Today's Topics:
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPORTS
PVC in Trouble in Japan
Recycling and Witnessing Info.
Web page of US Recycling Bills
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Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 10:17:46 -0400
From: Michele Raymond <michele@raymond.com>
Subject: ENVIRONMENTAL EXPORTS
Dear GREENYES members:
I am trying to get up to speed on the issue of Environmental
equipment/services exports for a presentation in Europe.
Can anyone POINT me somewhere for statistics; articles, etc. I need to
understand how the U.S. stacks up to Germany (they lead now) why, etc.
Any information or suggestions appreciated!
Happy Earth Day
Michele Raymond
Michele Raymond
Publisher
Recycling Laws International/ State Recycling Laws Update
6429 Auburn Ave. Riverdale MD 20737-1614
301/345-4237 Fax 345-4768
http://www.raymond.com
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Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 15:56:57 +0900
From: oldxeye@crisscross.com (Hop)
Subject: PVC in Trouble in Japan
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Daily Yomiuri - 16/4/98
Petrochemical industry fighting for vinyl-chloride
By Kazuta Umezu
Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The petrochemical industry has launched a full-scale
counteroffensive against the growing opposition to vinyl
chloride, which emits toxic dioxin when burned in garbage
incinerators at low temperatures.
Whether the counteroffensive will be effective is the
focus of much attention. To a large extent that will
depend on whether the industry's claims are convincing
and whether its proposals are realistic.
Vinyl chloride and other chloric compounds emit dioxin
when burned at temperatures lower than 700 C. For this
reason, an increasing number of manufacturing firms are
discontinuing use of chloric compounds and developing
chlorine-free products instead.
In the plastic-wrap manufacturing industry, the major
products are vinyl chloride-based products. But
manufacturers are beginning to replace chlorinated
plastic wrap with chlorine-free products.
For example, in March, Lion Corp. began selling a
three-layer wrap consisting of a nylon sheet sandwiched
between sheets of polypropylene. Itochu Sanplus Co.
followed suit in April.
Emphasizing the environmentally friendly nature of their
new products in advertisements, the two companies are
poised to challenge the two leading wrap makers, whose
chlorinated products account for 80 percent of the market
share.
In the cosmetics industry, Shiseido Co. has said it will
eliminate chloric compounds from all of its containers by
fiscal 2000.
In response, the Vinyl Environmental Council (VEC), which
was established by the petrochemical industry, said on
March 30 that it will dispatch 500 officials to 3,302
local governments across the nation to directly explain
the significance and usefulness of vinyl chloride.
The council contends that vinyl chloride makes a positive
contribution to society and also serves to protect the
environment.
Different from oil-based products, nearly 60 percent of
vinyl-chloride products are made of chlorine. This means
that production of vinyl-chloride products helps to
reduce the use of oil, a nonrenewable resource, the
council said.
VEC also said the carbon dioxide discharged in the
production of vinyl-chloride products and the energy
consumed are less than those of other petrochemical
products. Therefore, it argues, vinyl-chloride products
contribute to preservation of the environment.
According to the council, the cheaply produced vinyl
chloride is excellent for holding liquids and other
substances and is indispensable in the production of
numerous products, including water and sewer pipes,
electric wires, window frames, and drug and blood
containers. For this reason, the council stressed, vinyl
chloride contributes to society.
The second major point in the council's counterargument
is that the dioxin pollution problem will not be resolved
by merely removing vinyl chloride.
Chlorine, which is considered the source of incinerator
dioxin emissions, is present in household garbage as
well, and the percentage of vinyl-chloride products in
such garbage is extremely low, the council claims.
To solve the problem of dioxin emissions, the council
says incinerators should be modernized to burn garbage at
temperatures higher than 700 C. The industry said it
supported upgrades of existing incinerators or the
construction of new ones.
Annually, 1.3 million tons of vinyl-chloride products are
discarded. Of the 1 million tons from industry, about
10,000 tons are recycled and the rest is used as fuel to
produce cement and other products. A project to use
vinyl-chloride as a raw material for producing iron is
under way. Plants for converting vinyl-chloride into fuel
oil are under construction.
By making these arguments, VEC hopes to convince
companies and consumers of the benefits of
vinyl-chloride.
Manufacturing companies, always cognizant of consumer
opinion, however, are critical of the council's
arguments.
"The reality is that products that have made a bad
impression on consumers will never sell well. So the
council's claim that other substances also emit dioxin is
not convincing enough," said a manufacturing company
official.
In addition, there are many factors to be considered in
an upgrading process, such as how to minimize costs and
boost demand for recycled products.
To resolve these problems, not only the petrochemical
industry but the central and local governments must work
diligently. Furthermore, there is a need to consult
consumers on how useful vinyl chloride is and how it
should be disposed of.
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Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 15:55:28 +0100
From: ghill <mrsgjhill@aol.com>
Subject: Recycling and Witnessing Info.
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Take a look below and let me know, thanks.
In an effort to educate in the area of recycling, we have set up a web
site. You may email any questions that you have regarding the subject.
We learn more every day through the questions we receive. I'm going to
attempt to update this web site as often as possible. We'll be adding
more articles and a discussion page for question and answers on
recycling.
Our expertise is in the area of recycling electronic scrap, integrated
circuits, and circuit boards, for the precious metal value.
Please take a look at our web site and email us, thanks.
Were at,
http://www.mrsscrap.com
Regards,
Grant Hill
MRSGJHILL@AOL.com
Phone 408-723-8528
--------------8341B44E489D6E7E7CC8F9CE
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Take a look below and let me know, thanks.
In an effort to educate in the area of recycling, we have set up a web site. You may email any questions that you have regarding the subject. We learn more every day through the questions we receive. I'm going to attempt to update this web site as often as possible. We'll be adding more articles and a discussion page for question and answers on recycling.
Our expertise is in the area of recycling electronic scrap, integrated circuits, and circuit boards, for the precious metal value.
Please take a look at our web site and email us, thanks.
Were at,
http://www.mrsscrap.com
Regards,
Grant Hill
MRSGJHILL@AOL.com
Phone 408-723-8528
--------------8341B44E489D6E7E7CC8F9CE--
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Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 09:55:28 -0600
From: "John Reindl" <reindl@co.dane.wi.us>
Subject: Web page of US Recycling Bills
Dear List members -
While looking for something else, I stumbled across an interesting
web page that lists bills related to packaging and recycling for the
various states. Although the listing for Wisconsin isn't 100%
accurate, the site does seem to hit the main issues.
I hope it's helpful to others.
http://www.thompson.com/tpg/enviro/pack/packstates.html
John Reindl
Dane County, WI
reindl@co.dane.wi.us
(608)267-1533 - fax
(608)267-8815 - phone
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End of GreenYes Digest V98 #96
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