Congressional hearing aims to leverage chemical recycling

Megan Quinn, Senior Reporter, Waste Dive

Plastics industry groups and recycling organizations underscored the role of recycling as an economic driver during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. 

During a meeting of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s environment subcommittee, lawmakers highlighted chemical recycling and e-scrap recycling as two sectors with the potential to ramp up domestic supply chains for critical materials and create jobs. Speakers also urged action on a range of federal legislation meant to make recycling easier or more accessible.

Subcommittee chair Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., acknowledged the implications of the federal government’s role in supporting recycling. He noted that President Donald Trump has specifically called for policies meant to secure critical mineral and rare earth supply chains as a national security measure meant to decrease the country’s reliance on recycled goods from other countries.

“E-waste is so important for our future” for this reason, he said, adding that the rise of data centers and ever-growing use of technology generates a high volume of end-of-life electronics that can be recycled for critical minerals. “E-waste is a commodity that can be repurposed in our fight to not only be energy independent, but energy dominant,” he said.

Speakers also noted that plastics recycling will play a major role in the future of the country’s economy, but that plastic recycling innovations must also be balanced with investments in current recycling infrastructure.

Read the full story here

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Zachary Hirschfeld joins Phillips Lytle’s NY environmental practice

Zachary Hirschfeld,
Associate
New York City Office
Land, Environment and Energy Practice

Zack joins Phillips Lytle as an associate focusing on environmental law and energy, and renewables.

With significant experience across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Zack advises clients who seek clarity on how policy and law affect a range of energy and environmental matters.

A former New York State Excelsior Fellow, Zack has focused on regulatory law at the New York Power Authority and litigated enforcement actions at the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.

If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month

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Ohio town puts AI to work–suprisingly, on its garbage trucks

By Eric Schwartzberg, Dayton Daily News

Centerville, Ohio is testing a new program where recycling trucks use artificial intelligence to spot and report items that do not belong in the bin.

As each cart is emptied, the AI scans its contents and flags materials that do not meet local recycling guidelines.

“Reducing contamination in our recycling system lowers processing costs and improves the overall efficiency of our collection,” City Manager Wayne Davis said in a statement regarding the AI pilot program. “This technology allows us to target problem areas, educate residents, and make better use of city resources.”

Residents whose items don’t meet the guidelines will be notified via a personalized postcard, one that tells them which items are not accepted and provides tips on proper recycling.

Elsewhere, AI is helping with solid waste code enforcement

Yes, AI is increasingly being integrated into garbage trucks and waste management systems, transforming the industry in several ways. 

Key applications of AI in garbage trucks and waste management include:

  • Route Optimization: AI algorithms analyze data from smart bins (equipped with fill-level sensors), real-time traffic updates, and historical data to dynamically adjust collection routes, reducing fuel consumption, increasing worker efficiency, and minimizing carbon emissions.
  • Predictive Maintenance: AI-driven systems can anticipate potential equipment failures in garbage trucks before they happen, allowing for proactive maintenance and minimizing costly breakdowns.
  • Automated Waste Sorting: AI-powered robots with computer vision can identify and separate recyclable materials from waste streams, improving sorting accuracy and efficiency in recycling facilities. This technology can reduce contamination in recycled materials and make the process more economically viable.
  • Smart Bins: AI sensors integrated into smart bins monitor fill levels and communicate data to waste management providers, allowing for timely collection and preventing overflow. This reduces unnecessary pickups, saves fuel, and improves public hygiene.
  • Contamination Detection: AI-powered cameras on garbage trucks can identify contamination in recycling carts as materials are loaded into the truck, enabling municipalities to educate residents on proper waste disposal and potentially reduce contamination-related costs. 

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What’s ahead for Philadelphia’s historic Wanamaker Building?

New York developer TF Cornerstone plans to build 600 loft-style apartments above the shuttered Macy’s store in the historic Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia after acquiring complete control in a foreclosure auction Tuesday.

#WanamakerBuilding #Philadelphia #historicsites #departmentstore #loftapartments #EaseMarketStreet #ChrystalTeaRoom #WanamakerOrgan #Macy’s

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Trump Is Gutting Weather Science, Diminishing Disaster Response

As a warming planet delivers more extreme weather, experts warn that the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s disaster capabilities.

Search and rescue workers climb a hill of debris and tree trunks, looking for survivors of the Texas flood.
A cadaver dog was used to search for human remains among the rubble near the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas. Credit…Jordan Vonderhaar for The New York Times

By Lisa FriedmanMaxine JoselowCoral Davenport, and Megan Mineiro, NY Times

In an effort to shrink the federal government, President Trump and congressional Republicans have taken steps that are diluting the country’s ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to, catastrophic flooding and other extreme weather events, disaster experts say.

Staff reductions, budget cuts, and other changes made by the administration since January have already created holes at the National Weather Service, which forecasts and warns of dangerous weather.

Mr. Trump’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year would close 10 laboratories run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that research the ways a warming planet is changing weather, among other things. That work is essential to more accurately predicting life-threatening hazards. Among the shuttered labs would be one in Miami that sends teams of “hurricane hunters” to fly into storms to collect critical data. The proposed budget would also make major cuts to a federal program that uses river gauges to predict floods.

The president is also envisioning a dramatically scaled-down Federal Emergency Management Agency that would shift the costs of disaster response and recovery from the federal government to the states. The administration has already revoked $3.6 billion in grants from FEMA to hundreds of communities around the country, which were to be used to help these areas protect against hurricanes, wildfires, and other catastrophes. About 10 percent of the agency’s staff members have left since January, including senior leaders with decades of experience, and another 20 percent are expected to be gone by the end of this year.

Read the full story here

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New Jersey’s giant port braces for impact of Trump’s coming tariff

The Port of New York and New Jersey was the busiest cargo gateway in the country in May.

By Eddie Callahan, Patch Staff

The Port of New York and New Jersey and its employees are getting more time to prepare for any potential changes to their operations from new tariffs on imports into the United States.

President Donald Trump is moving the deadline for countries to strike trade deals with the United States back, saying new tariffs will go into effect on August 1 if no agreements are reached. This includes a new 35 percent import tax for Canada, announced by President Trump Thursday.

The definitive impact on local jobs, 4,000 of which employees service the Port of New York and New Jersey, is still unclear. Based on the data of goods flowing in and out of the site, the Port of New York and New Jersey could be in a position to be hit more than others.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported that as of the latest available monthly data, the site was the busiest cargo gateway in the whole country for May. This equates to 774,698 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of goods being handled throughout the month. This is a 6.5 percent increase from January through May as compared to 2024.

Last year, the site was the largest container port on the U.S. East Coast and the third largest in the country, handling 8,698,526 TEUs, according to a data report from the Port of New York and New Jersey. Only Los Angeles and Long Beach ranked higher.

Read the full story here

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