v>EPA JOBS THROUGH RECYCLIHG NEW YORK STATE Office of RECYCLING 1ARKET DEVELOPMENT United States Environmental Protection Agency Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5306W) EPA530-F-99-002 April 1999 www.epa.gov/jtr JTR Grantee Series New York N ew York provides technical and financial assistance to recycling organizations through its Office of Recycling Market Development (ORMD). Started in 1987, ORMD originally concentrated on assisting municipalities with market- I ing their recyclables, but the agency soon began focusing on improving the recycling industry and assisting businesses with waste pre- vention. ORMD is housed in the New York Department of Economic Development, where staff have developed expertise in recycling mar- kets for a variety of materials including industrial byproducts, wood, glass, and plastics. A 1994 Jobs Through Recycling (JTR) grant enabled ORMD to develop and complete several long-term projects, which helped establish a thriving recycling marketplace in New York State. ORMD selected target materials by examining the state's recycling market dynamics. The agency identified four materials with high recycling growth potential: recovered paper, paper sludge, wood, and plastics. ORMD initiated the follow- ing projects for these materials: Developing community and industry partner- ships to demonstrate cost-effective means for collecting wastepaper while ensuring fiber quality to paper mills. Helping paper mills identify recycling options for the sludge generated by the recycling process. Developing facilities that manufacture pallets, furniture, and flooring from wood recovered from New York's commercial and industrial sector. Providing technical assistance to help plastics processors, reclaimers, and manufacturers efficiently produce and use postconsumer resin feedstocks. Grant Type: RBAC Office Awarded: Mew York State Office of ^Recycling Market Development - Project Partners: ^American Plastics Council ~ Empire State Center for Recycling Enterprise Development *" Madison County, New York ~~ New York State Energy ~ Research and Development Authority - Procter and Gamble - Schenectady County, New York Year Awarded: 1994 ~ Funding: -^1$ 500,000 in EPA funding *- 4 604,583 in state funding -$ 1,104,583 in total funding Materials Targeted: Paper, Paper mill sludge, Wood, Plastics Contact Information: Linda Jacobs New York State Department of Economic Development ~ Office of Recycling Market ; ... Development \: One Commerce Plaza [. Albany, New York 12245 ! Phone: 518486-6292 Fax:518473-6380 ) Printed on paper that contains at least 30 percent postconsumer fiber. ------- JOBS THROUGH RECYCLING PROGRAM PROJECTS Recovered paper. ORMD researched opportunities for recycling three types of recovered paper: boxboard, residential mixed paper, and office paper. These studies also examined the economic feasability of source separating boxboard. The boxboard studies located a tissue manufacturer willing to incorporate local boxboard feedstock into its manufacturing process. Paper mill sludge. ORMD helped a business negotiate a beneficial use determination with die state's Department of Environmental Conservation that allowed the use of paper mill sludge for a broader range of industrial applications. The agency also funded research that identified cost-effective sludge processing and manufacturing practices, reuse options for sludge, and markets for absorbents made from sludge. Wood. ORMD's partner, Empire State Center for Recycling Enterprise Development (ESCRED), provided business planning and development assistance to strengthen the states wood recycling market. Specifically, ESCRED helped establish Big City Forest, a wood products remanufac- turer, and supported the company's growth and development with work- force training assistance, production planning, and product marketing assistance. Although the project expe- rienced a successful start, due to a variety of circumstances the enter- prise is no longer in operation. Plastics. ORMD conducted a plastics optimization project, examining plas- tics reprocessing systems and helping New York plastics recyclers imple- ment cost-cutting tactics previously developed by die American Plastics Council. The agency conducted onsite assessments at 18 community collection programs, handlers, reclaimers, and recycled product manufacturers and developed cost- cutting implementation plans for each. To promote durable plastics recycling, the agency conducted mar- ket research, facilitated links between buyers and suppliers, and initiated a research and development partner- ship widi private industry. CHAL1ENGES OVERCOME Limited staffing resources. Addressing the recycling challenges facing New York businesses required a detailed understanding of certain recycling market segments, industrial processes, and materials. ORMD staff specialized in particular ORMD approached recycling from an economic rather than environmental perspective. The agency demonstrated that the recycling market presented a strong business opportunity for enterprising companies. commodities, such as wood or plas- tics, and continually researched new developments with these materials. Projects requiring more technical knowledge than ORMD possessed were outsourced to qualified contractors. Volatile nature of recycling markets. The prices of recyclables, like that of many commodities, vary greatly from year to year. ORMD conducted detailed annual assessments of New York's recycling markets to track market dynamics and adjusted its yearly project priorities accordingly. Geographically large service area. In order to cover a relatively large geo- graphic area, ORMD established a number of regional offices to supple- ment its Albany, New York, head- quarters. Regional personnel were better able to visit assisted businesses to learn about their needs. IESSONS LEARNED Set goals and measure performance. For each project, ORMD defined measures of success (with regard to employment, capacity, capital invest- ment, and other indicators) that were focused and ambitious. Before start- ing new projects, ORMD negotiated performance criteria with contractors and wrote these measures into their contracts. The agency required con- tractors to periodically report on their progress toward these goals, which eliminated surprises at the projects completion. Partner with small business assis- tance centers and technical and business schools. Leverage existing business assistance providers to secure product development services for new recycling businesses. These providers can free up agency resources normally spent addressing the special needs of startup businesses. Recycling enterprises should take one step at a time to build a sus- tainable customer base. Advise com- panies to look into niche markets that provide high profit margins. Startup recycling businesses should not focus on their sources of supply but rather on the market potential for their finished product. It also is important to develop a product line that keeps materials moving, avoid- ing warehousing costs from a build- up of inventory. ------- JTR GRANTEE SERIES: NEW YORK ACCOMPLISHMENTS During the grant period, ORMD pro- vided a range of technical and financial assistance to community recycling pro- grams, reclaimers, and recyclers. Staff worked to identify barriers to accepting recycled feedstock and provided hands- on expertise to cover technical skill gaps at New York businesses. For each project, ORMD defined measures of success that were focused and ambitious. ORMD approached recycling from an economic rather than environmental perspective. The agency demonstrated that the recycling market presented a strong business opportunity for enter- prising companies. This fact, combined with the agency's insistence on provid- ing direct, expert financial and technical assistance, helped build solid business relationships that led to the adoption of new recycling technology and processes in New York. Specific accomplishments include: Established three joint ventures between New York communities, commercial establishments, and paper mills to implement cost- efficient wastepaper recovery programs. These joint ventures con- tributed to an increase in the utiliza- tion of postconsumer wastepaper in New York by 50 tons per day. Worked with the New York State Energy and Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to identify beneficial uses for paper mill sludge to lower disposal costs for struggling New York paper mills. ORMD and NYSERDA helped three companies convert the material into useful products such as animal bedding and industrial absorbents. Developed and recommended process and technology changes at 1 8 firms participating in the plastics optimization project. The project's cost-optimization tactics included developing long-term sales and RESULTS supply contracts, auto-sorting plastic bottles by resin or color, and bulk shipment of postconsumer flake or pellet. The agency helped implement its cost-optimization recommenda- tions at seven companies, four of which increased their utilization of postconsumer resin feedstocks. PROGRAM FUTURE New York provides ORMD relatively stable annual funding through its Environmental Protection Fund. In the coming years, ORMD will continue to support projects that capitalize on the economic development opportunities associated with reuse, reduction, and recycling. Increasingly, ORMD is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs). MEPs provide small and medium-sized manufacturers access to a nationwide network of man- ufacturing and business specialists and resources. MEPs are eligible to receive agency funding through a competitive selection process. Full-Time Equivalents Created: Technical Assistance: Amount of Capital Invested: 512 businesses assisted $5.34 million Volume of New Capacity Created: osss nwipsapis f«»sMg«a ^agpsstspjp; toh: *«aB«^^i^ «A.T£:^ SL*^^ BhWriOfJ : i! V "-; ' . _ . __ ------- JOBS THROUGH RECYCLING RECYCLINGCORP. "With ORMD's assistance, our business has grown significantly." JAMES BAKER General Manager, wTe Recycling Corporation "^j" "IT "T~ "TTe Recycling Corporation launched its polyethylene terephalate \ ^/^ / (PET) recycling operation in Albany, New York, in 1990. The %^% / P'51111 generates PET pellets and flake for the production of a range V Y of products including nonfood and beverage bottles, food packag- ing, clamshell-style containers, point-of-purchase displays, strapping, and engi- neered resins for injection molding parts or sheet extrusion. In the early 1990s, the plant's major supply stream came from bottle deposit programs. Plastic from com- munity collection programs provided a much-needed opportunity to increase capacity utilization at the plant. One of the major obstacles to accepting recovered PET from community __ programs was the high rate of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cont- amination, which dramatically reduced the quality of wTe's finished pellets and flake. PET and PVC are visually indistinguishable from one another and share many of the same physical proper- ties. Without PVC detection equipment, it was extremely difficult for wTe to sep- arate the two materials. JTR funding allowed ORMD to help die city of Albany lease PVC detection and sorting equipment to wTe. Using x-rays and precision air jets, the new equipment removes approximately 90 percent of the contaminants from the company's PET stream. By securing PVC detection equipment from the city of Albany, wTe was able to increase its capacity utilization to 67 percent and decrease its marginal costs. wTe accepted nearly 2 million pounds of recycled plastics from curbside collection pro- grams in the first 4 months of 1998 alone. The added capacity enabled wTe to hire 7 new employees, and die company plans to hire an additional 14 employees. Finally, the added capacity generated a $600,000 increase in the company's annual budget (not including raw materials purchased). Without ORMD's assistance, wTe would not have accepted recyclables from com- munity recycling programs as soon as it did. By leasing the equipment, wTe was able to compete with other plastics processors that were already accepting low-cost plastics from curbside programs. Publications Beneficial Uses of Paper Mill Residuals for New York State's Recycled-Paper Milk BES Technologies, 1995. Provides an overview of the waste treatment and management practices of New York's paper recycling industry including technologies to beneficially reuse mill residu- als and the technical, regulatory, and economic barriers to that reuse. Plastics Recycling Cost Optimiza- tion Project. R.W. Beck in association with Bottom Line Consulting, 1998. This report validates several strategies to reduce plastics recycling system costs, improve recycled plastics quality, and increase recycled plastics use in products. Wood Pallet Exchange Business ':: Opportunity. Adirondack North Country Association, 1997- This report asserts there is a strong opportunity for the establishment -7 of a financially stable pallet repair and exchange operation in northern New York. Schenectady County Boxboard Recycling Project. Schenectady County Recycling Program, 1997. This document analyzes the cost of sorting and processing boxboard by the Schenectady County Recycling Program. Bonded InsulationCCNB (Boxboard) Testing Project: Final Report, 1996. This report ana- lyzes the technical and economic feasibility of using boxboard as a substitute for old newspapers to manufacture cellulose insulation. Various fact sheets describing ORMD's projects and services. ------- |