Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume II, Issue
28, July 9,
2012
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
We're all
working to make better use
of the materials we have
and use.
We are all
figuring out how to throw
less of those resources
away, how to take things we
don't need and make them
into things we, or others
among us, will need later.
Part of this effort is
because it's the "right
thing to do", a matter of
conscience. A lot of this
is because we are realizing
we had
better
, before
we can no longer afford the
things we really need even
if we
could
find
them. Why is this so
difficult? It takes work,
and it usually costs more
money up front than it does
to just "junk it", to
release those resources for
disposal. But mostly, well
… because it's
inconvenient.
Business
occurs when something that
needs to be done can make a
profit
. Government is there, it
seems, to make us do the
rest. That's pretty much
the way we handle Trash in
general: "Here: take this,
and, make it go away." But
Government is susceptible
to pressure. Our
Representatives, er,
who say
they
represent
us … erects barriers to one
group because another group
screams loud enough. That's
MY territory! Don't let
them get MY stuff! … and
another bunch of Rules go
into
place.
So, why
do YOU think the people who
broker our "recyclable
materials" have been
leaning so hard for so long
on our Legislative
Representatives? They don't
want interference in their
business
, and they've had the moxie
(and the Money) to Do
Something about it. It's
understandable
in
a way.
If we have Government
Approved remanufacturing
facilities right here in
California that can cleanly
complete Total Recycling,
brokers will be under more
pressure to Keep It Local.
They'll lose some of the
ability to hunt down the
Best Deal. But wait just a
minute: if we have Local
Recycled Goods
Reprocessing, won’t that be
cheaper? I mean, think of
all the diesel saved, and
just Think of the
greenhouse gas emissions we
could avoid! Won't it be
just so much easier and
better and cheaper to send
those bales of plastic
across the street, instead
of across the
Pacific?
Hey
Rube!
If you still
are in Business (no joke) and
you spend money getting rid of
stuff left over when you
do
business, consider this: it
ain't Waste until you say it
is. These corner-pieces and
loose whats-its are
By-Products, not trash, until
you "release" them to the
Common Waste Stream. In other
words, it's not Waste that
belongs to someone
else until you put it in
the bin outside. So while those
goodies remain yours, think
about turning them back into
something useful … like, maybe,
combined heat, power, fuel and
foundation
chemicals.
On-site
conversion of by-products can
be considered part of
your operation if you
handle it right. On-site
reconfiguration of by-products,
off-spec batch runs, or
unwanted returned goods for
remanufacturing your own
products has become the essence
of Corporate Responsibility. It
fits right into the "Reduce"
part of California's laws, gets
you a lot closer to being Zero
Waste to Landfill certified by
Underwriter's Labs (yes, they
do that now), and AB 341 even
counts Diversion credit to your
jurisdiction … if you (and
they) handle it right. Call it
… Distributed On-site
Recycling
The
Week's Extra Reading
Teru's new Focus Report is out
waste diversion and mandatory
Commercial Recycling in
California: AB 341 and
the Problem with Words.
Don't worry. This one is
only three
pages.
The
Week's News
Urbaser, Eco-Solution, and IRD
Plan Energy from Waste for
Romainville,
France
Urbaser
Environnement has announced
meeting with the French
Institute of Research for
Development (IRD), and the
local microbial process
specialist Eco-Solution to
jointly develop waste
management, resource recovery,
and energy generation for the
City of Romainville, France.
07/08/2012
DuPont Awards Contract to KBR
to Engineer Iowa Cellulosic
Ethanol
Plant
Texas based
KBR, Inc has announced award of
a contract by DuPont to provide
preliminary and final
engineering, and procurement
services to DuPont Industrial
Biosciences Group for this
first-of-a-kind cellulosic
ethanol plant to be constructed
in Nevada, Iowa.
07/08/2012
Global Solid Waste Partnership
Launched to Reduce Pollutants
from
MSW
The launch of
a multi-national public-private
Solid Waste Partnership was
announced during the United
Nations (UN) Conference on
Sustainable Development
(Rio+20) held last month in
Brazil. 07/07/2012
Quasar and Forest City
Inaugurate Collinwood BioEnergy
AD
Plant
Formerly
Schmack Bioenergy, Ohio based
quasar energy group has
partnered with real estate
company Forest City
Enterprises, Inc to develop and
now inaugurate a 1.3 megawatt
facility on a brownfield site
in Cleveland, Ohio.
07/06/2012
Construction Complete on Waste
to Energy CHO-Power Plant in
France
French energy
from waste company Europlasma
has announced completion of
construction for its CHO-Power
plasma-enhanced gasification
plant in Morcenx, France.
07/06/2012
Veolia Officially Opens Energy
Recovery from Waste Facility in
Newhaven
Following open
days and site tours for local
residents, the Newhaven Energy
Recovery Facility in North Quay
officially opened on July 4,
2012. 07/06/2012
Tetronics Wins UK Award for
Recycling Electronic Equipment
using
Plasma
The United
Kingdom's (UK) market leader in
plasma energy-from-waste (EfW)
facilities, Tetronics Ltd, has
announced winning the national
Electrical and Electronic
Equipment
Recycler of the Year 2012
award.
07/05/2012
Portland General Electric
Requests Comments on Draft
Renewable Energy
RFP
The Oregon
utility Portland General
Electric (PGE) has announced
release of a draft Request for
Proposals (RFP) expected to
open for bids later this year,
and has scheduled a public
workshop for July 16, 2012 to
gather stakeholder comment.
07/05/2012
BDI & OMV Open BioCRACK
Wood to Biodiesel Pilot Plant
at Austrian
Refinery
Austrian
biofuels company BDI -
BioEnergy International AG
(BDI) and OMV
Aktiengesellschaft
(OMV) have
announced opening a novel pilot
biofuels facility within the
battery of the OMV petroleum
refinery in Schwechat, Austria.
07/03/2012
UK's CentreForum Releases "Hit
the Gas" Report on Speeding AD
Development
In
the United Kingdom (UK), the
think-tank consultancy
CentreForum has announced
release of its detailed report
entitled "Hit the Gas: How to
Get the Anaerobic Digestion
Sector Moving," available for
download. 07/03/2012
CARB's Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Posts CI Value of Minus 15 for
Biomethane
The California
Air Resources Board (CARB) has
posted a Low Carbon Fuel
Standard (LCFS) value for one
proposed pathway for production
of biomethane when used as a
low carbon transport fuel.
07/02/2012
The Week's Action
Items
Due 07/06/2012: Comments to CEC
on Proposed Revisions to RPS
Guidebooks
The California
Energy Commission (CEC) has
released a Notice of Meeting
for its July 11, 2012 Business
Meeting, focused in part on
consideration of revisions to
the Renewables Portfolio
Standard Eligibility Guidebook
and the Overall Program
Guidebook for the Renewable
Energy Program.
07/02/2012
Due 08/13/2012: Proposals to
USAF for Advanced Drop-In
BioFuels
The US Air
Force (USAF) has announced the
release of a Funding
Opportunity Notice
(FOA-12-15-PKM)
"to solicit
production technology project
proposals for the Defense
Production Act (DPA) Title III
Program. 07/05/2012
Due 08/24/2012: Comments to
Oregon Draft Materials
Management
Plan
The Oregon
Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) has announced
release of its Draft 2050
Vision and Framework for Action
and is seeking stakeholder
review and comment. DEQ is
developing a long-term Vision
for Sustainable Materials
Management in Oregon.
07/05/2012
Due 09/06/2012: Applications to
USDA for 2013 SBIR Phase
1
The US
Department of Agriculture's
(USDA) National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has
released a notice regarding the
Request for Applications (RFA)
for the 2013 Small Business
Innovation Research (2013
SBIR). 07/02/2012
Due 10/10/2012: Renewable
Energy Project Proposals to LA
World
Airports
The Los
Angeles World Airports (LAWA)
Department of the City of Los
Angeles has issued a Request
for Proposals (RFP), ID 14042,
for renewable energy project
development on 890 acres
adjacent to US Air Force Plant
42 near the City of Palmdale.
07/08/2012
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