Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) sent joint comments to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson regarding a petition recently filed by the Center for a Competitive Waste Industry asking EPA to reorganize and restructure the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP).

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.”

In an article titled,  “Methane from Landfills Localities are finding new ways to use a potent greenhouse gas,” Governing Magazine’s September issue quotes NSWMA’s President and CEO Bruce Parker.  “Methane can be used for multiple purposes,” says Bruce J. Parker, president and CEO of the National Solid Wastes Management Association. What’s more, Parker says, it’s reliable. “Unlike sun and solar power, you have continuous access. A landfill is taking gas out 24/7.”

Republic Services has published a new sustainability report. “The sustainability report was an opportunity to identify and discuss what we already do to protect the environment and to set a course to do more,” CEO James E. O’Connor said. “Being green is not just a philosophy at Republic. We’ve been doing it for years.” The report is available at www.republicservices.com/sustainability.

A piece in the June 2009 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance labeled waste-based energy one of the “5 Pillars of Renewable Energy,” along with solar, wind, geothermal and biofuels.

NSWMA’s Bruce Parker was interviewed by Zach Shtogren Big Think’s senior editor.  It is an interesting exchange about environmental issues related to the solid waste industry.

Fortune magazine released a video that includes images of the landfill gas to energy project in Racine, Wisconsin, that powers SC Johnson’s nearby manufacturing facility. This video is located on the CNN/Money website.

On November 20, WASTEC member Green Power, Inc., was honored by top environmentalists at an awards ceremony at a Chicago event. Learn more about the Environmental Hall of Fame here. Learn more about Green Power here.

Officials from the Waste Management landfill and the LaFarge cement plant have signed an agreement to use piped-in methane gas from the landfill to aid in the cement-making process.

The plan could save both companies thousands of dollars and eliminate the equivalent of 450,000 tons of coal a year from LaFarge’s manufacturing process, company officials said.

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