Today we are pleased to be traveling only a few short blocks to attend the Michigan Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference here in Ann Arbor!  This one-day conference will take place on the North Campus Research Complex at the University of Michigan.

Resource Recycling Systems is proud to be Turquoise Sponsors for this year’s event. In addition, Russ Schifferly will be giving a poster presentation on “Evaluating a Pharmaceutical Waste Collection Program.” Poster and Networking times will be from 7:30-8:30am and 1:15-1:45pm.  Stop by the RRS poster to meet Russ!

Many speakers will focus on this year’s theme including RRS Principal and COO, Nicole Chardoul who will speak on “Waste Stream Reduction, Recycling and Cost Savings within Healthcare Facilities,” Wednesday at 4:30pm.  Don’t miss this opportunity to learn tips on reducing your waste stream or just stop by to say hello!

A lot of exciting progress in recycling and sustainability is happening in the healthcare world, and we are excited to be a part of this conference!

Carton Council is a proud Sponsor of the 2011 Paper Recycling Conference and Trade Show. We will be set up in the exhibitor hall at booth #55 with a great team, ready to answer all of your questions about Carton Recycling. Carton Council’s Jeff Fielkow and Jim Birmingham, along with RRS’s newest consultant Kris Kaar, will all attend the conference this week. Stop by our booth to learn about the carton recycling initiative and our latest work in communities across the country, or just to say hello. Not only will you learn about how to recycle cartons in your area, but you will walk away with a free carton of wine. Don’t miss this give-away and make sure you recycle your empty carton!

Although Carton Council won’t be speaking at this conference, we are hosting a webinar on Tuesday, October 25 (you can register here). We look forward to meeting you in Chicago!

Carton Council is a proud Bronze Sponsor of the 2011 Resource Recycling Conference. We will be set up in the exhibitor hall at booth #403 with a great support team available throughout the show. Carton Council’s Victor Storelli, along with RRS’s CEO Jim Frey, Principal Marty Seaman, and project assistant Maeva Silveira, are all at the conference this week. Come stop by our booth for information about carton recycling, or just to say hello!

Jim Frey is presenting Building Carton Recycling Access Nationwide on Thursday, August 18 at 10:30am during the Lightning Round. The Lightning Round features eight speakers on a variety of topics in recycling. It will certainly be a unique session – check it out if you’re at the conference.

We are enjoying our stay in Indianapolis so far and we look forward to meeting everyone there!

The conference which began on June 6^th features an exhibit hall, networking events around Springfield, and educational sessions including RRS’s principal, Marty Seaman who presented on “Building Carton Recycling Access Nationwide.”  The presentation, which took place June 7^th, was designed to explain the Carton Council initiative on expanding not only carton recycling knowledge but accessibility of carton recycling nationwide.  To assist with this, attendees received “Commit to Carton” pledge cards that can be exchanged at the booth for a unique carton gift.

In addition to exchanging pledge cards, attendees are encouraged to stop by booths 28 & 29 to meet Anna Collinson to talk about how RRS can help provide sustainable waste and recycling services to their community.

Want to indulge in some delicious wine and chocolate? Or craving that afternoon coffee pick me up? Don’t forget to submit your silent auction bid for to win a Carton Council “date night” gift bag complete with Tetra Pak cartons of wine, wine glasses, and chocolate or a RRS “coffee break” gift bag consisting of magnificent organic, free trade coffee, a reusable travel mug, and chocolate.

We have enjoyed our time so far and look forward to next year’s conference.

Both the Carton Council and RRS were proud sponsors of the Indiana Recycling Coalition (IRC) conference this week in Indianapolis.   The Carton Council was honored to be a bronze sponsor while RRS was the carbon offset sponsor.  The two-day conference has been complete with a brewery tour, silent auction, exhibiting and RRS speakers featured in two breakout sessions.

On Wednesday, May 11, COO and Principal Nicole Chardoul gave her presentation on Best Practices in Healthcare Waste Reduction and Recycling, as part of the Hospital Waste track. This morning, RRS Project Consultant Katy Duggan-Haas presented on behalf of the Carton Council, on Building Carton Recycling Access Nationwide, in the “Unique Commodities” conference track.

Throughout our exhibiting time, one lucky winner from the conference got to take home a Carton Council “date night” gift stuffed with ‘tetra pak’ cartons of wine, wine glasses and gourmet chocolate.  Another lucky winner took home a RRS “coffee break” gift with a reusable 100% recycling plastic coffee mug, organic/free trade coffee and dark chocolates. We were glad to have been a part of the IRC this year and certainly enjoyed our stay in Indianapolis! Thanks to the IRC for having us, we can’t wait to see you again next year.

RRS will be represented this year by an impressive panel of speakers – Jim Frey, Marty Seaman, Kerry Sandford, Anna Collinson,  Beth Coddington, and Lisa Shauman, will all be involved in a speaking sessions throughout the two-day event. We will be covering a variety of topics, from single stream recycling, carton recycling access to a workshop on creative funding for your recycling program.  We will be speaking during the following days and times:

• Tuesday, May 10 from 1-4pm – Marty Seaman – Creative Funding Approaches Workshop
• Wednesday, May 11 from 10-10:50am – Lisa Schauman – University  of Michigan Food Waste Study
• Wednesday, May 11 from 3-3:50pm – Jim Frey – Building Carton Recycling Access Nationwide
• Thursday, May 12 from 11-11:50am – Anna Collinson, Kerry Sandford and Beth Coddington – Panel Discussion – Transitioning to Single Stream Recycling – How Do You Evaluate If It Is The Right Decision?

Please join Jim Frey during today’s lunch and annual MRC report.  Local radio station WJR’s Kirk Heinze will be interviewing Jim for their “Greening of the Great Lakes” program at 12:00pm.  He will be discussing the recycling outlook in Michigan as well as carton recycling opportunities.

RRS is proud to be the MRC’s Titanium Conference sponsor this year.  Additionally, the Carton Council is one of the conference’s Silver sponsors.  As long time members of the MRC, we feel it is essential to support the vital programs that the Coalition drives as they advance recycling and resource conservation in Michigan.

Carton Council and RRS will be exhibiting during the conference, so be sure to drop by and ask all your waste reduction and carton recycling questions. Please join the silent and live auction tonight where you can bid on either a Carton Council “date night” gift bag including ‘tetrapak’ wine or a RRS “coffee break” gift bag.

This conference is a great local event for us in Michigan and we are proud to be involved.  See you there!

RRS Principal and COO Nicole Chardoul will be presenting “Environmental Impacts of Waste and Recycling Best Practices” on Thursday, May 4 at 10:15am as part of the “Our Responsibility for the Environment and Health” workshop.  She will be presenting a case for best practices and resources for building and maintaining a sustainability program in a health care setting.

Though we won’t be exhibiting at this conference, Nicole will be around throughout the day and is happy to answer any questions about sustainable healthcare waste systems or any of our other RRS services. We are looking forward to the trip to St. Paul and hope to meet many folks while we’re there.

With 50 vendors, more than 1000 attendees, 6 tracks of speakers, and 4 topics of focus, RRS will be among many speaking throughout the conference. J.D. Lindeberg, Principal and CFO, will be giving his presentation, “Poultry Waste-to-Energy with BioStar Systems” on Tuesday, May 3, at 3:30 pm. Be sure to stop by and hear him and other experts on the topic during their “Win Win: Beating Environmental Challenges & Creating Power with Poultry Litter” track.

RRS, together with long-time partner SEH, will be exhibiting during the event to meet new contacts and reconnect with former ones. RRS Senior Consultant David Stead and SEH representative Mark Broses will also be at the show and available for networking throughout the day. We can’t wait to see how the show comes together – see everyone there!

The program originally developed through a state grant by RRS for the MRC, has been ongoing through the State for over ten years by the MRC.  The program covers the basic biology of composting, marketing and financing end materials as well as composting rules/regulations and troubleshooting issues.  The training will focus on the State’s new rules and regulations as they relate to composting and all attendees will receive a training manual.

Our very own compost experts, Nicole Chardoul (Principal and COO) and JD Lindeberg (Principal and CFO) will be leading several of the training sessions during the day.  Nicole will be training attendees on “Compost Site Design” at 11:30am and “Material Characterization and Collection” at 12:45pm.  JD will be training attendees on “Material End Market Financing” at 1:30pm.

For more information about the Compost Training, please visit – http://michiganrecycles.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=7