Raining Opportunities - WSU Extension
Transcript of Raining Opportunities - WSU Extension
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
The Newsletter of WSU Snohomish County Extension
Sustainable Community Stewards
Volume III, Issue 11
November/December 2017
Raining Opportunities By Chrys Betolotto
What an interesting time to be a Sustainable
Community Steward and Waste Warrior! I want to bring
you up to date on a few New Projects Coming Online:
Styrofoam Collection Events and Event Organizer Assistance:
Republic Services has approached us to supplement
additional outreach to increase recycling and reduce
contamination. I have proposed that we start planning
some Styrofoam collection events for Edmonds. These
would take place between May 2018 and June 2019.
Prior to July 2018, we’ll be creating a Special Event
Organizer guide to help festival organizers and other large
groups planning events to move closer to zero waste.
We’ll also be shifting to some traditional booth outreach
at local events in south Snohomish County.
Energy Literacy / Conservation at Farmers Markets:
Puget Sound Energy has invited us to submit a
proposal to bring energy conservation information out to
our communities. I have proposed that Sustainable
Community Stewards bring this information out to local
Farmers Markets. We would also make sure to bring this
information to the Latino volunteer program, Promotores
del Medio Ambiente, and Beach Watcher programs,
through Facebook posts and presentation
Repair Cafés:
These are still planned for 2018 and 2019, with a
kick-off planning meeting in January (1/17). Should be
fun to organize, so let me know if you want to help out!
Welcome to 2017 Sustainable Community
Stewards! I am excited to introduce our newest group of
Sustainable Community Stewards. They bring energy,
creativity and wonderful new ideas to the program. They
are (from l to r): Patricia Wangen, Dawn Bugge, Gail
Walters, Heather Teegarden, Monika Star, Betti Johnson
and (bottom row, with me on left), Natalie Norcott, David
Robertson, Cya Arroyo (Nicole Roy not present). Please
help me to make them feel welcome!
New Staff Hoped for in February I have submitted the paperwork to begin the hiring
process for a new Sustainable Community Steward
Coordinator. WSU’s process is fairly thorough (and
slow), so I don’t expect to see a new Coordinator until
February.
You’ll still have a dedicated staff person, and the
qualifications will now include a heavy emphasis on skills
related to outreach, promotion and social marketing, as
well as events management and adult education and
engagement. I’m excited to see who will apply, and will
be sure to share the notice with all of you.
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
What do a Sno Isle Food Co-op Gift Bag and Reporting Your Volunteer Hours have in Common?
We will be raffling off a Sno Isle Food Coop gift bag full of great food and a $25 gift
card to one lucky person who reports volunteer hours in the month of December,
no matter how long ago the hours were.
You could be the lucky winner while documenting your hours!
Why is this important to do?
It helps to show our funders as well as WSU why the Sustainable
Community Steward and Waste Warrior programs are good
investments.
It complements our program reports in which we quantify all of
your good work into actual impacts for Snohomish County natural
resources.
Please report your hours – they make a difference!
The online database is found at
http://ext.wsu.edu/volunteers/logon.aspx or you can request a paper form.
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
M ajor brands, nonprofit
organizations and industry
groups will raise $150 million to boost the
collection and recycling of plastics that
may otherwise become marine debris.
Announced today, the new initiative
will raise money to fund waste
management and recycling solutions in
Southeast Asia, a region that contributes
greatly to the global ocean plastics
problem. Supporting the effort are the
Ocean Conservancy, Trash Free Seas
Alliance and Closed Loop Partners.
Closed Loop Partners, which has
invested in recycling infrastructure across
the U.S. to boost materials recovery, will manage the
funding for the ocean plastics prevention effort.
“Through this initiative, we will invest in and
support the municipalities, entrepreneurs, investors
and NGOs working to reduce ocean plastics and
improve waste management in Southeast Asia,” Rob
Kaplan of Closed Loop Partners stated in a press
release.
The initiative will focus on investments to
improve collection, sorting and recycling markets
for Southeast Asia. Nearly half of the plastic that
flows into the ocean every year comes from waste
streams in five countries: China, Indonesia,
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
“This is a major breakthrough in the fight for
trash-free seas,” Susan Ruffo, managing director of
international initiatives at Ocean Conservancy,
stated in the release. “Our research has found that
by improving waste management in Southeast Asian
countries, we can cut the flow of plastic going in the
ocean by half by 2025. A funding mechanism will
take this goal from dream to reality, and support
efforts by governments and local groups on the
ground to improve their livelihoods and well-being
while also improving ocean health.”
Some major names are behind the dollar
commitment. The Trash Free Seas Alliance is made
up of 28 nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Five
members of the group have already pledged enough
money to fully fund the design phase of the effort:
PepsiCo, 3M, Procter & Gamble, the American
Chemistry Council and the World Plastics Council.
The goal is to share the results of the initial phase
of work within the next year, according to the
release. That will help attract more investors.
The initiative was announced in conjunction with
the Our Ocean 2017 conference, an Oct. 5-6
gathering of world leaders in Malta.
Good News!
$150M pledged to fight SE Asia ocean plastics problem by Jared Paben
Marine Debris.
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
W e have been doing an excellent job
of getting the word out about
recycling, composting, and
reusing. But when the global market shifts
and there is little call for recycled plastics,
why do we continue to recycle? It takes
energy to recycle and to move the materials
from consumer to recycle-sorter to recyclers.
Why do we spend that precious energy?
Another question to ask ourselves: What
can we do as volunteers to mitigate the
extensive use of plastics in our society, and
in the world? Plastics have a place, yes. They
have completely revolutionized the medical
field. They make all our consumer goods
more affordable. But there are many places
where we can just plain cut down on
consumption.
How many toys and gadgets do we need?
Can we use the same item for several
purposes? Do children need or even want all
the junk plastics they are showered with?
How many plastic coated fry pans and
utensils have you purchased and thrown
away? The list goes on.
As SCS’s, when we gather to discuss
recycling
programs,
let’s go
beyond that
thinking
and see
where we
can make
even better
changes.
When you read the article on the following pages,
start thinking about our role as
Sustainable Community Stewards as it applies here.
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
What happens to our recycled plastics?
Mixed rigids feel the
effects of China’s ban by Colin Staub and Jared Paben
China’s import policy changes are
straining recovered plastics export markets,
particularly impacting mixed rigids.
Recycling companies have been forced to
stockpile and even landfill the materials,
while numerous municipal programs have
stopped accepting mixed plastics. Chinese import permits have not been renewed
since May, slowing and, in some cases, halting
shipments of certain recovered materials to the
country. Although the language of China’s initial
announcement to the World Trade Organization
(WTO) describes an official Jan. 1, 2018
implementation date for a ban on imports of certain
recovered plastic, fiber and metal grades, the U.S.
recycling industry is already feeling the impact in a
big way.
Plastics Recycling Update spoke with a handful
of industry stakeholders about the ban’s impact to
date and found that communities across the U.S. are
being affected.
LOW-VALUE PLASTICS LANGUISH
Mike Pope, president and general manager of
Sonoco Recycling, explained how his Hartsville, S.C.
-based company is reacting to the global supply
chain shocks precipitated by China’s actions. Sonoco
Recycling is part of global packaging and industrial
products maker Sonoco and is involved with
curbside collection, sorting and recovered
commodity sales.
While Sonoco is
feeling the biggest
impact of China’s
actions on its ability
to sell recovered
mixed-paper bales,
it’s also struggling
to manage mixed
bulky rigids, Pope
said. The bales,
which contain a
variety of plastic
items pulled off the
presort line at
materials recovery
facilities (MRFs),
are already low-value, Pope said.
“It’s now a question of can you move it at all,
rather than what’s the price,” Pope said.
He expects Sonoco may be faced with the
inability to move mixed bulky rigids in a matter of
days, not weeks or months, he said.
China was a big consumer of 1-7 and 3-7 bales,
which are produced by Sonoco Recycling in
relatively small volumes. While the company is still
able to move some of it to market, some has ended
up as residue sent for disposal, Pope said.
The company hasn’t experienced any problems
with PET and HDPE. “There is a very robust
domestic demand for PET and HDPE products,”
Pope said. “There’s no issue there whatsoever.”
Sonoco is also an end market for recovered PET
and HDPE, although it purchases recycled PET and
HDPE from reclaimers and doesn’t break open bales
produced by Sonoco Recycling, Pope said.
Friedman Recycling, a Southwest U.S.-based
MRF operator, has also experienced impacts to
mixed plastics Nos. 3-7.
(Continued on page 6)
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
“What we’ve found is the China market has
virtually evaporated,” company CEO David
Friedman explained.
As a result, alternate domestic and international
markets have become saturated with the materials,
he said, meaning quality requirements have
increased and prices have fallen. Buyers in alternate
markets, including India, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico
and Vietnam, have been inundated with offers,
driving up the competition among sellers.
Friedman expects the Chinese markets will
eventually return, as the demand remains strong
and the disruption is driven by regulation rather
than economic forces. But he predicts the cost to
process the material will rise with higher quality
demands.
For the time being, he said his company’s
priority is to keep the low-grade plastics moving to
domestic markets. To the extent the company is able
to move the mixed rigids, the materials are moving
to domestic markets. The company has storage space
and is equipped to hold onto materials if there’s a
short-term disruption of downstream outlets,
Friedman noted.
“We just build that in, from experience,” he said.
RIPPLE EFFECTS
Other companies and municipal programs across
the country are in a similar boat.
Madison, Wis. announced last month its drop-off
recycling program has stopped accepting mixed
rigid plastics due to the ban. Far West Recycling in
the Portland, Ore. metro area has stopped accepting
film, rigids and all mixed plastics Nos. 1-7, leaving
only PET and HDPE bottles as accepted materials.
Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality is
facilitating discussions between recycling
stakeholders and says the China policies may lead
the agency to approve disposal requests for landfill-
banned materials “on a large scale” for the first time.
And in California, materials have begun stacking
up as facilities struggle to locate buyers. Vahe
Manoukian of Plastic Recycling Corporation of
California (PRCC), a buyer and seller of recovered
PET bottles, described conversations with many
large plastics processors who have no outlet for their
products. Those processors, in turn, have told MRFs
they can’t accept the affected materials, leading
some MRFs to stop baling those recyclables.
“We’re seeing MRFs basically not sort this
material, just let it go on the line and it’s going to the
landfill, which is very sad, but that’s the reality
that’s taking place as we speak,” he said. “It’s pretty
dire out there.”
PRCC sells most of the PET it handles
domestically and has so far not been substantially
impacted by China’s actions. But its position in the
California recycling industry allows it to observe
trends in West Coast materials movements.
STOCKPILING WORKS ONLY MINIMALLY
In a related trend, for the last six months certain
processors were taking low-grade plastics for a low
fee, Manoukian said. They had space and were
essentially stockpiling material in hopes of China
opening back up as a downstream outlet.
“Now, those facilities are out of room,” he said.
More companies may be faced with the
stockpiling decision as China dries up as a
downstream destination. Pierpont said New
Mexico’s hub-and-spoke model may benefit its
processors, because the model allows a greater deal
of flexibility for changes compared with larger
municipal contracts. Under the hub-and-spoke
model, regional facilities often handle lower
volumes of material than their large municipal
counterparts.
(Continued from page 5)
(Continued on page 7)
What happens to our recycled plastics?
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
Today we use plastic,
a material designed to last forever,
for products designed to last …
minutes.
“That flexibility right now is really important for
programs,” Pierpont said.
In some cases, companies are looking elsewhere
in the global marketplace for a downstream outlet.
Experts point to Southeast Asia, India and more as
possible replacement markets to absorb some of the
market void.
“We’ve also seen material that used to go to
China pretty consistently going to other export
markets,” said Ellen Martin, vice president of impact
and strategic initiatives at Closed Loop Partners. “So
that’s kind of an interesting thing — are we seeing
that (exports are) just rebalancing? Or is it really
going to change fundamentally how much material
gets exported, period?”
DOMESTIC DOWNSTREAMS
Across the board, industry members say they
hope the ban leads to increased domestic processing.
In some cases that shift is already happening on a
low level. Manoukian said PRCC has been able to
drive up the quality of B-grade PET it receives from
MRFs, primarily by educating them on how to
produce a cleaner stream.
“We have worked with multiple MRFs and they
have managed to increase their quality to a level
where we call it ‘B-plus’ and we’re able to sell it
domestically,” Manoukian said. For some MRFs, he
added, that may be impossible due to older
equipment or particularly contaminated feedstock.
Beyond education, experts anticipate the ban will
drive increased domestic investment in recycling
infrastructure. Some companies have applied for
California state grants to increase domestic
processing capacity. Sally Houghton, also of PRCC,
pointed to the large expansion in PET processing
capacity in California in the past decade, from a
couple of companies up to eight. A similar
processing expansion could develop for other
materials, she said.
Martin recalled the timing of the fall 2014 launch
of the Closed Loop Fund, noting the fund’s impetus
was at least partially tied to fallout from Green
Fence, the previous year’s Chinese imports
crackdown action. The fund works to drive
investment across multiple sectors of the recycling
industry and has put money into several projects
increasing U.S. processing and end-market capacity.
“I think, in the near term, it’s clearly causing
anxiety and stress for operators, and we want to
make sure their business models can weather the
storm,” Martin said. “But I think in the long run this
will force some upgrades in infrastructure and get us
to the point where we can actually create better
quality material, which means we don’t have to ship
around garbage.”
(Continued from page 6)
What happens to our recycled plastics?
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
Tuesday, December 12 — Can to Candy Green Cleaning Event:
6:30 to 8:30 pm Darrington
Let’s bring this far-flung community Green Cleaning Product Cookbooks, free samples
and tips on how to keep families and pets safe from spills. The larger community event
includes a tree lighting, Santa Photos (we’ll be right by Santa) and a food drive. A Green
Cleaning volunteer opportunity. RSVP [email protected] if you’re interested in taking part.
Wednesday, January 17 — Repair Café Planning Kick-Off:
7:00 to 8:30 pm Evergreen Room at McCollum Park
Come together to plan the four Repair Cafés that will launch later this year. The
Cafés do exactly what their name implies – they help folks to repair their used
items, making a stand against the idea that all things are disposable. We’ll
have some paid “fixer” people and other volunteer craftspeople to make repairs.
Our main job will be to organize and promote the events, and handle the RSVP
process. These are brand new, with some preliminary ideas formulated by the
Class of 2017 project team focused on this.
Wednesday, January 24 — SCS meeting (none in December):
6:00 to 7:30 pm McCollum Park Evergreen Room (regular time and place)
Learn about projects / volunteer opportunities in 2018. Re-connect over a potluck
meal – I’ll bring the main dish! We may also have a guest speaker, so stay tuned.
RSVPs appreciated!
Saturday, January 27 — Waste Diversion at the Country Living Expo
7:30 am or 11:30 am Shifts Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s
Winterschool, Stanwood High School
At the Expo you can attend classes on a multitude of topics, network with other
small farmers, enjoy a delicious vegetarian or prime rib lunch and visit with
local agricultural businesses. Program Contact: WSU Skagit County Extension
(360) 428-4270 or [email protected] OR — Do your Sustainability
Thing and sign up for the Waste Warriors. There’s lots to see when you’re not
working, plus you get an absolutely excellent meal! To sign up for the Waste
Warriors, contact [email protected].
You’ve got an Event? We’ve Got Resources!
Got an event or venue you’d like to share information with? Feel free to borrow the
Can You Sort game, educational materials or even our energy literacy presentation
and solar car activities. We’d love to see this stuff get used more!
Please RSVP to any of these events with Chrys at (425) 357-6020, [email protected].
Coming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
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Sustainable Community Stewards News From the WSU Snohomish County Extension
D ecemb er
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 6:30-8:30 Cans
to Candy in Dar-
rington
13 14
15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 7:00-8:30
Repair Café at
McCollum
18
19 20
21 22 23 24 6:00-7:30
Potluck at
McCollum
25 26 27 All Day—
Country Living
Expo & Cattle-
men
28 29 30 31
J anuary 2018