Can Your Caffeine Fix also Fuel Roadways?

Coffee grounds, industrial waste create road-building material

Jessica Stoikes reports for Construction:

Your morning routine probably includes a cup of hot coffee to wake you up and get you going for the day. Once you’re on your way and happily caffeinated, have you ever thought about the waste that’s created by your Cup of Joe?
When people talk about waste from these cafés, they tend to focus on the massive pile of disposable cups that end up in landfills. But the average coffee shop also throws out around 22 pounds of coffee grounds a day; in most big cities, that can add up to around 200,000 tons of coffee ground waste per year.
Professor Arul Arulrajah, who leads the geotechnical group in the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure, is also an avid coffee drinker.
“I see the baristas throwing away the used coffee grounds and I think, ‘why not look at this as an engineering material?’” he says.
For the past few years, Arulrajah and PhD candidate Teck-Ang Kua have collected used coffee grounds from cafés surrounding Swinburne’s Hawthorn campus in Victoria, Australia.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of combining a highly organic waste, coffee grounds, with industrial wastes, steel slag and fly ash, into a sustainable subgrade construction material by a geopolymerization process.

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They dry the grounds in an oven to around 120 ° F for five days, then sieve the grounds to filter out lumps. 
The grounds are then mixed. They use seven parts coffee grounds with three parts of slag—a waste product from steel manufacturing. Finally a liquid alkaline solution is added to bind everything together. 
The mixture is compressed into cylindrical blocks that prove strong enough to use as the subgrade material that sits under a road surface in road embankments specified by various road authorities.
“On average the cafés we collect from dispose of about 330 pounds of coffee grounds per week,” Arulrajah says. “We estimate that the coffee grounds from Melbourne’s cafés could be used to build three miles of road per year. This would reduce landfill waste and the demand for virgin quarry materials.”
Arulrajah and his team believe that this green geopolymer and the research findings have the potential to transform the construction industry in the sustainable usage of waste by-products in future road subgrades.
The researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have also been investigating the use of crushed brick or glass and concrete for use in road construction.

Fuel Your Morning & Your Car

Since coffee waste is so abundant, other companies are investigating additional ways to recycle these grounds for use beyond waste in a landfill.
Bio-bean, which was founded in London by an architecture student, plans to start turning coffee waste into fuel for cars and energy to heat local homes.
After the company collects the waste, they bring it to a large local processing plant, where machines dry the grounds, extract the oil and turn the rest into biomass pellets that can be used in heaters. The oil will be used as biofuel for cars and trucks.
Unlike biofuels like corn ethanol that are made from crops, the waste coffee biofuel is considered an “advanced,” or carbon-neutral biofuel. These materials also cheaper than other alternatives, in part because of the fact that they’re using something that would otherwise be thrown away—coffee shops currently have to pay to have the grounds trucked to landfills, incinerators, or anaerobic digestion plants.
Bio-bean says they already have customers eager to buy the product.
Cheers to fueling your body while contributing to a more sustainable world!
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Editor pens Christie’s political obituary on eve of GWB trial

There’s never been any love lost between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Tom Moran, the political columnist and chief editorial writer at the state’s largest, daily newspaper, The (Newark) Star-Ledger.

Tom Moran, Star-Ledger editorial writer and columnist

Christie went out of his way to embarrass Moran at a news conference shortly after his first election. Moran, in turn, found an endless list of Christie policies and personality traits to attack over the governor’s subsequent seven years in office. 


True, he wrote the editorial in which the Ledger endorsed Christie for a second term but, within four months, Moran recanted, declaring: “we blew it.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie



Today, on the eve of the first day of the highly anticipated Bridgegate trial, Moran could barely contain his pleasure, in writing:

If you suspect, as I do, that a notorious control freak like Gov. Chris Christie must have known about the Bridgegate caper, and is lying like a snake when he denies it, then your moment has finally arrived. 

Three years after the scandal broke, we are about to hear a ton of evidence for the first time as the criminal trial gets underway, starting Monday. 

We will hear fresh testimony under oath from key players who have been silent until now. We will hear about grand jury testimony that has been locked in a vault. 

We’ll hear from Christina Renna, a Christie aide who texted that the governor “flat-out lied” when he claimed that senior staff didn’t know about the lane closures. And we’ll finally hear from David Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty in the conspiracy and says that “evidence exists” showing the governor knew all about it. 

This is a new ballgame. In the political sphere, where this scandal has lived for three years, there is no punishment for hiding information or lying about it. 

But this is a criminal trial in federal court. Play those games, and you could land in jail.    

Later in the piece, Moran writes:

Once this trial is over, Democrats in the Legislature are likely to reopen their investigation and take direct aim at the governor. They called off that hunt only to avoid interfering with this trial. 

The barely repressed glee that bubbles to the surface in this column is not just one man’s opinion and, maybe, revenge. Most Democratic lawmakers share it. So do a surprising number of Republicans (who won’t admit it publicly). The governor’s dismal approval rating in the polls tell us that an overwhelming number of New Jersey voters agree.


Although Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni are the only two people on trial, they are almost second bananas in what has become a political morality play.


If Tom Moran is right, the Bridgegate trail won’t be judging them alone. It also could issue a verdict that ends Chris Christie’s life-long political ambitions.


Read Moran’s full column here      


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Ringwood (NJ) Superfund ballot question ruled invalid


Ringwood voters will not get the chance to decide whether 166,000 tons of contaminated soil will be excavated from the Ford Superfund site or left in place, after a judge ruled Friday that a proposed ballot question by residents was invalid.


Scott Fallon reports for The Record:


Passaic County Assignment Judge Ernest Caposela said the 244-word question calling for the excavation of the pollution was so “unintelligible” that it would confuse the average voter.

MITSU YASUKAWA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A gate at the end of Peters Mine Road in Ringwood, blocking access to a federal Superfund site.


“I can’t rewrite the question,” he  said near the end of an hour-long hearing in his Paterson courtroom. “I can’t provide an explanatory statement.”

The judge said that if the ballot question was approved by voters on Election Day, it would have breached a contract between the borough and Ford Motor Co. that would cost local taxpayers millions of dollars.

Ringwood Cares, a group of residents who wrote the ballot question, said it would appeal Caposela’s decision — a move that would have to be done quickly because Passaic County prints Election Day ballots on Sept. 29.

Those who say the pollution must be hauled away to ensure public health are opposed by the Borough Council and others who say placing an asphalt barrier over the pollution will limit residents’ exposure and avoid a multimillion-dollar cleanup bill for taxpayers.

The pollution dates back almost 50 years to when contractors for Ford dumped paint sludge and other industrial waste from its former Mahwah plant next to a low-income neighborhood in the mountains of Upper Ringwood.

Along with Ford, the borough is liable to pay for a portion of the cleanup because Ringwood officials allowed the dumping to occur in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Removing the contamination would cost $32.6 million. The borough supports a cheaper $5.4 million plan that would place an asphalt barrier over the pollution with a new recycling center on top at the O’Connor Disposal Area.

Read the full story here

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Judge rules that class-action suit involving drivers ensnared in Bridgegate closures can proceed

A federal judge will allow a scaled down class-action lawsuit to proceed to trial on behalf of commuters and taxi drivers who were stalled in traffic when access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed without notice in 2013.

An in-depth look at the scandal over the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and related aftershocks. Click here to launch.

Peter J. Samson reports for The Record:

U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares, in a 66-page opinion filed in Newark on Thursday, granted in part and denied in part motions by the state, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and four other defendants to dismiss the claims outlined in a second amended complaint against them.

Linares concluded that five counts relating to violations of constitutional rights and civil conspiracy were sufficiently alleged to proceed to trial.

He dismissed five other counts, including racketeering, consumer fraud, and breach of contract, which failed to state a valid claim.


Michael J. Epstein, a Rochelle Park attorney representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling Friday and said it sets the stage for a meeting in November with the judge to discuss the exchange of evidence in the case.

“We’re very satisfied and pleased with the court’s ruling that we can proceed with discovery in this case to vindicate the class representatives’ and class members’ violations of their civil rights,” Epstein said.

“The court recognizes at this stage that our claims … for violations of civil rights under both federal and state law can move forward,” he said.

Two class action suits, filed in the wake of the lane closures, were consolidated and later dismissed by the court for lacking substantive facts concerning each defendant’s role. The plaintiffs were allowed to amend their complaint.

The plaintiffs, including individual commuters and several taxi and car services, propose to represent a class of thousands who were forced to “suffer extreme traffic delays and to be confined to their cars, waste gas, lose time and sustain other economic losses” when they traveled in or around Fort Lee and attempted to access the bridge between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13, 2013.

Among those named as defendants in the suit are Bill Baroni, Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein, three former allies of Governor Christie charged with conspiracy and other crimes in a scheme to create gridlock in Fort Lee to punish its mayor for not endorsing Christie for reelection.

Opening statements in the trial of Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Christie, and Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, are set for Monday in federal court in Newark.

Wildstein, also a former Christie appointee to the Port Authority, pleaded guilty in the scheme and is the government’s star witness.

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Ag and Enviro bills in committee today in Trenton

ASSEMBLY AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

9/19/16  2:00 PM
Committee Room 15, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
A-773  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Clarifies that use of propane-powered noise making
device is allowed as non-lethal method of wildlife control on farmland.
A-784  Andrzejczak, B. (D-1); Land, R.B. (D-1)
Establishes multi-species depredation permit.
A-2178  Taliaferro, A.J. (D-3); Space, P. (R-24)
Removes statutory limitation on number of permits that
may be issued by Division of Fish and Wildlife for the taking of beaver.
 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT AND SOLID WASTE

9/19/16  2:00 PM
Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
A-1628  Rodriguez-Gregg, M. (R-8); Holley, J.C.
(D-20)
Codifies DEP’s New Jersey Recycling Awards Program to
annually recognize outstanding recycling achievements.
A-1751  Greenwald, L.D. (D-6); Vainieri Huttle, V.
(D-37); Webber, J. (R-26)
Requires DEP to submit annual financial report on
status of certain fund balances.
A-2448  Eustace, T. (D-38); Pinkin, N.J. (D-18);
Gusciora, R. (D-15)
Establishes “Milkweed for Monarchs” program.
Related Bill: S-1986
A-2449  Eustace, T. (D-38); Gusciora, R. (D-15)
Establishes “Adopt a Monarch Butterfly
Waystation” program.
Related Bill: S-1732
A-3295  McKeon, J.F. (D-27); Benson, D.R. (D-14);
Kennedy, J.J. (D-22)
Concerns low emission and zero emission vehicles;
establishes Clean Vehicle Task Force.
Related Bill: S-985
S-1986  Cruz-Perez, N. (D-5); Cunningham, S.B. (D-31)
Establishes “Milkweed for Monarchs” program.
Related Bill: A-2448

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Will sediment tests turn this river into a Superfund site?


A
federal contractor has finished collecting about 370 samples of sediment from
the Hackensack River to determine the extent of pollution in the riverbed and
whether it should become a Superfund site.

James M. O’Neill reports for The Record:

The contractor, using a 40-foot barge, gathered core samples from Newark Bay up past the Overpeck Creek for 10 weeks this summer. The data from the samples are just starting to trickle in to federally certified labs, and it’s too early to determine what the information will lead to.


“The data is still raw, so we can’t draw any conclusions yet,” said Michael Sivak, acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s special projects branch for the region.

Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper and the one who first petitioned the EPA to consider the Hackensack for Superfund status, said EPA officials have told him that Judith Enck, the EPA administrator for the region, wants to have a decision made one way or another about the Hackensack by year’s end, since no matter who wins the presidency, there will be a new administration in the White House in January.

“We’re certainly moving forward as quickly as we can, and we know that this project is a priority for many people, including Bill Sheehan and Administrator Enck,” Sivak said.

“However, we don’t anticipate all the data right away,” he said. “We need to validate the data, which can take several weeks, and we expect the information to be coming in through the fall and early winter. We don’t have a timetable for a decision, but we are working to do it as soon as possible.”

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