Quick logistic change…Since WasteCap will no longer distribute any hard copies of the newsletters and bulletins, and because their format is so similar, we have decided to combine the newsletters and bulletins titles into simply “E-newsletters.”

Potpourri of topics…Everything from diapers to computer recycling, environmental purchasing to more eco-friendly dry cleaners, this month has a little bit of everything.  In the spirit of the holidays, we have also included some information on holiday consumption.  Check out facts on the nation’s out-of-control spending and consumption habits during the holidays!

The event may be over, but the website continues to gather new items from the “Nebraska Recycling & Pollution Prevention Training & Vendor Show.”  Visit our website at www.wastecaplnk.org to view the P2 training session presentations and an on-line version of our newest publication A Guidebook of Local & Regional Environmental Service Providers.

What’s New for November 2002:

¨      New Member Profiles

¨      Environmental Compliance Enterprises

¨      First P2 Training & Vendor Show a Success: Results from the “Nebraska Recycling & Pollution Prevention Training & Vendor Show”

¨      New Guidebook of Environmental Service Providers Published by WasteCap

¨      New Service Providers Give Presentations at October Services Committee Meeting

¨      Light Cycle Pick-Up Dates

¨      Markets Corner

¨      Disposable Diaper Recycling Becoming a Reality

¨      Dell Offers Recycling Options to Consumers

¨      Profitable Environmentally Friendly Purchasing Possible in Business

¨      Dry Cleaners Clean Up Their Act

¨      Guide to a Low-Waste Holiday Season

New Member Profiles

WasteCap of Lincoln is pleased to announce that our membership is growing and now includes some of the service providers that our current members are using.  We are happy to welcome them into our membership.

Environmental Compliance Enterprises, LLC

Environmental Compliance Enterprises provides service for hazardous, universal, and special waste.  They have serviced a wide range of businesses in several Nebraska communities for a little over two years now. Other materials collected include fluorescent lamps, PCB’s, batteries, computers, and other electronic equipment.  Environmental Compliance Enterprises can assist businesses in labpacking, bulking, manifest and LDR preparations, transportation to TSDF’s, and contingency plan preparation.  They have partnered with WasteCap in the past for the Lincoln Computer Collection in the spring of 2001.  Environmental Compliance Enterprises offers a discount to WasteCap members in partnership with Retrofit Recycling, also a new member to WasteCap just this year.

First P2 Training & Vendor Show a Success: Results from the “Nebraska Recycling & Pollution Prevention Training & Vendor Show”

Over 240 people helped to make WasteCap of Lincoln’s first ever “Nebraska Recycling & Pollution Prevention Training & Vendor Show” on October 30^th a success.  The unique combination of an on-line pollution prevention resource training and vendor show exclusively for environmental service providers was the first of its kind to the area and did not go unnoticed by those in attendance.  Despite the winter-like weather, the event, held at the Cornhusker Hotel from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, still boasted attendance numbers higher than expected.

The event received good media coverage, especially for the special “From Plastic to Fantastic” Fashion Show sponsored by the Nebraska State Recycling Association and Midland Recycling to help kick-off America Recycles Day.  Well over 50 people were in attendance over the lunch hour to not enjoy a complimentary lunch but also witness the sometimes bizarre fashion show with everything from an opaque outfit held together with paperclips to a notebook made from an old STOP sign.  Click on these links to read the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World Herald articles on the event.

Thirty-five business representatives enrolled for the on-line pollution prevention resource training.  Throughout the day, there were three sessions with two speakers each.  Presentations included WasteCap’s P2 Toolkit, LES’ Commercial On-line Energy Audit, Businesses for Environmental Leadership’s Recognition Program, and specific pollution prevention resources published by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and the Pollution Prevention Regional Information Center (P2RIC).  The P2 Training presentations are now available for viewing and downloading from our website.  WasteCap’s P2 Toolkit is completely finished and is ready for visitors as well.  Please utilize the Toolkit and give WasteCap feedback as the document will be reviewed and revised on a regular basis.

An evaluation completed by those attending the training believed the sessions to be of adequate length as well as competitively priced.  Attendees rated the vendor show as “above average” and “excellent” in all qualities and reported learning a great deal about recycling and waste reduction techniques.  They also enjoyed the networking opportunities provided by coupling the training with an environmental service provider vendor show.

Vendors completing an evaluation for the event had similar comments, in that the event produced great opportunities to network with like-minded individuals and “bridge the gap” between businesses and service providers.

A special thanks to all our service provider members who gave their support to the event, to the WasteCap members who either enrolled in the training and/or visited the vendor hall, and to all the other members who volunteered their time and expertise to help WasteCap put together such a successful and meaningful/worthwhile event!

The positive response WasteCap has received for this event has been overwhelming.  Due to the great feedback and participation, WasteCap hopes to make this event a permanent addition to the calendar.  We hope to see you all next year and again, thank you for helping to make this event a reality and success!

New Guidebook of Environmental Service Providers Published by WasteCap

The newest publication from WasteCap, A Guidebook of Local & Regional Environmental Service Providers, is now available on our website (click here to view it).  All WasteCap member representatives should have received this guidebook in the mail already.  Please contact us if you have not received a copy of the guidebook either through the mail or from the P2 Training & Vendor Show. 

We want all our member representatives to have a copy of this handy guidebook as it will aid local businesses in locating service providers to meet all their waste reduction and recycling needs.  It was and will continue to be a large work in progress.  WasteCap plans to update this guidebook as often as possible since manuals and guidebooks of this nature are outdated shortly after they are published. 

Enjoy the guidebook and please don’t hesitate to give us feedback on this manual so that we can continue to improve upon it in future editions!

New Service Providers Give Presentations at October Services Committee Meeting  

The issues normally addressed with WasteCap’s Services Committee were put on hold last month in order to meet service providers new to either the area or to WasteCap.  The October Services Committee meeting was dedicated to meeting CP Recovery, Kings Enterprises, and Korshoj Lumber, environmental service providers wishing to advertise their services through WasteCap.  The following is a summary of the presentations given by two new service providers.  Sonny Emmanuel from King’s Enterprises did not attend the meeting due to illness and therefore was unable to provide presentation materials to share with the committee. 

CP Recovery – Jeremy McNeal

CP Recovery is a full service computer and electronic equipment disposition company that serves a five state region.  Focusing on “end-of-life” electronic equipment, 95% of material processed at CP Recovery is beyond use and/or repair.  They accept all electronics from PC’s and TV’s to photocopiers and batteries, but will not take microwaves or other appliances.  In addition to recycling the components, CP Recovery will perform a “wipe drive” to remove all confidential information and data from the piece of equipment.  All equipment received is weighed and tracked for customer security and satisfaction.  Every component is dismantled and recycled, with nothing being sent overseas.

On July 1^st, CP Recovery received a grant to fund the purchase of a CRT glass cutter.  They are one of only six businesses to have the capability of “glass-to-glass” recycling.  It is the only EPA-approved method to recycle computer monitors and incurs no serious risk to workers.  The self-contained glass cutter has a stationary saw (a diamond blade that is replaced weekly) that is cooled by four jets of water.  The machine is able to cut 25 screens an hour and in all, CP Recovery generates about 5,000 pounds of dismantled electronic equipment each day.

CP Recovery will provide pick-up service and is in Lincoln once a week.  If your business has 5 or more monitors, there is no fee for pick-up.  Generally, the cost for recycling a computer is about $20 ($8 - $10 per monitor and $0.35/pound).  Having recently joined WasteCap of Lincoln and signed a MOU for electronic recycling, CP Recovery is able to offer a discounted $0.30/pound rate for recycling of old electronic equipment.  For more information, please contact Jeremy McNeal at (888) 411-6975. 

Korshoj Lumber – Erik Korshoj

Korshoj Lumber, out of Fremont, is expanding its retail lumber company to include pallet and wood waste recycling – in the form of rebuilding.  No piece of scrap is too small or big for them to handle as they build pallets, skids, crates, boxes, and blocking in all shapes and sizes for several businesses in the area.  Korshoj Lumber recently received grant funding to purchase a pallet dismantler.  While Korshoj accepts over 100 different shapes and sizes of pallets, regardless of condition, they are willing to pick up any type of wood scrap your business generates. 

Hardly any materials are wasted at Korshoj Lumber.  All sawdust is given away to families with horses needing bedding material.  Korshoj also contracts with a business that takes excess lumber and grinds it for bedding and other purposes.  Other wood scrap is set out for area residents to use as firewood.

Mr. Korshoj plans to sell the lumberyard in the near future in order to devote his entire day to the pallet and box rebuilding side of the business.  He is willing to set up a pick-up route in Lincoln once a week in order to service all interested businesses in the area.  For more information, please contact Erik Korshoj at (800) 753-9663.

Retrofit Recycling Pick-Up Dates

Reminder that WasteCap of Lincoln members do receive discounted fluorescent lamp, ballast, electronic and battery recycling services through Retrofit Recycling (800-274-1309) and Environmental Compliance Enterprises (466-2268).  Please let us know if you need an updated price sheet.

November:

18^th & 19^th

December:

16^th & 17^th

30^th & 31^st

Markets Corner

Reminder that INFORM Members using Midland Recycling are paid $20 under the reported price for loose cardboard (OCC) and $5 under the reported price for baled cardboard in bales weighing over 1,000 pounds.

Material abbreviations:

OCC- Old Corrugated Cardboard

CPO- Computer Print Out

Mag- Old Magazines

News- Old Newspaper

SOP– Sorted Office Paper

Disposable Diaper Recycling Becoming a Reality
Over 20 billion disposable diapers are deposited into landfills every year, and until very recently, none of them were getting recycled.  About 20 to 25 mature trees are used to provide diapers for one child between birth and potty training and, if deposited in a landfill, these diapers will take over 500 years to decompose.  Santa Clarita, California is the site of the nation’s first ever diaper recycling program.  The commuter city, located 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles, is an ideal place to use the diaper recycling technology since 72% of the city’s population is under 44 and more than 150 babies are born there each year.  Each week, participating families put their diapers in plastic bags or bins to be picked up on trash day.  A recycling center built by Knowaste will separate the diapers' deposits from reusable plastics and wood pulp.  The company says it can process one ton of diapers per hour.  The materials will be reused in nonfood packaging and products like wallpaper, oil filters, shoe insoles and plastic building materials.

For the complete story, click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/national/10RECY.html

Dell Offers Recycling Options to Consumers
WasteCap receives at least one phone call every day for computer recycling questions generated from our three billboards that migrate around town – have you seen them?  We realize that we may very well be preaching to the choir, but we received word of this website and wanted to share it with our members.  Dell has begun offering U.S. consumers the option to recycle their used computers.  Beyond that, Dell also will help customers trade, auction, or donate used systems to extend the life of the computer.

For the complete story, click here:
http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/topics/segtopic_dell_exchange.htm

Profitable Environmentally Friendly Purchasing Possible in Businesses
In the past year, King County, located in Washington State, purchased nearly 4 million dollars worth of environmentally preferable products, bringing a savings of $550,000 to County agencies.  Environmentally preferable products include those that have recycled content, reduce waste, use less energy, are less toxic, or are more durable.  Read about one of the most effective Environmental Purchasing Programs in the nation in King County’s 2002 Environmental Purchasing Report.  Want to learn what you as a WasteCap member can do?  Visit Latsch’s website at http://www.latschs.com.  WasteCap members can have their environmentally preferable product purchasing tracked free of charge if office supplies are purchased through Latsch’s.

For the complete story, click here:
http://www.metrokc.gov/procure/green/annrep02.pdf

Dry Cleaners Clean Up Their Act
Most traditional dry cleaners use a chemical cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene, called “perc” for short.  California has recently announced some big steps for complete removal of this chemical, which is known to cause toxic air contamination and major groundwater pollution.  They are the first state in the nation to propose a complete ban of “perc” by 2019.  As the search for alternative dry cleaning continues, professional “wet cleaning” is becoming a household name.  This non-toxic, water based system uses computer controlled washing and drying machines, biodegradable detergents, and specialized finishing equipment to clean wool, silk, rayon, and other delicate fibers often labeled "dry clean only."  After being tested by five dry cleaning operations, the owners found several environmental, economic, and employee benefits, while not seeing any negative customer response or correlated decrease in satisfaction.  Another alternative to harsh chemical cleaning is the carbon dioxide process used by your local Hanger’s (click here for a complete explanation of their cleaning process).

For the complete story, click here:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=sciencenews&StoryID=1615583 - CA Ban on “Perc”

http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-30-09.asp#anchor4 - “Wet Cleaning” Study Results

Guide to a Low-Waste Holiday Season
According to 1997 data, 5 million extra tons of trash are produced between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day in the US each year.  Last year, Bill McKibben’s book “Hundred Dollar Holiday” became a big hit: proposing that we spend less money, create less waste, and instead spend more time, enjoying a simpler, more relaxed holiday.  If this idea appeals to you, these websites may be of interest as you start thinking about the upcoming holidays.

For the complete story, click here:
http://www.newdream.org/holiday/mckibbenchat.html - Transcript of Chat with Bill McKibben

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd - Buy Nothing Day (Friday, Nov. 29^th)
http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/index.html - Buy Nothing Christmas