Teru Talk Newsletter
Volume V, Issue 12, March
23,
2015
Teru Talk by Michael
Theroux (pronounced
"Terú")
Teru's Trash Talk
Listen! They're playing our
song: "You can't manage what
you don't measure."
California's Department of
Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) staff
have been hammer-down at work
to good effect. Now available
for our consideration are their
State of
Recycling and State of
Disposal reports, and
this Tuesday staff will meet
with the public (us) to go
over their
findings.
CalRecycle says that the
workshop will "present
highlights of the State of
Disposal and State of Recycling
reports that focus on solid
waste recycling and disposal in
California and those materials
and activities that count under
the statewide 75% recycling
goal." Whether on-line or in
person, be prepared to submit
your Comments. Honest: they
asked for
it...
Because this is Tax Preparation
Time in these United States,
most of us are sorting out
jumbled receipts. All too
often, it becomes painfully
obvious with this
house-cleaning process that
better management is in order.
According to California's new
reports, pretty good records
have been kept for what we have
all been throwing into our
landfills. But when we start
digging for detail about our
state-wide Resources Recycling
and Recovery, those tracking
receipts are, well, they are
generally
missing.
We all hate over-regulation and
nobody wants to add another
reporting requirement, but good
grief, folks: only 4%
reporting? If we don't document
what we are doing with the
public's scarce money and
precious resources, we
shouldn't be too surprised when
new mandates
make
us pay
attention. Much to CalRecycle's
credit, the reports tell it
like it is, despite the
agency's clear recognition that
the burden of
measurement-for-management is
shared by both the Public
Agencies and the Waste
Management Industries they
oversee.
But bless them, that isn't the
only lilting refrain we hear:
"Garbage to Gold! Garbage to
Gold!" sings the Sacramento
regional Valley Vision team.
This week brings their
refreshing webinar to fetch us
up on the broad possibilities
of turning food waste and other
rapidly rotting organic
liabilities into golden assets.
Speaking of requisite tracking:
we'll hear all about California
Assembly Bill 1826, and the
programs that must be in place
by January 1, 2016 to divert
commercial food waste away from
landfills, and advance the
"Farm to Fork to Fuel"
Sacramento valley
visions.
Between
2011 and 2013, something
profound happened to our
national solid waste management
hierarchy. The US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) caught
up with Europe, and added
"Energy Recovery" as the
preferred option below
Recycling and Composting, and
above Disposal. Now to be
clear, Energy Recovery is
defined as just about
anything
other
than resource
destruction - conversion
to fuels, chemicals,
really any commodity. It
was so much simpler when
we all just trashed our
discards, wasn't it?
Shucks, now look at all
this Recycled stuff we
have to "measure and
manage".
Hey Rube!
Check out what the smart cities
of San Jose and Phoenix are
doing, testing out advanced
waste conversion platforms.
There's a Pee-to-Power
highlight, a number of bits
advancing thermal conversion,
and just a lot of progress
evident in this week's news.
Indeed, it all adds up to LOTS
more tracking ... and far
better Resource
Management.
This Week's Top Story
ICM's
Advanced Gasification Unit
Will Demo at SF Bay Area
WWTF
Kansas based ICM, Inc. has
announced a signed contract
with Florida company JUM
Global, LLC, a developer
contracted with the City of San
Jose, California, for a
gasification demonstration unit
using ICM’s proprietary
technology.
03/16/2015
The Week's News
Greenergy
Earns RSB Sustainability
Certification for Waste
Based
Biodiesel
United Kingdom (UK) based
Greenergy International Ltd has
earned the Roundtable on
Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB)
sustainability certification
for the production of biodiesel
from used cooking oil at its
facilities in Immingham and
North Cave.
03/19/2015
Laminate
Packaging Recycling Trials
to Demonstrate Enval
Technology
United Kingdom company Enval
Limited has announced a pilot
project to assess the
feasibility of including
flexible laminate packaging,
such as food and drink pouches,
pet food pouches, and
toothpaste tubes, into existing
household recycling schemes.
03/19/2015
UPV/EHU
Researchers Gasify Circuit
Board Waste Plastics for H2
Production
Researchers at the
UPV/EHU-University of the
Basque Country are developing
systems to recover hydrogen
using waste plastics from
electronic boards.
03/19/2015
Hawaii
Governor Proclaims March
18th as Pacific Biodiesel
Day
Hawaii Governor David Ige and
Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui
proclaimed March 18, 2015 as
Pacific Biodiesel Day to
perpetuate and honor the legacy
of the inventor of the diesel
engine, Rudolph Diesel, as well
as the contributions of Maui
headquartered Pacific
Biodiesel.
03/18/2015
CalRecycle
Posts State of Recycling and
Disposal Reports, Meeting
Agenda
The California Department of
Resources, Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle) has
rescheduled its 'State of
Recycling and State of
Disposal' public meeting for
March 24, 2015 after an earlier
postponement.
03/18/2015
Flagship
Ventures Invests in Red Rock
Biofuels for 1st Commercial
Refinery
Colorado based Red Rock
Biofuels LLC has announced a
strategic partnership with
Flagship Ventures that sets the
stage for the construction of
its first commercial scale
refinery in Lakeview, Oregon.
03/18/2015
California
Propel Fuels Stations Will
Sell Neste Oil's NExBTL
Renewable
Diesel
Finland based Neste Oil has
announced that California
company Propel Fuels will sell
Diesel HPR (High Performance
Renewable) at its retail
stations.
03/18/2015
CEC
Accepting Loan Apps for
Renewable Energy and
Efficiency
Projects
The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has announced
the opening of the application
period for 1% loan financing
for energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects to
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions.
03/18/2015
Sacramento
Region's Valley Vision to
Host Garbage to Gold
Webinar
The
Sacramento, California regional
organization Valley Vision has
scheduled
a
webinar on
March 26, 2015 at 11-12:00pm to
address "Garbage to Gold: New
Food Recycling Policy Brings
Economic and Environmental
Opportunities."
03/17/2015
UWE Bristol
Researchers Publish on
Urine-Fuelled Distress
Signals
Researchers in the Centre for
Bio Energy at the University of
the West of England (UWE
Bristol) have published an
article featuring urine-fuelled
distress signals in Chemistry
World.
03/17/2015
The Week's Action
Items
Due
04/14/2015: Proposal to City
of Phoenix for Trash into
Resource
Pilots
The Arizona City
of Phoenix, Department of
Public Works has issued Request
for Proposals (RFP) 15-SWD-001
- Transforming Trash Into
Resources Pilot Program.
03/17/2015
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