#BILLYPENNGRAM-3/29/22
 #BILLYPENNGRAM OF THE DAY Back when insurance companies built giant intricate arches (photo by @savagejoejackson) Want to see your photo here? Tag #billypenngram on Instagram |
#BILLYPENNGRAM-3/29/22 Read More »
Philly program trains former prisoners to recycle worn-out electronic products
By Raquel Perez WHYY News
According to the EPA, Americans generated 2.7 million tons of consumer electronics waste in 2018. The world produces 50 million tons of e-waste each year. Only 20% of that waste is recycled, with the remaining waste going to landfills.
People Advancing Reintegration, known as PAR-Recycle Works, is a nonprofit organization trying to change those recycling rates — as well as the rate of the formerly incarcerated who end up back in prison.
The mission of PAR-Recycle is to reduce recidivism through electronics recycling. The organization provides transitional employment to people who are returning home from prison. The nonprofit started back in 2016 and has worked with 110 people. Of that number, 90 have gone on to full-time work, and only two have gone back to prison.
PAR-Recycle Works provides training and therapies that include financial literacy, digital literacy, cognitive behavioral therapy, conflict resolution, mindfulness, forklift operation, and support in getting driver’s licenses. The idea is to set people up for success in their time with the organization, which is usually six to nine months.
“It is a way for individuals to get their lives back after incarceration,” PAR-Recycle Founder Maurice Jones said.
The United States incarcerates more of its population than any other country in the world. In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia has the highest incarceration rate of any county, and approximately 25,000 people come back to the city every year from prison. Out of that, 17,500 end up going back to prison. U.S. Department of Justice statistics say that over 68% of those released from prison in the first three years will be reincarcerated.
“Being from the city, understanding the city, having an upbringing from the hood I know what it’s like. I’ve been a statistic, I’ve been to jail and I know what people are faced with when they come home without support,” said Jones.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
Philly program trains former prisoners to recycle worn-out electronic products Read More »
Is the Delaware River wide enough for commercial and recreational users?
By Susan Phillips WHYY
Taking a trip to the banks of the Delaware River on a warm summer day these past couple of years, you may have seen people paddling kayaks, floating on inflatable pink flamingos, racing by on jet skis, and even swimming. It’s a sign that the river, once known as a “stinky ugly mess,” is now much cleaner and more inviting.
It’s also the result of an effort by advocates and environmentalists to encourage more recreational use of the river.
But not everyone is cheering a recreational return to the Delaware. Each year, about 4,000 large cargo ships carry everything from plywood to steel to grapes, delivering material to 30 different marine terminals in the 27-mile stretch between the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and the Commodore Barry Bridge. Thousands of workboats, including barges and tugs, also travel that stretch each year.
The Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay, a trade association for the commercial shipping industry that helps manage the traffic, says the increased recreational activities risk fatal collisions with container ships that ply the Delaware. The group is pushing back against efforts to upgrade the river’s regulatory designation under the Clean Water Act.
“Even were the water quality improved, the area would still not be safe for primary contact recreation,” Maritime Exchange president Lisa Himber wrote in a letter to Philadelphia City Council in December
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
Is the Delaware River wide enough for commercial and recreational users? Read More »
U.S. grants another import extension for Chinese autoshredder wear parts
By Hannah Zuckerman Scrap News
On March 23, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced its determination to reinstate certain previously granted and extended product exclusions in the China Section 301 Investigation. The determination reinstates the tariff exclusion on shredder wear parts, retroactive to Oct. 12, 2021, and extends the exclusion through Dec. 31, 2022. Shredder wear parts imported from China will not be assessed the additional 25% tariff during this period.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has advocated on behalf of its members and the industry since the Trump administration imposed the tariff in July 2018. USTR granted an exemption on April 18, 2019, and in 2020 the government allowed companies and organizations to request the continuation of the exemption for one year, which was granted to all that requested it.
In October 2021, when USTR invited public comments on whether to reinstate previously extended exclusions which included shredder wear parts, ISRI was quick to submit comments. The association explained why the exclusion for shredder wear parts should be reinstated and how the tariff has caused economic harm to U.S. small businesses, employment, manufacturing output, and critical supply chains.
Wear parts are essentially the heart of a shredder. But they need to be replaced almost daily, so having them in bulk is vital for U.S. recyclers.
Since more than 85% of shredder wear parts are sourced from China, and those costs amount to 60–70% of the cost of operations in this sector, the 25% tariff would make a huge difference—especially to smaller operators.
Don’t miss environmental news like this Click for free updates
U.S. grants another import extension for Chinese autoshredder wear parts Read More »
200 property owners in a flood-prone NJ town told to raise their homes or sell to the state
And, no, it’s not a town on the Jersey Shore
Maryann Morris, 43, walks through her gutted single-story home in the Lost Valley section of Manville, damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
By Karen Yi, Gothamist
When the remnants of Hurricane Ida barreled across New Jersey, Maryann Morris had just started to settle into her newly purchased home on a quiet residential block in Manville.
Less than a year after she moved in with her 7-year-old daughter, Ida’s floodwaters inundated her basement and sloshed up another four feet on the first floor.
“There were still my daughter’s baby blankets and stuff from the hospital when she was born,” Morris, 43, said. “There were presents down there that she hadn’t gotten to open from her birthday.”
Don’t miss environmental news like this Click for free updates
Seven months after the storm, Morris and her daughter, Ember, are still living in a nearby rented apartment as they wait to settle an insurance dispute and receive a government loan to start construction. Morris said her insurance company agreed to cover part of the repairs but it isn’t cooperating with the U.S. Small Business Administration, which will make up the rest.
“I have run out of ways to answer my daughter about when we’re going home,” Morris said. “Because I don’t even know.”
The recovery for Morris has been slow; the inside of her house is completely gutted. But even when she returns home, she’ll have to decide whether it’s safe enough to stay. She’s one of 200 home and business owners in Manville who received letters from the Somerset County borough telling them they have to elevate their properties or sell to the state’s buyout program, known as Blue Acres.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
Walmart signs up for West Coast food waste-reduction project
By Catherine Douglas Moran Waste Dive
Walmart has signed on to the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment, which is working to reduce food waste by 50% along the West Coast by 2030, according to an announcement on Monday.
Walmart’s data on food loss and waste, which will be anonymized and aggregated with data from the PCFWC’s other retail signatories, will help provide a more precise estimate of waste across the retail sector. That data will then be used to identify key waste “hot spots” to focus on.
For Walmart, the latest pledge builds on its more than 15 years of sustainability work and a company-wide effort, called Project Gigaton, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Dive Insight:
By signing on to the food waste pledge under the Pacific Coast Collaborative, Walmart is joining several other major retailers as part of one of the largest public-private partnerships dedicated to food waste reduction.
“Better data can identify scalable ways for us to accelerate these efforts further, and it is incumbent on retailers like Walmart to join efforts such as the PCFWC to address these systemic issues,” Jane Ewing, senior vice president of sustainability at Walmart, said in a statement.
In the announcement, PCFWC also said foodservice company Sodexo US signed on to its pledge, noting the participation of the two “industry leaders” will not only impact waste reduction with their own operations but also can influence the suppliers they partner with and perhaps inspire other food companies to join as well.
If you liked this post you’ll love our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Don’t take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
Walmart signs up for West Coast food waste-reduction project Read More »