Connecticut recycling goals raise some questions
Connecticut recycling goals raise some questions
<![CDATA[
The Connecticut Chapter of the Washington-based National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) has commented on the plan issued in late July 2016 by that state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) questioning elements of the plan based on current financial challenges facing the recycling markets nationally and worldwide.
The chapter says the plan outlined by DEEP “has laudable goals that the private waste industry supports – improving the performance of municipal waste programs; developing new technologies for sorting recyclables; recovering energy and materials of value from the waste stream; supporting the state’s existing waste-to-energy disposal plants through improved renewable energy credit programs; and, fostering an important dialogue about product design and end-of-product life sustainability and recycling.”
However, the NWRA chapter continues, the “assumption of cost savings or cost avoidance by increasing recycling as outlined in the plan places achieving those goals at risk. Recycling programs across the country have been challenged by declines in the global commodities markets that threaten the economic viability of recycling both for the public sector and private recycling industry.”
Mike Paine, NWRA Connecticut Chapter Chairman and CEO of Paine’s Inc. of East Granby, Connecticut, says, “Our industry statewide is on the front lines of helping customers reduce the amount of waste they dispose through source reduction, recycling and other efforts. However, based on our real-world experience in the market, the annual savings will be substantially below the $25 million the DEEP is suggesting.” Adds Paine, “The DEEP’s savings projections do not adequately factor in the cost of collecting, processing, and managing the new amounts of recyclables and food scraps and other types of organic waste.”
Paine says the DEEP and citizens of Connecticut can benefit from a better understanding of the profit and loss factors that play into the recycling sector. “A key factor for Connecticut residents, municipal officials and business owners to consider when reviewing the DEEP’s recently released waste reduction goals is to understand the true economics of the waste and recycling markets. It is a complex market. Any plan for waste reduction must take into account the different costs of various segments within the waste stream – for example, the cost of processing food scraps versus the economics of utilizing waste-to-energy facilities; fees for the processing of waste that cannot be diverted; and, of course, the cost of recycling programs. In new emerging areas for clean energy recovery, such as food waste, the market is too young to make any long term economic assumptions. To achieve the goals outlined by DEEP, the private waste and recycling industry in Connecticut has valuable insights and real-time economic information that can help ensure that the financial assumptions associated with these goals are realistic, and as always, our member companies are prepared to provide our insights and perspectives to help achieve our state’s broader environmental goals.”
NWRA’s Connecticut Chapter, in its news release issuing a reaction to the DEEP proposal, says, “There is a significant cost to collect recycling at businesses and the curbside, a cost to sort and package materials in the recycling stream so that materials such as metal, aluminum, plastics and paper products can be repurposed, and there are serious problems with contamination of the recycling stream which also increases costs when trash and other materials are mixed in with recyclables.”
“As the leading authority on the private waste and recycling industry, we have played a key role in making recycling a reality in the state,” remarks Steve Changaris, Connecticut Chapter Manager for NWRA. “We have worked closely with the public sector, businesses and residential customers statewide to develop and implement effective recycling programs. However, a sustained downturn in the global commodities market, especially oil, has placed tremendous strain on the financial viability of many recycling programs. Simply put, the low cost of oil means that the cost of recycled plastic is also low, which is having a negative impact on the financial viability of community recycling programs nationwide.”
The NWRA says it has worked with public sector organizations on a nationwide initiative to recommend guidelines that municipalities and the private recycling industry can use in future contracts to account for these fluctuations in commodities pricing to ensure the long-term economic viability of recycling programs. Information on those guidelines was released July 26, 2016, and can be found here.
]]>
Source: Recycling Today
Connecticut recycling goals raise some questions
<![CDATA[The Connecticut Chapter of the Washington-based National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) has commented on the plan issued in late July 2016 by that state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) questioning elements of the plan based on current financial challenges facing the recycling markets nationally and worldwide. The chapter says the plan outlined by DEEP “has laudable goals that the private waste industry supports – improving the performance of municipal waste programs; developing new technologies for sorting recyclables; recovering energy and materials of value from the waste stream; supporting the state’s existing waste-to-energy disposal plants through improved renewable energy credit programs; and, fostering an important dialogue about product design and end-of-product life sustainability and recycling.” However, the NWRA chapter continues, the “assumption of cost savings or cost avoidance by increasing recycling as outlined in the plan places achieving those goals at risk. Recycling programs across the country have been challenged by declines in the global commodities markets that threaten the economic viability of recycling both for the public sector and private recycling industry.” Mike Paine, NWRA Connecticut Chapter Chairman and CEO of Paine’s Inc. of East Granby, Connecticut, says, “Our industry statewide is on the…