Sweden-based aluminum producer Gränges has been approved to receive $975,000 in economic incentives to invest in expanding its Gränges Americas Inc. plant in Huntingdon, Tennessee. The new grant is part of a combined $2.9 million in incentives issued by Tennessee to the company to undertake a major expansion project in Huntingdon.

Tennessee’s State Funding Board approved the most recent economic development grant for Gränges Americas at a Monday, Nov. 26 meeting, according to an online report from AP.

In the United States, the Gränges Americas business unit operates three production sites, all in the southeastern U.S., with a combined production capacity of 200,000 metric tons, according to the company.

Gränges uses both primary and secondary raw materials in its production process, with the company saying it used 25 percent scrap materials at its U.S. facilities in 2017. The company produces rolled aluminum for what it terms niche markets, including heat exchangers used in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) market.

The Tennessee funding will help Gränges add some 165 jobs tied to a larger $110 million investment in Huntingdon, according to an economic development official quoted in the AP report.

A few years ago, the city of Berkeley, California, gave away cash for clean recyclables through a program called Trash for Cash. Derek Crutchfield, recycling coordinator for Public Works Department in Vallejo, California, was inspired to start his own program that rewards customers for good behavior.

“Vallejo wasn’t in the position to give away cash, so I came up with the idea of giving away a year of free garbage service," Crutchfield says. “This is actually the third time that we have done the program and it is always have been very popular.”

Each month, Crutchfield will randomly select a participant and go through their recyclables. If items in the trash and recycling bin are properly sorted, then the household will be rewarded with a year of free garbage pickup, or apartments and businesses are given a $1,000 discount through the incentive program, Recycling Rewards.

“We have a recycling rewards yard sign that is placed in the winner’s yard so that all the neighbors can see that they won, which encourages participation,” Crutchfield says. “However, if there is contamination in the recycling cart or we find recyclables in the garbage, we leave a letter explaining why we could not reward them, and we provide them with information regarding how to recycle properly. This really is a good outreach tool.”

The year-long program started in 2014 in recognition of America Recycles Day Nov. 15. Recology, California, decided to offer the program again this year due to high contamination levels, Crutchfield says. In addition, the city is trying to ramp up mandatory commercial and organics recycling efforts.

Municipalities and solid waste companies are using different strategies across the nation to reduce contamination levels.

The city of Akron, Ohio, has also started inspecting and tagging recycling bins that contain materials not permitted in the program. The second time a bin is tagged, the bin will be taken away along with a discount the city provides to residents, according to a news report.

Recology has also conducted a “flip the lid" inspection program, but curbside inspections are labor intensive and “only address the contamination in the recycling cart,” Crutchfield says.

“The recycling rewards program requires that no trash be in the resident’s recyclable cart and no recyclables in the garbage cart,” he says.

While inspecting bins over the years, Crutchfield has been able to address common recycling mistakes. He adds the chasing arrow symbol is the “biggest hindrance” due to unclear messaging.

He says, "When residents see it, they automatically think that contain, plastic bag, Styrofoam cup are recyclable, but there are several disposable materials that have that chasing arrow symbol that are not recyclable."

Recology will give away 12 “packages” of a year of free garbage service through the program.

Of the recycling incentive program, Crutchfield says, “Participation level is high, and the residents really love this program.”

Also, Crutchfield says China’s National Sword Policy was a “driving force” behind hosting this program. In response to National Sword, he says he hopes the program will address some contamination issues at the city’s material recovery facility (MRF). Also, this time of year he says there tends to be even higher contamination rates. 

“Contamination is high and has been for a while,” he says. “We have found that contamination levels are especially high during holiday season because residents tend to use their recycling carts as overflow for their garbage cans.” 

The city also hopes to increase commercial recycling rates, Crutchfield says, which goes alongside its efforts to meet mandatory commercial recycling and mandatory organics recycling efforts. 

“Recycling rewards is an outreach tool that allows us to see the common recycling mistakes that residents are making,” he adds.

Eriez, Pennsylvania, has promoted Tim Gland to the newly created position of vice president and general manager, according to an announcement from Eriez president and CEO Tim Shuttleworth.

Gland has been with the company since 2014, serving mostly as director of Erie operations.

As vice president and general manager, Gland will continue to serve as a member of the company’s corporate executive team, while expanding his leadership role as he oversees all Eriez U.S. operations.

“In his time at Eriez, Tim has been instrumental in improving production, quality and processes throughout the company, especially in terms of our growing Xtreme metal detection and Quick Ship programs,” Shuttleworth says.

Before joining Eriez, Gland worked for Lord Corporation as director-chemical and mechanical operations, where he was responsible for multiple manufacturing facilities in North America. He graduated from Purdue University and went on to obtain a master’s degree in business administration from The Pennsylvania State University.

The Canadian national government has set its sights on reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills by 50 percent by the year 2040. The announcement was made after the annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, where federal, provincial and territorial environment ministers also agreed to push forward on a nationwide strategy toward zero plastic waste.  

Government officials say that in 2014, every Canadian threw out, on average, more than 1,500 pounds of waste. The waste-reduction goal adopted during the meeting aims to reduce that number by 30 percent per person by 2030, with the 50 percent reduction goal set for 2040. Officials say the goal will protect the environment while generation more than 85,000 jobs and $4.2 billion gross domestic product (GDP) by 2040. They also predict it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 16 million short tons.

Key points of the strategy outlined at the meeting include:

• ensuring all plastic products and packaging are designed for greater durability, reuse, and recycling throughout the value chain;
• working with companies that make products containing plastics or using plastic packaging to shift responsibility to them for the improvement of plastic-waste collection, management systems and infrastructure across Canada;
• expanding collection systems to keep all plastic products in the economy and out of the environment;
• significantly increasing the responsible use and recycling of single-use products;
• improving understanding of the issue and solutions through research and innovation; and
• taking action to capture and remove the plastic litter found on shorelines and in nearshore waters.

Ministers agreed to continue to work over the coming year with all levels of government, Indigenous communities, industry, and other stakeholders to develop an action plan to implement the strategy for zero plastic waste.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment is the primary minister-led intergovernmental forum for collective action on environmental issues of national and international concern. The Council seeks to achieve positive environmental results, focusing on issues that are Canada-wide in scope and that require collective attention. The government of Canada has made plastic pollution reduction one of its main initiatives in the past few years, including the launch of the international Ocean Plastics Charter, which aims to reduce single-use plastic consumption.