| Buy It Again ! |
| Buy Recycled Satellite Forum
to be Launched by USEPA
On November 9, 1999, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will present a national satellite forum entitled "Buying Recycled: The Real Story about Cost, Availability and Quality." This free, interactive program is designed to provide businesses, governments and other organizations with insights on ways to purchase quality, competitively priced recycled products. This forum is being presented by EPA’s WasteWise program and the Buy Recycled Business Alliance, a partnership of the National Recycling Coalition, Inc. This satellite program will provide viewers with tips on reviewing product specifications and testing procedures, identifying cost competitive quality products with recycled content, setting up cooperative purchasing, and exploring the feasibility of closed-loop systems. Panelists will discuss how they went about purchasing commonly used items, such as various paper and office products, as well as less frequently purchased items, including retread tires, plastic lumber, construction/remodeling products and compost. The New Jersey Buy Recycled Business Network will serve as host at the various New Jersey satellite sites (yet to be determined) and will provide those in attendance with an introduction to the Network and its activities. Site specific information will be provided in the near future to Network members, as well as other interested parties. Contact Marie Kruzan of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers at 908-722-7575 or Steven Rinaldi of the NJDEP, Bureau of Recycling and Planning at 609-984-3438 for future updates. (Source: USEPA’s WasteWise webpage, www.epa.gov/wastewise) Coming Soon to a Theater Near You… Movie reviewers have called it bigger and better than "Star Wars – The Phantom Menace!" Ticket holders have been lined up outside of movie theaters for weeks in anticipation. What is this blockbuster, you ask? Why, it’s the release of the NJDEP’s "Buy Recycled" promotional message to be shown at movie theaters throughout New Jersey in August and September, 1999. The message, which features a group of children and reads "For Their Future…Buy Recycled Today," will be shown prior to the start of movies on approximately 435 screens across the state. Running in conjunction with this message will be another promotional piece that congratulates and thanks New Jersey residents for achieving a 60% recycling rate. Did You Know…
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IBM’s New PC is Constructed with 100% Recycled Plastic IBM has unveiled a personal computer made from 100 percent recycled plastic resin from discarded computer parts – a breakthrough the company calls a first step in examining the use of commercially available recycled resins for use in the company’s product lines. The IntelliStation E Pro CPU, which will feature Intel’s new Pentium III microprocessor, was converted from a virtually new product to a recycling success story at IBM’s manufacturing facilities in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. With an estimated retail price of $2,155, it’s also a large financial obligation for the buyer. According to a company representative, however, the computers do not cost more because of the recycled materials. In fact, IBM indicates that one of the system’s eight recycled parts is actually 20 percent less expensive to manufacture. Each unit contains about 3.5 pounds of plastic. Around the world, IBM Worldwide Materials Recovery Centers process large amounts of plastic waste. The computer company won an award last year for its recycling efforts from the Society of Plastic Engineers. (Sources: Waste Dynamics Northeast, April, 1999 and The Official RPG Reporter, March, 1999) "Green" Building and Fannie Mae – Perfect Together Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages, and the National Association of Home Builders recently announced a new program that would provide special mortgage financing for homes built using environmentally responsible "green" building criteria. Among other things, "green" building encompasses the use of recycled products and the efficient use of resources, such as energy and water. The program will be developed and tested in six pilot cities (Atlanta, GA, Columbus, OH, Albuquerque, NM, Denver, CO, Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA). Going Beyond the Purchase of Recycled Products New Reports Address the Next Steps While the purchase of recycled products by government, businesses and the citizenry is essential to the continued success of local and national recycling efforts, two new reports have been issued that address purchasing strategies that go beyond the procurement of recycled products. A United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) report entitled "Private Sector Pioneers – How Companies are Incorporating Environmentally Preferable Purchasing" highlights the many ways in which companies are incorporating environmental considerations into their purchasing decisions along with such traditional factors as product price and performance. Companies highlighted in the report, including Network member PSE&G, demonstrate how consideration of environmental factors lead not only to environmental gains but to economic gains, as well. Contact the USEPA at 202-260-1023 or at www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp for further information. "Purchasing Strategies to Prevent Waste and Save Money", published by the Source Reduction Forum of the National Recycling Coalition, Inc. (NRC) in cooperation with Inform, Inc., focuses on purchasing strategies that reduce the amount of waste generated and improve resource efficiency. This concept, known as source reduction procurement, is also explored through the use of case studies. The report demonstrates that adoption of this strategy yields both environmental and economic benefits. Contact the NRC at 703-683-9025 or at www.nrc-recycle.org for further information.
New Jersey Buy Recycled Business Network Editor: Steven Rinaldi |