E-Newsletter – December 2008:

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  • WasteCap News
    • WasteCap Holds its Annual Award Luncheon
    • Environmental Excellence Award Recipients
    • 10 Year Member Recognized
    • U.S. EPA WasteWise Partners Recognized
    • New and Ongoing WasteCap Programs
    • WasteCap Welcomes New Members
    • Educational Webcasts Now Available
    • CFL Pilot Program Results

WasteCap News

WasteCap Holds its Annual Awards Luncheon

WasteCap Nebraska held their annual awards ceremony & luncheon at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, NE. The luncheon, held on November 13th, featured keynote speaker, W. Cecil Steward, awarded member businesses for their outstanding participation in environmental conservation projects, and was a kickoff to new WasteCap Nebraska programs.

Keynote speaker W. Cecil Steward, professor and dean Emeritus of the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln presented information on the newly rebuilt community of Greensburg, Kansas, which was nearly 95% destroyed by an F-5 tornado. Steward emphasized the many beneficial aspects of rebuilding as a sustainable community and how we can learn from their rebuilding example. At the luncheon, WasteCap Nebraska recognized member businesses who have been active participants in the EPA's WasteWise program and those who have been members for 10 years or greater. WasteCap also presented awards to those businesses that have demonstrated their environmental excellence.

Before adjourning the luncheon, WasteCap Nebraska director, Carrie Hakenkamp announced new and ongoing WasteCap programs.

Environmental Excellence Award Recipients

Nebraska Community Blood Bank received the Member of the Year Award, which is presented to the business that has shown great dedication in their environmental program. Nebraska Community Blood Bank exemplifies the WasteCap Nebraska business membership by striving to improve waste reduction, resource conservation and recycling programs, utilizing WasteCap's Master Agreements for recycling services and supporting WasteCap through attending special events and utilizing WasteCap's services.

Tenneco - Lincoln was given the award for Best Waste Reduction and Reuse Program, which goes to the business that has shown the greatest effort to reduce waste and reuse products.

University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Landscape Services was the recipient of the Continued Excellence in Recycling Award, which goes to the business that has taken strides to continually improve their waste reduction and recycling program.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center received the Green Business Award, which goes to the business that not only recycles and participates in waste reduction activities, but also includes sustainable design standards in their projects and is striving for water and energy conservation within their daily activities.

10 Year Member Recognized

Businesses that have been continuous members of the organization for 10 years or more were recognized at the luncheon. These businesses are the cornerstone of the organization and the pioneers that originally created the organization that WasteCap has now evolved into. Only one member was present to receive their award:

Cornhusker Bank

Garner Industries is also a 10 year member, but was unable to attend.

U.S. EPA WasteWise Partners Recognized

Businesses that have made the commitment to waste reduction through registering as a WasteWise partner in the past year were recognized by Chet McLaughlin and Jennifer Dawani from US EPA Region VII in Kansas City. The following businesses received recognition at the luncheon:

Community Blood Bank - Lincoln
Cornhusker Bank - Lincoln
FBG Services Corporation - Omaha
New Dimensions - Omaha
Northern Natural Gas - Omaha
Tyson Food, Inc. Omaha Plant -Omaha

The business that joined WasteWise in the past year but unable to attend are:

Cartridge World of Lincoln - Lincoln
Home Base Supportive Services - Omaha
North Omaha Youth Club - Omaha
Platte Generating Station - Grand Island
Shred Monster - Columbus
U.S. Postal Service - Omaha Vehicle Maintenance Facility - Omaha

We sincerely apologize to Northern Natural Gas. They attended the ceremony but we failed to recognize them for their participation in WasteWise.

New and Ongoing WasteCap Programs

The Employee Curbside Recycling Program is a unique opportunity to offer discounted home curbside recycling services to any employee of a WasteCap Nebraska member-business in the Recycling Enterprises service area in Lincoln. Employees of a WasteCap member business can sign up for the service at their place of employment and begin receiving the discounted home recycling.

WasteCap Nebraska is also partnering with Collective Good Recycling to recycle cell phones and with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation to recycle all types of rechargeable batteries. These programs allow businesses to serve as collection sites for old cell phones and rechargeable batteries generated either by the business or by their employees. Implementation is simple with the placement of a collection box in the business, and pre-paid mailing labels are provided to ship the boxes when they are full.

Finally, the Nebraska League of Conservation voters is also offering discounted individual and family memberships for any WasteCap members.

WasteCap Welcomes New Members

WasteCap Nebraska would like to welcome new members GRX, University of Nebraska Medical Center and West Corporation.

GRX

GRX (Guaranteed Recycling Xperts) has been in the electronics recycling business since 1999. They recognize that the role of electronics in our lives is increasing every day, and with that, a need for its proper disposal. They pride themselves on being a responsible recycler of electronics that have reached the end of their useful life. Each of their facilities is registered with the EPA, and they are also registered with the DOT for interstate transportation.

DATA SECURITY - Data security is an on-going concern for many firms. Legislation such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and HIPAA only add to those concerns. GRX doesn't simply wipe your data; they physically destroy your hard drive. They also provide a certificate guaranteeing the destruction of the disk.

PICK-UP - GRX will pick up your electronic waste, no matter the size or amount, often at no additional charge.

ON-SITE EVALUATION - Have a lot of electronic equipment? Unsure of what's recyclable and what it will cost? GRX will come to your facility and help you identify which items should be recycled.

ACTIVE IN THE RECYCLING COMMUNITY - GRX is an active member in several recycling associations. This allows them to stay current with industry trends, as well as take an active role in promoting responsible electronics waste recycling.

  • IAER - International Association of Electronics Recyclers - Trade association for the electronics recycling industry.
  • BAN - Basel Action Network - is an international organization that monitors the international trade of toxic wastes. GRX has signed their pledge which states they will not engage in the exporting or dumping of e-waste, or in the use of prison labor in our recycling processes.
  • SVTC - The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition - The SVTC s a diverse grassroots coalition that engages in research, advocacy, and organizing around the environmental and human health problems caused by the rapid growth of the high-tech electronics industry.
  • NRC - National Recycling Coalition - a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the advancement and improvement of recycling.
  • CAFR - Colorado Association for Recycling - a non-profit organization formed as the independent voice of public, private, and citizen recyclers in Colorado.
  • CORE - is Colorado's leading sustainable business trade association that assists its members to promote and leverage social and environmental responsible business practices.

University of Nebraska Medical Center

The University of Nebraska Medical Center is the only public academic health science center in Nebraska. UNMC is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in patient care, research and education. UNMC is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Its mission is to improve the health of Nebraska through premier educational programs, innovative research, the highest quality patient care and outreach to underserved populations.

The UNMC Recycling Center, services nearly 5,500 employees on the UNMC and The Nebraska Medical Center's 112 acres of campuses. Education is a key component for any successful program. UNMC Recycling Center created a Waste Handling Information insert for the campus directory and held Earth Day events, including bringing the Mobile Environmental Education Trailer for employees to visit.

In 2008, UNMC also presented the successes of their program at the Safety Summit and hosted two Talk & Tours; one for WasteCap and one for the Hospitals for Healthy Environment group.

Through their Greener Sharps program, UNMC purchased reusable sharps containers made from recycled plastic. The containers are handled, processed and disinfected to provide a safe, sanitary container. The Clinical lab began using the reusable sharps containers in July 2005 and in 33 months diverted 52.3 Tons of plastic from the landfill and 7.6 Tons of cardboard from recycling.

In 2001, administration at The Nebraska Medical Center noticed a growing discrepancy between what was being paid per quarter to have bio-hazardous waste removed and what was being generated. In August of 2002, the Bio-hazardous Waste Committee was formed to address the issue. The committee began by conducting a Bio-hazardous Waste Audit of the contents and weights of red bag waste. The initial audit estimated that 90% of what was going in red containers was not bio-hazardous waste.

In response to the audit, the committee developed one campus-wide definition for bio-hazardous waste. Two educational programs were developed and training was made available in a variety of formats including a downloadable CD, live presentations, hard copy and on the UNMC website.

As part of the education process, UNMC developed a patriotic Red, White and Blue Campaign that instructed individuals on proper segregation of all waste:
Red -Bio-hazardous
Blue -Recyclable
White -General Waste

The patriotic theme encouraged employees to "do their duty" and handle waste appropriately. Following the Red, White and Blue campaign, a re-audit of bio-hazardous waste containers revealed a 25% reduction in red bag waste and 90% of waste found in containers was determined to be appropriate waste.

Within the cafeteria, management has begun utilizing individual plastic dispensers for utensils, reducing that waste volume dramatically. The cafeteria also purchases recycled-content napkins, and environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals. In continuing to evaluate ways to reduce cafeteria waste, they are currently researching alternatives to using polystyrene and are looking at bio-degradable utensils for future use.

UNMC participated in the Hospitals For Healthy Environment (H2E) program to reduce and/or eliminate toxics. (H2E) is creating a national movement for environmental sustainability in health care. H2E focuses on eliminating mercury and PBT wastes, reducing the quantity and toxicity of health care waste, and reducing healthcare's environmental footprint. Through this program, UNMC evaluated and reduced mercury-containing items and PBT chemicals at the hospital. In addition, UNMC was able to work with a vendor to take old mercury-containing blood pressure cuffs if they purchased new ones that did not contain mercury.

West Corporation

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, West Corporation processes billions of minutes in voice-related transactions every year and employs approximately 42,000 people throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

The following is a list of the business affiliates under the West umbrella.

Communication Services - Their Communication Services business segment delivers a comprehensive suite of telemarketing and voice-related contact solutions to clients. These solutions help clients generate more revenue and maximize the service they give to their customers.

A unique offering as part of this West division is West at Home, an award-winning customer contact solution that utilizes home-based agents to provide companies telemarketing and voice-related services. West has thousands of home-based agents located across the country. Because their agents work from their homes, they do not conduct lengthy and expensive commutes back and forth from call centers. By multiplying the savings in emissions and gas usage by at home agents, they deliver a significant impact to the environment.

West also provides the core of North America's 9-1-1 emergency communications infrastructure, through Intrado, which delivers public safety communications solutions that are helping to save lives and transform communications.

Conferencing Services - InterCall, the largest conferencing service in the world provides solutions that help business professionals communicate more effectively. By using InterCall's conferencing services, companies can work from anywhere and stay connected to co-workers, customers, vendors and partners who are critical to their business. This allows employees to reduce fuel consumption, traffic congestion, and carbon dioxide emissions that tax the environment.

Receivables Management Services - West Asset Management helps businesses and institutions maximize their return on receivables at every stage of the recovery cycle. Whether you need help with your active receivables or assistance with late stage delinquencies, West works closely with companies to tailor a customized program to increase recoveries, reduce the number of accounts being charged-off and protect a company's financial performance.

West's Environmental Initiatives

The following are environmental initiatives underway at West:

  • Implement recycling programs in all of West's 100+ facilities; goal is to complete in `09
  • Recycle the following equipment: headsets, light bulbs, toner cartridges, carpet, laptops, CPU's, monitors, servers, routers, tapes and cartridges
  • Use environmental cleaning products
  • Institute a rideshare program
  • Employee telecommuting program
  • Work with utility company to assess energy efficiency
  • Work with Microsoft to assess energy efficiency in data center operations/applications
  • Use duplex option on all copy machines
  • Implement on-line phone directories

Welcome GRX, UNMC, and West Corporation!

Educational Webcasts Now Available

With funding from NDEQ, WasteCap hosted four webcasts in 2007 concerning various environmental issues affecting business. Now available on WasteCap's website are Hazardous and Universal Waste Regulations and Electronic Disposal and Business Liability. These webcasts are available to view for free. View these webcasts here.

CFL Pilot Program

CFLs contain small quantities of mercury that may be harmful to the environment and human health. Tossing CFLs into the garbage can result in inhaling of mercury toxins or having toxins seep into the community's groundwater supply. To encourage the use of energy-saving CFLs in Nebraska households and businesses, WasteCap Nebraska, with funding provided by the Nebraska Environmental Trust, has partnered with OPPD, City of Omaha, Omaha Public library, City of Lincoln, and QP Ace, Wolfe and Baker Ace Hardware to create a network of locations you can drop off old CFL bulbs to be recycled.

The "Another Bright Idea" Pilot Program, which ran from September through November, allowed homes and businesses in the Lincoln and Omaha area to recycle their used CFL bulbs at various locations around the city. The success of the program brought in a total of 630 CFL bulbs and 84 linear bulbs, for a total of 717 bulbs, all to be recycled by Retrofit Recycling of Minnesota. Due to the pilot's successful response, the program is being evaluated for continued use and expansion throughout the state. To learn more about the "Another Bright Idea" program and CFL recycling, visit www.wastecapne.org/anotherbrightidea/ or contact Kari Rohren at (402) 434-7376.