June 2004 Newsletter
Contamination and Loss of Recyclables
Two States Ponder E-Waste
Recycleman and the Dumpster Divers
Oregon's Environment and the Legislature
Catalog Companies and Their Impact
What papers do RA readers use?
Question of the Month
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Contamination and Loss of Recyclables
Metro SWAC subcommittee reviews sampling process and data
Last month, the RA Newsletter reported on contamination of the paper stream in the Portland metro area. We highlighted the new Metro study "Commingled Recyclables Processing and Quality." Metro recently reconvened a subcommittee to review the report's data and consider recommendations.
Two Recycling Advocates Board members have been actively involved in Metro's discussions of the results of commingling in the region. A 2002 Metro study indicated a 5% contamination level in marketed fibers and Material Recovery Facility (MRF) garbage, and Metro convened the SWAC Subcommittee on the Contamination and Loss of Recyclables late that year. At that time, the Subcommittee recommended that glass should not be mixed with fiber, and that "...local governments should formalize their agreement that glass never be mixed with fiber at any point during collection or processing. Metro should help local jurisdictions educate the public to ensure this outcome."
Pursuant to another Subcommittee recommendation, MRFs voluntarily reported their residual percentage to Metro each month, and allowed periodic sampling at their facilities. After a year of this reporting and sampling, the Subcommittee was reconvened to review the process and the data. As Metro's report "Commingled Recyclables Processing and Quality" reveals, "the promise has not been fully realized in the Metro region." Particularly troubling to Recycling Advocates and many others is the fact that 25% of recyclable containers (such as plastic bottles and glass containers) that residents put out for recycling do not make it to the proper market. In other words, through our methods of collection and processing, we are losing recyclable materials when they end up in landfills or, in the case of glass, as aggregate material that is mixed with cement, mortar, or plaster. Some of the recyclable metal, plastic, and glass containers end up contaminating recyclable paper shipped to paper mills.
Subcommittee members debated the report's conclusions and their significance at length in March, requiring a second meeting in April. Overall, members believed that the generators of waste contributed to the residual problem and proposed more education for both residential and commercial generators. "No glass with fiber" was a familiar mantra, and it was suggested that providing rollcarts in addition to bins for curbside collection could alleviate some contamination problems caused by confusing instructions. Rollcarts also keep recyclables dry, which aids sorting at the MRF. Although the City of Portland's representative voted in favor of the Subcommittee's early 2003 recommendation not to mix glass with fiber, City code will not prohibit the mixing of glass and paper in commercial loads until July 1, 2004.
The Subcommittee unanimously recommended that Metro undertake a substantial, region-wide outreach and education program for both residential and business wastestreams to address recycling contamination issues and improve the quality of materials being delivered to end-users. But, with significant cuts (about $1.5 million) to the Solid Waste and Recycling Department's budget, it is now unclear whether the Subcommittee's recommendation will be pursued in any meaningful way.
Finally, the Subcommittee unanimously recommended that the past year's reporting and sampling of recyclables continue until at least July 1, 2005. The Subcommittee will reconvene after January 1, 2005 to review new data.
Two States Ponder E-Waste
In Washington an e-waste bill passes, Oregon reviews options
In late March, Washington's Governor Locke signed HB 2488. The legislation directs the Washington State Department of Ecology to work with the state Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) to conduct research and develop recommendations for implementing and financing an electronic product collection, recycling, and reuse program. With Locke's signature, Washington joins Oregon in the process of researching ways to deal with the accumulating mass of electronics waste.
Washington's approach
The Department of Ecology and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee will consult with stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers, waste haulers, electronics recyclers, charities, cities, counties, environmental organizations, and public interest groups. The department will identify and evaluate existing projects and encourage new pilot projects for e-waste reduction.
The legislation requires that the Department of Ecology report its findings and recommendations for developing an electronic product collection, recycling, and reuse program to the legislature in December 2004 and December 2005.
Oregon State Legislation
Oregon e-waste legislation, SB 867, was signed into law on August 22, 2003. This legislation directs an advisory committee to examine reuse and recycling of electronic products and report findings to Legislative Assembly. As with Washington's process, the advisory committee is meeting with similar stakeholders. (See the February issue of the RA Newsletter for a list of participants.) The advisory committee has been meeting since February.
In addition, the legislation requires cities serving over 500,000 people (i.e., Portland) to develop and implement a pilot program for electronics recycling and reuse. The legislation provided funds for the advisory committee only. It is anticipated that Metro will come up with the funds for any pilot program.
How do they compare?
The Washington process will lead to an agency making recommendations for "implementing and financing" an actual electronic product collection, recycling, and reuse program by December 2005.
Oregon's process functions at the level of an advisory committee and stops short of Washington's goal, or moves toward it at a slower pace. The Advisory Committee for Electronic Product Stewardship may make recommendations for changes in state regulations that affect the reuse and recycling of electronic products.
The Oregon bill also calls for the advisory committee to make recommendations for educating consumers and businesses about electronic product recycling. The bill does not require that the advisory committee draft recommendations for the creation of a statewide program for handling electronics waste.
For information on product stewardship in the Northwest, go to the web site of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council at http://www.productstewardship.net.
Recycleman and the Dumpster Divers
Local waste reduction educator uses music for his message
Reduce the things you use every day
Reuse other stuff before you throw it away
Recycle all the rest and it will pay
These are things we can do
I'm talking about me
I'm talking about you
(From "Things You Can Do")
Meet Pete DuBois, a Waste Reduction Specialist for Clark County whose alter ego is Recycleman. With his band, the Dumpster Divers, he visits schools, wearing a rubber kilt and jamming on electric guitar. Recently, Recycleman and the Dumpster Divers released their new CD "Every Day is Earth Day."
The music is part political, part rock, and part folk. The tunes are upbeat danceable rock for children and adults. To buy or listen to the CD online, go to http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/recycleman. To contact DuBois (aka Recycleman) or to view the band's schedule, visit http://www.recycleman.com.
Oregon's Environment and the Legislature
Environmental Handbook for the Legislature available
The OLCV Environmental Handbook contains eighteen concise chapters on key environmental issues facing Oregon, priorities for action, and how citizens can obtain more information. Rob Guttridge, RA board president, co-wrote the chapter on recycling with Maureen Kirk of OSPIRG.
To order the publication, send $7.00 to the OLCV Educational Fund at 320 SW Stark, Suite 415, Portland, OR 97204. The handbook is also available online at www.olcveducationfund.org for free as a PDF file.
Catalog Companies and Their Impact
ForestEthics and Center for the New American Dream target catalogs
ForestEthics and the Center for the New American Dream recently identified Lands' End/Sears, LL Bean, William-Sonoma/Pottery Barn, Limited/Victoria's Secret, J Crew, and JC Penney as catalog companies needing comprehensive policies to protect endangered forests and increase recycled content. Research indicates that several of these companies are directly linked to the destruction of the Boreal Forests of Canada. Together these companies produce more than a billion catalogs each year - some of the largest circulations in the industry - very little of which is from recycled paper.
ForestEthics has been working with these companies to develop endangered forest-free commitments and to increase their use of recycled fibers. The group had put the six companies on 30-day notice in March, but because progress is being made they have decided to delay the launch of a targeted campaign another 60 days to allow constructive negotiations to continue.
Meanwhile, the Center for the New American Dream has initiated an e-mail campaign urging the leading six catalog companies to use at least 10% recycled fiber immediately and commit to increasing to 50% to 60% recycled fiber over the next five years. To reach the campaign, go to www.newdream.org/tttoffline/sbsfaq.html. The web site also includes a link for e-mailing Congress to support the creation of a junk mail list that is modeled after the "Do Not Call" list.
Both groups are calling on the catalog industry to maximize post-consumer recycled content in catalogs. Catalogs have surpassed magazines in overall paper use in the United States, using around 3.6 million tons of paper annually. According to Graphic Arts Products Tracking Research and Consulting, catalogs account for fifteen percent of U.S. printing demand by volume. (Telephone directories accounted for less than five percent and magazines around thirteen percent.)
The catalog industry sends out over 17 billion catalogs a year in the United States, many of which are produced on paper that comes directly from endangered forests including the Canadian Boreal Forest, the largest remaining wilderness in North America. Canada's boreal region, stretching from Alaska to the Atlantic, provides vital nesting grounds for three billion, or one-third of North American birds.
For more information about ForestEthics's efforts to increase the use of recycled fiber in catalogs, visit their web site at www.forestethics.org or call Evan Paul at (415) 307-9566. To reach the Center for the New American Dream, go to www.newdream.org.
Catalog Facts:
• Each year catalog retailers mail out about 17 billion catalogs. That's 59 for every man, woman and child in the United States.
• Almost none of the paper used in these catalogs contains recycled content.
• Every year almost eight million tons of trees go straight into catalogs that are often discarded or unread.
• There are 35 mills - 20 pulp and 15 paper - in the Boreal that supply pulp and paper for US catalogs.
• The pulp from the Boreal pulp mills makes it into the vast majority of catalogs that reach Americans' mailboxes.
Source: ForestEthics
What is the Canadian Boreal?
Over three quarters of the intact, original forests that once covered the earth are degraded or gone. A quarter of what remains is in the Canadian Boreal. Stretching across North America from Alaska to the Atlantic, the Boreal is thirteen times the size of California - 1.3 billion acres. Because of its vastness and of the fact that nearly 70% of it is intact, the Canadian Boreal forest is one of the world's greatest conservation opportunities. For more information, go to www.borealcanada.ca.
What papers do RA readers use?
Responses to May's Question of the Month
Terri Peterson, the Douglas County Waste Reduction Manager, wrote us that she uses Badger Envirographic 100, a 100% post-consumer recycled paper. "It's 24# and I love it! By getting the slightly heavier stock, I have no problems copying on both sides without it showing through," adds Peterson. Her county office purchases a 30% recycled paper for copying and letterhead, but Peterson prefers the heavier and higher recycled content stock.
Rob Guttridge, RA's board president, noted in an e-mail that he was currently using a ream of OfficeMax MaxBrite 30% post-consumer content recycled multi-purpose paper.
Tanya Schaefer of the RA board adds, "When not using 'one-side already used paper' in my home office, I currently have a ream of Badger Paper, Envirographic 100, made from 100% post consumer pulp produced in a chlorine free pulping and bleaching process. The company recommends it for low and high speed copiers, laser printers, offset presses and plain paper faxes. I have been able to find a good selection of 100% post-consumer content paper and envelopes from TreeCycle in Montana (www.treecycle.com), and its minimum order is friendlier than most to the individual purchaser. Good SE Portland sources for at least 30% post-consumer content include Arvey Paper & Office Products, XPEDX (supplier of RA's newsletter paper), and Mirador."
Storing recyclable household containers and materials until curbside pick-up or drop off at a recycling center requires us to set up some system of in-house collection. How do you store your recyclables in your house until they can be collected?
E-mail your responses to info@recyclingadvocates.org or call us at (503) 777-0909 and leave a message by June 20.
Do you have a question you would like us to publish? E-mail us your question at info@recyclingadvocates.org