What's New for June 2008:

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WasteCap News

WasteCap Needs Copier

WasteCap�s current copier is on its last legs, and we are looking for a newer, well-functioning copier for the office. We will need functions such as two-sided copying, collating, and stapling as well as have an electronic system for tracking copier codes. Please let us know if your business has a copier that meets these standards and that you would be willing to donate to WasteCap. The donation would be tax-deductible. Contact the office at (402) 436-2383 with any questions.

WasteCap Members in the News

If you are a WasteCap member and have been recognized in a news story, please let us know so that we may include you in this section. Contact April Hilpert-Whitney at (402) 434-7376 or [email protected].

WasteCap Members Receive Honors

The Nebraska Restaurant Association held its annual Taste of Nebraska celebration on April 30th. Two of the four honorees recognized are WasteCap Nebraska members. Telesis, Inc.�s Lazlo�s Brewery & Grill in Lincoln and Omaha received the Restaurateur of the Year for 2007. Hilton Omaha received the Lodger of the Year for 2007.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Environmental Leadership awards were handed out on June 5th. Telesis, Inc. and Veyance Technologies, Inc. were both awarded the Environmental Leadership Award in the business and industry category. Lincoln Action Program received the award in the community or non-profit category.

Congratulations to each business and your achievements!

Current WasteCap Projects

by Executive Director, Carrie Hakenkamp

The �Green Movement� has finally caught on! I have been with WasteCap for nearly ten years now, and never in my time here have I seen such an interest from businesses wanting to recycle, reduce waste, conserve energy, build a green team and start a sustainability program. WasteCap Nebraska is currently involved in one manner or other with all of these �green� areas. Below is a sampling of WasteCap Nebraska�s current projects. The staff and Board of Directors invite (and strongly encourage) you to participate in any or all of these activities. We are always seeking motivated individuals to assist in our committees and planning projects. Even if you are not sure how you can contribute, give us a call and we can put you to work! Please contact the office at (402) 436-2383 if you are interested in becoming more involved in any of our projects.

This spring, WasteCap was very involved with drafting e-waste legislation in Nebraska (which did pass, but was vetoed by Governor Heineman) and assisted in a collection event hosted by Nucor and Vulcraft in Norfolk, collecting over 62 tons of metal scrap, appliances, aluminum cans and electronics. WasteCap has also hosted two workshops in Columbus and Norfolk to educate businesses about Universal Waste Management rules in Nebraska. Another project included a pilot marketing campaign with US EPA�s WasteWise project. The project resulted in 16 businesses registering for the voluntary program with several more registrations in the works!

Upcoming projects include a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) recycling pilot project to be held in both Lincoln and Omaha. We will be testing various collection strategies and incentives for residents and small businesses to recycle their mercury-containing lamps. WasteCap will also be developing committees to look at various electronic recycling best management practices for recyclers and developing a statewide educational and marketing campaign related to e-scrap recycling in Nebraska. Both of these projects will involve the development of websites with how to information and drop off locations for recycling.

Our two other specific projects are the development of the WasteCap Nebraska Finishing Technologies Certification Program for paint applicators and our partnership with the UNL Partners in Pollution Prevention (P3) internship program. As you may be aware, the Finishing Technologies program uses Virtual Paint technology developed by the Iowa Waste Reduction Center. We are in the final stages of curriculum development and working with our partners to train trainers and develop training agreements. Our mobile unit should be ready by the end of summer, and we can begin training in the fall. Our partnership with P3 has allowed us to have an academic year engineering undergraduate student to work on technical programs such as identifying compressed air system leaks and research alternatives to landfilling of various materials. We also have an Engineering Intern Manager assisting and supervising our students. During the summer, we manage four full-time interns as part of the program with three students placed at businesses in Omaha and one student focusing on smaller technical assistance projects throughout the state.

Finally, WasteCap staff is involved in numerous planning committees such as the Lincoln Green by Design group, the Green Business Council of the Green Omaha Coalition, The Nebraska Industrial Council on Environment (NICE) and the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters (NLCV) to name just a few. We also continue to provide on-site assistance to businesses with waste assessments, employee training, and program implementation assistance. We hope to have each of you engaged in at least one of our many program offerings. The more involved you can become in the organization and the current green movement, the more valuable you membership becomes!

Upcoming Events

Lincoln Green Drinks

June’s Green Drinks will be held on Wednesday June 25th at Lazlo's Brewery and Grill in the Haymarket, 210 N 7th St. Lincoln NE. Green Drinks is a wonderful opportunity to meet and network with others interested in the quality of our environment. Green Drinks is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. until late. Walk, cycle, or carpool to the meeting and ask anyone, “Are you green?” and you’ll be welcomed! For more information, please view the Green Drinks Lincoln Flyer.

Kansas SBEAP Lunch and Learns

Kansas� Small Business Environmental Assistance Program is hosting four lunch and learns geared toward reducing impact on air quality. These are free one-hour programs starting at 12:00 p.m. You may attend in person or via conference call. For more information or to register, visit www.sbeap.org.

Sessions include:
June 11 � What Businesses Need to Know (MARC Clean Air Action Plan)
July 9 � Lawn Care for Clean Air
August 13 � Idling Reduction
September 10 � Energy Efficiency for Businesses

News Across Nebraska

UNO Seeks LEED Certification for New Building

The new College of Business Administration building at the University of Nebraska-Omaha will be LEED certified.

Dean Louis Pol stated, "We have decided to seek LEED certification. Being green matters, and we want our students to know that being green makes sense from a business perspective as well. LEED certification will be a point of differentiation for us. Our regional competitors cannot achieve LEED without new buildings or spending great sums on their existing facilities. We will be the first UNO building LEED certified, and one of just a few in the entire NU system."

Ready, Set, Go Green! What's Driving Sustainable Business?

June 13, 2008
by Marchella Thompson, LEED AP, Green Business Council

Omaha businesses of all shapes and sizes have taken interest in going green and are looking at their operations through a sustainability lens. From grassroots efforts to formal corporate initiatives, sustainable business programs are raising the bar for performance, setting employee and customer expectations to new standards. Here's a look at some of the driving forces behind this movement.

Sustainability Drives Efficiency. Sustainability programs enable an organization to take a fresh look at the status quo and often streamline operations through efficiency and simplicity. From an environmental perspective, waste of any kind - excess energy and water use, solid waste generation - represents inefficiency in operations. Sustainability for business often translates to doing more with less. This principle applies to the full life cycle of your product or service as well. For example, Proctor & Gamble (P&G) improved the efficiency and reduced the environmental footprint of laundry detergent by introducing Tide Coldwater. In a February 2008 interview with Fortune Magazine, Len Sauers, P&G's new Vice President of Global Sustainability noted that if every U.S. household used cold water for laundry, the energy savings would be 70 to 90 billion kilowatt hours per year, which is 3% of the nation's total household energy consumption.

Defining the Triple Bottom Line. Without question, businesses today are judged by more than economic profitability. The concept of Corporate Citizenship increased the responsibility of businesses by incorporating a "triple bottom line" approach to measuring the success of business, accounting for economic, environmental, and social performance. Also referred to as "People, Planet and Profit", robust corporate social responsibility initiatives address the needs of human capital, natural capital (i.e. the environment) and the traditional economic bottom line shared by all businesses.

Greening the Supply Chain. For businesses that operate primarily within the supply chain of larger organizations, corporate customers are increasingly asking more of suppliers in terms of sustainability. A host of voluntary supply chain-focused sustainability programs - such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Green Supplier Network and Carbon Disclosure Projects Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration�- are providing�structured framework and recognition for suppliers that take steps in greening their operations. Suppliers actively communicating their sustainability performance to customers may establish a competitive advantage.

Rising Consumer Expectations. As the nation's attention has turned to issues such as climate change and environmentally-responsible purchasing, consumers have come to expect a higher level of transparency with businesses. Consumer advocacy groups and other environmental and socially-focused non-governmental organizations are making information regarding the sustainability performance of businesses readily accessible to the public. For example, Climate Counts annually rates corporations on their efforts towards mitigating climate change, encouraging consumers to "speak with their wallet" and be mindful in their purchases.

Employee Engagement. Whether it began as a volunteer, grassroots effort or was pushed down from top management, sustainability programs often bring together a cross-functional team from across an organization. Engaging employees at all levels can increase the impact and influence of business sustainability programs. As an example, Wal-Mart drives sustainability throughout their organizational culture through an effort on "Personal Sustainability Projects" (PSPs). Initiated in 2006, Wal-Mart's voluntary PSP program helps employees incorporate the principals of sustainability into their daily lives by developing individual goals to improve their health and wellness and the health of the environment. In addition to improving the business image in the community, sustainability programs can enhance the culture of an organization and instill a sense of pride among employees.

Sustainability is an admirable goal, laden with opportunity and challenges. No matter what is motivating your business to "go green", working with other companies that are on the same path can facilitate and enhance the process. The Green Business Council, a subset of the Green Omaha Coaltion, is dedicated to establishing a network of local businesses working to promote sustainable business practices through business-to-business relationship building, education, and recognition programs. Local businesses have a tremendous opportunity to influence the culture of the greater Omaha area - together, we can green commerce and our communities.

For more information, contact greenomahacoalition@gmail.com.

Electronics Update

Best Buy E-waste Pilot Program

Best Buy is helping consumers recycle through its e-waste pilot program. The program is currently being tested at 117 retail locations throughout eight states. Consumers are able to drop off two items per household per day, free of charge. The pilot stores accept phones, cameras, and TV and computer screens up to 32 inches. If it is successful the company will implement the program at the other 992 stores
Source: Waste News

In the News

EPA Amends Hazardous Waste Listing

It will soon be easier for manufacturers of automobiles and light trucks to use aluminum in making their vehicles. The EPA is in the process of amending the F019 hazardous waste listing to make this possible.

The change will encourage manufactures to use more aluminum parts. As a result, the vehicles will be lighter with capabilities of increased gas mileage. Also the process will decrease exhaust air emissions.

The final rule will be in the Federal Register by the end of June or the beginning of July.
Source: Waste News

Oakland A's Encourage Fans to "Get Your Green On"

To promote Planet Green (Discovery Channel Network), the Oakland Athletics baseball franchise is encouraging their fans to �Get your green on�. The fans are asked to wear green in support of the A�s and the environment. The franchise is also offering a reusable bag and a $1.50 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) ticket to the first 1,000 fans that take the BART to the game. The team is also sponsoring a free e-scrap event collecting computers, monitors, televisions, cell phones, and other electronics. Everything collected will be handled by an e-scrap processor.
Source: Resource Recycling

U.S. Postal Service's Green Website

Visit www.usps.com/green for suggestions on eco-friendly products and services, greening your mail, recycling and reducing waste in shipping and advertising via mail.

Market Corner

 

June – Chicago Region

Mixed Paper

$80-85 (-5)

Boxboard Cuttings

$90-95 (0)

News

$80-85 (0)

OCC

$95-100 (-10)

SOP

$195-205 (-15)

Sorted White Ledger

$300-310 (0)
Material Abbreviations
OCC: Old Corrugated Cardboard
SOP: Sorted Office Paper		 Source: Official Board Markets