Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

Now available: recordings from WASTEC webinar about OSHA & NFPA Requirements for Arc Flash Safety (recorded on August 31). Here’s link to QuickTime movie, but MP3, MP4, AVI and PPT files also are available in WASTEC and NSWMA members-only pages on website.

Waste handling companies use electrical power for a variety of tasks. This work can be challenging and requires care to avoid injury and remain compliant with safety regulations. In this one hour and 30 minute Webinar, you will learn more about these requirements and the solutions that you must put in place when working with balers, compactors, conveyors and other equipment at your facilities. Employees of these companies are often asked to troubleshoot and test equipment to verify that it is being fed the proper electrical current and voltage or to verify that power has been disconnected.

Specifically,  new regulations and guidelines for electrical arc flash protection from OSHA (29 CFR 1910, Subpart S) and the NFPA (NFPA 70E) require that your employees wear flame resistant clothing, face shields and other arc flash rated protective equipment when they are performing this work at greater than 50 volts.  The NFPA 70E rule also contains requirements for performing arc flash studies, labeling electrical panels and preparing electrical “hot work” permits.

The session will include opportunities for questions and answers.

WASTEC is providing this session at no cost for NSWMA and WASTEC members, but pre-registration is required.

Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks Inc. on Tuesday, July 13, announced that orders for Class 8 trucks equipped with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2010-certified Volvo Group engines have surpassed the 10,000 mark. Equipped with selective catalytic reduction technology, these vehicles are designed to deliver near-zero emissions and fuel economy improvements of up to 5 percent.

“Passing the 10,000 mark in Class 8 orders is a testament to how well we’ve executed our EPA 2010 project,” says Ron Huibers, VTNA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “The reports we’re getting from customers, particularly when it comes to performance, reliability and fuel efficiency, have been extremely positive.”

Mack MP engines feature the Mack ClearTech selective catalytic reduction system. “We had the trucks in customer hands early and often for testing, and we were ready to go soon enough to start production last fall,” says Kevin Flaherty, Mack senior vice president of sales and marketing.

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We would like to welcome new member Jake Connor and Crew into the association. For more information  on them visit www.jackeconnorandcrew.com.

On the company’s Web page (www.wm.com) and in its marketing materials it has adopted the slogan “Think Green.” A review of recent company initiatives and investments and a conversation with WM Recycle America officers Patrick DeRueda and Matthew Coz demonstrates that WM as a company is not only thinking green but also is enabling its customers to think green by making investments to offer a full spectrum of recycling options for them.

The anticipated result: “By 2020, we expect to nearly triple the amount of recyclable materials we manage, from 8 million tons to more than 20 million tons,” Waste Management states as one of its sustainability goals.

Full article  http://www.recyclingtoday.com/full-spectrum-recycling-today-june-2010.aspx.

There is now a cheaper alternative to those big rental dumpsters in driveways. Waste Management Inc. has rolled out what it is calling “Bagster.”

This “dumpster in a bag” can hold up to 3 cubic yards of debris, or about 3,300 pounds. Once it is full, a collection appointment can be made with Waste Management.

Read more: Waste Management rolls out dumpster bag – Washington Business Journal

Wastequip announced that it is installing radio frequency identification devices (RFID) into its Toter residential and commercial waste collection units. The RFID technology tracks containers and integrates with comprehensive automated vehicle locator software designed to increase the efficiency and the quality of waste collection.

“RFID devices attached to waste collection units open up a wide array of opportunities to enhance efficiency, improve customer service and introduce new features and benefits for customers,” says Jim Pickett, vice president of municipal sales with Toter, a division of Wastequip.

Read full article here.

NSWMA’s General Counsel and Safety Director, David Biderman was interviewed for podcast by the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence. In this podcast, he describes the successes and challenges related to safety in the solid waste field. Listen to the podcast now.

Janice Comer Bradley, the chief officer of the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC), recently was invited to serve as a member of the Committee on the Certification of Protective Technologies of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

More than 20 daily newspapers have published an op-ed drafted by NSWMA President and CEO Bruce J. Parker (Reason for optimism this Earth Day? For starters, let’s talk trash!”), including the Miami Herald, the Kansas City Star and the Sacramento Bee. In this article, Parker states, “Proper waste management is actually one of America’s greatest environmental successes. In the last two decades alone, we have witnessed a startling transformation in how we deal with all the garbage.”