Recycling Works Newsletter Spring 2017

RBAC's quarterly newsletter discusses current topics of interest to recycling businesses, including information on financing opportunities, commodity markets and new technologies.

In the Spring 2017 Recycling Works issue:

Celebrating Scott Mouw's 28 Years of Service (and Still Counting!) to the Recycling Industry

In celebration of 28 years of dedicated service to the state of North Carolina and the recycling industry, the Carolina Recycling Association (CRA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented former DEQ Recycling and Materials Management Section Chief Scott Mouw with a commemorative plaque. Scott was also surprised with a pair of custom-made one-of-a-kind Nike running shoes made with REPREVE, an engineered yarn derived from recycled plastic bottles by Reidsville-based recycler and manufacturer Unifi.

Beginning with a four-year stint as Franklin County's Solid Waste Manager and followed by more than 24 years with the State, Scott was involved in much of the history and development of the recycling infrastructure of NC, leading grant and assistance programs to expand material collection and processing efforts that provide vital feedstocks to manufacturers in NC and around the world. He successfully led efforts to increase public access to efficient, comprehensive local recycling services while expanding and streamlining the state's recycling economy. Scott was also involved in crafting and implementing policies and engaged in many regional and national dialogues to help support increased material recovery.

Upon retirement from the State, Scott accepted a part-time position with The Recycling Partnership, a national non-profit dedicated to improving the US recycling system.

 

Manufacturers' Demand for Recycled Materials Fuels NC Economy

At the close of 2016, the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) released a study that revealed more than 60 North Carolina manufacturers consume recycled feedstock to produce new consumer goods. These manufacturers collectively employ more than 14,000 North Carolinians and have sales exceeding $4 billion.

The economic data is presented in an interactive, online map which allows users to filter by state and view by location, commodity, manufactured product, sales or employees.

“When communities invest in local recycling collection programs, they’re supporting regional manufacturers who depend on recycled plastic, glass, metal, and paper to make new consumer goods,” said Will Sagar, SERDC Executive Director.

For more information, contact Will Sagar, SERDC Executive Director, at 828-507-0123.

 

 

 

Your Bottle Means Jobs Recycling Campaign Launches in Raleigh-Durham

Increased demand for recycled plastic bottles by Carolinas plastics recyclers spurred the development and debut of the Your Bottle Means Jobs multimedia campaign in the Raleigh-Durham, NC region. On March 20, 2017, Triangle area residents began hearing radio ads and seeing billboard and digital messages demonstrating that ‘Your Bottle Means Jobs,’ a campaign sponsored by the Carolinas Plastics Recycling Council (CPRC). The campaign urges households to pledge to recycle at least two more plastic bottles a week to help create jobs in this region. Those pledging online to recycle plastic bottles will allow participants to enter a prize drawing. To determine success, organizers will collect data to measure how many pounds of bottles that were recycled during the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. campaign.

The Your Bottle Means Jobs campaign runs through May 15, 2017, featuring radio advertisements, billboards, and targeted internet and social media promotions featuring the pledge to recycle two more bottles a week. More than forty local governments, industry members and trade associations including Wake County, City of Raleigh, Orange County, Food Lion, the American Chemistry Council and Carolina Recycling Association, support this campaign. A full list of sponsors and more information about the Your Bottle Means Jobs campaign is located at www.yourbottlemeansjobs.com. A video illustrating how recycling bottles helps create jobs in the Carolinas is available below:

[video:https://youtu.be/2kmxxGzocnE]

For more information and to make a campaign pledge, contact campaign organizer Blair Pollock at 919-968-2788.

Wake County Food Recovery Summit 

More than 70 business and organizational leaders from Wake County came together at the Wake County Food Recovery Summit in February 2017 to discuss ways to reduce the amount of food wasted every year. NCDEQ’s Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS) partnered with the NC Farm Bureau Federation and numerous business, governmental, nonprofit and trade associations to highlight current recovery efforts and to seek solutions to the problem of wasted food in the community. As an outgrowth of the Summit, a new working group, the Food Recovery Circle, formed under the Capital Area Food Network (Wake County’s Food Policy Council) to develop a plan to reduce wasted food at the source and to increase food waste recovery programs through food rescue, food bank programs, and composting.

For more information on food recovery and the Food Recovery Circle, please visit the DEACS website or contact Jorge Montezuma at 919-707-8123.

2017 CRA Annual Conference and Trade Show

The Carolina Recycling Association (CRA) celebrated its 27th year at the annual trade show and conference March 27-30, 2017 in Myrtle Beach, SC. The conference was attended by close to 600 recycling professionals from North and South Carolina as well as different parts of the southeast.

This year’s conference marked retirement celebrations for two veterans of the recycling industry – Diane Davis, former Executive Director of CRA, and Scott Mouw former Recycling and Materials Management Section Chief for NCDEQ.

This was also the first year with an organics recycling track that ran through the entire conference. Composting developments from around the Carolinas and beyond were highlighted. The organics track concluded with an interactive session where participants discussed potential next steps for the industry.

The conference returns to North Carolina in 2018 and will take place in Cherokee.

Announcements & Opportunities

  • Marketing Commodities for Free via NC WasteTrader North Carolina recyclers are reminded to check and use NC WasteTrader, a no-cost, online waste exchange for recyclable and reusable materials that might otherwise be discarded in landfills or disposed of inappropriately. Businesses, industries, recycling companies, waste haulers, local governments, institutions and other commercial generators of waste commodities can visit NC WasteTrader to list available and wanted materials, and search for potential new feedstocks. For further information and assistance, contact Tom Rhodes at 919-707-8140.