March 2001

Special Report Update: Latin America, Electronics, Batteries
"Recycling and Solid Waste in Latin America: Trends and Policies" due April 2001; "Electronics Recycling: What to Expect from Global Mandates" due April 2001; "Battery Recovery Laws Worldwide" due May 2001.

SRLU State Wrap, bills moved or introduced Feb. 12 - March 16, 2001
This month's wrap up contains 187 bills, including 45 mercury-related bills and 21 electonics bills. This is a big jump from previous sessions. There are also 44 container deposit bills in the hoppers as of March 16. We will be posting the complete master file of bills in the US library.

Briefs: Maine Recycling Rate Drops, CA Regs Impede Composters
CA Regs Impede Composters, Throwaway Phones Enter the Market, Recycling Enables Decline in Waste to Landfill, TRC Recovers 75,000 Thermostats, Maine Recycling Rate Drops

Paper Recovery Rate Jumps, Weyerhaeuser Markets Sorting Technology
The recovery rate for paper grew to about 48% in 2000 – a 3 point increase from 1999. Weyerhaeuser and MSS, Inc. (Nashville, TN) are marketing a paper sorting system that can sort different grades, colors and types of paper from mixed load.

Federal Recycling Bills
Several bills under consideration in Congress could have an impact on recycling. These include bills on flow control, mercury, tax credits, purchasing, and use of recycled materials in highway construction. Two deposit bills are also slated for introduction later on this year.

Coke Plans New Reycling Efforts
Coca-Cola is planning efforts to increase recycled content and recovery rates for their PET beverage bottles. This comes partly in response to a shareholder resolution introduced by a number of shareholder groups including Walden Asset Management (Boston) and coming up for a vote at Coca-Cola’s annual shareholder meeting this April.

Toronto Battles MI Gov. on Trash, Wants Zero Waste by 2010
Toronto’s mayor, Mel Lastman, wrote to U.S. President George Bush on March 14, asking him to intervene in the tug-of-war between Michigan and Toronto over the city’s garbage. Toronto has decided to solve its trash removal problem by eliminating trash altogether.

Hawaii Deposit Bill Clears House, Senate Hearing Scheduled
Hawaii’s container deposit bill, HB 1256, cleared the House in amended form March 6, with 42 votes in its favor and only eight opposing. The bill was scheduled for a Senate hearing March 21, and is considered to have some chance of success.

CIWMB to Go After 150 Companies on Plastics Law
Staff at the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) are preparing to take action against more than 100 companies for failure to respond to requests for compliance information on the state’s recycled content mandate (AKA SB 235).

States Post Record Number of Bills
Concern over toxics in the waste stream appears to be mounting; we are tracking a new surge in mercury and electronics bill so far this session. Overall, the state legislatures seem to be more active on recycling-related issues in comparison with previous years. Last month’s state-by-state wrap-up, covering mid-January through mid-February, included action on 140 bills, compared to 92 for the month of February 2000 and 65 for February 1999. This month’s wrap-up contains 187 bills.

Editorial Archives