National Waste & Recycling Association honors recycling innovators
National Waste & Recycling Association honors recycling innovators
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The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), based in Washington, honored innovators and leaders in recycling at the Waste360 Recycling Summit, which began Sept. 19, 2016, in Austin, Texas, and concludes Sept. 21. The association says it distributed four awards and three honorable mentions Sept. 20 to companies that have made substantial contributions to recycling in the U.S. through partnerships, public education, innovations in recycling equipment and innovations in recycling facilities.
The NWRA says 21 applications were submitted for the four awards, and winners were selected by a panel of judges who are professionals in the waste and recycling industry, as well as from other technology and education organizations.
“These awards honor the very best in the industry for excellence in educating the public about smart ways to recycle; creating innovative approaches to advance our work; constructing state of the art facilities to make waste and recyclables collection safer, faster and more efficient; excellence in recycling in the construction and demolition space; and revolutionary partnerships that help to protect the environment and increase collaboration within the recycling ecosystem,” NWRA president and CEO Sharon H. Kneiss says in a news release announcing the award recipients. “Our industry continues to make great strides in safety, engineering and community engagement, which not only helps to makes us more effective but it also yields better results for the environment and savings for the households and businesses we serve.”
The Sustainability Partnership Game Changer award, the headlining category of the program, was given to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine‘s waste diversion program. Partners included JHU School of Medicine, ASI Waste and Reduction in Motion. The JHU School of Medicine Facilities Management Department has focused on diverting waste and increasing recycling since 2006, growing diversion by more than twenty-fold. To accomplish this, the department proactively conducts routine waste sorts to determine which items can be diverted based on availability of processing and end markets. With a specific education and outreach program and feedback obtained from tracking and reporting, Johns Hopkins has successfully diverted approximately 3 million pounds annually.
The honorable mentions in this category were awarded to Publix and Goodwill Industries Recycling. Both entities collaborated to increase landfill diversion rates by donating seasonal items from Publix stores to Goodwill.
The Excellence in Public Education award was given to Florida’s Emerald Coast Utilities Authority’s (ECUA) compost program outreach and education. Recognizing that high-quality feedstock is necessary to produce high-quality compost, the ECUA started a public education campaign before the facility even opened. ECUA established a four-tiered approach:
- The first part focused on quality in order to reduce contamination.
- The second part introduced the compost facility.
- The third part focused on internal staff and support to ensure that everyone understood the process.
- Last, educating end user markets about the product to ensure that the compost would be used.
Two honorable mentions in this category were awarded to Houston-based Waste Management’s “Recycle Often. Recycle Right.” public education and outreach program and to the Away program from the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County in Florida.
The Recycling Equipment Innovator of the Year award was given to California-based BinBisa Decorative Recycling Bins. BinBisa attempts to solve an issue associated with recycling in the bathroom, NWRA says, by providing a decorative bin that takes up no more space than a standard bathroom trash bin. Surveys conducted by BinBisa demonstrate an increase in bathroom recycling as a direct result of using the product, NWRA says.
The Recycling Facility of the Year award was given Republic Services Southern Nevada Recycling Center, which was unveiled in December 2015. Phoenix-based Republic bills the facility as the largest and smartest residential recycling center in North America. It processes 70 tons per hour and includes smart systems that can make millisecond decisions using highly automated, touch-screen control systems, NWRA says. The building is made from 75-percent-recycled steel and has 1,776 rooftop solar panels to take advantage of Nevada’s abundant sunshine and to provide approximately 15 percent of the facility’s power needs.
Two new award categories were added to the Waste360 Recycling Summit this year.
First, the 2016 Construction and Demolition (C&D) Debris Recycler of the Year award was given to Zanker Recycling of San Jose, California. Zanker’s new demolition recycling operation, which diverts 60 tons per hour, achieves an 86 percent recycling rate, NWRA says. The focus of the new facility was “interior demolition” that is generally not captured in other C&D recycling operations, including sheet rock, wiring, carpet and vinyl flooring. The facility uses a series of drum separators that can adjust to the needs of variable material streams, while its negative air pressure creates a consistent infeed while protecting workers from dust.
The second new award recognizes Excellence in Organics Recycling. The winner of this honor was ECUA’s Biosolids Composting Facility. This facility provides outlets for biosolids and residential yard waste. By creating a new nationally certified compost from the feedstock, the authority was able to convert a cost into a revenue stream. In addition, the product returns valuable nutrients back into the soil and contributes to the authority’s goal of meeting the state of Florida’s 75 percent recycling rate mandate, NWRA says
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Source: Recycling Today
National Waste & Recycling Association honors recycling innovators
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