Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

EIA announced that it had received a record number of nominations for its Driver of the Year awards, recognizing and honoring waste industry drivers committed to safety and high quality service. Winners of the prestigious awards are announced at the annual EIA Inspirational Breakfast, held during the waste industry’s national trade show, WasteExpo (wasteexpo.com). Read full release here.

The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) today announced a new policy on product stewardship, expressing the recycling and solid waste industry’s position that product stewardship may increase the safe management of some products, in particular those with toxic constituents such as mercury. Product stewardship laws require manufacturers to be responsible for end-of-life management of their products. These laws aim to increase recycling while also establishing a new way to fund recycling programs. Thirty-two states currently have product stewardship laws, most of which cover mercury-containing and electronics products. Some newer laws cover harder to recycle materials such as paint and carpet. Read full release here.

EIA’s Future Industry Leaders Alliance (FILA), EIA’s council for young professionals, treated 25 children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis to a pre-season football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday, August 19. Read release about this donation.

On Tuesday, August 2, Senator Thomas R. Carper of Delaware and Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, co-chairs of the Senate Recycling Caucus, introduced S. 251, a resolution supporting improvement in the collection, processing and use of recyclable materials throughout the United States.  The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) joins groups such as the National Recycling Coalition, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, associations representing manufacturers of recycled content products such as the steel and aluminum industries and many state recycling organizations in endorsing this resolution. See full release here.

On July 14, the EIA Women’s Council will present a free webinar for the members of NSWMA and WASTEC, called “Trends in Composting and Organics Recycling in the U.S.” During this session, Nora Goldstein, Editor of BioCycle Magazine will present an interesting look at composting and organics recycling trends in the U.S. She will explore high-value compost markets and provide insight to generating renewable energy from organic wastes  The session will include time for Q&A. See details and register here.

EIA just released the application for 2012 Hall of Fame inductions. The EIA Hall of Fame recognizes leaders in the waste industry that have been actively engaged in the business for at least 20 years. Inductees into the leadership ranks of the EIA Hall of Fame include former and current presidents, chief operating officers, and senior executives of hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal operations, trade associations, consulting firms, and manufacturing facilities. To be considered, individuals must have distinguished themselves through significant contributions. Download application here.

NSWMA/WASTEC has partnered with the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces. This program is an innovative public-private program that offers corporate America the opportunity to hire skilled Servicemembers. Learn more here.

Following what has been called the deadliest tornado in 60 years, American Waste Control (AWC) of Tulsa has joined with Reasor’s to deliver multiple containers of food and water to the disaster relief effort in Joplin.

More than two dozen men and women in the solid waste industry were honored for their service to the field at a special awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 10, sponsored by the Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) and its two sub-associations, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC). The breakfast ceremony was held in Dallas, Texas, during WasteExpo 2011, North America’s largest solid waste and recycling tradeshow. Read full news release here.

NSWMA study shows privatization lowers costs, increases efficiencies and boosts safety. Read release about paper here. Download paper here.