Waste Reduction at WasteCap... In an effort to reduce office paper waste at your office and ours, WasteCap utilizes an electronic newsletter. Past e-newsletters can be found on our website under the "E-Newsletters" tab. Check out our website at www.wastecapne.org for the latest events, publications, and new member listings for WasteCap Nebraska.

What's New for January 2007:

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WasteCap News

WasteCap Welcomes Six New Members

WasteCap is pleased to welcome six new members, and we would like to take this opportunity to introduce them.

Advanced Laser Systems and Services, Inc.

Advanced Laser Systems and Services, Inc. is locally owned, and operates out of their new 4,000 square foot facility in Omaha, NE. They are outfitted with testing equipment, service parts and a large stock of cartridge inventory. They provide a wide variety of remanufactured and new toner cartridges for Canon, Lexmark, IBM and HP laser printers at wholesale prices. In addition, they offer printer repair services, technical support and preventive maintenance.

Burton Enterprises, L.L.C.

Burton Enterprises is a full service recycling center, serving 23 central Nebraska recycling organizations in 20 communities. They have been operating a regional recycling center in southeast Nebraska for over 7 years and have shipped over a million pounds of recyclable products to end markets for the 4th consecutive year in 2006. They operate 36 dry-vans, which are filled with empty boxes, then picked up upon filling. The full trailer is exchanged for an empty one, and the materials are then recycled. This exchange usually takes place at intervals varying from every 3 weeks to every few months. They have developed an innovative procedure for processing recyclables, which allows them to pay these communities and organizations for the materials. This not only keeps the products out of the landfill, but it also provides revenue for community development. Burton Enterprises currently serves approximately 30,000 rural Nebraskans.

Columbus Community Hospital

The Columbus region has a long history of commitment to healthcare.  The origins of a hospital in Columbus dates back to 1879.  Columbus Community Hospital is the result of the 1972 merger of St. Mary’s Hospital and Behlen Memorial Hospital. In May of 2000, Columbus Community Hospital broke ground on a new healthcare campus located on 80 acres in the northwest part of Columbus.  The new facility was completed in September of 2002 and houses 47 acute care beds, 4 skilled nursing beds and 14 ambulatory outpatient beds, all with private occupancy. Overseeing the administration of our non-profit, non-sectarian voluntary corporation is an 11 member, local board of directors.  Columbus Community Hospital provides compassionate and expert patient healthcare to a five county area and collaborates with approximately 40 local medical staff.  The adjacent Medical Office Building provides space for not only several physicians' clinics, but many visiting physicians as well. 

Electronic Disposal Technologies

Electronic Disposal Technologies, Inc. is a small, women-owned business that prides itself in providing complete asset disposition and recycling solutions for all information technology equipment. Their services can be customized, allowing them to cater to the diverse asset disposal requirements of every client.

Hofeling Enterprises

Hofeling Enterprises utilizes the latest in tree care equipment. Their experienced arborists and crew trim trees for residential, commercial and municipal properties. Their work has also been extended to provide trimming services for local as well as out of town school campuses and their arboretums.

Nucor Steel

Nucor Steel - Bar Mill Division
Nucor Steel - Nebraska in Norfolk is a proud member of the Nucor Bar Mill Group and began operations in 1973. They produce Special Bar, Cold Heading, and Merchant Bar steel products. They also furnish material for several quality critical end markets including automotive, agriculture, fasteners, and hand tools.  
Nucor - Vulcraft Division
Nucor Vulcraft began operations in 1964.    The Norfolk plant is also one of Nucor's six Vulcrafts that produce steel deck. Current annual capacity of the six plants in the production of steel deck is approximately 430,000 tons.
Nucor - Cold Finish Division
Nucor Cold Finish in Norfolk produces cold finish steel bar products for shafting and machined precision parts. Nucor Cold Finish bars are used in tens of thousands of products. A few examples include anchor bolts in basketball hoops and farm machinery, hydraulic cylinders, and shafting for air conditioner compressors, ceiling fan motors, garage door openers, electric motors and lawn mowers.
Nucor - Detailing Center
The most recent addition to divisions of Nucor located in Nebraska is the Detailing Center.  Nucor Detailing Center was established to service customers, or more specific requests of external and internal Vulcraft Group customers. The center provides detailing of joist and deck products throughout national market segments.

All four of these facilities are located in or near Norfolk, NE employing approximately 1000 teammates. The products divisions are ISO 14001-2004 certified. Nucor Corporation, as the largest recycling company in the world, recognizes its role in protecting the environment. Nucor values the environment of the communities in which they operate and recognize its importance to their teammates, their families and their continued welfare. Protecting the environment is critical to their operations and the company's long-term success.

WasteCap and WasteWise Work Together to Assist You in Your Recycling Program

Waste WiseWasteWise, a free, voluntary, EPA program through which organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, partnersup with WasteCap to bring you beneficial recycling assistance, which can be tailored to your needs. View the WasteWise/WasteCap press release.

Looking For a Summer Environmental Intern?

The P3 Summer Intern Program places engineering and science students into Nebraska businesses to assist with pollution prevention, environmental management systems, and other environmental projects. This not only improves your environmental program, but is a wonderful learning experience to the students. For more information and registration, please visit www.p3.unl.edu.

America Recycles Day Prizes Awarded

America Recycles Day was a tremendous success this year with over 3,200 people pledging to support recycling in the Lincoln area.  Thank you to those who participated in the event by donating prizes and collecting pledges.  Congratulations to the League Association of Risk Managers and General Dynamics who were the winners of the business competition for percent employee participation.  The complete list of local prize winners is included below.  For more information on Lincoln’s America Recycles Day events, see the awards press release.

Upcoming Events

Safety Information

Because many of our members are involved in safety issues, we thought we'd share this information.

2007 Winter Issues Series

Southminster United Methodist Church will be hosting a series of speakers on energy, sustainability, and the environment, titled, The Light Is Green: Moving Toward a New Energy Culture. The series will take place every Thursday between January 11th and February 8th, and will involve a different speaker and topic every week. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served following the presentation. For more information, please view the Energy Series Flyer.

Request for Annual Volume Reports

The 2006 Member Recycling Volume Report has been sent, and all WasteCap Nebraska members should be receiving it in the mail shortly.  Please complete and return the surveys by Thursday, February 1st as they are important in evaluating the effectiveness of the memoranda utilized by WasteCap members and measuring the amounts of material diverted from the landfill each year.  These reports also allow for a more adequate description of your business’s complete recycling program (including some commonly missed items such as pallets, toner cartridges, refuse generation totals, and recycled content purchasing efforts.)  The compiled annual recycling volume will allow us to compare recycling efforts to past years and gauge the recycling progress of the WasteCap members as a whole.  Please contact our office at (402) 436-2383 or [email protected] with any questions.  Thank you for your cooperation!

Trivia Corner

Last Month's Trivia

Last month's trivia question was "How much more efficient is an Energy Star computer compared to a conventional computer? How much money will a business save if they only purchase computers with the new requirements?"

The correct answer is: An Energy Star computer is 65% more efficient, and will save a business $1.2 billion.

The winning answer was submitted by John Downey of Pfizer Global Manufacturing, who received a $15 gift certificate from Hy-Vee. Congratulations!

WasteCap Across Nebraska

Mobile Environmental Education Center 2006 Success

Midland Recycling's Mobile Environmental Education Center found much success in 2006. The Center attended 15 events and had 8,677 visitors. With this great accomplishment, they are hoping to make 2007 an even more eventful year! If you have an event that you would like the MEEC to attend, or would like more information on the MEEC, please view their informational poster.

Electronics Update

Popularity of Environmentally Friendly Electronics Quickly Increasing

With more purchasers interested in the environmental qualities of computers, over 300 computers are now registered with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT. This is, in part, a result of more organizations requiring “green” purchasing. EPEAT has set a list of required and optional standards, with the optional used to determine which of three tiers the product will receive. To read more on the new standard, please view the EPA press release.

Dell, Winner of NRC Award

The National Recycling Coalition has honored Dell, Inc. as their winner for the 9th Annual "Recycling Works" Award. This award recognizes Dell's "outstanding efforts and commitment to conservation of natural resources through recycling."

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/recognition/rwra/2007/index.htm

E-Waste to End Up in Developing Countries

With American landfills filling with E-waste daily, and law prohibiting businesses from disposing of electronics into landfills, options for obsolete computers may tend to look slim. Unfortunately, whether sent for use, or dumped for lack of space, a large number of those computers are ending up on the shores of underdeveloped or developing nations. If recycled properly, most parts can be reused, but if left to sit, these parts can cause extensive environmental damage. In addition to this damage, personal information, which often remains on the computer’s hard drive, can be recovered and exposed to anyone who wants it. To learn more about this situation, and how to properly recycle electronics, visit the ABC News site.

In the News

Omaha Goes Above and Beyond November Recycling Goal

Omaha exceeded their recycling goal by 12% in November, collecting 1,400 tons of recyclables. In all of their recycling, they avoided $30,505 in landfill disposal fees!

Is Junk Mail Taking Over Your Desk?

When we sign up for newsletters, make purchases, even sign up for events, we take the chance of our information being distributed to other businesses   and organizations for the purpose of solicitation. Fortunately there are ways to stay off of these lists, and to remove information if already on them.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has issued an article on junk mail prevention. This article lists different ways for information to go onto a list, how to remove your information from these lists, and how to keep your information from ever reaching the lists. They also cover solicitation phone calls, as well as a few other unexpected areas of solicitation.

Market Corner

  December – Chicago Region

Mixed Paper

$55-60 (+10)

Boxboard Cuttings

$40-45 (0)

News

$80-85 (0)

OCC

$65-70 (+10)

SOP

$125-135 (+10)

Sorted White Ledger

$215-225 (+20)
Material Abbreviations
OCC: Old Corrugated Cardboard
SOP: Sorted Office Paper		 Source: Official Board Markets

WasteCap Connections

Have Something to Buy, Sell, Trade, or Announce to Other WasteCap Members?

If you have something that you would wish to post on our newsletter, for other members to see, please email us at [email protected].