Publications
Bi-weekly Updates From CAFR - October 2
1) Disaster Recovery Grant Applications Due October 15
2) Advanced Technology Grant Applications Due October 31
3) NRC Bin Grant Applications Due October 17
4) CAFR to pursue electronics legislation
5) Region takes leadership role with new course for glass recycling
6) USDA Solid Waste Management Grants available
7) You Did It - No Child Left Inside Passes House
8) Post-disaster debris management training workshops offered in October
9) Election season: Meet your legislators
10) Free, web-based seminars hosted by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers
Don't miss any upcoming events! Check out CAFR's Calendar of Events: www.cafr.org/calendar/
Missed the last issue of the CAFR newsletter? Download it from CAFR's Web site: www.cafr.org/me mbership/newsletter/
1) Disaster Recovery Grant Applications Due October 15
Pollution Prevention Advisory Board
RREO Grants Program
Disaster Recovery Grants
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (the department) working through its Pollution Prevention Advisory Board (board) and the Assistance Committee to the board (committee), is requesting applications for planning grants that will be awarded from the Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity (RREO) Fund, for use in planning for clean-up after emergency events.
In the wake of storms, floods, tornadoes, fires, and other disastrous events, communities must determine how to quickly perform waste clean-up operations. While much debris may be recyclable or re-usable, time may be too short to allow for responders to separate recoverable materials from waste that is sent for landfill disposal. Counties and local emergency planning groups are encouraged to apply for grants, not to exceed $7,500, that will be used to develop community-specific or area-specific debris recovery plans. This grant opportunity is meant to support ongoing efforts by the State of Colorado’s Division of Emergency Management to bring attention to the importance of debris management planning.
Applications are due on October 15, 2008 by 2:00pm.
To apply for the grant, visit CDPHE's Web site: http:/ /www.cdphe.state.co.us/el/p2_program/rreodisaster.html
2) Advanced Technology Grant applications due October 31
The application for the FY 2009 Advanced Technology Grants program is now available at the following link:
http://www. cdphe.state.co.us/el/p2_program/atgprog.html
The Advanced Technology Grant (ATG) Program is intended to fund research that will increase or improve recycling techniques and technology; create marketable uses for discarded materials, including but not limited to, strategies pertaining to waste tires; address problems caused by inappropriate disposal of solid waste materials, including but not limited to, waste tire stockpiles; and, make use where possible of the research capacities of Colorado institutions of higher education.
The deadline to submit the application is October 31, 2008 by 2:00pm. Please e-mail to cdphe.ppp2@state.co.us if any questions. If you would like your e-mail removed from the contact list, please reply to this e-mail with the message to unsubscribe.
Thank you.
Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
3) NRC Bin Grant Applications Due October 17
It's never BIN easier ... to recycle! Need beverage container recycling bins for your local park, school, office or special event? The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program supports local community recycling programs by providing selected grant recipients with containers for the collection of beverage container recyclables in public settings. Selected grant recipients will receive actual recycling bins instead of funding.
To Apply: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.asp x
Sponsored by Coca-Cola Company and National Recycling Coalition
4) CAFR to pursue electronics legislation
At the September 12 Board meeting, the Colorado Association for Recycling Board of Directors gave approval to the CAFR Policy Committee to move forward with three issues during the next year:
1) Electronics recycling, to be pursued through legislation,
2) Compost bill, the Committee will continue follow-up work on last year's
compost bill,
3) Pay-As-You-Throw, to be pursued through broader education for
legislators and municipal officials.
For more information contact, Marjo rie Griek, CAFR Executive Director, at mgriek@cafr.org or 720-839-9531.
5) Region takes leadership role with new course for glass recycling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2008
Contact: Bruce Philbrick, Superintendent, Loveland Solid Waste
Division (970) 962-2609
Susie Gordon, Sr. Environmental Planner, Fort Collins Natural
Resources (970) 221-6265
Stephen Gillette, Manager, Larimer County Solid Waste Department
(970) 498-5762
REGION TAKES LEADERSHIP ROLE WITH NEW COURSE FOR GLASS RECYCLING
The arrival of single-stream recycling to our region made recycling more convenient, but this mix of materials and the way it they are handled makes recycling glass more difficult. Separating glass items from other recyclable materials (such as aluminum and plastic) is the best way to assure that the material gets reused. As a result, the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland and Larimer County now provide new special glass-only drop-off sites:
- The City of Fort Collins Rivendell recycling center at 1702 Riverside Ave., in Fort Collins
- The Larimer County recycling drop-off site co-located with the landfill at 5887 S. Taft Hill Road
- The City of Loveland recycling center at 400 N. Wilson Ave.
In a partnership that included staff in the cities of Loveland, Fort Collins and Larimer County, regional stakeholders studied the glass situation closely over the past year. The research showed that due to handling and processing technology only 30% of the glass from curbside bins is recovered and recycled into new bottles. The remainder of the glass that becomes intermingled with contaminants, such as bits of ceramics or gravel, must be taken to landfills where it’s discarded or, at best, used as daily trash cover.
Armed with this new information and data, the cities and county made improvements to their current programs by adding designated drop-off locations and are now encouraging residents to separate as much glass out of their recycling bin as possible.
A special collection bunker is being built at the City of Loveland’s recycling center, where pure glass will be staged for delivery to the nearest bottle-making plant. The extra work will help yield a clean stream of high-quality glass that will be shipped directly to the bottle-making plant and best of all, rather than only recovering 30% of the glass, nearly 100% of the household’s bottles and jars will be made back into new bottles.
Costs are shared with Fort Collins and Larimer County in a unique cooperative that will also benefit other recycling businesses in the region. “This situation is not unique to our region. It’s time to work together and show leadership in our communities about the best way to recycle,” says Susie Gordon, a senior environmental planner in the City of Fort Collins’ Natural Resources Department. “If we want recycling to grow and get even better, we need to learn from our research and be willing to make changes to our programs and trust that citizens will follow suit to the extent that they’re able.”
Professional recyclers such as Bruce Philbrick, Solid Waste Division superintendent for Loveland, Colorado, admit that glass is always the most problematic of all materials to recycle. “When it’s mixed with other materials and loaded into the collection truck, the glass inevitably gets broken, which makes it hard to keep it free of contaminants. At the bottle plant in Wheat Ridge where we send glass, they have very high standards for only accepting very clean material - if we can’t deliver it in clean condition, they simply won’t buy it from us,” says Philbrick. Stephen Gillette, who manages the Larimer County Solid Waste program, has many years of experience running MRFs, getting recyclables to markets and striving to optimize collection systems. He noted that the advent of “single-stream” recycling, whereby all the glass, metals, plastics and paper get mixed together in one container, happened during 2007. Gillette adds that, “While the ease and convenience of single-stream has clearly increased the volumes of recyclables we receive, an unintended consequence is that the glass containers are getting even more badly damaged then ever, so unfortunately, in the case of glass, we need to go back to the original system of doing more separation, like we used to when we first started recycling in the 1970s. That’s the only way we can get enough value out of glass to make the economics work.”
The recycling community, including County and City program managers, is not giving up on glass in Larimer County. Glass will continue to be collected in curbside bins. But for residents who want to be “super recyclers”, the new approach of separating glass and using designated glass-only boxes will become part of their household’s system for recycling.
More glass-only drop-off locations will be established over the next few months as good host sites are identified. For more information, please call Susie Gordon (221-6265) with the City of Fort Collins, Stephen Gillette (498-5762) with Larimer County, or Bruce Philbrick (962-2609) with the City of Loveland.
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6) USDA Solid Waste Management Grants available
The objectives of the Solid Waste Management Grant Program are to:
1. Reduce or eliminate pollution of water resources in rural areas.
2. Improve planning and management of solid waste sites in rural areas.
NOTE: Rural areas are defined as any area not in a city or town with a population in excess of 10,000, according to the latest decennial census of the United States.
http://www.usda.gov/rus/wate r/SWMG.htm
Kim Bartels
EPA Region 8
Recycling Coordinator
(303) 312-6346
bartels.kim@epa.gov
7) You Did It - No Child Left Inside Passes House
Congratulations!
All of your calls and emails to our representatives have paid off! The No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 (HR 3036) passed the House of Representatives moments ago! This is national legislation that will bring much needed support for environmental education.
Please take a moment to thank Representatives Mark Udall, Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, and John Salazar for voting for the bill to dramatically improve environmental education in Colorado! You can find their contact information at www.congress.org[3].
Celebrate this wonderful moment validating your work!
This is our time - Ali
--
Ali Goulstone Sweeney
Executive Director
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education
15260 S. Golden Rd. Golden, CO 80401
303-273-9527
Fax: 303-273-5780
http://www.caee.org
Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, 15260 South Golden Rd, Golden, CO, 80401 303-273-9527
8) Post-disaster debris management training workshops offered in October
FEMA along with the Colorado Division of Emergency Management will be offering six one-day Public Assistance Debris Management Training Workshops throughout the State of Colorado.
Class Description:
FEMA’s Public Assistance Division has developed a one-day Debris Management Plan Workshop to enhance state and local capacity to manage debris removal operations in a cost-effective and timely manner. The workshop is currently planned for 8:30am to 5pm including regular breaks and an hour for lunch.
This fast-paced workshop has been designed to stimulate the discussion and interaction necessary to produce a comprehensive debris plan. The workshop is geared for state and local government participants that are directly involved in debris planning and operations (e.g. county/municipal officials, emergency managers, public works, solid waste, civil engineers, code enforcement, public health, landfill operators, finance, etc.). It does not replace the Debris Operations (E201) and Debris Management (E202) courses offered by the Emergency Management Institute (EMI).
TO ATTEND
If you are interested in attending this one-day workshop please contact the emergency manager, the CDEM Regional Field Manager listed below or Laura Nay to reserve a seat.
CALENDAR
The workshop will be offered in the following areas:
October 20, 2008 – Eagle County
Western Eagle County Ambulance District, Gypsum Facility
785 Red Table Drive, Gypsum, CO 81637
Barry.Smith@eaglecounty.us 970 328-3545
Steve.Denney@state.co.us 970 248-7308
October 22, 2008 – LaPlata County
LaPlata County Fairgrounds Extension Bldg. (Pine Room)
2500 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301
knowltonbk@co.laplata.co.us 970 382-6270
Patricia.Gavelda@state.co.us 970 247-7674
October 24, 2008 – Pueblo County
Pueblo West Fire Station 3, 129 E Gold Dr.
(McCulloch & Gold Dr) – North of Hwy 50 West
Pueblo, CO 81003
Ashcraft@co.pueblo.co.us 719 583-6200
Chad.Ray@state.co.us 719 544-6563
October 27, 2008 – Baca County
29400 Hwy 287, Springfield, CO 81073
Riley.Frazee@seregion.com 719 523-6796
Chad.Ray@state.co.us 719 544-6563
October 29, 2008 – State EOC
9195 E. Mineral Ave., Ste. 200, Centennial, CO 80112
Bob.Wold@state.co.us 720 852-6631
Laura.Nay@state.co.us 303 273-1734
October 30, 2008 – Larimer County
410 E. 5th, (Street and Traffic Div. Bldg.)
Loveland, CO 80537
greenm@ci.loveland.co.us 970 962-2519
Kevin.Kuretich@state.co.us 970 867-4300
9) Election season: Meet your legislators
Greetings!
Election season brings a terrific opportunity to meet or spend quality time with your state legislators. Every seat in the Colorado House of Representatives is on the ballot this November, and so are half of the seats in the State Senate. Whether you've never met your state legislator or the candidates to replace him or her, or even if you're good friends, election season makes them more accessible to constituents than ever.
Mendez, Steadman & Associates strongly encourages our clients and their members to have a personal relationship with your state representative and state senator. They should know that you are their constituent, and that you are involved in public policy issues. Ideally, they should be able to connect your name and your face, and they should remember that they hear from you from time to time about issues pending before the legislature.
Don't be intimidated! State legislators are pretty decent folks and they like to hear from constituents, especially when they're up for reelection. Whether you've met them before or not, election season is a great opportunity to reach out and make a new friend. Get in their face, and soon they'll be able to put your face and your name together, making you a more effective grassroots activist.
Election season means candidates are knocking on doors, attending community forums, hosting fundraising events and looking for volunteers. You have many options for when and on what terms you meet a legislator or candidate. We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities and forge a closer relationship with the people that represent you.
Don't know who your state legislator is? Uncertain about the candidates? Don't be ashamed because you're not alone. Fortunately, there are some great resources available to help you. If you know your 9-digit zip code, try plugging it in at www.votesmart.org.
From this site you'll get a list of the districts you live in and the current office-holders, and you can also find information on the candidates that will be on your ballot this November. Once you know the candidates' names, Google them; they all have websites with contact information, policy positions, and volunteer and donation opportunities.
Civic engagement may be a hot buzzword these days, but it's not just good for your state and good for your country, it's also good for your business to be an informed and involved voter. Once these legislators and candidates are elected they'll be making decisions that affect the issues you care about and your bottom line. You'll want to talk to them then, but that will work so much better if you establish the relationship now.
Yes, we're all anxious for this election to be over, but for the next 5 weeks we have some work to do. So get out there and rub elbows with your state legislators and candidates for elective office - you'll be glad you did!
_________________________________
Pat Steadman
Mendez, Steadman & Associates
303-863-7777
10) Free, web-based seminars hosted by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers
The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers is hosting a set of three free web-based seminars. We'd invite your local and collegiate recycling coordinators and environmental educators to join us.
Into the Bin and Back Again - Free Web-based Seminars
Due to popular demand, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) is repeating its popular workshop series Into the Bin and Back Again with a set of three free, web-based seminars. Please join APR in these one-hour recycling training geared to helping recycling coordinators collect more plastic more efficiently! Each session is offered twice, but you need only attend the session once. Individual registration is required for each session. To register or for more information, please visit http://www.plasticsrecycl ing.org/webinar/
Session One: Getting to Know You: The Ins and Outs of the Plastics Industry
This free, hour-long web seminar is designed for the recycling program that would like to improve their plastic recycling techniques. Get real tips from the industry to make sure your program is operating free of kinks and at full profit potential. Learn about plastic recycling resources to make your job easier. Leave with a check list of possible program improvements.
Dates: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST) -or- Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST)
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Session Two: Plastic Recycling: Switching to All Bottles Collection
This free, one hour seminar will present a step by step approach on switching to all bottles recycling collection. Participants will learn from case studies and will leave with a to-do for easy implementation. Session will provides definitions, specifications, and sorting tips.
Dates: Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST) -or- Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST)
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Session Three: Working With the Middle Man: Tools for Efficient Plastic Recycling
Participants in this web-based workshop will learn how to get the most out of hauler contracts. We'll also discuss when it might be better to market plastic bales directly. Discussion of contract provisionsthat are beneficial to the community, including reducing contamination, sharing revenue, and monitoring performance.
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST) -or- Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 1:00pm - 2:00pm (EST)
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Please note that the times are all EST - Eastern Standard Time.
System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: WindowsR 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
MacintoshR-based attendees Required: Mac OSR X 10.3.9 (PantherR) or newer
Questions about these workshops? Email Keefe Harrison with the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers at postconsumerplastic@gmail.com
To register or for more information: Visit http://www.plasticsrecycl ing.org/webinar/
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Association of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers
www.plasticsrecycling.org
