Volume 20, No. 3
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Selected Articles:
Steel Recycling Rates on Upward Trend
New Vision Enterprises Wins State Contract
Workshops for Expanding Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
Legislature Changtes Law Regarding Donations
NAPCOR and APC Announce Research to Sort Pigmented Bottles
Natural Resources Cabinet Publishes Helpline

Steel Recycling Rates on Upward Trend
Slightly reduced foreign steel imports, in addition to increased consumer awareness and consistent recycling options helped the 1999 recycling rates for steel packaging, appliances and construction materials approach the record levels set in 1997.

About 67 million tons of steel were recycled last year, which equates to about 1.25 times the total amount of aluminum, paper, glass, and plastic recycled. The steel can recycling rate advanced to 57.9 percent, as more than 1.5 million tons of steel packaging were recycled in 1999. The appliance recycling rate also increased to 77.3 percent with more than 39 million appliances recycled last year. Construction recycling rates also grew as steel plates and beams were recycled at a rate of 95 percent and rebar and other steel construction material posted a recycling rate of 45 percent.

Comparing the number of automobiles taken off the road in 1999 to the number of new cars produced shows a recycling rate of 91.2 percent, with more than 14.2 million end of life vehicles being recycled. (Click here to return to top.)

New Vision Enterprises Wins State Contract
New Vision Enterprises Inc. (formerly Kentucky Industries for the blind) has been awarded a contract with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to sell and recycle toner cartridges from computers and other equipment according to the Kentucky Recycling and Marketing Assistance office of the Natural Resources Cabinet. New Vision Enterprises will sell remanufactured toner cartridges to government offices across the state and place recycling centers in some state offices.

The sales program will provide New Vision’s visually impaired employees with an opportunity to receive sales, marketing and customer service training. (Click here to return to top.)

Workshops for Expanding Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling
The Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center and the Jefferson County Waste Management District are teaming up to provide a series of educational workshops in an effort to assist local businesses in initiating or expanding waste reduction, reuse and recycling programs in the workplace. The Jefferson County Waste Management District has received a $22,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 that will provide the majority of the funding for this project.

The Waste Management District is seeking to help boost the County’s overall solid waste reduction rate in an effort to meet the 45% diversion goal of the Jefferson County Solid Waste Management Plan. The program will target the almost 50% portion of the County’s municipal waste streams generated by businesses.

The message is that waste reduction and recycling activities not only provide significant environmental benefits to the community, but can also have significant impact on a businesses bottom line.

The workshops are free and will be held in Louisville. Kentucky businesses from outside Jefferson County are also encouraged to attend. The following is an outline of upcoming workshops schedule and topics:

Hotels/motels including food services – August 17, 2000
Festivals, fairs & Shows – October 19, 2000
Building Managers/Office Buildings – December 14, 2000
Malls and Retail outlets – February 15, 2001
Hospitals – April 19, 2001

For more information, contact Brent Fryrear at (502) 574-8441(Click here to return to top.)

Legislature Changes Law Regarding Donations
The 2000 session of the Kentucky General Assembly changed a law that had precluded private businesses and non profit organizations from making donations to segments of the public sector. This was especially difficult for business where there was a public good involved, but where a public agency regulated the private business. So, ethics demanded that there be no solicitation of support…nor any contribution to the public entities even though a public good could be accommodated.

The law was changed and now reads as follows: "The Transportation and Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinets may receive and accept grants, contributions of money, property, labor, or other things of value from any governmental agency, individual, nonprofit organization, or private business to be used for the Adopt a Highway Litter Program or other statewide litter programs. Any contribution of this nature shall be deemed to be a contribution to a state agency for a public purpose and shall be treated as restricted funds under KRS Chapter 45 and reported according to KRS Chapter 48, and shall not be subject to restrictions set forth under KRS Chapter 11A.

The change came about because of testimony presented during hearings on the bottle bill where private entities noted that they had attempted to help the Adopt a Highway Program, but were told they could not because it would have violated the ethics law. This restriction is now removed, and private businesses can make contributions, and can assist in these programs without fear of violating the ethics laws. (Click here to return to top.)

NAPCOR and APC Announce Research Effort for Sorting Pigmented Bottles
The National Association for Pet Container Resources (NAPCOR) and the American Plastics Council has announced a joint two year research effort, in partnership with other companies to develop sortation technologies to handle new types of pigmented PET bottles.

The project which specifically addresses how to best provide recycling opportunities for pigmented PET bottles within the current recycling infrastructure, is a continuation of NAPCOR’s 13 year history of commitment to the facilitation of PET recycling and technology issues.

NAPCOR President Luke Schmidt noted that NAPCOR and its partners are committed to the mission of promoting the usage and recycling of PET plastic containers. Ron Yocum echoed the support of this project and noted that this project holds great promise in meeting the challenge that has grown out of the increased demand for plastic bottles.

In addition to NAPCOR and the APC, Constar, Continental PET Technologies and other members of the industry support this effort.   (Click here to return to top.)

Natural Resources Cabinet Publishes Helpline
The Kentucky Recycling and Marketing Assistance Program has published an updated reference guide called HELPLINE. The publication lists information resources where a person can contact a firm or association for information about a particular recyclable material. Information included also covers composting, tires, and other "stuff". For a copy of the guide, contact Rich Green or Dara Carlisle at (502) 564-6716. (Click here to return to top.)