United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5305W)
EPA530-N-96-009
Aug/Sept 1996
REUSABLE
NEWS
ICMA Holds FCA
Roundtable
O
As part of a continuing
effort to promote full
cost accounting
(FCA) to local govern-
ments, the International
City/County Manage-
ment Association (ICMA),
under an EPA grant, convened a
roundtable of solid waste man-
agers from across the country.
The roundtable gathered infor-
mation about the challenges of
developing and implementing
FCA, as well as technical and
outreach assistance materials to
help overcome them.
(FCA helps local gov-
ernments identify the
actual costs of munici-
pal solid waste services.)
Participants identified several
common challenges, such as the
absence of a standard methodol-
ogy, difficulties integrating FCA
into current accounting systems,
and shortage of staff or resources.
They suggested solutions for
these barriers, some of which
EPA has already undertaken in
cooperation with ICMA
and other solid waste
organizations. EPA has
prepared a short FCA
primer, developed a resource
guide, and presented information
about FCA at conferences, meet-
ings, and in national forums.
For more information about
FCA, contact Angie Leith of EPA
at 703 308-7253.1
Jobs Through Recycling
Grants to be Awarded
EPAs Jobs Through Recycling
Program expects to award
$1.675 million in grants to
18 states and 2 tribes this fall.
These grants will support a vari-
ety of initiatives aimed at
expanding markets for recycled
products and creating jobs in
recycling industries. EPA has
already awarded more than $4
million to 29 state, regional, and
tribal organizations and agencies
in the two years since the Agency
launched the program in 1994.
When finalized, the 1996
grants will support numerous
innovative recycling ventures.
Awardees are expected to include
the Sitka and Quechan Tribes and
the states of Arizona, California,
Connecticut, Florida, Indiana,
Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Montana, Nebraska,
New Jersey, New York, North Car-
olina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas, and West Virginia. Some of
the initiatives expected to be
implemented by these states
include:
• A pilot rug and carpet collec-
tion and processing facility in
New York that plans to aggre-
gate, sort, and process postcon-
sumer carpets and rugs. The
facility intends to use a state-
of-the-art laser technology to
sort the rug and carpet fibers.
• Michigan's plan to develop
methods to reduce cost ineffi-
ciencies in collecting, disman-
(Continued on page 4)
WasteWi$e Celebrates its Second
Anniversary
On September 9, 1996, in Washington, DC, EPAs WasteWi$e pro-
gram will celebrate its second successful year of
helping businesses reduce, recycle, and buy recy- 1
cled products. The celebration will recognize WAS
WasteWi$e partners' accomplishments and provide
opportunities for companies to find out about
successful waste prevention strategies. Three
workshops are currently planned for the event,
which will cover the following topics: keys to a
successful waste reduction program, biggest cost ^^
savings opportunities through waste preven-
tion, and buying recycled products. For more infor-
mation about the event, call the WasteWi$e Helpline
at 800 EPA-WISE. 1
Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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RESOURCES
Recycled Products
on the Road
Re-refined oil, retreaded tires, and
recycled engine coolants are cost-
effective, reliable, and high-quality
products. Several government agencies
and their contractors have been using
them for years. To encourage more agen-
cies to purchase these products, EPA has
just published a Vehicular Products Fact
Sheet.
This fact sheet is the fifth in a series
on EPA's Comprehensive Procurement
Guideline (CPG). The CPG includes seven
categories of recycled-content items,
including vehicular
products, that govern-
ment agencies using
appropriate federal
funds should pur-
chase. This fact
sheet explains
the CPG and
the accompa-
nying Recov-
ered
Materials
Advisory
Notice
(RMAN),
which recommends
the recycled-content levels
to look for when purchasing
items on the CPG. The fact sheet dis-
cusses the RMAN levels for vehicular
products, dispels several common myths
about these products, and presents sev-
eral case studies as well.
For a copy, call the RCRA Hotline
and ask for document number
EPA530-F-96-019.
Managing Food
Scraps
EPA's WasteWi$e Program, which
encourages businesses to reduce
and recycle their solid waste, has
developed two tip sheets to help compa-
nies trim waste from their foodservice
operations. The first tip sheet, Donating
Surplus Food to the Needy, provides
advice on contacting and working with
food banks to deliver surplus perishable
food to local organizations that feed the
needy. The tip sheet addresses health
and liability issues, provides contact
numbers for national food bank net-
works, and relates the positive experi-
ences of WasteWi$e partners who have
helped their communities while reducing
foodservice wastes.
The second tip sheet, Managing Food
Scraps as Animal Feed, provides information
on how businesses can donate food scraps
to local farmers for use as livestock feed. The
tip sheet includes storage and handling infor-
mation, advice on permitting, and suggested
resources for further information. Both are
available by calling the RCRA Hotline and
requesting document numbers EPA530-F-96-
038 and EPA530-F-96-037 respectively.
Source Reduction
Bibliography
To help municipal solid waste man-
agers locate information specifically
on source reduction, EPA has pub-
lished an annotated bibliography. This
30-page document includes publications
exclusively about source reduction, as well
as the chapters and sections in more com-
prehensive waste management texts focus-
ing on source reduction issues. Source
reduction, also known as waste prevention,
involves the design, manufacture, purchase,
or use of products and materials to reduce
the amount or toxicity of products and
materials that get thrown away.
The bibliography lists only publications
issued since 1989 and includes short
abstracts, ordering information, and
costs. For ease of use, the bibliography
is organized by subject (e.g., source
reduction policy and legislation, packag-
ing, materials exchanges, case studies).
Author and title indices and a list of peri-
odicals that cover source reduction topics
also are included.
For a copy of the Source Reduction
Bibliography, call the RCRA Hotline and
request document number
EPA530-B-95-11.
EPA's
Pay-
As-You-
Throw Tool Kit
Released
M
I ore and more communities—as
many as 2,000 nationwide—are
making the switch to pay-as-you-
throw (also known as variable-rate or
unit pricing) programs. Under these pro-
grams, residents pay for waste collection
and disposal based on the amount of
waste they generate. To help interested
communities take the leap to pay-as-you-
throw, EPA has developed and assem-
bled a series of products into a
Pay-As-You-Throw Tool Kit.
The Tool Kit contains: (1) guidebooks
to help planners decide whether pay-as-
you-throw might work in their communi-
ties; (2) a workbook, containing fact
sheets, outreach and education ideas,
and worksheets, to help determine the
best way to design and implement a pro-
gram; (3) a videotape that planners can
use to provide residents and their elected
representatives with information about
the program; and (4) software to help
communities calculate the optimal per-
container fees.
The Tool Kit also includes items such
as selected news clippings about pay-as-
you-throw, clip art for use in creating cus-
tomized outreach products, and a
bibliography for further resource informa-
tion. To order the complete set of pay-as-
you-throw tools, call EPA's
Pay-As-You-Throw
Helpline toll-free at
888 EPA-PAYT.
For more.
informa-
tion about'
EPA's Pay-
As-You-
Throw
program, con-
tact Jan Canter-
bury of EPA at
703 308-7264.
RCRA Hotline: 800 424-9346 or TDD 800 553-7672.
In the Washington, DC Area: 703 412-9810 or TDD 703 412-3323.
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The Peanut
Pipeline
While catalog shopping
helps you avoid traffic
and crowds, it can
deliver a new set of worries
when it comes to ordering fragile
or breakable goods. To make sure
shipments arrive intact, many
companies use protective poly-
styrene loose fill packaging, also
know as plastic peanuts. But
what should be done with all the
peanuts once you receive your
goods in one piece? The Plastic
Loose Fill Council has the
answer: call their "Peanut
Pipeline." This nationwide, 24-
hour toll-free hotline refers
callers to the nearest businesses
that accept peanuts for reuse.
Responding to the environ-
mental concerns of mail order
customers, a group of plastic
peanut manufacturers established
the Plastic Loose Fill Council in
July 1991 to run the Peanut
Pipeline. Mail Boxes, Etc., with
over 1,000 collection locations,
was the first business to join the
program. Today, collection sites
are located in all 50 states, the
Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
The Peanut Pipeline hotline
fields over 7,500 calls per month
from all corners of the country,
and over 200 mail order compa-
nies include the Pipeline phone
number with their packages.
To find the collection site
nearest you that accepts
plastic peanuts for
reuse, or for more
information on the
Pipeline, call 800
828-2214.1
Ensuring Responsible Care
Since 1991, EPA has required local governments to plan for proper
closure and postclosure care for Subtitle D landfills. These
requirements ensure that local governments have sufficient
resources to close landfills properly and perform postclosure monitor-
ing and maintenance. EPA is currently finalizing a rule that would
allow local governments more flexibility in how they comply with the
financial assurance requirements. In the past, local governments that
did not meet these requirements ran the risk of incurring corrective
action costs, which can range from $15 to $50 million.
EPA expects the final rule to be complete late this summer. For more
information, contact George Garland of EPA at 703 308-7272.ffl
Relooking at
Reuse
International Furniture and
Bedding (IFB) in Baltimore,
Maryland, gives new life to
approximately 3,000 old mat-
tresses a week. The company dis-
mantles the old mattresses,
repairs springs, frames, and other
materials, and reuses the parts in
"new" mattresses. IFB recycles
the materials that it can't reuse,
such as old fabric and ticking.
The company has replicated its
operations in Brooksville,
Florida, and is hoping to expand
nationwide.
IFB is just one of the reuse
companies profiled in four book-
lets being developed by the Insti-
tute for Local Self-Reliance
(ILSR). Under a grant from EPA,
ILSR is addressing ways to
expand the reuse industry in the
United States by researching
companies that either are plan-
ning to expand across the coun-
try or could be replicated easily.
The booklets focus on four differ-
ent reusable commodities: tex-
tiles, household durables,
electronics, and shipping pallets.
Each offers lessons learned from
the profiled companies, as well
as tips for replication. For infor-
mation or to receive the booklets
when available, write to Reuse
Project, ILSR, 2425 18th St., NW.,
Washington, DC 20009.1
Industrial D
Stakeholder
Meeting Held
Each year, almost 12,000
manufacturing facilities gen-
erate and manage 7.6 billion
tons of industrial nonhazardous
waste on site in land-based dis-
posal units. On April 11-12,
1996, EPA convened a focus
group of stakeholders from state
solid waste management pro-
grams, industry, and environmen-
tal groups to discuss the
development of voluntary guide-
lines for managing this waste.
At the meeting, stakeholders
discussed the scope and purpose
of the voluntary guidance, risk
issues, and appropriate liner
design options. EPA and the
Association of State and Territor-
ial Solid Waste Management Offi-
cials (ASTSWMO) will use this
information to develop voluntary
guidelines. This guidance will
recommend a process for charac-
terizing facility-specific risks and
describe strategies to lower risks
through waste minimization and
treatment, as well as safe man-
agement practices.
The next Industrial Solid
Waste focus group meeting will
be September 11-12, 1996, in
Arlington, Virginia. For further
information, contact Paul Cassidy
of EPA at 703 308-7281.1
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(Continued from page 1)
tling, and delivering post-
consumer auto parts, espe-
cially composite plastic parts
(e.g., bumpers, door panels).
The project will involve
existing scrap auto collec-
tors, dismantlers, and
reclaimers in southeast
Michigan.
• A Wood and Waste Resource
Center in Tennessee that
intends to investigate waste
wood reuse strategies and
assist in creating new busi-
nesses that use wood wastes
as their raw materials.
• Two Southeastern Recycling
Investment Forums in 1996
and 1997, coordinated by
South Carolina, that will
bring together investors and
promising recycling, reuse,
composting, and waste
reduction firms in need of
additional capital.
For more information about
the Jobs Through Recycling
program, call John Leigh of
EPA at 703 308-7896.1
This issue of Reusable News is
also available on the Internet. To
access this and other EPA publications
through the World Wide Web, type:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/recycle/
reuse.htm
Through Gopher: direct access 919 558-0335
Address: gopher.epa.gov
Port: 70
Sector: 1/Offices/Waste/OSWRCRA/nonhw/
recycle/reuse
New Flexibility for Small MSW Landfills
Small municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills—those that receive
no more than 20 tons of MSW per day—now have more flexibility,
thanks to the Land Disposal Program Flexibility Act. President
Clinton signed this act into law on March 26, 1996, and EPA is cur-
rently revising its regulations to implement the new requirements.
Eight hundred small MSW landfills located in dry or remote areas
will receive an exemption from ground-water monitoring requirements.
These landfills are in the western United States and Alaska. The rule
will reinstate a provision that had been suspended due to court action
in 1993.
EPA is also working to provide additional flexibility to all small
landfills that receive less than 20 tons of waste per day. This flexibility
would include alternative frequencies of daily cover and methane
monitoring, infiltration layers for final cover, and means for demon-
strating financial assurance. This proposal recognizes that these deci-
sions are best made at the state and local level and, therefore, will
provide enhanced flexibility to approved states.
For more information, contact Allen Geswein of EPA at 703 308-7261 .fl
Managing Solid Waste on Tribal Lands
M
ore than 500 tribal representatives and environmental profes-
sionals attended the Third National Conference on Tribal Envi-
ronmental Management, held on May 21-23, 1996, on the
Flathead reservation in Montana. The conference was co-sponsored by
EPA and the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes. Five sessions
focused on solid waste issues such as cooperative agreements for solid
waste management, dump closure, landfill permitting, planning solid
waste management alternatives, and financing opportunities and rev-
enue sources for solid waste management activities.
The solid waste sessions ended with a forum for assessing tribal
training needs in solid waste management. Speakers gave presentations
covering major areas discussed in previous sessions and commented
on the type of training and technical support needed within each area.
For more information about tribal solid waste issues or EPA activi-
ties in this area, contact Beverly Goldblatt of EPA at 703 308-7278.1
&EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
(5305W)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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