Municipal Recycling

California Chamber of Commerce Files Suit against State over Beverage Redemption Program

The California Chamber of Commerce has sued the state of California over its decision to transfer $566.7 million from the Beverage Container Recycling Fund (BCRF) to the General Fund and Air Pollution Control Fund, creating a shortfall in the BCRF.

That state refers to the transfers as “loans.” However, in the lawsuit the chamber notes that at least $482 million of the loans have not been repaid.

In light of the shortage, the California Department of Conservation (DOC) increased the processing fees for glass and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) multiple times, resulting in total increases of more than 600 percent. Processing fees for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) containers increased more than 800 percent.

At the same time, the chamber claims that the DOC sharply reduced the processing payments to recyclers.

The suit calls for the director of finance and the state controller to transfer back to the BCRF the unpaid loans and to compel the DOC director to adjust the processing fees paid by beverage manufacturers to a level commensurate with the revenue status of the BCRF after the loaned funds have been returned. The suit states that at least three of the loans “expressly state that they shall not interfere with the beverage container recycling program.”

Waste Management Buys Texas MRFs from AbitibiBowater

AbitibiBowater, based in Montreal, has announced the closing of the sale of its recycling division’s material recovery facilities (MRFs) in the Texas cities of Arlington, Houston and San Antonio to Waste Management Recycle America, based in Houston, for $12 million. The transactions are part of AbitibiBowater’s restructuring efforts.

AbitibiBowater says it will continue to operate its recycling programs in these cities as well as in 20 other metropolitan areas in North America.

The transaction enables AbitibiBowater to refocus its recycling efforts on its Paper Retriever program and on the EcoRewards recycling initiative aimed at commercial customers, according to a press release issued by the company.

“The sale of our Texas processing assets allows us to refocus our energy on expanding our recycling services to more customers in more cities across North America while supporting responsible paper use and recovery,” says Sylvain Longval, vice president of recycling, North America, for AbitibiBowater. “These turnkey recycling programs are a testament to AbitibiBowater’s product stewardship, leadership in recycling and proactive approach to sustainability.”

Waste Management Recycle America will process the material generated by AbitibiBowater’s programs in Arlington, Houston and San Antonio, according to the terms of the sale.