A multinational metal trading company said it is willing to invest millions of dollars into recycling equipment on Guam, if they get a promise from the government to make the venture a public-private partnership.

Paul Spranger, director and general manager of Balli Klockner Asia Ltd., said he envisions Guam becoming "a regional hub for recycling," with all islands in Micronesia shipping their waste to Guam to be processed.

No island in the region has a large enough population to produce the amount of waste necessary to support a major recycling facility by itself, but the islands' combined waste would be sufficient to support one, according to Spranger. He said the facility would create a new export industry for Guam, generating jobs and cleaning up the island.

"We would be happy to invest the amount of money necessary for removing the metal and all other waste material, but we need a sound framework, and this framework has to be provided by the community," said Spranger, whose company would join with the local Ko'ku Recycling to process the waste.

According to David Bell, director of communications for Ko'ku, the company would buy a multi-million dollar metallic shredder, and then import scrap metal from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

"With this economy of scale, it would allow us to recycle other things, like plastics, that aren't as profitable to be recycled," Bell said. "Guam should be the hub because it's larger and has more infrastructure than the other islands, and is more advanced in many ways."

Three bills are on the table at the Legislature right now that would create the foundation for a private-public collaboration:

Bill 93 would create a "recycling enterprise zone" at the commercial port for private recycling companies;

Bill 96 would impose disposal fees on automobiles and white goods, which includes most appliances; and

Bill 100 would create a municipal recycling program, which would install recycling bins in each village.

Bill 100 was sponsored by Sen. Tina Muna-Barnes, D-Mangilao, and Sen. Rory Respicio, D-Ordot/Chalan Pago, introduced Bills 93 and 96.

Respicio said the time is ripe for some sound environmental legislation, and disposal fees are necessary to solve the problem in the right way.

"The community pays these expenses anyway. We can either pay for it with disposal fees or pay for it through some enormously costly environmental disaster," he said.

Shawn Gumataotao, spokesman for Gov. Felix Camacho, said that rather than imposing fees to get rid of the island's automobiles and white goods, a better method would be an educational campaign.

"We are confident that when people realize just how easy it is to separate trash and recycle, that there may not be a need to regulate the process and unfairly burden our people with additional fees," Gumataotao said.

But Ko'ku Recycling owner Benny Bello said fees are simply a matter of the community taking responsibility for its waste.

"It's not a free ride because somebody's got to pay in the end," Bello said. "And we're paying for it now, because now we're in a bad situation with the federal EPA -- we're talking about millions of dollars in fines."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice have sued the government of Guam to force it to close Ordot dump, which is a Superfund site, a designation given to the worst toxic waste sites in the United States, according to Pacific Daily News files.

If negotiations go the wrong way for Guam, the government could be hit with fines from $25,000 to $27,500 per day, retroactive to 1986, though federal officials have said their main goal is to close the dump rather than to assess fines.

Paul Tobiason, a member of the Recycling Association of Guam, said he supports the bills.

Operators of Enviro Depots around Nova Scotia made the switch back to full-time hours this weekend, ending a nine-day protest for a bigger share of the recycling revenue.

Bruce Rogers, executive director of the Eastern Recyclers Association, said his members remain frustrated, but said they don’t want to inconvenience the public any further.

“The customers have responded tremendously; they’re behind us,” he said. “We think we’ve made our point; we’ve brought awareness to the situation.”

Recyclers earn 2.95 cents per recycled container that is brought to them. They want an increase in each of the next five years to bring them to 4.2 cents per empty.

Rogers said his organization, which represents most of the province’s 87 depot operators, met with the Resource Recovery Fund Board in Truro on Friday, May 9^th.

The board is a not-for-profit group that administers the system at arms length from the provincial government.

Rogers said the board didn’t have make any kind of offer regarding compensation, and instead asked for more information.

That upset the recyclers, who say they filed an economic assessment of their demands in February.

“We’ve been at this now for the last eight months, asking for the increase that we’re looking for,” he said. “All they’re doing is stalling us ... it’s disrespectful and, basically, it’s insulting.”

No one from the Resource Recovery Fund could be reached for comment.

Rogers said the recyclers will focus their efforts on the provincial government, asking the public for help through petition campaigns.

Environment Minister Ron Russell said the recyclers should direct their efforts at the Resource Recovery Fund, not the province.

“I’m delighted that they are re-opening. They do provide an essential service for the public,” he said yesterday.

But Russell said it’s unlikely the province will step in to influence the decision of the board.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an imminent and substantial endangerment order to Lawson Brother's Enterprises to stop the facility from burning solid waste at its Thermal, Calif., site.

The site -- in an air pollution non-attainment area for fine particulate matter and ozone – is violating a federal law banning open burning. Under the order, the facility must stop the open burning of solid waste, install fencing and warning signs, and identify and mitigate the dangers caused by open burning.

In 1999 the EPA issued a notice of violation to the operators that was ignored. The EPA found elevated levels of dioxin at the site during inspections last spring.

Particulate matter includes dust, smoke, fly ash and condensing vapors that can be suspended in the air for long periods of time. When inhaled, these microscopic particles can lodge in the lungs and affect respiratory function. Chronic exposure to high levels of particulate matter can cause respiratory disease, lung damage and possibly premature death.  The elderly, children, and people with chronic lung disease, influenza, and asthma are especially sensitive to high levels of particulate matter.

The Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC), Rolling Meadows, Ill., has recently celebrated its ninth annual Boxing Days recycling event. 

Boxing Days is a grassroots, community event encouraging consumers to recycle their leftover corrugated boxes after the holiday season.

Boxing Days 2003 participating communities included Hot Springs, Arkansas; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Morristown/Hamblen County, Tennessee.  Each participating community has promoted Boxing Days for several consecutive years. Since the program’s introduction in 1994-95, 11 North American communities have participated. 

Events are designed to increase public support for recycling corrugated boxes and packaging.  Consumers today are justifiably concerned about disposable packaging’s impact on the environment.  The beauty of corrugated packaging is that it is widely and repeatedly recyclable – more than 75 percent was recovered for recycling in 2000.  Market demand for old corrugated containers (OCC) is consistently strong because paper mills need the recovered fiber to make new corrugated board.

The corrugated industry is not satisfied with its commendable 75 percent recovery rate, even though it far surpasses that of other package materials. The industy estimates that approximately 95 percent of corrugated could be recycled, if more consumers and businesses shared in that goal.   

Boxing Days events help remind consumers and local businesses that their used boxes can and should be recycled.   Corrugated cardboard's useful life extends far beyond its shipping destination, as it can be recycled over and over again into new, equally durable and protective corrugated boxes for shipping more products wherever they need to go.

To support community Boxing Days events, the corrugated industry provides educational materials and information about recycling.  They also coordinate local publicity to help promote participation.

Nationwide, community interest in Boxing Days continues to grow each year.  The program’s popularity has compelled the CPC to begin redesigning the event for wider, future implementation.  A newly transformed Boxing Days format will be announced later this year for future holiday seasons. 

 For more information, or to provide suggestions for the new Boxing Days format, contact the Corrugated Packaging Council (Cheryl Young, 401-884-3701 or Heather Marshall, 847-364-9600).  Boxing Days information can also be found online at www.corrugated.org. 

The Corrugated Packaging Council (CPC) is a non-partisan coalition that develops and coordinates industry-wide programs to address corrugated packaging issues.  The Council is sponsored by the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC) and the Fibre Box Association (FBA).