BioCycle back issues from June 2008:
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PAYS COMPOSTING FACILITY MORTGAGE
Jun 01, 2008; ... Officials symbolically shredded a $3.7 million mortgage for a Gallatin County, Montana composting facility that processes waste from Yellowstone National The West Yellowstone-Hebgen Basin Composting ...
ORGANIC TOMATOES RANK HIGH IN FLAVOR
Jun 01, 2008; ... Researchers at the University of California (UC) Davis have found that organically grown tomatoes are richer in flavonoids than those that are conventionally grown. A news report on National Public Radio described research at the University of California Davis that has been comparing organic and ...
TRASHING THE CLIMATE
Jun 01, 2008; ... Source reduction, recycling and composting took on even greater significance with the release of a new research study, Stop Trashing The Climate. Issued on June 5th - World Environment Day - the study concludes that increased recycling and composting are easily-achievable and essential measures ...
COMPOST - THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
Jun 01, 2008; ... AT LEAST one pop song includes the phrase, "love is the universal language." Well, after a recent trip to Argentina, I am going to rewrite the lyrics - compost is the universal language! My only trepidation when making this recent journey was that I don't speak Spanish. My plan was to ...
GREEN RIBBON AWARD FOR NEW ZEALAND COMPOSTER
Jun 01, 2008; ... The New Zealand government recently gave Envirocomp, owned by Karen and Karl Upston, the Green Ribbon Award for their system to compost disposable diapers using a hotRot in-vessel composting unit, made by R5 Solutions. Approximately 450,000 used diapers were successfully composted in a ...
FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT COST CALCULATOR
Jun 01, 2008; ... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Food Waste Management Calculator, which evaluates the competitiveness of alternatives to traditional food waste disposal, such as composting, source reduction, donation and recycling of fats, oils and grease (FOG). It determines a new ...
NAME CHANGE FOR UK COMPOSTING ASSOCIATION
Jun 01, 2008; ... The Composting Association in the United Kingdom announced a name change. As of August 1, 2008, it will be known as the Association for Organics Recycling. "This change reflects our response to, and evolution of, the changing nature of waste management and reinforces our role as the leading UK ...
MIGHTY MUSHROOM TACKLES DIOXIN
Jun 01, 2008; ... A former lumber mill in Fort Bragg, California, 130 miles north of San Francisco, is infested with dioxin. The bioremediation method being proposed, according to a recent New York Times article, involves using mushrooms that have successfully treated oil spills. Fort Bragg was home to the ...
CHINA BANS USE OF DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BAGS
Jun 01, 2008; ... On June 1, 2008, China officially banned plastic bags. China's 1.3 billion people use about 3 billion bags each day, which take approximately 37 million barrels of oil per year to manufacture. So far, shopkeepers are barred from handing out free plastic bags, ...
ANNUAL CONFERENCE FEATURES BIOSOLIDS PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Jun 01, 2008; ... The Northwest Biosolids Management Association is hosting its 218t Annual Conference, September 7-9, 2008 in Skamania, Washington. This year's theme is Biosolids "Pride & Prejudice," highlighting the pride in the vital work the biosolids profession does - treating wastewater and recycling ...
CALIFORNIA DROUGHT COMPOUNDS WATER CRISIS
Jun 01, 2008; ... California's already strained water supply is being worsened by a drought. Water pumped from the Sacramento San Joaquin River-Delta has been cut by one-third in an effort to protect endangered fish species in the Delta. This is approximately 660,000 acre-feet less water than last year, ...
HIGHER OCCUPANCY, HIGHER RATES FOR GREEN BUILDINGS
Jun 01, 2008; ... Buildings that carry the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED or the federal Energy Star certifications have higher occupancy rates and lease for more dollars per square foot than similar conventional buildings, says the CoStar Group, an information service provider for commercial real estate ...
GRANTS HELP EXPAND STATE'S COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE
Jun 01, 2008; ... Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Katherine McGinty, Secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, announced a total of $400,000 in Compost Infrastructure Development grants for 2008. "By diverting useful materials from landfills, we can create jobs and save money," said ...
FARM POWER AND PUGET SOUND ENERGY TO DEVELOP DAIRY DIGESTER
Jun 01, 2008; ... Bellevue, Washington A dairy digester to produce electric power from manure will be built by Farm Power Northwest, of Skagit County, Washington. The technology holds the promise of both an environmentally friendly energy source and a benefit to local dairy farmers and the Skagit County ...
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT CONNECTS GENERATORS TO COMPOSTING
Jun 01, 2008; ... Florida City, Florida The South Bade Soil and Water Conservation District (SDSWCD), a nonprofit governmental subdivision of the state of Florida, has developed a program for large producers of organic materials to start composting, in some cases using the compost on their property ....
INTERVALE COMPOST REMAINS OPEN, AT LEAST FOR NOW
Jun 01, 2008; ... Burlington, Vermont Intervale Compost Products (ICP), Vermont's largest composting facility, will continue operations, at least until the end of this month. ICP processes 9,000 tons of organic materials annually, including food scraps and yard trimmings. The nonprofit Intervale Center, ...
CAMPUS CLOSES FACILITY, SUPPORTS LOCAL COMPOSTER
Jun 01, 2008; ... Ithaca, New York Ithaca College began a campus composting program in 1993 as a means to divert food scraps. The program became a service offered by the Facilities Department, but was only tangentially connected to the college's educational mission, because it is not an agricultural ...
FUNDING ADVANCES FOR DIGESTER PROJECTS
Jun 01, 2008; ... Fresno, Kings Counties, California Anaerobic digester projects in California's Central Valley received an allocation from the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) for $65.35 million to support financing of renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities. Microgy, Inc., a subsidiary ...
RECYCLING VOLUME INCREASES 17 PERCENT
Jun 01, 2008; ... Baton Rouge, Louisiana The city of Baton Rouge implemented a single-stream recycling program in early 2006, providing households with 64-gallon carts. While recycling increased 35 percent, it wasn't close enough to the city's goal of a 50 percent increase over the 2005 rate. To improve ...
A MOTHER CREATES AN ECO-FRIENDLY ROLE
Jun 01, 2008; ... Nazareth, Pennsylvania Sarah Ruppert, a native of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, was recently profiled on a website that recognizes people who are going to extraordinary measures to help the environment. She is one of 12 founding "PA iCons" in a program designed by the Pennsylvania Department ...
TURNING FOOD WASTE INTO ENERGY AT EAST BAY MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT
Jun 01, 2008; ... Oakland, California A pilot demonstration project is showing that 100 tons of food waste anaerobically digested per day produces enough energy to power up to 1,400 homes. In California, approximately 137 wastewater treatment plants have anaerobic digesters for biosolids, with an excess ...
NOT EVERYONE SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE
Jun 01, 2008; ... Climate Change Connections SINCE I started doing this column, not one person has written me for advice about composting, carbon credits, or for that matter, what to wear or how to get their children to eat vegetables. Nevertheless, I decided this month to take some liberties and write as ...
FIRST BICYCLE SHARING PROGRAM LAUNCHED
Jun 01, 2008; ... Washington, DC A new public-private venture called SmartBike DC will make 120 bicycles available at 10 locations in Washington, DC. Called the "first of its kind in the nation," the program will operate in a similar way as the car-sharing programs like Zipcar with the District partnering ...
PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERING FACILITATES ORGANICS DIVERSION
Jun 01, 2008; ... MANAGING COLLECTION COSTS A Vermont solid waste district, an area hauler and a farm-based composter in neighboring Massachusetts are working together to lower the costs and improve the efficiency of recycling commercial organics. WINDHAM Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) ...
CREATING A FOOD SCRAPS RECYCLING INDUSTRY
Jun 01, 2008; ... NEW APPROACH IN NEW JERSEY Rutgers University promotes development of local industry using organic residuals to make products that replace those made from oil. EACH DAY, newspapers carry reports on the impact of the escalating cost of oil on our economy. Rising prices at fuel ...
Compostable Products
Jun 01, 2008; ... Key factors to consider when choosing compostable products and lessons learned from integrating them into food scraps diversion programs. COMPOSTABLE products are increasingly a part of the formula when companies, institutions, municipal programs and special events decide to go green, ...
MEASUREMENT OF VOLUMES AT OHIO CLASS IV COMPOSTING FACILITIES
Jun 01, 2008; ... VOLUMETRIC IMPORTANCE Study develops consistent methodology for accurately measuring volumes of unprocessed and processed materials at yard trimmings composting facilities. Part I OHIO has a total of four classes of compost facilities (I-IV) regulated by the Ohio ...
TURNING FIELD RESIDUE INTO ETHANOL FEEDSTOCK
Jun 01, 2008; ... HARVESTING COBS Corncobs will be used to produce cellulosic ethanol at new biorefinery plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. DARRIN IHNEN is looking at corncobs in a new light. Once left on the fields to rot, Ihnen is now harvesting the cobs along with the corn from 4,000-acres on his farm ...
WASTE WISE IN CALGARY
Jun 01, 2008; ... COMMUNITY-BASED SOCIAL MARKETING With an average diversion rate of 39 percent, a household composting pilot project in the community of Dalhousie is viewed as a model to be replicated. THE COMPOSTER project diverts a lot of useful material from the landfill," says Don McVeity ....
Composting Company Forges Ahead With Organics Diversion
Jun 01, 2008; ... Argentina Success with a facility processing industrial food residuals and other by-products spurs a Buenos Aires company to target MSW. ABOUT 45 minutes outside of Buenos Aires, Marcos Neumann and his partner, Geoffrey Pratt, operate a windrow composting facility that receives ...
FOOD SCRAPS COMPOSTING AND VECTOR CONTROL
Jun 01, 2008; ... COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION In a USDA study, it appeared that immediate bulking and grinding of food waste with shredded wood was a deterrent in attracting birds and mammals. NONTRADITIONAL waste management facilities, particularly new projects to compost food scraps, are ...
Zero Waste In Buenos Aires
Jun 01, 2008; ... Argentina Government, waste haulers, cartoneros and NGOs are working on increased recycling and composting. IN LATE 2005, the City Council in Buenos Aires, Argentina unanimously passed a law, "Integral Management Of Solid Urban Waste," a Zero Waste law. The law sets goals and ...
SINGLE SHAFT SHREDDER
Jun 01, 2008; ... The Terminator from Komptech is a slow-running, single-shaft shredder. Applications with drum/opposing comb system variants range from coarse precrushing to defined shredding. The continuous cutting gap adjustment allows tailoring of the produced particle size ...
ENERGY EFFICIENT GRINDING
Jun 01, 2008; ... West Salem Machinery's two-pass grinding systems combine a slow-speed high torque shredder and a high-speed vertical feed grinder, enabling large size material to be converted with lower horsepower requirements and less energy usage. The high torque shredder is the primary ...
ALGAE - THE WONDER CROP OF TOMORROW?
Jun 01, 2008; ... Biomass Energy Outlook THERE are no silver bullet solutions to cheap energy, but algae could come close. Algae has the capacity to remediate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, produce energy, generate a source of protein for animal feed and even provide dietary and medicinal supplements for ...
VERMONT BREWERY UPS THE ANTE ON ITS ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT
Jun 01, 2008; ... BETTER BUSINESS BREWING Long Trail Brewing Company is now purchasing 25 percent of its power from the Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power program, helping Vermont farmers to turn manure into electricity. SINCE Andy Pherson started the Long Trail Brewing Company in ...
STATIONARY RECYCLING IN PUBLIC SPACES
Jun 01, 2008; ... ClearMax units from ClearTainers, Inc., owned by Resourceful Bag & Tag, Inc., are a stationary recycling system for parks, cityscapes, convention centers and public buildings - everywhere visible recycling is needed. The all-weather ClearMax is made of rugged quarter-inch wire and ...