In the Loop - March 2021
Contents
Welcome New Members
News & Events
AOR Welcomes a New Board Member!
Rumpke Introduces Tub Recycling
US EPA Webinar
Webinar Resources
Job Opportunities
Grant Funding Opportunities
News Highlights from Northeast Recycling Council (NERC)
Welcome New Members! Thanks for joining AOR! Join or renew today!
News & Events
AOR Welcomes Three New Board Members! Please join us in welcoming our three newest board members! Lisa Beursken, Recycling Coordinator for Republic Services, specializes in reducing the amount of recycling contamination entering Republic's Lorain County Resource Recovery facility located in Oberlin, Ohio. Lisa has worked in the environmental field for 25 years with experience in parks and recreation and solid waste management. Prior to joining Republic Services, Lisa spent 11 years as the Solid Waste Coordinator for Erie County, Ohio. Lisa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and an Associate of Science degree from Bowling Green State University. Lisa’s hobbies include backpacking, mountain biking, and other adventures with her 8 year old son, George.
Rumpke Introduces Tub Recycling
In January, Rumpke announced the materials accepted for recycling would be expanded to include plastic tubs such as yogurt containers, butter tubs, and fruit cups.
Did you know that more than half of all your trash is recyclable? And Rumpke is committed to recycling even more. Introducing tub recycling! Plastic bottles and jugs and now other containers such as butter, sour cream and cottage cheese tubs as well as yogurt and fruit cups are now acceptable in Rumpke’s curbside and drop box programs. Like with other items on Rumpke’s acceptable item list, Rumpke has stable, long-term end users for this material.
The addition of tubs is made possible with a grant from The Recycling Partnership. The funding helps Rumpke add nearly $2 million in new sorting to better extract these containers for recycling.
So yogurt lovers rejoice! If you are a Rumpke customer, it’s time to toss those tubs in your bin.
Click here for more information.
US EPA Webinar: Effective Strategies for Reducing Contamination in Residential Recycling
March 25, 2021
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm ET
Contamination in the recycling stream hinders the ability of a material recovery facility or secondary processing facility to produce high-quality recycled materials. During this webinar, participants will learn from representatives from state and local governments and materials recovery facilities about successful strategies and programs that are reducing contamination in the recycling stream.
Join us for a rebroadcast of a popular session from the 2020 America Recycles Summit, including live remarks about contamination rates in the United States and their impact on the efficacy of recycling systems. The presentations will be followed by a live question and answer session with EPA materials and recycling experts. Click here to register.
Webinar Resources
Looking for virtual training opportunities? A list of webinar resources has been added to our website! Learn more at https://www.ohiorecycles.org/resources.
Job Opportunities and Job Seekers
Full-Time Programs Administrator (Business Focus), Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO): Click for more details.
Grant Funding Opportunities The Foam Recycling Coalition will continue to award grants of up to $50,000 each during 2021 to recycle foam polystyrene. Applications are due May 28, 2021. Click here to learn more.
News Highlights from Northeast Recycling Council (NERC)
Member Spotlight:
Member Spotlight:
Republic Services
Republic Services was established in 1981 and represents 189 landfills, and 76 recycling facilities in the United States. The Lorain County Resource Recovery (LCRR) facility located in Oberlin, Ohio was built in 1992. Between 300 tons of recyclables enter this facility daily from ten counties including Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Medina, and Cuyahoga. LCRR receives recycling through Republic Services, Inc. hauling company, third party vendors and four transfer facilities.
In 2012, LCRR updated the recycling equipment to include three optical sorters for plastic, screens to separate out fiber, an eddy current to sort aluminum, a magnet for sorting bimetals, and increased storage capacity from 30 yard to 90 yards. In 2020, LCRR once again updated equipment to include optical sorting for fiber and a commercial fiber line to handle the ever-growing amount of cardboard in the recycling mix.
LCRR has 22 Republic employees that operate equipment, provide maintenance, and management. LCRR contracts with LEAD Point, a staffing services company, to provide sorting labor. Combined employees allow for this facility to process 300 tons of recyclables daily with residential recycling at 35 tons per hour and cardboard at 10 tons per hour.
LCRR plans to further upgrade optical sorters for plastic in mid to late 2021 to separate out polypropylene from #3-#7 mixed plastics. The high demand of polypropylene is due to the increased consumption of packaged food and beverages. Republic Services, Inc. is constantly auditing materials and tracking markets to further improve processes. The auditing process provides LCRR with communities in need of education and outreach on proper recycling. Education and outreach could be a direct mailer, a speaker for a public meeting, special events, radio and television, and tagging residential bins.
AOR Board of Directors
Officers
President
John Woodman
Montgomery County SWMD
Vice-President
Brad Petry
Miami County SWD
Secretary
Matthew Hittle
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
Treasurer
Carol Giulitto
ReWorks
Assistant Treasurer
Erin Oulton
GT Environmental, Inc.
At-Large Members
Tiffany Barker Lorain County SWMD Lisa Beursken Republic Services
Josh Brinkman
American Paint Recyclers
Michael Darling
City of Dublin Public Works Dept.
Taylor Greely
Rumpke
Molly Kathleen
The Ohio State University
Jason Radke
Royal Paper Stock
Abby Vickers
Pratt Industries
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