The battery recycling firm RSR Corp., Dallas, has announced the activation of the wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) air emissions control system at its Indianapolis secondary lead smelting operations.

The company says the installation will improve the environment, create green jobs and make the facility one of the cleanest lead battery recycling facilities in the world.

"Our company firmly believes in sustained environmental improvement and going above and beyond what is required by federal and state laws,” says A.J. Williams, vice president and plant manager of Quemetco Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of RSR Corp. “Installing WESP at our Indianapolis facility is a demonstration of our commitment to the environment and to this community. We believe WESP technology should be the standard for all lead battery recycling facilities and we urge EPA to take the necessary steps to make that happen."

RSR says WESP technology can be implemented to remove multiple types of acid gases and particulate matter. The battery recycling process emits both kinds of materials and, with WESP, Quemetco can virtually eliminate emissions of lead, arsenic and other pollutants, the company says.

RSR invested $25 million to retrofit its battery recycling facility in Indianapolis. RSR first installed the WESP technology at its Quemetco, Calif., facility four years ago, where it has dramatically lowered emissions of lead, arsenic and other pollutants.

The installation took nearly 12 months to install the WESP technology.

Robert Finn, president and CEO of RSR, says the decision to invest in the secondary smelter follows the company’s belief that it has to be as diligent as possible in reducing emissions at the plants. “We want to make sure we aren’t harming anyone,” Finn says. “Our goal is to get the emissions down to zero.”

The WESP technology is an “off-the-shelf” technology that can be used by any company, Finn says.

According to RSR, WESP technology has reduced lead emissions to 1 percent of their previous levels - from 614.96 pounds emitted per year to less than 5 pounds per year. The company says it also reduced more than 90 percent of arsenic, nickel and cadmium emissions generated at the plant.

RSR says it expects to install WESP technology at its Middleton, N.Y., secondary smelter facility next. Finn says the company has begun doing engineering work at the New York smelter and expects the project to be completed within 14 months.

Government Liquidation, the exclusive channel for surplus and scrap assets from the Department of Defense, will auction the USS Long Beach for the vessel’s scrap metal components. When it was commissioned in 1961 the USS Long Beach was the first nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser.

The cruiser, presently located at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., contains roughly 7.35 million pounds of steel, aluminum and copper wiring; gallery equipment; and fixtures and furnishings, including tables, chairs, lockers and bunks.

The auction will begin July 10, 2012, and close on July 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Government Liquidation, headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., will start accepting bids on the ship through its online marketplace at www.govliquidation.com.

“As a recognized cost saver and solution provider for the DoD (Department of Defense), we are prepared to find the cruiser a home through our global base of over 34,000 professional scrap buyers,” says Tom Burton, president of Government Liquidation. “We receive 20-30 million pounds of scrap metal per month at military installations across the country, which are then identified, sorted and prepared for sale. Our top priority on each scrap sale, from a pallet of mixed metals to the USS Long Beach, remains on maximizing efficiency and recovery value for our government partner while adhering to safety, environmental and security compliance.”

More information on the auction, including photos and placing bids, is available at www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=5401919&convertTo=USD.

Recycling Reinvented, a Shoreview, Minn.-based nonprofit that says it is committed to advancing recycling of packaging and printed paper though an extended producer responsibility (EPR) model, has named Melissa Innes, a retiring Maine state representative, as its outreach director.

In naming Innes its outreach director, Recycling Reinvented says its goal is to create an efficient recycling model, which can better meet the needs of the American marketplace by increasing recycling rates, reducing government spending and using private sector efficiencies to reduce the overall cost of recycling.

Recycling Reinvented works with brand owners, packaging manufacturers, processors, material recovery facilities, haulers, labor and local and state governments.

"As the author of successful EPR legislation in Maine with a proven ability to bridge the needs of business and the public, Melissa Innes is a great addition to our team," says Paul Gardner, executive director at Recycling Reinvented. "I look forward to working with her to continue building the movement to support EPR for packaging in the U.S."

Innes has served on Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, promoting the sustainable management of materials.

"Our current recycling system is not keeping up pace with supply and demand. With EPR, many nations have achieved recycling rates that double those in the United States," says Innes, "They have accomplished this when government sets a goal and gives the private sector flexibility to meet it. There is incredible opportunity for U.S. manufacturers to adopt a similar approach, and even go beyond increasing recycling rates."

The electronics recycling company AnythingIT Inc., based in Fair Lawn, N.J., has reported that it is now e-Stewards and ISO 9001 certified.

The e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronics was developed by the Basel Action Network (BAN), Seattle. To become an e-Steward certified recycler an electronics recycling firm must be certified by independent auditors, or certification bodies, that are specially trained and accredited to audit to the e-Stewards Standards. The on-site audits are performed at least once per year.

The ISO 9001 standard contains requirements for a quality management system and process whereby an organization must demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements.

David Bernstein, AnythingIT CEO, says, "We are proud and excited to be one of the few certified recyclers to hold the e-Stewards, ISO9001, ISO14001 and R2 (Responsible Recycling Practices) certifications. We believe that the standards we implement in our business reflect our passion for doing things right for both our customers and the environment."