Glass Recycling Advocate Gains Leadership Post

North Carolina Speaker of the House Joe Hackney has been sworn in as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), a bipartisan organization that provides research and technical assistance and acts as an advocate for states in the American federal system on behalf of the nation’s 7,382 state lawmakers.

Speaker Hackney was sworn into office during a ceremony at the NCSL Legislative Summit in New Orleans. He will remain in the post for a 12-month term.

During the 2005 legislative session, Speaker Hackney authored North Carolina House Bill 1518, which required holders of certain Alcoholic Beverage Control permits to separate, store and recycle all recyclable beverage containers. The bill was amended in 2007, ratified as House Bill 267 and went into effect January 1, 2008.

The glass container manufacturing industry and other glass-based industries and recyclers have seen an increase in quality material as a result of this law, according to the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI).

Initial diversion and recycling figures are expected to be published by the North Carolina Department of Pollution and Environmental Assistance, the state agency that oversees this program, in the fall of 2008.

Speaker Hackney, a Democrat, succeeds Delaware Representative Donna Stone, a Republican, to the post of NCSL president. The position alternates between the two parties each year.