What's New for January 2008:

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WasteCap News

WasteCap Welcomes New Staff

WasteCap Nebraska welcomes new staff members April Hilpert-Whitney and Chris New.

We welcome April Hilpert-Whitney as our new Office Manager.  Her duties will include general office management, accounting, grant reporting and management, special event planning and registration.  April brings over 4 years of accounting and office experience.  April holds an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration-Entrepreneurship from Southeast Community College.

We also welcome our new Engineering Intern Manager, Christian New. Chris will be marketing WasteCap’s partnership with the UNL P3 program to new clients and managing our P3 interns.  Chris comes to us with twenty-three years of business development, engineering and project management experience primarily in the chemical industry.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing his Masters degree in Environmental Engineering at UNL.

Welcome April and Chris.

WasteCap Announces Promotion

Sue Ellen Pegg has been promoted to Associate Director.  Sue Ellen has been with WasteCap since December of 2005. During this time, she has conducted waste assessments, provided outreach and member services, and performed market research. She has also been the lead staff coordinating our Finishing Technologies Certification Program.  Sue Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and has a background in agricultural research at both the university and industry level.

Congratulations Sue Ellen.

WasteCap Nebraska Welcomes New Board Members

WasteCap Nebraska is pleased to welcome Reynolds Davis and Rachel Thorpe to the WasteCap Nebraska Board of Directors.

Reynolds Davis is a marketing and management consultant who retired from SmithKline Beckman (now Glaxo-SmithKline) in 1990 after a 20 year career.  He is a long-term Red Cross volunteer and is the current chair of the Cornhusker Regional Council for that organization as well as a member of the board of directors for the Lancaster Chapter of the American Red Cross.  Reynolds is also president of the Lincoln Amateur Radio Club, vice-chair of Volunteer Partners in Lincoln, and is the Lancaster County Emergency Coordinator for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Rachel Thorpe is the Electroplating and Waste Water Treatment Engineer and a Safety, Health and Environmental Engineer for Square D Company in Lincoln.  She also provides management support to and participates as a member of the Emergency Response Team.  Rachel completed her internship with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Partners in Pollution Prevention program in 2004.  She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a BS in Civil Engineering.

Welcome Reynolds and Rachel.

WasteWise Program Information

WasteWise Program information was sent to our members and other organizations at the end of December.  Be sure to take the time to review the program information and consider joining WasteWise. 

WasteCap Nebraska and the U.S. EPA WasteWise program are partnering to bring waste reduction assistance to Nebraska businesses.  WasteCap can help you with state-specific resources and technical assistance, while the WasteWise program can offer you measurement and tracking tools and recognition on a national level.

WasteWise is a free, voluntary partnership program sponsored by the U.S. EPA, through which organizations reduce municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, benefiting their bottom line and the environment.  As a WasteWise partner, you can access a wealth of free technical assistance that will help you design and implement effective waste reduction activities.  Learn more about the program here or call Carrie Hakenkamp at 402-436-2384 or email her at [email protected].

Upcoming Events

Iowa Environmental Regulatory Workshop

The 2008 Iowa Environmental Regulatory Workshop for the Construction & Demolition Industry will be held on January 29, 2008 in Council Bluffs, IA. The workshop will provide information on various programs’ regulatory requirements, compliance, and provide resources and tools available to comply.  For more information, or to register, visit iowalifechanging.com.

Request for Annual Volume Reports

The 2007 Member Recycling Volume Report has been sent and all WasteCap Nebraska members should have received it in the mail. Please complete and return the surveys by Friday, February 1st as they are important in evaluating the effectiveness of the memoranda utilized by WasteCap members and measuring the amounts of material diverted from the landfill each year.  These reports also allow for a more adequate description of your business’s complete recycling program (including some commonly missed items such as pallets, toner cartridges, refuse generation totals, and recycled content purchasing efforts.)  The compiled annual recycling volume will allow us to compare recycling efforts to past years and gauge the recycling progress of the WasteCap members as a whole.  Please contact our office at (402) 436-2383 or [email protected] with any questions.  Thank you for your cooperation!

Environmental Innovation Workshop

On March 6, 2008 an Environmental Innovation Workshop will be held at the University of Nebraska Omaha. The workshop will provide information on how to win grants under the EPA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program with Dr. James Gallup, SBIR manager, as guest speaker.  The workshop is free but registration is required.  Click here for more information on the workshop, or to register.

WasteCap Across Nebraska

A to Z Printing is the First Printer to Receive FSC Environmental Certification in Nebraska

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Smartwood (a program sponsored by the Rainforest Alliance) officially certified that A to Z Printing meets a strict set of chain-of-custody standards designed to support stewardship of the environment and responsible forest management. A to Z Printing is the first and only FSC and Smartwood certified printer in Nebraska.
           
For A to Z, the certification is confirmation of more than 20 years of environmentally responsible printing practices that include the use of recycled papers, soy inks and low VOC (volatile organic compound) solvents.
                      
A to Z Printing uses three paper suppliers that also have earned FSC certification—in fact, they are the only other Nebraska companies to receive this prestigious honor. The paper companies are Omaha Paper, Field Paper and Xpedx.
           
FSC chain-of-custody certification for a company like A to Z Printing means the company uses and makes available products that are proven to have been produced with environmentally responsible processes all the way through the manufacturing process. In the case of printing, certification assures that papers come from responsibly managed, sustainable and controlled forests and have been tracked all the way through production. Certification also encourages companies to conduct operations in a manner that supports the environment.
           
Anyone seeking award-winning printing quality can get more information or a quote from president and owner Sue Quambusch at 402-477-0815 or [email protected]. See A to Z’s portfolio at atozprint.com.
Source: Strictly Business

Grand Island Habitat for Humanity Competes in National Can Recycling Challenge

Grand Island Habitat for Humanity was one of six affiliates awarded $5,000 for winning a monthly challenge launched by the Cans for Habitat program.  The Habitat for Humanity affiliate that recycled the most aluminum cans per capita each month from June to October 2007 was named the winner for the month. Another award of $30,000 will go to the affiliate that recycles the most pounds of aluminum, and has the best marketing and media outreach for their local program.
Source: American Recycler

Electronics Update

E-cycling Venture Established by Electronics Manufacturers

With the new Minnesota Electronics Recycling law now in place Panasonic Corp. of North America, Sharp Electronics Corp. and Toshiba America Consumer Products recently joined together to form The Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (MRM), LLC. The purpose is to handle end-of-life electronics recovered under the law.  The goal is to then expand into Connecticut, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington within the next two years.  MRM president David Thompson stated to E-Scrap News, "We believe that forming an independent company to manage collective electronic recycling programs is the best way to achieve the economies of scale and efficiencies necessary to create a sustainable recycling system for used electronics products."
Source: E-Scrap News

Cell Phone Recycling Promoted by EPA

The EPA has joined efforts with cell phone makers, service providers and retailers to create the Recycle Your Cell Phone, It’s an Easy Call campaign. The campaign was started because consumers do have enough information on how and where to recycle unwanted cell phones.  The campaign shows the convenience, and environmental and social benefits of recycling.  Less than 20 percent of cell phones in the U.S. are recycled annually. Click here for more information about the campaign.
Source: E-Scrap News

News Across the Nation

Buses Fueled by Grease from Restaurants

Approximately 80 school buses in the San Francisco Bay area will begin running on waste grease from local restaurants.  The grease will be manufactured into a cleaner burning fuel.  The Greasecycle program began as an effort to divert the waste grease from the city’s sewer and to reduce the pollution produced by the bus’s exhaust system.
Source: Waste News

Market Corner

 

January – Chicago Region

Mixed Paper

$85-90 (+5)

Boxboard Cuttings

$90-95 (0)

News

$75-80 (+5)

OCC

$100-110 (0)

SOP

$205-215 (+20)

Sorted White Ledger

$300-310 (+10)
Material Abbreviations
OCC: Old Corrugated Cardboard
SOP: Sorted Office Paper		 Source: Official Board Markets