In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers and legislators.
"Recycling is challenged, but recycling is an important aspect of the waste management stream. We need to work smart, to make sure that it is sustainable and cost effective, and we’re working with the industry to do that."
—NWRA President and CEO Sharon Kneiss when asked to respond to John Tierney's recent recycling op-ed during an interview with Waste Dive. Kneiss was featured this week in the Women in Waste spotlight series.
"The city of Baltimore, like many cities across the country, faces issues that plague our streets, create health issues, pollute our waterways, and reduce property values. Litter can be found blowing across the streets of Baltimore. It's just wrong, and we know that we can do better."
— Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to a group of volunteers in the city. Rawlings-Blake introduced a new "Clean Corps" initiative, which will rely on Baltimore residents to make pledges to keep the city clean through door-to-door campaigns and organized block-wide cleanups.
"While there has been much back-and-forth over the past few weeks over how dangerous the landfill might be, at least three things are certain: The landfill is still burning, it still stinks, and Republic hasn’t paid for the environmental damage it has done."
—Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to WKBN regarding the smoldering landfill fire at the Bridgeton landfill. Concerns that the fire will reach the adjacent West Lake Landfill have prompted the EPA to develop a "remedy" by the end of the year.
"These products cause real environmental harm and we need to be able to prevent nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from entering our landfills, streets, and waterways. Expanded polystyrene is not recyclable, and we strongly believe that it must be eliminated from the waste stream."
—New York City Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia on the Supreme Court ruling to overturn a Styrofoam ban in NYC. The Department is appealing the ruling and seeking review from a higher court.
"Ultimately, we want to provide recycling solutions that both meet our customers' needs and generate an appropriate return for us. Recycling is the right option for the environment, and we are working to make it the right business decision for our shareholders as well."
— Waste Management CEO David Steiner during the company's third-quarter earnings call. Despite a 15% drop in average recycling commodity prices and a 6.4% decline in volume of recyclables, Waste Management showed a 7% improvement in operating cost per ton for recyclables.
"Printers, TVs — every day, somebody's putting something in [the garbage] ... It's a constant fight."
— One Way Disposal Services office manager Alli Westfall on the improper disposal of electronic waste in the Boulder, CO area. Eco-Cycle's Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) in Boulder is raising its e-waste disposal prices for the first time in 14 years.