Asphalt Company Saves $1M by Recycling
by Trey Granger

Almond & Son’s Asphalt, based in Richland, Wash., found a way to save $1 million in difficult economic times.

The company is recycling its own asphalt into new material and is now looking to recycle other businesses’ asphalt with its new 1.5-acre facility located next to the Richland Landfill.

Almond recycles the asphalt by heating it to temperatures exceeding 250 degrees, creating a liquid form that can either be used by the company or sold to other businesses.

Prior to its new facility, Almond was paying a separate company to recycle the waste material and then buying it back, which cost about $1 million in 2008.

“There’s an opportunity to take that material, not put it in a landfill, but to send it to some of these other businesses at the same time,” Kip Eagles, solid waste manager for the City, told The Tacoma News-Tribune.

Almond is just one of the businesses that will occupy 50 acres of land surrounding the landfill, also called the “Eco Park.” The City is currently in talks with a wood recycling company to build a facility in the area as well, according to The Tacoma News-Tribune.

The EPA estimates that the U.S. produces 170 million tons of construction and demolition (C&D) debris each year. This is equivalent to 30 percent of our overall waste, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

C&D debris not only includes building materials such as asphalt, steel beams and windows, but also potentially products that require special disposal processes, such as paint and smoke detectors.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Starbucks Takes Recycling to a Whole New Local Level
by Trey Granger

When you oversee more than 11,000 stores across the U.S., it’s easy to think of recycling on a national level. But for coffee retailer Starbucks the key lies in the availability of local recycling options.

Starbucks is currently working with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to determine what recycling barriers exist in each U.S. city and how to overcome them. Starbucks Director of Environmental Impact Jim Hanna even spoke at the annual U.S. Mayors Conference last week.

Addressing the situation from multiple angles, the coffee giant has already committed to developing a 100 percent recyclable cup by 2012, which will be recyclable with other paper.

But the company also wants to ensure that customers have access to recycling opportunities, such as in Seattle where the cups can be recycled in curbside programs. By working with U.S. mayors, Starbucks is hoping to reach its goal of recycling availability in 100 percent of its stores by 2015.

As part of this effort, Starbucks is currently keeping pace with community laws and programs for recycling. When San Francisco passed its mandatory composting ordinance last year, Starbucks added recycling and compost bins to the front of its San Francisco stores. It also began recycling coffee cups in Manhattan last year with help from Global Green USA.

In a 2005 waste audit, Starbucks found that 34 percent of its waste (by weight) was coffee grounds, which can be composted. Its paper waste (e.g. cardboard and newspaper) amounted to 25 percent, which can be recycled if the stores have access to paper recycling in their community.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com