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Autumn Brings Accolades for RCC Partners
October was a busy month for the Resource Conservation Challenge—three of the seven RCC programs hosted award ceremonies to recognize members' exemplary environmental efforts Partners received kudos for successes ranging from mercury reduction to fly ash recycling at the WasteWise, National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP), and Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C²P²) ceremonies.
The 2006 WasteWise and NPEP Annual Conference, "Partnering for Success in Sustainability," addressed topics such as waste reduction, the climate-waste link, and the reduction of priority chemicals. The WasteWise Communities Campaign was also announced. The campaign invites local governments that are interested in increasing waste reduction and recycling to join. Award recipients and speakers represented industry leaders across the United States. At the two-day conference, NPEP and WasteWise also took the opportunity to celebrate their respective partners' reduction efforts and commitments.
WasteWise Awards
Drawing from more than 1,650 partners and 300 endorsers, the WasteWise award ceremony inducted two partners into the WasteWise Hall of Fame: Guardian Automotive: Ligonier Plant and Constellation Energy/BGE. In total, the ceremony presented 37 awards and honorable mentions. Examples of award winners' achievements include:
- Constellation Energy increased its ash recycling rate from less than 10 percent to more than 50 percent over the last 10 years.
- Eastern Illinois University donated 615 tons of boiler ash to improve traction on snow- and ice-covered roads.
- Amgen donated 19 tons of leftover food to a local food bank.
- Kitsap County, Washington piloted an unwanted mail and fax waste reduction program, collecting more than 1,200 pieces of unwanted mail and 1,000 unwanted faxes.
National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) Awards
At the Conference, 15 organizations received achievement awards. Awardees' accomplishments include:
- US Postal Service Northeast Area recycled 5,830 pounds of lead from electronic equipment and 1.1 pounds of mercury from fluorescent lamps.
- Brookhaven National Laboratory reduced laboratory mercury by 38 pounds and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by 2,315 pounds.
- Anderson Instrument Company, Inc. eliminated 500 pounds of mercury by phasing out the production of non-industrial mercury thermometers.
- Sentara Williamsburg Community Hospital removed 41 pounds of mercury by replacing 172 mercury-containing blood pressure cuffs with mercury-free electronic devices.
The NPEP Champion Award, which recognizes exemplary efforts in the reduction of priority chemicals, was presented to Bowling Green State University for recycling almost 12,000 pounds of elemental mercury since January 2004, through its Elemental Mercury Collection and Reclamation Program.
Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C²P²) Awards
On October 23, 2006, the 2006 C²P² Awards Ceremony recognized 14 winners for outstanding achievement in the recycling and use of coal combustion products (CCPs), such as fly ash, bottom ash, and boiler slag. CPPs are key ingredients of functional building materials-such as concrete and wallboard-and are often stronger and less expensive than materials produced from raw resources.
During the ceremony, Matt Hale, Director of EPA's Office of Solid Waste, OSW (Note: Office of Solid Waste, OSW, was renamed Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, ORCR, on January 18, 2009), announced the expansion of the C²P² sponsors to include the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA joins other sponsors: the American Coal Ash Association, the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of Energy, and EPA.
"Having USDA as a C²P² sponsor means that we can increase the use of coal combustion products substantially," said Hale. "They can help identify many new uses of coal ash."
Overall achievement award-winner Great River Energy, an electric utility company, received accolades for partnering with more than 10 public and private organizations to develop a fly ash market. Great River Energy's partnership with Headwaters, Inc. alone has increased its fly ash sales to 417,000 tons at its North Dakota plant in 2005.
The WasteWise, NPEP, and C²P² awards awards exemplify the type of program encouraged by our Resource Conservation Challenge national priorities.
For More Information:
- Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C²P²)
- National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP)
- WasteWise
- 2006 WasteWise and NPEP Conference: "Partnering for Success in Sustainability"
- Resource Conservation Challenge National Priorities
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