March 2004 Newsletter
The Way of the Aluminum Can
No NEPSI Agreement Yet, But...
Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator: Edible Essays on City Farming
Waste Prevention and Global Warming
State Advisory Committee on Electronic Product Stewardship gets underway
Question of the Month
Master Recycler Program Announces Next Course
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The Way of the Aluminum Can
Where aluminum cans go after use
Over the last decade the national recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans has dropped significantly. In 1992, the rate stood at 65%. According to the Container Recycling Institute, by 2001, the rate had fallen to 49.2%. Americans consume more aluminum beverage cans today than in the early nineties, around 9 billion more. During the 1990's, Americans wasted 7.1 million tons of cans.
Oregon's Bottle Bill includes aluminum cans for carbonated drinks and beer. According to the DEQ, the rate of recycling aluminum cans that fall under the Bottle Bill is around 85%. Aluminum cans that contain non-carbonated drinks, such as juice cans, are not redeemable under the Bottle Bill. Even with our Bottle Bill and the redemption, consumers often dispose of aluminum cans through their curbside-recycling program. These unreedemed deposit cans that end up in curbside recycling bins create two problems. First, by neglecting to take the containers to the store for redemption, consumers unwittingly put money into the pockets of the beverage distributors. These funds can then be used for lobbying against changes to the Bottle Bill and other environmental legislation that may impact the beverage distributors' interests.
Second, it adds to the labor of separating materials through the recovery process at material recovery facilities (MRF's). Both aluminum and steel cans are mixed with paper and other recyclables. The steel cans are separated from other materials by a magnet and also by screening systems. Aluminum cans and plastic bottles are partially separated from other recyclables by screens. Where this fails, the aluminum cans are pulled by hand on the pick line.
Once aluminum cans are recovered, they move on to scrap brokers, large processors, and smelters and are manufactured into new products. The large bottle bill distributors and processors, such as Container Recovery Inc., in the Portland area, collect most of the aluminum cans that will be recycled from Oregon. The cans are then condensed into 30-pound briquettes or 1,200-pound bales and shipped to aluminum companies for re-melting, mostly out of state in the Midwest, South, and California, according to Robin King of the Aluminum Association in Washington, D.C.
Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation and Alcoa are the two large buyers of aluminum cans in Oregon. According to the Aluminum Association, the cans are "shredded, crushed and stripped of their inside and outside decorations via a burning process. Then, the potato chip-sized pieces of aluminum are loaded into melting furnaces, where the recycled metal is blended with new, virgin aluminum." The re-melting process, which is energy intensive and produces greenhouse gases, creates 25-foot long ingots that weigh over 30,000 pounds. These ingots are then rolled into sheets that are about 1/100 of an inch thick. The metal is coiled and shipped to companies that produce new cans. The process from initial collection of cans to resale of beverages in recycled cans can take as little as 60 days.
The aluminum in beverage cans is of high grade and can be used to make other aluminum products besides new cans. Producing a recycled can takes only about five percent of the energy it would take to mine and smelt a can from new aluminum.
According to the Aluminum Association, 94% of aluminum scrap stays in the U.S. The rest is exported. China is the leading producer of virgin aluminum and is increasingly seeking scrap for its aluminum industry.
For more information on aluminum can recycling rates, visit http://www.container-recycling.org. The Aluminum Association publishes information on the recycling process at http://www.aluminum.org.
Editor's note: Many thanks to Peter Spendelow of Oregon's DEQ for assistance with this article.
No NEPSI Agreement Yet, But...
Final meeting took place in Portland
By Lori Stole
On February 10 and 11 the NEPSI (National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative) stakeholders met once again, here in Portland. This meeting was to be the last, and it was begun with great pessimism from many of the participants about whether an agreement could be reached that would satisfy all parties. This multi-stakeholder dialogue/negotiation began nearly three years ago, and many participants felt NEPSI needed to conclude one way or another. Either an agreement on a viable system for handling e-waste had to be reached or the process needed to conclude without achieving success.
The meeting ended without a final agreement, but with a plan. Participants agreed that the proposed financing system, which includes an advanced recovery fee (ARF) on all designated products at point of sale, would be accepted, assuming that an alternative, non-ARF option could be designed and agreed to by all. Industry agreed to work hard on this alternative option and strive to have it defined by around the beginning of April, but no deadline was set. Although many documents have been prepared as part of the NEPSI process, there was not sufficient time to discuss these at the meeting.
The new Oregon e-waste advisory committee is asked to base their work on NEPSI outcomes, to the extent there are any. Manufacturers have said that they prefer a single national system rather than 50 state variations on one. Let's hope that a final agreement is forthcoming! We will keep you posted in the newsletter as this develops.
Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator: Edible Essays on City Farming
Spring Gillard, New Society Publishers, 205 pp. (2003)
Book Review by Tanya Schaefer
A former advertising copywriter, Spring Gillard has worked at the Vancouver, BC, City Farmer's Compost Demonstration Garden since 1991. The award-winning organic garden has provided Gillard with rich fodder for her essays - although they vary in depth and wit.
I initially was underwhelmed by her writing, and almost gave up after the second chapter, but pressed on as the book was recommended by Tom Watson of the National Waste Prevention Coalition. The first few essays don't flow well together and are interspersed with "too-cute" diary entries. But the book picks up speed and complexity with excellent discussions of water use, rainwater harvesting, "the scoop on poop," critter control, and urban agriculture in New York City and Cuba.
Despite the perky diary notes Gillard seriously addresses potential problems in urban gardens such as rats in the compost, mosquitoes in the rain barrels, and bugs in the greenhouse. She suggests trouble-shooting techniques and solutions, with an overlay of humor about ill-timed discoveries when running a demonstration garden open to the public.
Also valuable are Gillard's "Hot Tips" sprinkled throughout the book, and wide variety of resources for further information found at the end of each chapter (Web sites, books, Canadian and U.S. organizations, etc.). These, along with Gillard's obvious passion for her work, make the book worth perusing.
Waste Prevention and Global Warming
Oregon begins evaluating current practices
In January, Governor Kulongoski announced the formation of an Advisory Group on Global Warming. This Advisory Group, which consists of business, government, and environmental leaders from across the state, will advise the Governor, through the State's Sustainability Board, on actions Oregon should take to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases.
Seven technical subcommittees have been formed to identify and evaluate alternatives. One of the subcommittees will evaluate waste prevention, recovery, and disposal practices, and it will meet frequently through April (and possibly a few times thereafter), when a draft evaluation of options is to be submitted to the Advisory Group. Participation in the Materials, Recycling and Disposal Technical Subcommittee is open to all interested parties, including Recycling Advocates members.
Recycling Advocates President Rob Guttridge has agreed to participate as RA's liaison to the subcommittee. The subcommittee is being chaired by David Allaway of the Oregon DEQ. If you are interested in receiving meeting notifications or want to know more about the project, please contact David Allaway at (503) 229-5479 or Allaway.david@deq.state.or.us.
State Advisory Committee on Electronic Product Stewardship gets underway
By Lori Stole
Senate Bill 867 was signed into law last session, thanks to the perseverance of Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, RA members and other interested parties. The legislation creates an advisory committee on electronic product stewardship under the guidance of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD), and requires Metro to develop an e-waste reuse and recycling program. In January, appointments to the 19-member committee were finalized, and on February 12 the first meeting was held in Portland. OECDD has hired an organizing team, which includes Jennifer Allen, Pamela Brody-Heine and Tom Osdoba, to help coordinate the work of the committee.
This initial meeting was a time for introductions and sharing of expectations. Outcomes and tasks were brainstormed and an initial prioritization step was completed. About twenty observers attended, and had a chance to provide input as well. The organizing team will now process this information and plan the next meeting.
The organizers have announced that future meetings will take place in Portland, and the next convenes on March 31. This first meeting was slightly less than three hours long, but future meetings will be whole day events. The organizing team is very interested in hearing all suggestions and thoughts from the community. Also, meetings are open for anyone to attend, and there is an interested-persons list for those who would like to receive notification of meetings. You can send requests and questions to Jennifer Allen, jhallen@pdx.edu.
Question of the Month
E-waste and the Bottle Bill
As Oregon's Advisory Committee on Electronic Product Stewardship starts meeting to discuss ways of dealing with electronic waste, we want to ask you:
Who should pay the costs associated with managing electronic product waste, and how? Should consumers, the manufacturers, or taxpayers foot the bill?
For more information on the issue, see this month's articles on the Advisory Committee on Electronic Product Stewardship and NEPSI. E-mail your responses to info@recyclingadvocates.org or call us at (503) 777-0909 and leave a message by March 17.
February's question of the month generated one response by Rick Paul, RA board member and manager at Far West Fibers in Portland. The question was "Should Oregon's Bottle Bill be revised? If so, how and why?" In response, Rick wrote us:
YES !!
The 1973 bottle bill was initially an anti-litter bill designed to clean up the roads, stream banks and the beaches of Oregon. The original thoughts by its author were to put a value on the bottles and cans that would make it enticing for the individual to pick up the container and return it to the distributor. This has been successful in thought and behavior, only there was no clause for inflation or invention.
We need to include containers that today litter the roads, stream banks, and the beaches and to increase the value of the returned containers. We probably need to include language for the future, which may include other beverage containers of liquids for consumption outside the house, and an inflation percentage for the increase in the redemption values.
We also need to include an accounting by the distributors or any other responsible party who is collecting the deposit. That accounting of money needs to be done to the government, under the audit authority of the government, beyond tax audits. Each year a report of the total number of containers sold, and number of containers redeemed, and the dollar figure for the difference. The difference should be used for the advocacy of recycling and waste reduction. The operational costs of the business who collects and distributes the deposit can be recovered in the sale of the raw materials returned. It is the cleanest material generated for recycling.
I am not encouraged to change the language for the redemption locations. The language today gives the option to the grocery stores to set up facilities outside their locations where the redemptions can occur. The grocery stores complain that the returned bottles and cans are a health hazard, but they do admit that the persons redeeming containers do purchase in their stores.
Many thanks to Rick Paul for his insightful thoughts. Readers who want to respond to Rick's comments can e-mail the RA Newsletter at info@recyclingadvocates.org.
Master Recycler Program Announces Next Course
Eight-week class begins in April
Clackamas County will host the next Master Recycler course, set to begin Tuesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the county's Sunnybrook Service Center, 9101 SE Sunnybrook Boulevard.
The popular eight-week course will continue on Tuesdays through May and includes two half-day weekend field trips. Over 400 people have participated in the program that provides instruction in topics such as waste reduction, recycling processes, alternatives to hazardous household products and composting.
Course graduates agree to donate 30 hours of putting their skills to work to help others learn the three Rs: to reduce the amount of solid waste generated, reuse material for the purpose for which it was intended and recycle material that cannot be reused. Master Recyclers volunteer to staff information booths at community events, make presentations and work on special projects.
"The Master Recycler course is taught by professionals from the private and public sector who are working on innovative solutions to environmental challenges," says Susan Ziolko, Clackamas County Waste Reduction Coordinator. "Students work with a dynamic group of people and gain knowledge they can share in their community."
A $50 course fee includes all materials. Advance registration for the spring course is required by March 24. Information and applications are available online at http://www.masterrecycler.org and by calling the Master Recycler program at (503) 823-7530.