Industry News

Composting

Colorado law sets new labeling standard for compostable items

A Colorado law that went into effect July 1 establishes “truth-in-labeling” standards for compostable products, reports Colorado Public Radio.

Colorado Public Interest Research Group anti-plastics advocate Kelly Leviker says the goal of the law is to identify items that look compostable but aren't certified to break down in an industrial compost facility.

“What we’re hoping is that this law makes it very clear to people what is compostable and what’s not compostable,” Leviker says, “and once that becomes very clear to people, industrial composting facilities will then start to gain more confidence and accept these items.”

Driving the legislation is the rise of compostable packaging at restaurants and on store shelves. In reality, many lookalike noncompostable cups and takeout containers aren’t certified as compostable by the Biodegradable Product Institute, the leading labeling authority for North America, or the Compost Manufacturing Alliance, another certification group that works directly with compost processors.

Those look-alike products are one reason A1 Organics, the state’s largest industrial composting facility, banned anything other than yard waste and food scraps last year, according to the report. The policy limited local and state ambitions to divert waste away from landfills.

The new law requires a clear logo on certified compostable products, along with green color, tinting or telltale design patterns, and bans any other products from using green color schemes or labels like “biodegradable“ or “natural.”

The law also deputizes consumers as compost cops. If any product appears to violate the state’s new labeling standards, residents are encouraged to report it through an online form.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will review submissions and forward violations to the Attorney General’s Office, which could then enforce the law under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, seeking fines or requiring a company to change its business practices, CPR reports.

Conversion Technology

Lawsuit seeks RNG reevaluation

A coalition of some 200 truck and fleet-related companies and organizations has filed a lawsuit on behalf of renewable natural gas (RNG) users seeking changes to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final rule.

The Transport Project (TTP), a Washington-based organization comprised of vehicle and engine manufacturers and dealers, fleet operators, servicers and suppliers and fuel producers, objects to the EPA Phase 3 final rule on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

TTP has joined a growing list of goods movement interests, trades and energy and transportation organizations in filing the suit with the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. The suit accompanies a petition for reconsideration filed with the EPA in late June.

TTP says the waste and recyclables hauling industry contains more than 17,000 natural gas refuse and recycling trucks in its fleets, and about 60 percent of new collection trucks on order are powered by natural gas. The organization singles out Houston-based WM as one such vehicle owner, noting it has constructed nearly 200 natural gas stations, many of which are publicly accessible, and some of these dispensing facilities are fueled by 100 percent RNG sourced from the very landfills WM operates and maintains.

The interest group levels three charges against the EPA rule as it will be applied to RNG fleets: 1) it relies on incomplete data associated with the pace of compliant technology development and the related costs to fleets to comply; 2) it fails to acknowledge and incorporate provisions recognizing the significant emissions reduction benefits of renewable biofuels like RNG in reaching key emissions reduction targets; and 3) it ignores stakeholder requests and previous EPA commitments to include total life cycle assessment considerations.

“This final rule unfairly and capriciously manipulates outcomes to advance favored technologies,” says Jeffrey Clarke, TTP’s vice president of government and regulatory affairs and general counsel. “Instead of accelerating … clean vehicle technology development and reducing GHG emissions and other harmful pollutants, this regulatory action would slow that progress by discouraging fleets from continuing the phase-in of more natural gas-fueled trucks and accelerating more RNG use.

“The Transport Project supports federal action to decarbonize heavy-duty transportation,” Clark continues. “Despite our cordial engagement and fact-based submissions, the EPA continues to ignore data supporting the advancement of RNG motor fuel as a compliant option. We therefore take this step to provide the EPA another opportunity to correct this fatal error in its rule, or … to ensure the courts require EPA to evaluate all facts and address every submission before the agency.”

Research

SWANA offers analysis of Seattle's zero-waste effort

The Applied Research Foundation (ARF), which is part of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has authored and released a report examining the results of a zero-waste campaign conducted for several years by the city of Seattle.

ARF says its multipage report, “Zero Waste Programs: An Analysis of Seattle’s Performance Data,” takes an in-depth look at the impacts of that city’s zero-waste program initiatives. The report measures the total and per-capita recycling and disposal rates for the city’s four primary waste generation groups: single-family households, multifamily households, businesses and self-haulers.

In its 2021 fiscal year, Seattle diverted 53 percent of its municipal solid waste (MSW) from disposal through recycling initiatives, with single-family residents and commercial establishments recycling more than 60 percent of their discarded materials, according to SWANA.

Multifamily residents and self-haul customers had lower rates at 35 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Seattle aims to increase its overall recycling rate to 69 percent by 2040, with single-family and commercial recycling rates projected to rise by up to 15 percentage points.

According to ARF, that would entail single-family residents diverting 83 percent of their discards and commercial establishments diverting 78 percent.

“These rates would mark significant progress and set unprecedented benchmarks for waste management,” according to the organization.

The report’s executive summary indicates progress also will depend on “significant” increases (over 60 percent) in recycling rates achieved by the city’s multifamily residents and self-haul customers compared with 2021 rates.

“Both of these customer groups have historically achieved relatively low recycling rates for [several] reasons that include lack of recycling options for their wastes and/or high levels of inconvenience associated with their participation in source-separation recycling programs,” ARF adds.

The full report is available through the SWANA website store at https://store.swana.org to the association’s members free of charge and to nonmembers for $199.

“SWANA is optimistic that the data and analyses presented in this report will serve as invaluable resources for zero-waste planners in developing highly effective zero-waste systems,” SWANA Executive Director and CEO Amy Lestition Burke says.

“Drawing inspiration from the models established in cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose, we hope the report will inform and empower other communities,” she adds.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Certified Waste Solutions acquires Waste Control

Certified Waste Solutions, an Anaheim, California-based provider of vertically integrated managed waste services and a current portfolio company of Broadview Group Holdings and EXI Investment Partners, has acquired Waste Control Associates Inc., a company based in Costa Mesa, California.

Founded in 2010, Waste Control provides managed waste services, outsourced recycling services and related equipment to diverse customers across Southern California. The company creates custom waste management plans for customers in multifamily properties, manufacturing, food services and health care, among other sectors.

“We are excited for the Waste Control team to join us at Certified. This acquisition aligns perfectly with our strategic growth plan as we continue our commitment to excellence in valued services for our customers,” Waste Solutions CEO Shane Caswell says.

Certified Waste Solutions provides managed waste services through an outsourced service model to help customers achieve environmental, social and governance goals, provide a single point of contact for vendor management, improve sustainability performance and reporting, comply with waste regulations and achieve greater operational efficiency. In addition, the company operates three vertically integrated service centers that collect and process recyclables.

“Waste Control’s outstanding leadership and focus on customer service has earned the company an excellent reputation in its space,” Broadview co-founder and CEO Clay Hunter says. “We have been impressed with the company’s differentiation and are thrilled about the growth prospects a partnership with Waste Control and Certified brings to the platform.”

C&D

Midwest Cos. announces new C&D recycling facility

Midwest Cos., an Illinois-based sustainable waste management company, has opened its new construction and demolition (C&D) recycling facility in Hampshire, Illinois.

Midwest Cos. is a parent company operating a family of sustainable waste management brands, including Midwest Material Management (MMM), a business that provides demolition, recycling and industrial waste disposal services for the construction and railroad industries. The new facility expands MMM’s nonhazardous industrial waste recycling and disposal services to meet growing demand.  

“MMM has provided construction waste management solutions for more than 30 years, and our new 10-acre facility in Hampshire allows us to better serve our construction and railroad company partners,” Midwest Cos. founder and President Steve Berglund says. “With the Midwest family of brands, we’re uniquely positioned to provide innovative end-to-end disposal services that allow our customers to operate more sustainably and efficiently.”

Until spring 2022, MMM accepted and processed all nonhazardous C&D debris at its recycling facility in East Dundee, Illinois. The Hampshire facility moved and is currently located at 370 South Brier Hill Rd.—closer to I-90 for additional convenience.

The new facility includes 26,000 square feet dedicated to sorting waste and separating recyclables from nonrecyclable material. Construction and railroad companies can deposit waste and obtain industrial dumpsters or opt for MMM’s pickup and collection services.

MMM’s Hampshire location is LEED-certified, and the company has a history of sustainable leadership across its family of brands. Berglund was named a 2023 Notable Leader in Sustainability by Crain’s Chicago Business, an honor that recognizes the leadership of Midwest Cos. and its subsidiaries.

One of the company’s sub-brands is TiEnergy, a company that recycles and repurposes retired railroad ties. The ties are ground into Tieroc, a proprietary aggregate substitute that’s in high demand for landfill operations.

Organics

Organics Management builds multilocation composting business

Organics Management Holdings Inc. has made a series of acquisitions it says have been designed to shape itself as a new leader in the field of organics recycling.

In addition to disclosing four acquisitions, the Winter Garden, Florida-based company is involved in initiatives spanning from compost biotechnology to the development of high-quality soil amendments it notes are guided by a commitment to “safeguarding the planet and enhancing community well-being.”

The company was formed through the acquisition of several companies, including Florida-based CompostUSA, which operates three composting sites; its affiliate Southeast Soils, which provides custom made-to-order soil blends for nurseries and growers; LifeSoils, also based in Florida, which blends and markets the Comand line of gardening soils and other products to landscapers and lawn care companies; and Florida-based Harvest Quest, which conducts compost biotechnology research designed to improve and refine the composting process.

“We’ve had this vision for several years now and are excited to see it come together,” Organics Management CEO Kris Creeden says. “We’re still the same people, doing the same great work. But by creating this new company, we can learn from each other’s expertise and bring all our collective benefits to every customer. We believe together we can do so much more.”

By combining what it sees as the strengths and successes of the four companies, Organics Management is positioned to provide benefits on the product sales side through improved soil health, increased water conservation and more effective nutrient uptake.

“We took dozens of passionate people with decades of combined expertise from these highly successful businesses and united them as a single team working together under a new brand,” Managing Director Matt Biegler says. “This allows us to more effectively pursue our mission of gathering discarded organic material from our communities and recycling it into a valuable resource we can give back to the Earth.”

CompostUSA accepts postconsumer waste produced from restaurants, hospitality and other institutional food services and preconsumer byproducts generated by food retailers, food manufacturers and other corporate processing facilities.