NEMA’s LampRecycle.org Gets a Fresh Face

Filed under: Earth911, Press Releases - August 31, 2009

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), today launched the re-designed LampRecycle.org site to better provide a one-stop source of information about recycling mercury-containing “lamps.” One of the new features allows visitors to find CFL drop-off locations near them with the help of Earth911.com.

Mercury-containing lamps can be recognized by the Hg symbol on the lamp — the universally recognized elemental symbol for mercury. All fluorescent and most high intensity discharge (HID) lamps contain a tiny amount of mercury, a naturally occurring element that is critical for the energy-saving attributes of these lamps. Depending on the nature of the exposure, mercury can be harmful to human health, and it is important that lamps and other products containing mercury be properly managed at the end of life to reduce exposure to the environment.

NEMA, in conjunction with its member companies including leading lighting manufacturers, is committed to raising awareness among consumers and businesses about energy efficient lighting and the importance of recycling mercury-containing lamps, which is evident through the site’s rich content and easy-to-navigate interface.

“Lighting manufacturers have long supported lamp recycling as the proper method of disposal to keep mercury from the waste stream,” said Jennifer Dolin, Manager of Sustainability and Environmental Affairs for OSRAM SYLVANIA. “The NEMA website is now much easier to use, and we hope it will help individuals and businesses learn about the importance of lamp recycling and take the appropriate steps to recycle their used mercury-containing bulbs.”

Whether recycling is mandated by law, such as the case for both businesses and residential users in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or people are just doing their part, LampRecycle.org highlights easy and convenient options for both businesses and consumers to recycle mercury-containing lamps. It is estimated that businesses nationally already recycle more than 30 percent of their waste lamps annually. Doing their part to inform consumers of all types, manufacturers include the www.LampRecycle.org URL on the packaging of all mercury-containing lamps sold in the U.S. as part of a standard educational label.

The revamped LampRecycle.org site incorporates a new feature to better serve visitors and help them locate the nearest recycling drop-off location. A “Local Recycling” finder tool, operated by Earth911.com, is located conveniently on the LampRecycle.org homepage. This search tool brings the power of Earth911.com’s nationally recognized recycling database to help consumers across the country properly dispose of their mercury-containing lamps. Simply type in a zip code and item such as “CFL” or “fluorescent lamp,” and the tool will list, and link to, the nearest locations.

“Earth911.com is pleased to support NEMA in its efforts to strengthen mercury-containing lamp recycling across the country,” said John Furman, CEO of Earth911.com. “With benefits such as curtailing mercury pollution in our environment and reducing energy consumption by recycling, disposing of these products through the proper channels is a win-win for everyone.”

“NEMA is pleased to host and maintain this site,” said Evan Gaddis, President and CEO of NEMA. “Energy efficient lighting is critical to America’s energy future, and through LampRecycle.org manufacturers are getting the word out about efficient lighting and the proper disposal of these products at end-of-use.”

Consumers and businesses need to be smart about recycling mercury-containing lamps, as federal and state requirements can differ depending on who generates the spent lamps. LampRecycle.org provides information about federal and state requirements for spent lamp management, as well as state contact information. The site also lists the companies that are in the business of handling and recycling spent lamps, for better convenience among business owners.

About NEMA

NEMA is the association of electrical and medical imaging equipment manufacturers. Founded in 1926 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., its approximately 450 member companies manufacture products used in the generation, transmission and distribution, control, and end-use of electricity. These products are used in utility, industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential applications. The Association’s Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) Division represents manufacturers of cutting-edge medical diagnostic imaging equipment including MRI, CT, x-ray, and ultrasound products. Worldwide sales of NEMA-scope products exceed $120 billion. In addition to its headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia, NEMA also has offices in Beijing and Mexico City.

CNN Money: Windshields to Wine Glasses: What Happens to Clunkers

Filed under: Earth911 - August 27, 2009

Next time you’re sipping your favorite wine, examine the glass closely: If it’s thick and greenish, it might have been the windshield of an old, junked car.

UncommonGoods, an online retailer based in Brooklyn, N.Y., peddles wine glasses, beer glasses and punch bowls that are manufactured in Colombia from recycled windshield glass. On its Web site, the company advertises these glasses as having “a slight green hue from the tint originally added to lessen the sun’s glare.”

“They’re one of our top-selling items,” said Joanna Penn, a media relations coordinator for UncommonGoods, which has been selling the glasses for about a year.

Penn said her company also started selling purses, wallets, briefcases and belts made from recycled tires by a Boulder, Colo.-based artist named Heather English. All the products are black, though they’re missing the tell-tale treads.

“You can definitely tell the material is the same, but it’s really light,” said Penn.

These products are the end result of the $22 billion recycling industry for scrapped cars, which is now in the spotlight thanks to the federal Cash for Clunkers program. Dealers participating in the initiative, which ended on Monday, claimed nearly $2.9 billion in vouchers for consumers who traded in old cars for new ones with better fuel efficiency. As a part of that program, dealers are required to destroy the Clunker engines so that they won’t end up back on road.

But most of a scrapped car’s parts are recycled, including the metal, glass, plastic, tires and even fluids like used motor oil, according to Earth911, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based environmental services company that focuses on recycling and the proper disposal of trash.

Reusing all but the ‘fluff’

Generally, car parts that still function, such as engines, radiators, wheels and panels are first stripped from the vehicles for reuse in other cars. Then defunct parts are reincarnated as something else.

“Recycling a car completes that product’s lifecycle but by turning it into something completely different,” said Jennifer Berry, public and strategic relations manager for Earth911.

According to Earth911, tires are transformed into asphalt and mud flaps or reconstituted as fuel. Windshields are turned into wine and beer glasses, as well as lamps and counter tops. Used oil filters are transformed into cans, refrigerators and structural beams, or they’re cleaned up and refurbished as new oil filters. Floor mats and truck bed liners are ground down and rebuilt as new versions of their former selves.

“The automobile is the most recycled component in the world,” said Sandy Blalock, former president of the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), based in Manassas, Va. “Almost 100% of a car is recycled, except for the fluff, which is going to the landfill.”

Blalock was referring to the stuffing used in car seats, which poses a big challenge for recyclers, since some countries —like Japan— no longer allow it into landfills.

Even the fluids can be reused, according to the ARA. Transmission and brake fluids, anti-freeze, oil, gasoline, diesel and Freon from air conditioners are harvested at scrap yards for use in other vehicles.

“They twist and turn the vehicle to make sure that they get as much fluid out as possible,” said Michael Wilson, executive vice president of the ARA.

Scrapping the rest

Wilson said that plastics are also extracted from the vehicles for sorting and recycling. The remaining scrap metal, which is by far the biggest component in terms of volume, is melted down and fashioned into all types of products, and could wind up as part of a new car in as little as 30 days.

“We end up with the skeleton of the car once it’s been dismantled —the hulk of the car— and we process it into commodity-grade materials,” said Bruce Savage, vice president of communications for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI), a Washington-based association of scrap processors and brokers.

“We send the car through a shredder, which pulverizes it into palm-sized pieces of metal,” said Savage. “We turn around and sell those to manufacturers, who use them as raw feed stock. A lot of this material is shipped internationally, particularly to China, for office buildings and infrastructure.”

China is the biggest consumer of U.S. scrap, importing $7.4 billion worth in 2008, according to the ISRI, followed by Canada, which imports $4 billion. More than a quarter of the $86 billion worth of scrap that’s generated each year is exported.

Cash for Clunkers

Like most other industries, the scrap businesses has taken a hit this year due to the slowing economy, said Savage. He added that the vehicles surrendered through the Cash for Clunkers program —totaling 690,000, according to the Department of Transportation— could create a glut that drives down scrap prices.

“That’s one of the unknowns right now, because a lot of these vehicles are still with the dealers,” said Savage.

Wilson, of the ARA, has his doubts about the economic and environmental benefits of Cash for Clunkers. The policy requires the destruction of the engine with a sodium silicate solution, also known as liquid glass.

But still-functioning engines are actually the most valuable part of a scrapped car, according to Wilson, so the fact that the Clunker engines must be killed is a big financial blow to automotive recyclers.

And it might even defeat the program’s environmental objectives, he said.

“To produce an engine takes more energy than any other part,” said Wilson. “We think that [the program] is going to have a minimal environmental benefit, if any.”

Miami Herald: Old Analog TV Can Still Be Put to Good Use

Filed under: Earth911 - August 15, 2009

Q. Are there are any countries that could make use of our television sets that digital TV made obsolete?

Are there any organizations making an effort to collect and distribute what must amount to millions of sets?

—Alicia Barrionuevo, Miami

A. There are a number of ways to donate your old analog television.

First is the Telecommunications Industry Association’s E-cycling Central. TIA’s E-cycling Central website allows you to click on your state to see electronics-recycling events and locations where you can drop off your old analog TV.

Secondly, try Earth911.com, which helps locate recycling centers for your television.

Also, you can donate your used analog TV to Goodwill.

Some local Goodwills train workers to refurbish and de-manufacture equipment and resell systems and components, thereby avoiding high disposal costs.

Mother Nature Network: Ask Vanessa: Compost Happens

Filed under: Earth911 - August 3, 2009

Dear Vanessa,

What about compost?

—Thanks, Sara Schmidt

Dear Sara,

Compost? Yes, by all means!

A single home compost bin can divert about 600 pounds of waste from the landfill every year. And, of course, composting not only reduces the volume of organic material squandered, it is also a vital soil amendment, turning waste into an asset.

You can save money and valuable resources by avoiding the costs of landfill disposal, and you can avoid the need to buy fertilizers or other soil amendments. Keep in mind that even organic materials may not decompose in a landfill. In fact, all those grass clippings and leaves and kitchen scraps that end up in the landfill create methane (a potent greenhouse gas), and pollute groundwater.

You can easily find plans to build your own bin, and there’s an abundance of readily available how-to information online and locally, so I won’t get into that. Instead, I offer up this advice: don’t take it too seriously. As the bumper stickers say, compost happens. Composting can be as labor- and time-intensive as you choose. Make a pile of biodegradable waste, and it will —eventually— degrade. You can speed up the process by turning the pile regularly and keeping a good balance of materials, but don’t let all the rules scare you away.

That said, here are a few tips if you do run into problems:

Things people don’t usually think about adding to the compost pile: cotton swabs and balls; hair (human and pet); drier lint; tissue, toilet paper and the roll tubes; newspaper (torn into strips to avoid matting); nail clippings; pet waste (not for compost destined for edible plants); biodegradable litter and bedding; urine; vacuum cleaner lint; brown paper bags; cardboard; and cork. Most guides will say not to compost pet waste, but it is certainly doable. I touched on that issue before, and you can do a search to find more advice on how to safely compost pet waste.

Most compost guides will tell you not to put meat, dairy or bread in your compost pile. That’s because these foods can attract vermin. I put all of the above in our pile. What I don’t put in the pile is anything coated in oil because the grease acts as a protective layer, effectively blocking the decomposition process.

If you live in an apartment or don’t have outdoor space for composting, a worm bin is a great option. (They are self-contained, as large or as small as you decide, and can be kept indoors.) You end up with an amazing soil conditioner (called worm castings), and a concentrated liquid plant food. If you don’t have a need for the castings or plant food, get some houseplants! Houseplants are great indoor air filters.

Is composting just not for you? Don’t trash your food waste: put it out with yard trimmings for municipal pick-up. Also, a few cities are starting food-waste collection programs. Some are creating large-scale composting programs; others are using the materials to generate energy. Organize and get a program for organic material recycling going in your area.

For information on what to recycle and where, check out Earth911.com. Enter your ZIP code and the item you want to recycle.

Work with nature, it’ll work for you.

Vanessa

Find more of Vanessa’s advice on Mother Nature Network at http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/ask-vanessa.