WM CEO David Steiner Talks about Future of Waste
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Waste Management CEO David Steiner outlined a number of ways that his company plans to derive more value from the waste stream and in turn help his customers meet their sustainability goals. He estimated that the company could effectively double its revenues by recycling all of the waste it currently collects. And, rather than simply selling the recycled commodities it processes, the company could make more money by converting it into something more valuable, a specialty chemical, oil or energy. Right now the company only recycles or converts about 25 percent of the waste it collects. In 10 to 15 years he believes that number will be closer to 100 percent...Read More »
EPA Proposes First Carbon Pollution Standard for Future Power Plants
The EPA released its first-time greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standard (NSPS) for new power plants. The rule will set a GHG performance limit of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per-megawatt hour. Only combined-cycle natural gas plants or coal plants that install carbon capture and sequestration technology (CCS) are likely to meet the new standard. The NSPS sets a multi-year averaging plan allowing conventional coal plants without CCS to come online as long as they commit to install CCS within a decade and capture a higher level of CO2 so that their lifetime average will be 1,000 tons per-megawatt hour. Even though the proposal applies only to new construction, industry represented by the National Mining Association is calling it a "poorly disguised cap-and-tax scheme that represents energy and economic policy at its worst." Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said he will introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the rule...Read More »
Republic Services Settles Teamster Strike
Republic Services, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ) said it reached an agreement with striking workers over a healthcare contract issue. 24 Republic workers in Mobile, AL represented by the Teamsters Union went on strike on March 22, followed by sympathy strikes in Columbus, OH, and Buffalo, NY and later Seattle, WA. At issue, is a waiver of certain new health insurance surcharges. Members of the Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile had traveled to Washington State to establish the picket lines with help from other union members and community supporters...Read More »
Waste Management to be featured in New TV Show Called "The Pitch"
Waste Management, Inc. (Houston, TX) said it will be featured in an upcoming reality TV show about advertising called "The Pitch" on AMC. AMC is also home to a fictional show called "Mad Men," which depicts a Madison Avenue New York advertising agency during the tumultuous 1960s cultural shifts in America. In "The Pitch" however, rival advertising agencies will compete to win a real life business. No doubt, Waste Management which hopes that some of the glamour of "Mad Men" will rub off on them, will certainly benefit from its exposure to pop culture and its recent infatuation with the advertising business. According to Lynn Brown, Waste Management's vice president of communications, being on a television show will give the company a different type of exposure than a regular advertising campaign. Two years ago the company was also featured in another reality show called "Undercover Boss," in which the bosses slipped anonymously into low-rungjobs in their companies to discover life in the trenches. "We did it because, like "Undercover Boss," it gave us the ability to teach people more about our brand. In this case, through the eyes of the agencies," she said. "It was a great way to explain our growth business model and how we have the opportunity to extract the most value from all the materials we handle." The show airs on April 30 at 8 p.m. on AMC...Read More »
Clean Harbors Deploys Single-Container Program for Pharmaceutical Waste
Clean Harbors (Norwell, MA) has introduced a program that allows healthcare facilities to dispose of both hazardous and non-hazardous pharmaceutical waste in one container. Its "One Container Program" is designed to simplify the job of hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities and to eliminate regulatory violations stemming from the accidental misclassification of hazardous wastes. Traditional separation on site requires extensive training of a broad range of employees. Clean Harbors expects that its economies-of-scale in operating the program over its vertically integrated network of collection, processing and hazardous waste incineration facilities, the largest in North America, will offset the higher cost to implement the single-container system...Read More »
Waste Plastic to Oil Company Expands its Facility
A Canadian company which is developing a technology that converts scrap plastic into oil, is bringing a second processor online at its plant in Niagara Falls, NY. The company, JBI, Inc. (Thorold, Ont.), said its Plastic2Oil ("P2O") technology can produce 1 gallon of oil from just 8.3 lbs of plastic (that's 1 liter of fuel from every kilogram of plastic for you Canadians). It does so with very few emissions and uses its own off-gases as fuel. Each of its two processors are permitted to process 4,000 lbs per hour. John Bordynuik, CEO and President said the fuel costs $10 a barrel to produce and he can sell it for $100 a barrel. "Bringing Processor No. 2 online represents a significant achievement as well as a milestone for our Company. We believe this sets us apart from other plastic into fuel conversion technologies. JBI, Inc. is the first company to successfully move from a pilot plant to a multiple processor, full production plant within the industry," he said...Read More »
Air Liquide Buys Methane-to-Natural Gas Plant from Jacoby Energy
Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. said it purchased a business unit of Jacoby Energy Development, Inc. (Atlanta, GA) which recovers and processes landfill exhaust gas into renewable natural gas (biomethane). Included in the purchase is a landfill gas processing facility in Conley, GA that converts landfill gas from the adjacent Live Oak landfill into 1,500 MWh per day of pipeline quality renewable natural gas. The project already employs Air Liquide's proprietary MEDAL membrane technology that can handle gases from landfills, agricultural waste and wastewater treatment plants. Air Liquide hopes to expand the use of its technology by acquiring projects that it considers to be underutilizing a valuable energy asset. The company said that there are about 20 landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas sites operating in the U.S., most of which have been installed since 2006 and are utilizing proprietary membrane technology supplied by Air Liquide's MEDAL division...Read More »
Waste Management to Report its First Quarter on April 26
Waste Management, Inc. (Houston, TX) plans to report its first quarter earnings before the opening of the market on Thursday, April 26 and host a conference call later that morning at 10 a.m. (Eastern) to discuss them...Read More »
Republic Services to Report First Quarter on April 26
Republic Services, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ) said it will host a conference call to announce and discuss its first quarter earnings on Thursday, April 26 at 5 p.m. (Eastern)...Read More »
Progressive to Report First Quarter on April 26
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (Toronto, ON) said it plans to release first quarter financial results on Thursday, April 26 after the close of the markets. The company will host a conference call the following day at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern) to discuss the results and answer investor questions...Read More »
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