Pennsylvania Announces Recycling Grant Recipients

“Recycling is a growth industry with many kinds of business opportunities, from waste management to manufacturing to inventing new technologies,” Governor Rendell said. “These grants give residents greater access to waste reduction and recycling opportunities, helping to ensure a healthy environment and strong economy.”

The state grants reimburse local governments for the cost of municipal recycling and composting programs. Pennsylvania’s recycling program, created under Act 101 of 1988, mandates recycling in the state’s larger municipalities and requires counties to develop municipal waste management plans.

“This money provides much-needed funding for communities that have mandated recycling programs,” Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said. “These grants also ensure that recycling continues to be a strong contributor to Pennsylvania’s economy.”

Pennsylvania’s recycling industry is a leader in employment, payroll and sales numbers. More than 3,247 recycling and reuse businesses and organizations generate more than $18.4 billion in gross annual sales and provide jobs for more than 81,322 employees at an annual payroll of approximately $2.9 billion. These businesses add more than $305 million in taxes to the state treasury.

In 2004, nearly 4.8 million tons of municipal waste was recovered in Pennsylvania. The economic value of remaking that waste into new and useful products exceeded $113 million. Communities avoided more than $259 million in disposal costs based on the estimated statewide average disposal cost of $54 per ton.

The state’s recycling programs are supported by a $2 tipping fee on each ton of waste deposited in Pennsylvania landfills. However, that fee runs only through 2008. Governor Rendell is working with the Legislature to extend that deadline so the commonwealth continues to enjoy the economic and environmental benefits of recycling.

Governor Rendell also announced the availability of the 2006 round of Recycling Development and Implementation Grants. Municipalities are eligible for 90 percent funding of approved recycling program costs. Grants of up to $500,000 are available. Applications must be received or postmarked by Oct. 20, 2006.

The following is a list by county of the $20 million awarded in recycling grants:

Securit Taps SAP for Information Flow and Business Process Improvements

Securit announced the completion of the initial six-month phase of a two-year business system implementation with SAP Canada.

The company is replacing its previous combination of legacy financials and branch systems with mySAPTM ERP, mySAPTM Customer Relationship Management and SAP NetWeaver® Portal. Using the SAP® ASAP Focus methodology and SAP® Best Practices, the first deployment phase was marked by 30 per cent to 50 per cent reductions in implementation times and costs.

 “We were looking for a partner that could provide an end-to-end solution including software, IT resources and a safe, predictable and value-based implementation approach,” said Delvin Fletcher, chief information officer, Securit. ”We found the answer in SAP. Once we made our core vendor decision, SAP Consulting helped to ensure the project’s success through both implementation guidance and resources and strategic support as we designed and then implemented the first phase of our new generation business process architecture.”

“With the success and growth that Securit has seen over the past two decades, it needed a business system that could support where it is now and where it will be 10 and even 20 years from now,” said Robert Courteau, president and managing director, SAP Canada. “The first phase of the implementation has already started to show significant benefits, and once complete, Securit will have a complete enterprise system that’s capable of adapting to the company’s needs and growing with its business.”

The complete upgrade to Securit’s systems will be completed by the end of next year. The first phase of the new enterprise strategy has already consolidated eight disparate general ledgers into one, improved call center performance and enhanced operational efficiencies by using SAP software. Click here to see the list of recipients, as well as dollar amounts.