Articles

Since its inception, the modern global recycling industry has developed a worldwide infrastructure. In the U.S., recyclables are separated out at material recovery facilities (MRFs), packed into bales, and sent to other nations, which house the world’s processing capacity. More often than not, until recently, that meant China.

Too many sanitation workers end up injured — or worse — on the job. Refuse and recycling collectors have long been listed among the top five most dangerous occupations in the nation, but the problem extends along the entire waste stream.

Federal grants can be an important funding source for municipal recycling programs. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Every year, the EPA awards more than $4 billion in funding for grants … from small non-profit organizations to large state governments.”

Large-scale events generate significant volumes of waste, which is why organizers need a comprehensive Waste Management Plan (WMP) in place from the very start. The creation of this plan does not have to be a daunting process. In fact, putting some extra time into your WMP while organizing your event is a proactive step that can make the event easier to manage.

The 2018 wildfire season was California's most destructive on record. Over 8,500 fires burned across California's Golden Coast, damaging nearly 2 million acres of land and property. The California fires cost the nation nearly $5.3 billion in damages and fire suppression efforts.

Working in the industrial manufacturing business, it may seem difficult to imagine how composting and recycling could help your company and save you money. And while beginning the process may seem daunting, the payback is higher than you think.

The Food Safety Modernization Act became law in 2011. This food-safety legislation expanded existing FDA powers in an effort to shore up safety for the entire U.S. food supply — including wines and wine-derived products.

Solid waste management facilities in the United States come in a variety of forms: Composting operations, materials recovery facilities (MRFs), construction and demolition (C&D) debris processors, sanitary landfills. But for all the diversity within the waste facility universe, they all have one thing in common: They must comply with odor and nuisance regulations set by the state.

Executives use all sorts of metrics to plan for changing supply chain costs, but the load-to-truck ratio is often the first warning sign of upcoming rate fluctuations. The truck tonnage index, fuel pricing trends, and past rates can all help shippers plan for future costs, but the load-to-truck ratio tends to be a leading indicator; after all, it most directly measures capacity and demand against one another.

Organic waste such as paper, food scraps, and yard trimmings make up the bulk of the U.S. municipal solid waste (msw) stream. As of 2014 — the last year for which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides statistics — the combination of paper, wood, yard waste, and food scraps made up 61 percent of the total MSW we generated in the United States.