groups. Gain new
organizational exposure and establish a WGBA presence through public
presentations and participation on related boards and planning
committees.

Programming: Synthesize emerging technical information
and resources and incorporate into program strategies. Lead the
development, marketing and delivery of creative and timely programs.
Pursue collaborative programming efforts with other organizations.
Oversee the production of member resources, conference materials and
reports, fact sheets and quarterly newsletters. Work closely with
steering committee to develop and implement programs.

Fundraising: Initiate fund raising activities including grants,
sponsor-ships, membership development and other mechanisms.
Coordinate Fundraising Committee.

Membership: Manage membership activities to maintain
WGBA's broad constituency base, while increasing membership levels
and demographics. Communication: Report to, inform, educate and
maintain a healthy relationship with the WEI Board and WGBA Steering
Committee.

To learn more about WEI and WGBA see our website: http://www.wi-ei.org.
Please send resume with cover letter to:

Wisconsin Environmental Initiative
Attn: John Imes
16 N. Carroll St. Ste. 840
Madison, WI 53703

Resumes will be accepted until January 15, 1999. WEI is an equal
opportunity employer.

reindl@co.dane.wi.us
(608)267-1533 - fax
(608)267-8815 - phone

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Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 17:22:27 -0700
From: Katharine Bennett <katbennett@usa.net>
To: greenyes-d@earthsystems.org
Subject: Re: greenyes-d Digest V98 #10
Message-Id: <3.0.32.19981216172225.006a2a08@pop.netaddress.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Eco-Cycle teamed with event organizers and the Longmont Department of
Sanitation for an annual public event to promote waste reduction and
recovery. This year we had 10,000 people and recovered 70% for recycling
and composting. Best of all, 10,000 people only generated 175 POUNDS of
landfilled waste, less than half and ounce per person!

We're in the process of putting together some how-to guidelines. If you're
interested, write me at:

Kat Bennett
Eco-Cycle/Longmont
111 S. Martin Street
Longmont, CO 80501

It ain't rocket science and it really works, if you're event organizers are
committed to an environmentally friendly event!

Kat Bennett
>***********************************************************************
>Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 16:14:11 -0600
>From: "Tara Blumer" <tarab@spnec.org>
>To: greenyes@ucsd.edu
>Subject: [GreenYes] Event Waste Reduction/Recycling
>Message-Id: <s6753964.041@spnec.org>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-Disposition: inline
>
>Hello! I am in the process of gathering information on waste reduction,
composting and recycling at special events like festivals, fairs,
conferences, athletic events, etc. Has anyone put together a "how to"
guide on this topic or is anyone willing to share information on their
successes or failures? All replies will be appreciated.
>
>For anyone who is interested, the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy
Consortium (NEC) in Minnesota is a major sponsor and organizer of the Saint
Paul Classic Bike Tour, which attracts 5,000 riders annually. In an effort
to reduce the amount of waste disposed of at this event, the NEC provides a
staffed trash/recycling area at each of the six rest stops along the bike
route. Riders sort their waste into recycling, compost or trash
receptacles. This is a great opportunity to educate participants about
waste reduction, composting and recycling by having them sort their waste
into the correct container. For the past two years, approximately 5% of
the waste was trash. The rest was composted or recycled. For more
information you can contact Tara Blumer (tarab@spnec.org) or Hatti Koth
(hattik@spnec.org) at the NEC.
>
>Happy Holidays!
>
>
>
>
>
>Tara Blumer
>Multifamily Recycling Coordinator
>Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium
>475 North Cleveland Avenue, #100
>Saint Paul, MN 55104
>phone:(651) 644-7678
>fax:(651) 649-3109
>----------------------------
>tarab@spnec.org
>
>***********************************************************************