EnviroPolitics Blog

Updated Recycled Plastic Specifications

From the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) have announced the latest update to the ISRI Specifications and APR Model Bale Specifications to include updated recycled plastics specifications. Following a collaborative process between the two organizations and their members, the specifications were approved separately during October 2023 by both the ISRI Board of Directors and the APR Board of Directors. The specification updates are intended to more accurately reflect the recycled Polypropylene (PP) and Mixed Rigid plastics currently being traded in the marketplace.

Revised Specifications:

Specification: PP Small Rigid Plastic
Specification: Mixed Small Rigid Plastic
Specification: Mixed Bulky Rigid Plastic

For ISRI, this release serves as the 30-day public notice as required by the stated rules governing the procedures from the addition, amendment, or withdrawal of ISRI’s Specifications. Further information can be found in the ISRI Specifications. To submit comments, recommendations, or questions please contact ISRI Chief Economist and Director of Commodities Joe Pickard or ISRI Senior Economist Bret Biggers.

These three proposed revisions replace several existing PP and Mixed Rigid specifications to reduce confusion and better reflect the scope of what is traded and processed in today’s marketplace. ISRI would like to thank the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) for contributing their expertise in the development of these revisions.

“These most recent ISRI and APR Specifications updates align with the recycled materials industry focus on technological innovations and Design for Recycling^®,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener. “The changes announced reflect the ongoing review by dedicated volunteers in ISRI’s Plastics and our partnership with the Association of Plastic Recyclers. Our partnership allows us to work together to strengthen our specifications.”

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It’s official: Tammy wants to follow in Phil’s NJ political footsteps

**Updated: 1:30 a.m., November 16, 2023**

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

Years ago, a well-known North Jersey couple popularized the phrase ‘the family business.’ That’s not stopping the state’s top political family from refining the Soprano’s concept today.

After numerous trial balloons tested recently in media headlines, Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife, Tammy, has made it official. She wants to give a final shove to teetering U.S. Senator Bob Menendez whose reelection chances appear dim following his federal indictment that has all the requisite props for conviction–a fancy car bribe, stashed cash, and, the topper, gold bars.

Campaign announcements are a work of art. They seek to highlight a candidate’s positives while offsetting anticipated attacks.

Politico’s Matt Friedman illustrates below a potential weakness in Tammy Murphy’s announcement – Democrat bona fides.

“Tammy Murphy, who grew up in Virginia, has said she was a Republican until the mid-2000s, when she began considering herself a Democrat due to her views on abortion, guns and the environment — issues she highlighted in her campaign announcement. The New York Times reported earlier this month that she voted in a Republican primary as recently as 2014, which was after her husband’s time as Democratic National Committee finance chair and U.S. ambassador to Germany in the Obama administration.”

It’s official: Tammy wants to follow in Phil’s NJ political footsteps Read More »

Governor urges EPA to cancel import of GenX waste to NC facility

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper expressed dismay over the agency’s initial approval to allow chemical company Chemours to import GenX waste from the Netherlands.

By HALEY RISCHAR, Waste Today | NOVEMBER 13, 2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may reconsider its October decision to allow for the import of waste containing GenX chemicals from the Netherlands to a Chemours facility in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

GenX is a member of the large group of manmade compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). PFAS do not occur naturally in the environment and have broad uses in commercial products such as food packaging, nonstick coatings, and firefighting foam, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

“EPA takes these concerns seriously and will review the notices that the company has provided to ensure the public remains safe. EPA has been informed that no shipments have taken place in 2023 and none are currently en route from the Netherlands to North Carolina,” the EPA says in a statement regarding the decision.

Read the full story here

Governor urges EPA to cancel import of GenX waste to NC facility Read More »

Environmental groups label Hudson River dredging a ‘failure’

The groups say PCB levels in the river show dredging was not as effective as the federal government predicted

Environmental groups say EPA figures show that General Electric’s dredging of the Hudson River to remove chemicals the company had dumped had not accomplished the goals of the cleanup. Times Union file photo

By Roger Hannigan Gilson, Times Union

FORT EDWARD — A coalition of environmental groups said Tuesday that the remedial dredging of the Hudson River by General Electric a decade ago to remove carcinogenic chemicals was not as effective as the federal government predicted when they ordered the cleanup.

The groups, which include Riverkeeper and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club, called the remediation a failure in a report that analyzed Environmental Protection Agency data about the current levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the river.

General Electric dumped 1.2 million pounds of the carcinogenic industrial chemical into the Hudson River from 1947 to 1977 near its facilities north of Albany. These “forever chemicals” do not naturally break down. GE entered into a consent decree with the federal government to dredge the river bottom north of Troy, a project the company completed in 2015.

Read the full story here

Environmental groups label Hudson River dredging a ‘failure’ Read More »

The NJ Legislature is back! Senate enviro committee meets 11/20

*New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee (file photo)*

After a ‘summer recess’ stretching back to early July, NJ lawmakers are back in Trenton for a lame-duck session running through early January 2024.

One of the first scheduled committees to meet is the:

Senate Environment and Energy
10:00 AM, November 20,2023
Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

Agenda

S2978 – Revises State renewable energy portfolio standards.

S3258 – Appropriates $28,670,924 in 2003 and 1992 bond act monies for loans for dam restoration and repair projects and inland waters projects.

S 3863 – Establishes program, in DEP, for acquisition of development easements on privately-owned woodlands.

S 3909 – Establishes conditions for net metering for authorized food waste recycling facilities.

S 3928 – Authorizes State Treasurer to appoint Garden State Preservation Trust acting executive director under certain conditions.

S3996 – Directs DEP to establish a leasing program for State-owned land to be used and managed as pollinator habitat.

A 2810 – Directs DEP to establish a leasing program for State-owned land to be used and managed as pollinator habitat.

S3992 – Requires electric public utilities to develop and implement grid modernization plans; appropriates $300 million.

The NJ Legislature is back! Senate enviro committee meets 11/20 Read More »

New Jersey town looks to stop plan that would bring in 900 daily tons of construction debris

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=01rW6F_0pdP2rca00

By Marsha A. Stoltz, NorthJersey.com

OAKLAND — The borough is asking residents to get behind its efforts to oppose a Class B recycling facility proposed for West Oakland Avenue, “a short distance from homes, Potash Lake and the Ramapo River.”

The facility, if approved, would be able to bring in and process up to 900 tons of concrete, brick, asphalt, and topsoil per day.

Residents are being asked to sign a petition to oppose “Oakland Materials, LLC’s application to the BCUA because of quality of life impacts such as noise, dust, odors and truck traffic as well as potential pollution, including groundwater contamination of a sole source aquifer that provides drinking water to Oakland residents.”

The petition, as of Friday had 2,089 signatures, with a goal of 2,500.

The borough was granted a 60-day extension to produce comment

Read the full story here

New Jersey town looks to stop plan that would bring in 900 daily tons of construction debris Read More »