Municipal

SWANA releases safety guidelines for collection workers

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has released a set of guidelines that lays out the five safety tips waste and recycling collection workers should follow.

The association says its goals for the future are making sure the waste industry moves off the federal government’s list of the top dangerous jobs in the United States. With this mission in mind, SWANA has developed a new safety campaign that gives waste collection employees five tips to stay safe and alive on the job.

“Five to Stay Alive” provides a useful set of guidelines that waste collection workers should follow to reduce accidents and injuries on the job, according to SWANA, including a reference to an ANSI Safety Standard that states collection workers should not ride on the step of a garbage truck if the truck is backing or traveling more than 10 mph.

The five tips SWANA offers are:

• Always wear personal protective equipment (PPE), especially high-visibility vests and/or outerwear.
• Never use your cellphone while driving or at a disposal facility.
• Don’t ride on the step if the truck is backing up or traveling more than 10 mph or more than 1/5 of a mile.
• Always comply with safety belt rules.
• Don’t exceed the speed limit or rush.

Susan Eppes of EST Solutions, based in Houston, says, “As chair of the ANSI Z245 Committee that develops safety standards for the industry, I am thrilled that SWANA’s latest safety resource explicitly references a critical safety standard developed by our committee.”

SWANA says it anticipates waste industry professionals will use this tool, in addition to its other safety resources, to continue efforts in creating a positive safety culture in the workplace.

“Five to Stay Alive” is available for download on the SWANA website at https://swana.org/safety.aspx in flyer, poster and social media banner formats for sharing in promoting safety to colleagues and other industry professionals.

“SWANA will continue to develop new tools for supervisors and front line employees to help reduce accidents and injuries in both the public and private sectors,” says SWANA Executive Director David Biderman. “SWANA is the leading waste industry resource in the United States and Canada for meaningful safety tools that help companies and local governments make sure their workers go home to their families, safely, every day.”

He also notes that the new guidelines will be available in Spanish in the coming weeks.

More information on SWANA and its Safety Matters program is available online at https://swana.org/safety.

Federal court issues temporary injunction against Indiana county solid waste authority

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana issued a temporary injunction against Indiana’s Warrick County Solid Waste Management District March 29, striking down its plan to establish an exclusive curbside waste and collection service that it says would have restricted competition and created a de facto monopoly for the processing of waste and recycling in the county. The request for injunction was brought by the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) Nov. 13, 2015, on behalf of NWRA’s Indiana Chapter. The court also rejected the district’s counterclaim for a preliminary injunction against NWRA in the matter.

In granting NWRA’s motion for a preliminary injunction, the court found, among other things, that “NWRA’s members will suffer irreparable harm absent the preliminary injunctive relief.”

The court enjoined the district from enforcing its plan against any NWRA member or other party that wishes to compete to provide waste and recycling collection services in Warrick County. The plan, which was enacted by the district, was known as Resolution 2015-03. NWRA had detailed in its complaint that Resolution 2015-03 violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and various Indiana statutes.

Case No. 3:15-cu-00158-RLY-MPB can be accessed at www.insd.uscourts.gov/case-search-information.

Two North Carolina MRFs receive funding to improve glass recycling

The Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), an Arlington, Virginia-based trade association representing the North American glass container industry, has announced it will provide $40,000 in funding to two North Carolina material recovery facilities (MRFs) to assist in their ongoing glass recycling and recovery efforts.

American Recycling of Western North Carolina, in Chandler, North Carolina, and Sonoco Recycling LLC, headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina, also secured grants from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) totaling $80,000.

Sonoco’s MRF in Raleigh, North Carolina, will use the funds to improve its current glass recycling operations.

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the glass container and recycling industry to demonstrate how strategic investments can help deliver higher quality recycled glass for manufacturing into new containers,” says Scott Mouw, recycling and materials management section chief for NC DEQ. “It is important for the glass industry to help us improve North Carolina’s recycling facilities, so we can continue convenient curbside glass recycling in the most cost-effective way.”

As part of the grant agreement with NC DEQ, both American Recycling and Sonoco Recycling also will make investments to upgrade their facilities. The combined funding will allow the companies to implement best management practices for improving glass recycling, according to GPI. As collection of mixed recycling has grown, recycling plants face increasing challenges sorting glass from other recyclables. Currently, most recycling processors recover glass at the end of the sorting process, after all other recyclable materials have been captured. That process can result in broken glass that is heavily contaminated with unwanted material. In the current six-year low market for all commodities, GPI says it is even more important for recycling facilities to improve cleaning processes so they can get the most value for supplying glass for new containers and other products.

To address these processing challenges, American Recycling says it plans to install a more efficient glass breaker and a glass cleaning line. The company will supplement these changes with improved storage facilities for the recycled glass collected from two nearby brewery partners, New Belgium Brewing and Sierra Nevada.

“American Recycling appreciates the additional funds provided by GPI. They will help to ensure that we can secure the best equipment available to clean our three-mix glass stream,” says Ron Moore, president and owner of American Recycling.

Sonoco Recycling will move its existing glass breaker screen to an earlier part of the sorting process—a best practice—to get glass off the main line sooner. This will decrease wear and tear on equipment, improve the quality of recycled materials and the company’s final glass product, the company says.

Mike Pope, general manager and president of Sonoco Recycling, adds, “The costs associated with recovering glass from a single-stream recycling program are significant, so we certainly appreciate GPI’s support and funding.”

GPI says it made these grants to support the state of North Carolina and its leading recycling grant program, which focuses on demonstrable improvements. GPI says it is committed to helping strengthen recycling systems around the country to provide for a higher quality of recycled glass that can be used in the manufacturing of new glass bottles and fiberglass.

Lessons learned in North Carolina will be shared with other stakeholders and government officials for establishing future best practices, GPI says. The state is home to three glass container manufacturing plants, as well as to major glass processing facilities that further sort and clean the recycled glass received from the MRFs.

Ohio’s Medina County gets curbside single-stream recycling service

Kimble Cos., headquartered in Dover, Ohio, has expanded residential curbside recycling and trash pickup throughout the unincorporated areas of the 17 townships in Ohio’s Medina County. Kimble also is expanding commercial recycling and waste collection to all county businesses.

President Keith Kimble says the company now offers a new recycling service option to Medina County residents and businesses. It is the first single-stream curbside recycling program to serve Medina County.

“We’re a local company, based in nearby Dover, with a strong commitment to helping citizens throughout eastern Ohio do the right thing for the environment through recycling,” Kimble says.

Residents have responded positively and are delivering recyclables to the community recycle drop-off locations Kimble Cos. has been servicing on behalf of the county, the company says. Kimble Cos.’ new curbside option, part of its new business venture and completely independent of the county program, is expected to appeal to those who want the simplicity the program offers and the ability to avoid trips to the drop-off sites. According to Kimble Cos., many residents have called, excited to also have curbside recycling available in the county.

“Historically, Medina County has been underserved in terms of recycling, and we believe the majority of the people want to do their part in helping the environment,” Kimble says. “Our service is designed to let everyone who lives in Medina County recycle. Residents simply place their recyclables at the curbside with our one-cart, no-sort curbside pickup.”

Kimble Cos. also says it is demonstrating its commitment to environmental stewardship by converting more than half of its truck fleet to use natural gas instead of diesel fuel and has plans to convert more trucks in the coming years.