A leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services in North America, Clean Harbors, has announced that it is branching out into the removal and disposal of medical waste for hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The system combines frontline collection, waste removal, sorting and disposal programs that support each organization’s procedures, using practices that conform to operational structure and meet regulatory requirements.
Clean Harbors pharmaceutical waste management offering is available either as a comprehensive on-site service that eliminates the need for in-house waste management staff or as a menu of services to address specific needs.
Services include:
- Rx Waste Characterization
- Rx Program Design
- Medical Floor Rx Collection Services
- Main Accumulation Area Management
- Transportation & Disposal at Clean Harbors company owned and operated facilities
Clean Harbors Vice President Healthcare, John Kelsey, says, ‘Every health facility has a slightly different approach to pharmaceutical waste management. It may be based on historic practices or it may be the result of organization-specific job descriptions and functions. Regardless, each must effectively address pharmaceutical waste management in order to meet current regulations. Clean Harbors starts by learning our customers’ processes and then designing our services to fit into and improve on the model, while removing the waste management burden from management and staff. Our program allows the most seamless execution with Nursing, Pharmacy, EVS [Environmental Services] and other departments that results in the most efficient and compliant pharmaceutical program required by acute care facilities.’
in brief
A 10-year contract has been signed by Waste Management Inc. and Georgia Power to supply electricity from the WM Savannah landfill. The contract will need to be approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission. The landfill gas-to-energy facility is capable of producing 6.4 MW of electricity; one MW is enough to power 250 homes. ‘By tapping into the landfill gas to produce electricity, Georgia Power is both continuing to diversify its expanding renewable portfolio throughout the state, and doing what’s good for the environment,’ said Jeff Burleson, director of resource policy and planning for Georgia Power, in a press release.
It has been reported that the amount of food and drink wasted in the UK annually is costing the country £17 billion (US $26 billion) every year. The environmental cost is said to be equivalent to 12.4 million extra cars on the road. This report was published by WRAP.
EU 2008 figures show 40% MSW recycled or composted
According to a study by Eurostat – the statistical office of the European Union – 524 kg of municipal waste was generated per person in 2008 across the EU27 countries. This figure was similar to the 2007 figure of 525 kg per person.
When looking at how this waste was dealt with the figures show that 40% was landfilled, 20% incinerated, 23% recycled and 17% composted.
The amount generated per person varies greatly across the different countries in the EU, from 306 kg in the Czech Republic to 802 kg in Denmark. This reflects the different consumption patterns and the ways each country calculates their totals. Some, for instance, include waste from small businesses and public institutions.
Austria, Germany and the Netherlands recycled or composted between 60 and 70% of their municipal waste, but in ten Member States recycling and composting was used to treat less than 10% of the waste.
Member States with the highest rates of landfill were Bulgaria (100%), Romania (98%), Malta (97%), Lithuania (96%) and Lativia (93%).
The highest numbers for incineration were Denmark (54%), Sweden (49%), the Netherlands (39%), Belgium and Luxemburg (36%), Germany (35%) and France (32%). Ten countries have rates of less than 1% incineration.
The importance of these two treatment categories varies considerably between Member States. The Member States with the highest recycling rates for municipal waste were Germany (48% of waste treated), Belgium and Sweden (both 35%), Ireland and the Netherlands (both 32%) and Slovenia (31%). Composting of municipal waste was most common in Austria (40%), Italy (34%), the Netherlands (27%), Belgium (25%), Spain and Luxembourg (both 20%).
US plastic bag recycling reaches all time high
The latest National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bags and Film report for 2008 shows that more plastic bags and film are being recycled than ever before in the United States. This situation is having a knock-on effect on the demand for plastic scrap which is also increasing.
An estimated 378,000 tonnes of post-consumer film, which includes plastic bags and product wraps, were recovered in 2008. This is a 28% increase since 2005 and continues the growing national trend for recycling.
The boost in these figures is being attributed to greater consumer access to collection programmes, mainly in large grocery and retail stores, as well as by the new markets and companies emerging for processing the recycled materials.
The recycling report was conducted by Moore Recycling Associates, Inc. of Sonoma, California, based on information obtained from 79 domestic processors, end-users of film material and exporters. The recycling numbers reported are likely to understate actual bag and film recycling because export data is more difficult to obtain than data on domestic recycling, and in 2008 there was a shift toward export markets, according to the report. Data collection was also affected by the rapid spike in the number of collection programmes as many stores launched new programs to recover post-consumer plastic bags and product wraps from their customers. There are now retail store collection programs in all 50 states.
According to US Environmental Protection Agency data, about 13% of plastic bags and film are recycled annually. While composite lumber continues to be the major market for recycled plastic bags and film, 2008 saw a notable increase in international demand for scrap plastic film.
in brief
A new report commissioned by environmental services company, Veolia has stated that the world market for waste, from collection to recycling, is worth around € 300 billion (US$410 billion). The report author Philippe Chalmin, professor of economic history at Paris-Dauphine University, said that four billion tonnes of municipal, industrial and hazardous waste are produced every year and that these figures are just a ‘guesstimate, nothing more’ as data is difficult to gather, particularly in developing countries. The report titled ‘From Waste to Resource’ is the second report of this type from Veolia. Waste production is closely correlated with GDP, Chalmin said, but collection, recovery and recycling rates vary enormously between countries. Poland sends about 90% of its municipal waste to landfill sites, but the Netherlands disposes just 1.7% of its waste this way. Japan incinerates the most municipal waste (74%), while South Korea has the best recycling rate for municipal waste (49%). Availability of land and the suitability of soils are a major factor in deciding whether to landfill waste, Chalmin said, but ecological awareness, legal constraints, degree of economic development and climatic factors also determine the choice of disposal or recovery route.
New South Wales councils ramp up waste efforts
Local councils in New South Wales, Australia, have increased efforts to reduce waste and recycle since concerns have been raised about the government’s lack of spending in this area.
‘This is a case of the politicians lagging behind the public and, in this case, the local councils that are already recycling our rubbish,’ Greens MP Ian Cohen said.
Measures taken include microchipping bins, reducing bin sizes, putting up fees and cutting collections in the hope that residents will dramatically reduce the amount of waste they throw away.
Mosman Council has introduced smaller general waste bins with a cheaper annual fee to encourage householders to recycle more and dump less. The 80-litre bin costs AUS$262 per year compared with AUS$843 for a 240-litre bin.
‘We are seeing a revolution in rubbish. Councils are changing the way they collect rubbish and it is making a big improvement,’ said Rebecca Gilling, a spokeswoman for the environmental charity Planet Ark, who is expecting greater improvements with the introduction of the federal government’s national waste policy next year. ‘That will start with electronic waste, things like old televisions and computers, which are filling up landfills and contaminating them with heavy metals that could be recycled.’
Penrith City Council has introduced a three-bin system and cut the amount of waste collections, which has reportedly increased waste diverted from landfill to recycling from 20% to 58%. The system gives residents a green organics bin for garden waste and food scraps which is collected weekly, plus a recycling bin and a smaller 140-litre bin for residual waste which are both collected fortnightly. Residents who require a bigger bin or more frequent collection can pay a AUS$50 surcharge. The organic waste is turned into compost.
Newcastle City Council will be following suit and introducing the same system next year, since an audit revealed that 23% of waste in its general bins was recyclable and 24% was green waste. City presentation manager Lisa Scully said: ‘The real benefit to [the] community will be reducing the amount of waste to landfill.’
The NSW government has a system to discourage councils dumping in landfills which charges them per tonne, but this has not been as successful as a similar scheme in Victoria. NSW aims to reduce waste to landfill by 66% in 2014.
Other councils including Blue Mountains, Randwick and Ryde have put microchips on bins. A Randwick spokeswoman said the tags helped locate lost bins and allowed the council to monitor if people were recycling correctly.
Cameron Murphy, president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, warned that microchipping bins was an invasion of privacy that could lead to individuals being penalized. ‘I worry that it will lead to councils identifying people who put out a certain type or amount of garbage and then billing them extra for it. Effectively it means the council is sifting through your garbage. Do you want them knowing how many condoms or pregnancy testing kits are in there? It is going too far.’
London Olympics waste report
The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 – the independent organization monitoring the sustainability of the London Olympic Games project – has published a report on the approach taken to waste management and infrastructure, which shows that the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) are on course to achieve construction waste goals.
Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Commission, said: ‘The good news is that the ODA and LOCOG are both working towards ambitious targets. If achieved, this ambition and dedication will make the 2012 Games an exemplar of how to run a sustainable event and will set brand-new green standards for future Games. Our concerns are that while all this good work is going on inside the venues, waste in the areas immediately surrounding the venues could be forgotten about. There needs to be a consistently high standard and this means more collaboration between stakeholders and organizers.’
The ODA is exceeding targets to reuse or recycle 90% of demolition waste and meeting its 90% landfill diversion target for construction waste, using 34% recycled materials which is above its target of 20%.
The Commission is concerned by the need for careful co-ordination and management of the post-Games dismantling and transformation process to ensure that sustainability standards are maintained and nothing is lost between different areas of responsibility. The Commission recommends that a target is set for the reuse of materials.
A future challenge is for these standards to be maintained at the venues outside LOCOG’s control such as the ‘live sites’ where the public will gather to watch the Games.
Western Australia waste strategy calls for action
The state of Western Australia has identified a need for increased public education regarding waste management, and for producers of goods to take more responsibility for waste arising from their own products. The Waste Authority has reviewed 1440 public comments received on the Draft State Waste Strategy released last year.
Waste Authority Acting Chair Jan Grimoldby said the Authority has responded to major themes from the public submissions around the need for information and education campaigns on wise waste management. ‘More education and awareness needs to be provided to industry, governments and the general community,’ Grimoldby said. ‘There is also significant public support for schemes of extended producer responsibility such as take-back programs for electronic goods, through to action on packaging and hazardous wastes.’
The establishment of markets for recyclables, such as construction and demolition waste, was noted as a priority.
Two community schemes focusing on waste avoidance will be set up, and a recommendation to the State Government to take responsibility for 50% of C&D waste made. The Waste Authority will propose regulations to empower local government require and implement waste disposal plans before authorizing demolition.
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