Environmental News

Federal charges against a Surrey recycling firm for the alleged illegal export of hazardous electronics to China don't reflect the success of B.C.'s e-waste recycling system, according to a spokesman. Craig Wisehart, executive director of the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), said the stewardship agency fully supports the prosecution of "nefarious" recyclers who send e-waste to developing countries, where impoverished workers may be poisoned by toxins. He was responding to Environment Canada's decision to charge Surrey-based Electronics Recycling Canada with shipping cathode ray tube monitors and batteries to Macau in 2011. Source: Surrey Leader, 3/26/13

Boston -- Television, computer and other electronics manufacturers would be required to recycle their old products once consumers discard them, under a bill endorsed by a legislative committee immediately following a hearing on it. If passed by the Legislature, Massachusetts would join 24 other states which have imposed requirements on consumer electronics manufacturers to dispose of products after they are sold. Source: State House News Service, 3/26/13

In the United States, only species listed on state or federal noxious weed lists are regulated, and those lists are often biased toward species that affect agricultural crops. Conversely, invasive plant council lists include species that affect natural landscapes but have no regulatory clout. After comparing the lists and how they are created, researchers at the University of Illinois' Energy Biosciences Institute have developed some suggestions on how to improve the regulation of all invasive plant species, including new biofuels plants. Source: Biofuels Journal, 3/26/13

Industrial design sophomores participated Friday in Discarded to Precious, a competition challenging design students to collect discarded items and transform them into something "precious." Competition results will be announced Monday afternoon. Source: Daily Illini, 3/31/13

Applications are available on the IRA website for the Illinois Recycling Association Annual EXCELLENCE IN RECYCLING Awards. Nominations are accepted from any current IRA member in good standing. Persons/groups can be nominated by another person or by self-nomination. The awards will be presented at the Illinois Recycling Association's Annual Meeting, held during the annual conference at the Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 during the luncheon. Deadline for award consideration is April 12, 2013. Source: Illinois Recycling Association, 4/1/13

Over the years, Sprint has taken many steps to make its operations greener, such as reducing its paper use, squeezing carbon emissions from its supply chain and removing plastic from its packaging. At the same time, the telecom giant has also focused on its products, including the requirement that all of its cellphones receive green certification. In this Q-and-A with Nina Kruschwitz at MIT Sloan Management Review, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse explains how the company's strong focus on sustainability is paying off in cost savings and long-term brand image, even if customers aren't yet paying attention to whether the phones themselves are green. Source: GreenBiz.com, 3/26/13

Surrey company Electronics Recycling Canada has been charged with 24 federal counts related to the unlawful export of hazardous recyclable material -- lead-acid batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries and cathode-ray tubes. Source: The Times Colonist, 3/25/13

A Michigan computer company and its owner were sentenced yesterday for trafficking in counterfeit goods and services and violating environmental laws. U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson sentenced Mark Jeffrey Glover, to 30 months in prison and a $10,000 fine, and his company, Discount Computers, Inc. (DCI), a $2 million fine with $10,839 in restitution to Mich. landlord, for trafficking in counterfeit goods and services. DCI was also sentenced for storing and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit. Glover pleaded guilty to the charges on his behalf and that of his company in October 2012. DCI, headquartered in Canton, Mich., with warehouses in Maryland Heights, Mo., and Dayton, N.J., operated as a broker of used electronic components, including computers and televisions. DCI resold working and disassembled broken items, selling them for scrap. A large part of DCI's business involved exporting used cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to countries in the Middle East and Asia. Egypt prohibits the importation of computer equipment which is more than five years old. To evade this requirement, all three DCI locations replaced the original factory labels on used CRT monitors with counterfeit labels, which reflected a more recent manufacture date. Over a five-year period, DCI sent at least 300 shipments to Egypt, with a total shipment value of at least $2.1 million, constituting more than 100,000 used CRTs monitors. Source: eNews Park Forest, 3/26/13

The deadline for application submittal is May 31, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Applications will only be accepted electronically. The award ceremony will be held this fall in Peoria, and once again ISTC will also host the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact Awards Program in conjunction with the Governor's Sustainability Awards program. Source: ISTC, 3/26/13

The DEQ has opened nominations for the fifth annual Michigan Green Chemistry Governor's Awards. The Governor's Awards recognize advances that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacturing, or use. The awards acknowledge efforts to design, implement, and promote safer and more sustainable chemicals, processes, and products. Awards are open to individuals, groups, and organizations, both non-profit and for profit. The program was established by the Michigan Green Chemistry Roundtable to celebrate innovations using green chemistry in Michigan. Thirteen winners have been presented with an award in the first four years of the program. Entries must be sent no later than July 19. The awards will be presented at the 2013 Michigan Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference: "Designing a Sustainable Michigan," which is scheduled October 23-24 at Grand Valley State University. Source: Michigan DEQ, 3/24/13

Here are three pro-sustainable business policy items the American Sustainable Business Council is working on in conjunction with many other organizations. Source: GreenBiz, 3/26/13

This article is the first in a three-part series exploring the challenges manufacturers face to design healthier products and the resources available to help them avoid chemicals of concern. Each post will focus one of the three phases in the Cradle to Cradle framework: inventory, assessment and optimization. Source: GreenBiz, 3/26/13

Over the years, Sprint has taken many steps to make its operations greener, such as reducing its paper use, squeezing carbon emissions from its supply chain and removing plastic from its packaging. At the same time, the telecom giant has also focused on its products, including the requirement that all of its cellphones receive green certification. In this Q-and-A with Nina Kruschwitz at MIT Sloan Management Review, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse explains how the company's strong focus on sustainability is paying off in cost savings and long-term brand image, even if customers aren't yet paying attention to whether the phones themselves are green. Source: GreenBiz, 3/26/13

Fungi, with the exception of shitake and certain other mushrooms, tend to be something we associate with moldy bread or dank-smelling mildew. But they really deserve more respect. Fungi have fantastic capabilities and can be grown, under certain circumstances, in almost any shape and be totally biodegradable. And, if this weren't enough, they might have the potential to replace plastics one day. The secret is in the mycelia. Source: Union College, 3/12/13

Georgia Institute of Technology and Purdue University researchers have developed efficient solar cells using natural substrates derived from plants such as trees. Just as importantly, by fabricating them on cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) substrates, the solar cells can be quickly recycled in water at the end of their lifecycle. Source: Georgia Institute of Technology, 3/26/13

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are looking to milk jugs as a way for 3D printing to gain more widespread use. To make this practical, the research group created the RecycleBot, a device that melts the plastic (after it has been washed and the labels have been removed) and turns it into a long, thin string of plastic filament. Source: Michigan Technological University, 3/26/13

The Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference brings together a range of academics, practitioners, and policy-makers from a variety of fields engaged in energy and climate efforts to provide the latest and most relevant behavioral research, best practices, and methodologies. The Organizing Committee is now accepting abstract submissions for their 2013 conference. Source: Environmental News Bits, 3/26/13

There is a temptation to brand water as the "new oil" or treat it like GHG, but these comparisons aren't appropriate. Source: GreenBiz, 3/22/13

Has Harvard guru Michael Porter become sustainable business's newest hero? Source: GreenBiz, 3/25/13

A bill currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee would repeal a two-year-old ban on electronic waste in state landfills. Proponents of the bill say counties are having a difficult time managing "e-waste" - computers, monitors, televisions and other electronics - because it has to be handled and processed differently than other refuse. Opponents of the repeal say the ban might not work perfectly but the state should not allow the dangerous materials back in its landfills. Source: Charleston (WV) Daily Mail, 3/19/13

Treated wastewater effluent could be a viable alternative to potable freshwater for cellulosic ethanol production, according to a study by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The study, "Use of Treated Effluent Water in Cellulosic Ethanol Production," was funded in part by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. Source: Environmental Leader, 3/12/13

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, D.C., has welcomed what it describes as the "first comprehensive study on the scope of the used electronic products (UEP) market and the destinations of exported UEPs," with the recent release of the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) report "Used Electronic Products: An Examination of U.S. Exports." Completed at the request of U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Ron Kirk, the report is based on data collected through a nationwide survey of 5,200 refurbishers, recyclers, brokers, information technology asset managers and other UEP handlers. he report looks at electronic equipment and component parts of these used products in 2011. The ITC report reveals that in 2011, U.S. collectors and processors reported $20.6 billion in sales of UEPs, of which 7 percent ($1.45 billion) were exports. Domestically, refurbished UEPs made up the bulk of sales ($15 billion) with commodity-grade scrap produced from the disassembling/recycling of UEPs accounting for $4.3 billion in sales. Exports accounted for $1 billion in sales of refurbished UEPs and $439 million in recycled material. According to the study, despite longstanding anecdotal accounts to the contrary, 88 percent of all UEPs exported as repaired/refurbished are sent "tested and working." Only a small share of U.S. exports, less than 1 percent (0.8 percent), is sent overseas for disposal. Source: Recycling Today, 3/13/13

As recently as a few years ago, broken monitors and televisions like those piled in a warehouse near Fresno, CA, were being recycled profitably. The big, glassy funnels inside these machines -- known as cathode ray tubes, or CRTs -- were melted down and turned into new ones. But flat-screen technology has made those monitors and televisions obsolete, decimating the demand for the recycled tube glass used in them and creating what industry experts call a "glass tsunami" as stockpiles of the useless material accumulate across the country. The predicament has highlighted how small changes in the marketplace can suddenly transform a product into a liability and demonstrates the difficulties that federal and state environmental regulators face in keeping up with these rapid shifts. Source: The New York Times, 3/18/13

Scientists have conducted extensive research on the plastic-filled gyres of the ocean. This past summer, however, researchers decided to look inland for the first time and measure plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Some of the groups' water samples had concentrations of plastic greater than those found anywhere else. The study has resulted in several other projects. Chemistry professor Dr. Sherri Mason discusses the plastic pollution in the basin. Source: Great Lakes Echo, 3/20/13

Industrial processes -- from petroleum refineries and paper mills to chemicals and metals industries -- consume about one-third of all energy produced in the United States. While the Energy Department is investing in advanced energy-saving technologies like carbon fiber and 3D printing, we also see great potential in more traditional technologies -- like combined heat and power (CHP) -- that strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, lower energy consumption and reduce harmful emissions. Source: Energy Blog, 3/13/13

The City of Minneapolis is the latest municipality to require commercial building energy rating and disclosure, meaning building owners must benchmark energy performance against that of similar buildings and report the results to the public. The ordinance will apply to publicly owned buildings 25,000 square feet and larger starting in 2013; other properties will be phased in gradually, with all privately owned commercial buildings 50,000 square feet and larger benchmarking and publicly reporting performance by mid-2016. Source: GreenSource, 3/4/13

Want to have a say in whether the U.S. government continues to use LEED? The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking public comments on a long-awaited recommendation regarding green building rating systems. GSA may abandon its prior endorsement of a single rating system, the findings of a special ad hoc committee suggest, instead encouraging each federal agency to make its own decisions about whether to use LEED, Green Globes, or the Living Building Challenge. The comment period will be open through April 6, 2013. Source: GreenSource, 3/4/13

Green cleaning has been one of the most significant developments to hit the professional cleaning industry in years. However, even longtime advocates of environmentally responsible cleaning products and systems acknowledge that all cleaning -- whether green or not -- must be effective in order to meet the ultimate goal of protecting human health. Source: Environmental Leader, 3/12/13

Plastics have paved their way into every aspect of human life due to their unique properties of malleability, easily changeable shapes and forms and low cost of production. Significant developments in plastics technology have coincided with the advent of innovative medical devices -- pacemakers, stents and hip-replacement devices -- which have enabled medical solutions for all kinds of ailments and impairments. Despite their ease of use, plastics can bring the risk of health and environmental hazards that can undermine all medical efforts unless treated minutely at first. Hence, the need for biocompatibility which can reduce these risks and enable us to fully derive the benefits. Source: Multibriefs, 3/18/13

Healthcare organizations utilize 11 percent of all U.S. energy, and hospitals and health systems spend roughly $8 billion every year on energy. In addition, energy costs have risen 56 percent between 2003 and 2008, according to the Healthier Hospitals Initiative. Energy is often considered to be low-hanging fruit within a hospital's financial plan, but healthcare leaders can longer afford to ignore "greening" their facilities. Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 3/12/13

Sustainability apps standardize the delivery of data to help users to improve their energy and environmental footprint. Source: GreenBiz, 3/19/13