The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Oct. 4 asking for clarification on federal agencies’ jurisdiction over mobile phones as it relates to safe driving. NWRA has previously contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to address safety concerns regarding the dangers that mobile phones and distracted driving present to highway users in general and waste and recycling collection workers specifically.

“The waste and recycling industry is the sixth deadliest profession, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and this is due in part to our frontline workers being killed by mobile phone users who are engaging in distracted driving,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith states. “NWRA is seeking to ascertain which federal agency would be in the position to regulate mobile phones as an inherently addictive product that causes distractions leading to injury and death.”

A November 2014 GAO report titled, “Consumer Product Safety Oversite: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Coordination and Increase Efficiencies and Effectiveness,” indicates that mobile phones/wireless devices are under the jurisdiction of the CPSC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the FCC and the FDA cover the product as it relates to separate aspects of radio frequency energy issues, the report specifically states that, “FCC does not directly regulate the safety of mobile phones and wireless devices.”

The CPSC is referenced as the agency that “[r]egulates hazards associated with the chargers for these devices, such as to ensure that they do not catch fire.” Beyond this, there is no indication in the report as to which agency has jurisdiction over the safety of mobile phones, but the reference to chargers would seem that the physical product itself would come under the auspices of the CPSC, the NWRA concludes.

“NWRA asks that you clarify this jurisdictional issue so our industry can work with the correct agency or agencies to promulgate appropriate regulation of mobile phones and save the lives of our frontline workers, many of whom are people of color. This is a national problem that requires a federal response,” Smith states.

The Washington-based American Beverage Association, along with Falls Church, Virginia-based The Recycling Partnership, have invested $166,000 in the Big Bear City Community Services District, Big Bear City, California, to provide 12,000 households with free, lidded curbside recycling carts. The investment is part of the Every Bottle Back initiative, which aims to reduce the beverage industry’s plastic footprint by recycling more plastic bottles.

“We’re thrilled to be working with our partners to help Big Bear City improve its recycling system to capture more of our recyclable bottles,” says Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association. “This investment will help close the loop on our bottles and create a more circular economy for recycled materials throughout the region.”

According to a news release from the American Beverage Association, the Every Bottle Back investment in Big Bear will also provide educational materials to residents to cut down on contamination in the recycling stream and support improvements to the existing transfer station in the city. This allows the region to accumulate and efficiently ship recyclables to Burrtec, a material recovery facility (MRF) in San Bernardino County, helping to create a strong local market for recycled plastics.

The American Beverage Association reports that this investment is estimated to yield 33 million new pounds of recyclables over 10 years, including 1.3 million pounds of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used to make beverage bottles. 

“The district is grateful to The Recycling Partnership and its partners for the generous grant to enhance our recycling efforts,” says Big Bear City Community Services District Solid Waste Superintendent Jon Zamorano. “By diverting waste from landfills, we not only decrease the workload on our collection crews, who have been stellar throughout the pandemic, but we also lay the foundation to build a more sustainable and cleaner Big Bear City for generations to come. We’re looking forward to seeing an increase in recyclables because of this grant.”

The investment in Big Bear City is the 11th of 15 initial projects that the American Beverage Association has committed to fund under Every Bottle Back. The association says these investments total $12.5 million in committed funding and will yield an estimated 693 million more pounds of PET over 10 years.

Michigan’s Kent County Board of Public Works could begin negotiating with Continuus Materials and Anaergia Oct. 7 for the companies to operate a mixed waste processing facility that would be central to the county’s proposed sustainable business park, MLive reports.

These companies would serve as the “anchor tenants” in the park around which other waste and recycling processors could establish operations.  

Initial plans state that, if all parties can come to terms, Continuus Materials and Anaergia would operate a facility that could handle 400,000 tons of trash per year and 30,000 tons of recyclables. The facility would turn these materials into renewable natural gas, fertilizer, recyclable commodities and roof coverboard made from recycled plastic and paper.

Continuus Materials, based in The Woodlands, Texas, specializes in the production of coverboard products derived from sustainable materials. Anaergia is an Ontario-based waste-to-resources service provider.

Dar Baas, director of the Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW), told MLive that the facility could be operational in four years if everything goes to plan.

DPW officials estimate the park, slated to be built on 250 acres of vacant land between Kent County and Allegan County, will cost $70 million. Of this, $19 would go toward utilities and roads.

Recently, it was announced that a $4 million appropriation in the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) budget would be allocated to infrastructure spending at the planned sustainable business park.

Despite reports of Anaergia’s interest, the company issued the following statement noting that the Kent County park was just one of the opportunities the business was assessing and that no deal was imminent.

“Management of Anaergia confirms that this project is one of the opportunities it is currently exploring, but as is the case with the other potential opportunities, there is no assurance that the discussions will lead to an agreement or project for the company,” the statement reads.

Epax Systems Inc., a Panorama, California-based supplier and installer of waste compaction systems, has expanded its product offering to include the complete line of Macpresse balers for municipal solid waste facilities and recycling plants.

“The addition of these large-scale systems completes our product line and allows us to support recycling efforts from the smallest company to the largest municipality,” Epax’s Stefan Nielsen says.

Macpresse systems are manufactured in Milan, at the company’s 200,000-square-foot facility. They are suitable for baling old corrugated containers, polyethylene terephthalate, municipal solid waste (MSW), refuse-derived fuel and commercial and industrial waste. With machines that feature throughput capacities of more than 66 tons per hour for MSW, Macpresse systems are designed to keep up with the most demanding requirements, Epax says. 

In addition to balers, Macpresse manufactures auxiliary equipment that includes sorting stations, industrial shredders, conveyors, stretch wrappers and more.

“Bringing Epax on board not only helps our sales efforts but also because of their intimate knowledge of compaction equipment, significantly bolsters our service and installation capabilities,” says Randy Gibson, vice president of MP North America, which is based in Georgia.

More information is available from Peter Brett, director of sales, at Epax Systems at 818-994-2870 or peterb@epaxsystems.com.