The Carolina Recycling Association honored contributions of individuals, municipalities and companies at their well-attended reception and gala during the 22^nd Annual CRA Conference and Trade Show in March. BJ Tipton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a longtime client of RRS, was honored with the Recycler of the Year award.

BJ was the first recycling coordinator of University of North Carolina Charlotte and has brought a comprehensive approach to Carolina’s recycling program. Currently, as the Manager of the Office of Waste Reduction and Management at UNC Chapel Hill, BJ oversees extensive solid waste management programs and has been instrumental in developing office databases which track schedules, contacts and service locations.  BJ continues to make waste reduction, recycling and composting work at UNC Chapel Hill.

As a waste management pioneer, BJ has shaped UNC Charlotte and Chapel Hill campuses and will impact forthcoming programs. Congrats BJ, we are so proud of you.  You are truly a recycling rockstar!

Article written by Audrey Jenkins

Our client, the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR), is the national trade association representing companies who acquire, reprocess and sell the output of more than 94 percent of the post‐consumer plastic processing capacity in North America.  In association with the Closure and Container Manufacturers Association, we are printing their joint press release regarding their new “Caps On” program.  We look forward to promoting this program with APR.

Washington, DC – The Closure and Container Manufacturers Association (CCMA) and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) have partnered to increase the recycling rates of plastic closures.  The new program, titled “Caps On” encourages communities to ask its residents to include caps on plastic bottles at time of recycling.  In addition to developing educational resources, the groups are working with Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) and recycling haulers to ask for their partnership and support. Read the whole story…

Emmet County and Elisa Seltzer have long been clients of RRS.  The work that our Senior Engineer Kerry Sandford has conducted with them in the last couple years is showcased under our Project Showcase.  Congrats Elisa, we are proud of you and all your efforts to expand recycling in Michigan.

Article reprinted from Bridge Magazine.  January 17, 2012 article “County Official “Recycles” Emmet County Culture” written by Jo Mathis/ Bridge Magazine contibutor

Elisa Seltzer figured she’d serve five years as Emmet County’s director of public works – just long enough to get a recycling program up and running. 

That was 21 years ago.

Seltzer has created a self-supporting recycling program that includes 13 drop sites, curbside collection for 60 percent of Emmet Countyand more than 250 businesses, and a processing center serving Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties. And she decided to stick around and oversee it all, too. Read the whole story…

Article copied from MLive.com – Article source – The Flint Journal, written by Kristin Longley

The city of Flint is hoping for a second chance at the $1.1 million energy grant that was terminated by federal officials in October.

After the U.S. Department of Energy yanked the grant because of what it called “serious mismanagement and misuse,” Flint officials have submitted a revised proposal for spending the money on projects that promote energy efficiency.

Federal officials are expected to decide by Jan. 13 whether to reinstate the grant award, officials said.

Details of the proposal weren’t immediately available on Wednesday, but City Attorney Peter Bade said the city is partnering with Ann Arbor-based Resource Recycling Systems to develop the plan for using the grant funds.

Read the whole story…

The Business Development team here at RRS is working hard to prepare for a bigger and better 2012.  Just before Thanksgiving, our team got away from the office for a day of thinking “outside of the box”.  We worked to gain a common understanding of the marketplace in which we work.  We identified our strengths and weaknesses as a team and toasted to our progress in 2011. It was a day for looking back at our accomplishments with pride and looking ahead for a year that achieves goals that may have previously been beyond our reach.

As we sat around a large table at Pizza House in downtown Ann Arbor, we took a good look at our point of views for the different service sectors we work within.  We evaluated our services, developed a strategy for maximizing our resource capacity, and noted the improvements we want to see within our team and company as a whole.   As the afternoon progressed, we fell into some creative brainstorming regarding our presence at conferences including our themes, booth design, and handouts.

In the time that has passed since the retreat, we have developed action steps and implementation plans to bring us closer to our goals.  We have met several times to flush out our creative ideas and share our discussions with our larger Communications and Planning Team.

The excitement is spreading!  We look forward to a great 2012 full of sustainable projects, satisfied clients and new opportunities  for our company.

As we continue the profiles of our principals, I sat down with David Stead on December 16^th to capture his viewpoint in our resource management landscape.

After beginning his life as a musician and sound engineer, David found his career in environmental management and finance. David has worked in the field for over 25 years. He is an expert in planning and supply analysis studies that evaluate the market trends and availability of targeted recoverable commodities such as waste wood, paper, plastics and other materials.  He became a principal at RRS in 2009 and serves as a senior consultant working mainly with our biomass energy clients on feedstock analysis, project development and due diligence. Read the whole story…

Earth911.com has long been the go-to online resource for ambitious recyclers everywhere, whether looking for a recycling center or reading up on the latest environmental news. Until recently, however, the website has been missing one critical piece: cartons! It’s been a work in progress, but the Carton Council is proud to announce the launch of the all-new carton recycling page in partnership with Earth911. You can find it by visiting the “Recycling 101” menu on the Earth911 home page – cartons are listed in the paper category. Read the whole story…

In 2009, the City of Cincinnati, Ohio made the decision to upgrade their recycling program into a single stream system complete with carts and Recycle Bank incentive program.  To assist with the planning and implementation, the City hired Resource Recycling Systems with CEO Jim Frey serving as the Consultant to the City.

Jim assisted with the procurement of the collection contract which improved service levels, the cart supplier, the financing of the carts, and long term cart management including the development of a regional cart management center located in the City. The center helped to create local jobs. Jim also assisted with the procurement of Recycle Bank. Recycle Bank offers incentives to residents who recycle. Read the whole story…

RRS and SEH are joining forces! Forces of sustainability, that is. For those of you familiar with our work, you might have heard about our great business alliance with SEH. SEH has been a long-time business affiliate of RRS – we like to say that our work with SEH brings together the “triple threat” of sustainability. But you don’t have to go to a galaxy far, far, away to hear more about it… We are proud to announce the launch of our out-of-this-world collaborative booth display that will be unveiled at the APWA International Public Works Conference. in Denver, Colorado. The conference runs from Sunday, September 18 to Wednesday, September 21. Read the whole story…

Long-time RRS client Lucas County, Ohio, recently made headlines in the American Recycler newspaper. City officials from Toledo and the Lucas County Board of Commissioners came to the decision to privatize waste and recycling services for 180,000 households in northwestern Ohio after reviewing case studies from similar programs across the country. The new collection strategy will be more efficient, incentivize recycling and work to expand program sustainability over the next year. Congratulations, Lucas County and the City of Toledo!

Click here to read the full article in American Recycler.