Changing electronic waste recycling debated in New Jersey

Private recycling companies and municipal and county recycling program officials are asking legislators to make changes to a state law that directs how worn out television sets and computers are collected and recycled.


Manufactures of the electronic products, who bear the financial responsibility for the New Jersey’s mandatory recycling program, argue that it is working adequately and should be allowed to mature to meet evolving market conditions.


Both sides will make their cases today at noon before the Senate Environment and Energy Committee which will meet in Committee Room 10, Third Floor, State House Annex in Trenton.
The testimony will focus on Senate Bill S-2973.

Changing electronic waste recycling debated in New Jersey Read More »

Bruce does it again–in Asbury Park, of course

                                                                                               Bruce Springsteen 

To our readers: We admit it. The story is not about energy or the environment. And it’s mercifully free of politics. But it’s summertime at the Jersey Shore and we got a little goosey when we read it, and thought you might like it too.


Here’s how the Asbury Park Press‘s Chris Jordan saw it:

Call it a love letter to Asbury Park.
                          Photo: Chris Jordan 

More than two hours of rock ‘n’ roll from Bruce Springsteen, Joe Grushecky, Eddie Manion and Grushecky’s Houserockers in a packed and steamy Wonder Bar on the city’s Ocean Avenue on Saturday, July 18.

It was a surprise appearance by Springsteen, who came on stage 10 minutes into the Grushecky and Manion bill and it featured 15 songs with an emphasis on Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town” period along with nuggets like “Because the Night,” “Pink Cadillac” and “Light of Day.”

After several  shows together over the years — including multiple Light of Day festivals at the nearby Paramount Theater — the Springsteen-Grushecky and the Houserockers pairing is a well-oiled machine. Springsteen and Grushecky seamlessly traded solos on “Never Be Enough Time” an the two traded lead vocals on “Chain Smoking.” Manion, a member of the E Street Band who often plays with Grushecky, punched up the evening with his sax solos and his sax undertones on “Atlantic City” gave the song a rollicking Seeger Sessions feel.
                                                                   Photo: Chris Jordan
The teamwork extended to Springsteen toweling off Houserockers bassist Art Nardini’s face When the Boss spoke-sang the intro of his 1982 hit “Atlantic City,” he paused after the line: “but maybe everything that dies someday comes back.”
“Maybe Asbury Park is back?” Springsteen said, to cheers.

Read the full story here


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Bruce does it again–in Asbury Park, of course Read More »

Melitta offers recyclable K-cups for green-minded sippers

Sure those single-cup coffee brewers are convenient. But did you know that last year enough K-Cups were sold to circle the earth 10.5 times?  And none of that plastic was recyclable. Until now.


Melitta, the company perhaps better known for their paper filters, is now producing recyclable K-cups so you can enjoy your java guilt free.


Is this green alternative satisfying a market demand? You betcha. Melita says it’s cup-production lines in New Jersey are running 24-7, including holidays and they still can’t fully satisfy consumer demand for the environmentally friendly K-cup.

To learn more, take a sip of the video above?


Do you use an individual-brew coffeemaker?  Are you likely to buy your K-cups from Melita? Let us know why in the comment section below.



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Free copy of EnviroPolitics – July 13 2015…and 30 more? 

  

Melitta offers recyclable K-cups for green-minded sippers Read More »

NJ property owners slow down PennEast pipeline permits

Fewer than 35 percent of property owners have granted access to their land to the company seeking approval to build a controversial natural-gas pipeline through parts of Hunterdon and Mercer counties, Tom Johnson reports in NJ Spotlight.

That lack of cooperation is spurring the state Department of Environmental Protection to advise the company in charge of the project not to apply for some of the permits it needs until it gets more information on the pipeline’s actual route.

Whether that constitutes a serious roadblock for the $1 billion, 110-mile PennEast pipeline project from Pennsylvania to Hopewell remains to be seen, but it has buoyed the hopes of critics. Thirty-two miles of the pipeline would run through four communities in Hunterdon County, before terminating in Hopewell in Mercer County.

The project is perhaps one of the most contentious of more than a dozen new pipeline projects that have been proposed in New Jersey, most aimed at delivering cheap natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania to consumers and businesses.

Much of the proposed route in New Jersey would traverse land preserved with taxpayer dollars to protect open space and farmland, not to mention cutting though wetlands, parks and crossing waterways.

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NYC hopes to recycle 1.5 million tons of electronics in 2015


One million New York City residents — or one-eighth of the city’s population — now live in buildings with electronics recycling, according to the NYC Department of Sanitation and Electronic Recyclers International.

According to the blog Waste Dive:

  • 2,500 buildings have enrolled in the electronics recycling program, called e-cycleNYC, with 100 new buildings enrolling each week.

  • The city expects to collect 1.5 million pounds of e-waste this year.
     
  • Since the program started in November 2013, NYC officials have collected more than 860,000 pounds of computers, cellphones, and other electronics.

  • The e-cycleNYC program allows apartment buildings to sign up for on-site pickup of electronics, and also offers room cleanouts, storage bins, and outdoor recycling events.

For more information, click the arrow on the video below.




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Too little, too late: Judge denies enviros Exxon case role


We’ve reported before on the failed attempt by environmental groups and a state senator to intervene in the environmental damages settlement between New Jersey and ExxonMobil.

  
But we thought you also might enjoy the summary of the issue that Cole Schotz attorney Emily Lamond provided yesterday to readers of the firm’s Environmental Litigation blog. 

A New Jersey state judge ruled on Monday that eight environmental groups and a New Jersey state senator cannot intervene to challenge the $225 million settlement with Exxon Mobil proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to end litigation lasting more than a decade and originally alleging more than $8 billion in natural resource damages.

The environmental groups and New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Union) sought to urge the court to reject the “sweetheart deal” between Exxon Mobil and Christie’s administration and, if the court approved the settlement, to appeal the approval as a party to the litigation. However, Burlington County Superior Court

Judge Michael J. Hogan denied the motions to intervene, ruling that they did not demonstrate the adversity of interest, collusion or nonfeasance necessary to justify their intervention. Instead, the court found that NJDEP adequately represents their interests and that the public comment period provided an adequate forum to voice their objections to the settlement. Judge Hogan also ruled that the motions failed on the timeliness factor, pointing out that the intervenors were aware of the lawsuit since it was filed in 2004 and “have known of their interests in its outcome for eleven years.”

The proposed settlement has been subject to extensive criticism and outcry since NJDEP released the draft consent judgement on April 6, 2015. New Jersey’s environmental statute commonly known as the Spill Act requires a public comment period for at least thirty days for proposed settlements under the statute. Given the controversy and overwhelming public attention, NJDEP doubled the public comment period and collected comments for sixty days. NJDEP received approximately 16,000 public comments – most in opposition to the settlement – by the time the comment period ended on June 5, 2015. The court may also consider the comments in determining if the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the public interest.

Keep in mind that the court has not yet passed judgement on the fairness or reasonableness of the proposed settlement – the hearing for that decision is currently scheduled for Tuesday, July 21, 2015. That is, unless, the intervenors file an appeal of Judge Hogan’s decision on their motions to intervene in the next few days and the hearing is delayed pending that appeal.

Hat tip to Tom Johnson of NJ Spotlight whose story on the case yesterday, included a link to the judge’s full 35-page decision.

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