The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has reached an agreement with Sturgis Iron and Metal Co. Inc. on alleged clean-air violations at the company's secondary aluminum production plant in South Bend, Ind.

The agreement, which includes a $29,059 penalty, resolves EPA allegations that Sturgis operated a sweat furnace with an afterburner at the facility without complying with certain federal testing, planning, notification and recordkeeping requirements. These requirements are designed to ensure that the furnace meets emission standards for hazardous dioxins and furans.

The National Association for PET Container Resources and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers have jointly announced that 1.272 billion pounds of Polyethylene Terephthalate bottles were collected in the United States last year, the highest PET container collection volume recorded to date and a 9 percent increase over 2005. (To view the full report click on the following link -- 2006 PET Recycling Report)

This collection volume contributed to a recycling rate of 23.5 percent, marking the third year of recycling rate increase. The volume of PET containers available for recycling in the U.S. also grew in 2006 to 5.424 billion pounds, a 7 percent increase over 2005.

"We’re pleased to partner with NAPCOR on this important report," said Bill O’Grady, APR chairman and president of Talco Plastics. "APR is committed to increasing the recycling of PET and to supporting the use of products manufactured with recycled PET."

The report also details the end-uses for the 855 million pounds of recycled PET used in U.S. manufacturing applications

"It is encouraging to see another increase in the volume of containers collected in 2006 and in the PET recycling rate," said Gerri Walsh, NAPCOR chairwoman and director, Packaging Industry Affairs, Ball Corp. "We are committed to working with our industry partners to promote and encourage the recycling of PET containers to meet the increased demand from the manufacturing applications that use recycled PET. The use of recycled feedstock supports a more sustainable, energy-efficient manufacturing chain with reduced greenhouse gas emissions."

New York City’s City Council has introduced legislation requiring the recycling of plastic bags at retail stores throughout the city. The bill was introduced by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as several council members.

The bill would apply to any store in New York City that occupies 5,000 or more square feet and provides plastic carryout bags to consumers.

"If we want to get serious about improving our environment, we need to look at major sources of non bio-degradable waste," said Quinn. "This legislation will remove a significant number of bags from our waste stream, before they end up polluting our soil and water. It will also reduce the number of new bags produced from scratch, cutting down on the unnecessary use of oil that pollutes our air and creates greenhouse gases." The legislation would require store operators to do the following

Establish an in-store recycling program in which they provide a collection bin for plastic carryout bags in a visible location near the entrance;

Stock only plastic bags that have the words "PLEASE RETURN THIS BAG TO A PARTICIPATING STORE FOR RECYCLING" printed on them in letters at least three inches in height;

Make available for purchase reusable bags that can be used instead of plastic or paper bags;

Submit annual reports to the Department of Sanitation on the amount of plastic bags that are collected, transported and recycled, the costs of these efforts, and any other information required by the Commissioner.

"This is legislation that makes environmental and economic sense for New York," said NRDC Urban Program co-director Eric A. Goldstein. "Plastic bags, which are made from nonrenewable petroleum resources, are used for a matter of hours before they are discarded. But they create environmental burdens that last for hundreds of years."

Plastic bag legislation in other states and municipalities has generally been more limited in scope. For example, the recent ban on plastic bags in San Francisco only affects approximately 50 businesses throughout the city; the Council’s legislation is estimated to affect over 700 food stores alone, as well as many other retailers in New York City.

Nova Scotia

An End-of-Life Electronics Stewardship Program for Nova Scotia is scheduled to launch on February 1, 2008 and part of the necessary infrastructure will require a minimum of one consolidation facility in Nova Scotia to receive all program materials collected from at least 33 drop-off sites. At this facility, all program materials, including TVs, monitors, computers (including keyboards, mice, cables, etc.) and printers will be readied for transfer on-site or transported to one or more primary processing facilities – the third key infrastructure component. The primary processor(s) will be responsible for ensuring that all program materials reach a point of final processing utilizing further (downstream) processors as required.

Click here to view the bid -- http://www.gov.ns.ca/tenders/pt_files/tenders/60160631.pdf  

South Carolina

Service contract to provide "on-site" confidential shredding and recycling of paper for SC DHEC Region 5 (Aiken, Calhoun, Allendale, Barnwell, Bamberg, & Orangeburg Counties

Click here to view the RFQ -- http://www.scdhec.net/procurement/uploads/10228_RFQ-SHRED-EDISTO.pdf  

Pinellas County, Fla.

Click here to view the bid: http://www.pinellascounty.org/purchase/PDF/067_0790_B(MW)BID.pdf  

Deadline Nov. 1

Document Type: Special Notice

Solicitation Number: FA4407-08-T-0001

Current Response Date: Dec 07, 2007

Set Aside: Total Small Business

NAICS Code: 562920 -- Materials Recovery Facilities

Contracting Office Address: Department of the Air Force, Air Mobility Command, 375th Contracting Squadron, 201 East Winters Street Building 50, Scott AFB, IL, 62225-5015

This synopsis is notification of the 375th Contracting Squadron, Scott AFB, IL, intent to award a contract for Light Bulb Recycling. A solicitation will be posted on or around 07 Nov 07. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses will be those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-20, effective 06 Sep 07. AFFARS 5352.201-9101, Ombudsman, applies and is available at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/.

This will be solicited as a Small Business Set-Aside. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 562920. The SBS size standard is $11.5 million. The solicitation will be available at http://fbo.gov/. Potential offerors MUST register at http://fbo.gov/ in order to receive notification and/or changes to the solicitation.

Potential offerors are responsible for monitoring this site for the release of the solicitation package and any other pertinent information and for downloading their own copy of the solicitation package. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract nor does it obligate the Government to pay for any bid/proposal preparation costs.

All interested parties MUST be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database in order to receive a contract award.

Register on-line at https://www.ccr.gov/.  If you have any questions please contact 2d Lt Gregg Chilson at (618) 256-9262 or at gregg.chilson@scott.af.mil.

You may also contact Marcia Wuebbels at (618) 256-9308 or at marcia.wuebbels@scott.af.mil.

Solicitation Number: VA-69D-08-RP-0031

Current Response Date: Oct 26, 2007

NAICS Code: 562111 -- Solid Waste Collection

Contracting Office Address: Department of Veterans Affairs;GLAC (69D);5000 W. National Ave; Milwaukee WI 53295-0005

Description: The Great Lakes Acquisition Center is soliciting proposals to provide all labor, material, tools, and equipment to provide Recycling and On-Site Document Destructions Services to Hines VA Hospital.

All work will be performed at the Hines VA Campus, which is located at 5th and Roosevelt Road in Hines, IL.

Contract type is firm-fixed price and is unrestricted. NACIS Code is 562111 with a size standard of 11.5 Million. Anticipated period of performance is on or about January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008 with four options to extend. The solicitation and specifications will be issued and made available free of charge on or about September 28, 2007 at the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website: http://www.fedbizopps.gov. Any amendments to this solicitation will also be available at the URL addresses. Offerors are advised that they are responsible for obtaining amendments.

Point of Contact: Willie Forrest Contracting Officer 414-902-5425 willie.forrest@va.gov.

To view the RFP click on the following link -- http://www.fbo.gov/spg/VA/VAGLHS/VAGLHCS/VA-69D-08-RP-0031/Attachments.html