EnviroPolitics Blog

China’s National Sword about to fall on U.S. recyclers

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics editor

In January of 2018, the government of China–the world’s largest market for recycled material–will implement an import ban on mixed paper, plastics, textiles and other materials that fail to meet rigorous quality standards.

For years, exporters from American and around the world have shipped bundles of plastic soda bottles, newspaper, textiles and other recyclable material to China for processing into new packaging and products.

What has become a growing problem for Chinese recycling plants is that many of the loads are contained with other material which must be removed before processing. This takes time, money and manpower. The Chinese issued warnings before but now are insisting that loads of plastic contain plastic only and the same for various types of paper and other recyclables. The leftovers from a picnic lunch thrown into the recycling container instead of the garbage can could conceivably send a 3,000 pound bundle of paper back to the U.S.

China’s new ‘National Sword’ policy is expected to cause serious disruptions that will be felt at the top–by shippers, brokers and others–all the way down the supply chain to local recycling programs, residents and businesses.

Attendees at the Association of New Jersey Recyclers (ANJR) Recycling Symposium on October 18 heard experts discuss the implications of China’s decision.

EnviroPolitics editor Frank Brill sat down with one of the presenters, Michael Arcieri of Eckman, for the interview above.

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Solar costs to fall further, powering global demand

Florence Tan reports for Reuters:

SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Solar power costs will fall by another 60 percent over the next decade giving an already booming market another boost, the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) said on Monday.

Solar power is in the midst of boom because of sharp drops in costs and efficiency improvements, pushing global capacity from virtually zero at the start of the century to 300 gigawatt (GW) by the end of 2016, a figure expected to rise again by 2020.

Irena expects 80 to 90 GW of new solar capacity, enough to power more than 8 billion LED light bulbs, to be added globally each year over the next 5 to 6 years, Adnan Amin, the director general of Irena told Reuters, exceeding a forecast of 73 GW from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“This could easily accelerate as costs decline in the future,” said Amin. “China alone can do 50 GW a year.”

“In the next decade, the cost of (utility scale) solar could fall by 60 percent or more,” he said in Singapore on Monday.

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Elcon chemical waste-burning plant’s third try at the plate

A graphic rendering of the proposed Elcon chemical waste treatment facility in Falls Twp., Bucks County, Pa.

Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:

A controversial plan to build a hazardous waste treatment facility in Falls has been resubmitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, about five months after the agency partially rejected an earlier version.

The plant, proposed by Elcon Recycling Services LLC, would treat between 150,000 and 210,000 tons of chemical and pharmaceutical wastewater each year, according to the company’s past proposal materials. The materials would be brought by truck to the 70,000-square-foot plant, proposed for a 23-acre property in the Keystone Industrial Port Complex.

Elcon says the plant would use a technologically advanced thermal oxidation process that would limit toxic releases from the facility. Opponents are skeptical, calling the facility an incinerator and raising concerns over air pollution. In addition, they worry the plant could become inundated by floodwaters due to its proximity to the Delaware River.

Elcon’s regulatory road has been a bumpy one. It’s Phase I application, which deals with the site selection, was rejected in early 2015 because the DEP said it didn’t contain enough information about flood risk. Elcon reworked the application, and passed the Phase I hurdle on a second try in November 2015.

However, the company’s Phase II application — a much more rigorous regulatory process that addresses numerous aspects of the proposal — was rejected by the DEP in May 2017 after Elcon submitted it in March. The DEP said in a news release Monday that the company has now submitted additional materials meant to rectify the deficiencies DEP cited in May.

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Three EPA scientist won’t discuss climate change in R.I.

Lisa Friedman reports for The New York Times:

The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled the speaking appearance of three agency scientists who were scheduled to discuss climate change at a conference Monday in Rhode Island, according to the agency and several people involved.

John Konkus, a spokesman and former Trump campaign operative in Florida, confirmed that EPA scientists would not speak at the State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed program in Providence. He provided no further explanation.

Scientists involved in the program said that much of the discussion at the event centers on climate change.

Many said they were surprised by the cancellation, particularly since the EPA helps to fund the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, which is hosting the conference. The scientists who have been barred from speaking contributed substantial material to a 400-page report to be issued Monday.

The move highlights widespread concern that the EPA will silence government scientists from speaking publicly or conducting work on climate change. Scott Pruitt, the agency’s administrator, has said he does not believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are primarily responsible for the warming of the planet.

“It’s definitely a blatant example of the scientific censorship we all suspected was going to start being enforced at EPA,” said John King, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who chairs the science advisory committee of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program.

“They don’t believe in climate change, so I think what they’re trying to do is stifle discussions of the impacts of climate change,” King said.

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Energy Department Announces $15M for Fast-Charging

Today, the Energy Department announced up to $15 million for research projects on batteries and vehicle electrification technologies to enable extreme fast charging.

The Department’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) funds early-stage, high-risk research to generate knowledge upon which industry can develop and deploy innovative transportation energy technologies that improve efficiency, lower costs, and increase use of secure, domestic energy sources.

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Birds-eye tech a great tool for Meadowlands researchers

A drone used by the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute eliminates the inconsistencies that previous research instruments struggled with and gathers information on native
and invasive flora in a fraction of the time formerly required.

Michael Hill has the story for NJTV News

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