NMRC Board Meetings

The NMRC will hold board meetings this month and in March (see below). All NMRC members are welcome to attend the board meetings.

1) Friday, January 20, Albuquerque, NMED District 1 Office, 5500 San Antonio, from 12-4 PM

2) Friday, March 17, Santa Fe, location TBS, 12-4 PM.

"Don't Trash That Slash" Workshop Planned for February 27-28

Under the auspices of our U.S.D.A. Forest Service grant project titled "Don't Trash that Slash" that aims to educate and perform outreach about the value of slash material as an erosion control application, the project's first class out of three total planned is scheduled to be held in Santa Fe on February 27-28. This class is free and targets forest and land managers involved with the handling and planning of forest thinning projects. Class topics will include how to produce compost from woody waste material, case studies using this product as an erosion control end-product and methods of erosion control application.

For more information about this project and the upcoming class, please contact project coordinator, Kathy Hillock, at 505-984-3184 or kathy@recyclenewmexico.com. Or go to www.recyclenewmexico.com/cfrp_project.htm to view our online resources.

Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency To Take Over City Solid Waste Transfer Station January 1, 2006

The Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency (SFSWMA) will take over operations at the City of Santa Fe Solid Waste Transfer Station, 1686 Paseo de Vista, on January 1, 2006.  Under SFSWMA’s management the site will be known as the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station or BuRRT.

BuRRT will be open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm seven days per week for solid waste disposal and recycling services. These services will include drop off facilities for recyclables, green waste, scrap metals, appliances and scrap tires along side the traditional trash disposal service currently offered.

Rates for these services will also change when BuRRT opens on the 6^th. Trash fees will be reduced from the existing $60.00 per ton to graduated fees based on load size. Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) less than 3,999 lbs will be charged $5.00 per load, vehicles with a GVW between 4,000 and 5,999 lbs will be charged $10.00 per load and vehicles exceeding 6,000 lbs GVW and those pulling trailers will be charged $35.00 per ton.

BuRRT’s opening will coincide with the closure of the Caja del Rio Landfill to the general public. The Caja del Rio Landfill, located west of Santa Fe at 149 Wildlife Way, will only receive waste from large capacity vehicles, those exceeding 12,500 lbs GVW after January 6, 2006. For more information contact Justin Stockdale at 505-424-1850 x110 or recycle@cajadelrio.com .

Environmental Code Enforcement Training February 29-March 2 in Los Lunas 

Since the Middle Rio Grande Illegal Dumping summit held in Albuquerque in October 2002, the New Mexico Environment Department Solid Waste Bureau has held an additional seven regional summits that were attended by some 430 people.  Although the original slate of summits were intended for local government policy makers, the majority of those attending were code enforcement personnel.

The summit evaluations completed by these people overwhelmingly indicated a lack of training opportunities for code enforcement staff, especially in the area of dealing with illegal dumping situations.  Introduction to Environmental Enforcement (February 28 – March 2 at the UNM-Valencia campus in Los Lunas) is a training opportunity that has been specifically tailored to fill this need. Please click here for the complete invite letter, registration and agenda. You must register by Feb 3. Map attached here.

Waste Management of New Mexico Now Accepting All Grades of Plastic

 

Starting in the new year, Waste Management Recycle America nationally will accept all plastic grades (#1-#7 plastic bottles) for recycling with the exception of commercial containers, which will be accepted on a case-by-case basis as they've run into some problems with hazardous waste containers. This ability to collect commingled plastic bales hails from a new processing plant in Chicago and an existing plant in Raleigh.

More information at www.wm.com

 

EIB Hearing on Solid Waste Regulations Postponed Until May 2-5

 

In early January, the Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) hearing officer agreed to a motion for a continuance and re-scheduled the hearing for the revisions to the New Mexico Solid Waste Regulations for May 2-5, 2006. The EIB will put out a scheduling order for the new hearing. You are strongly advised to visit the EIB website (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/eib/index.html)  on a regular basis for information regarding the new hearing.  Also, you may contact the EIB administrator, Ms. Joyce Medina, 827-2425, or joyce.medina@state.nm.us. The EIB office/website is the official point-of-contact for all matters related to the hearing. 

 

The New Mexico Environment Department continues its open door policy established in June 2005 when the initial Reg revision was released.  NMED will gladly meet with your organization to discuss contents, ideas, suggestions, etc of the revised regulations.  Simply contact E. Gifford Stack via phone at 505-827-2653 or e-mail e.gifford.stack@state.nm.us 

 

Biomass Projects in New Mexico
 

A small-scale biomass project at a high school and two large-scale ones at universities have been reported up and running in New Mexico.

"State of New Mexico Program Initiatives in the Use of Biomass for Heat and Energy" is an in-depth article on a biomass retrofit project at the Gallina High School which is part of the Jemez School District in New
Mexico. (Gallina is about 50 miles northwest of Santa Fe.) Wood waste
from surrounding forests provides the biofuel for this project. The
heating system for the school was designed specifically for the biomass
resources at hand and the school and its site. The article is more of a
case study which includes how the project was funded. See the full text of the article on the Biomass-Fuels for Schools web page at
http://biomass-fuelsforschools.org/jemez_mountain_schools_biomass_project.htm 
-- scroll down a bit for the article title.

 

Grants

 

Student Grants for Sustainable Design

EPA’s 2006 competition for the P3 Phase I Grant Awards is now open! This is a student sustainable design competition -- P3 stands for "People, Prosperity and the Planet." Up to 50 awards for a maximum of $10,000 each will be made to student teams in the autumn of 2006. In spring
2007, teams will be invited to bring their designs to Washington, D.C. to compete for the 3rd Annual P3 Award. Go to http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3 for more information. Please share this information widely with college students, student groups, and professors who might be interested.
 

EPA Solid Waste Grant

EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and EPA Regions 2, 3, 6 and 7 are soliciting proposals for grants that will stimulate solid waste reduction and recycling projects to increase the national recycling rate from 30% to 35% by 2008, reduce and recycle industrial byproducts (including construction and demolition debris), reduce the amount of electronic waste going to landfills and/or incinerators, and reduce the amount of priority chemicals found in waste streams. EPA must receive initial proposals by February 6, and final proposals will be due March 22. The funding opportunity number is EPA-OSWER-OSW-06-04. The full solicitation can be accessed either on
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/resources/06-04.pdf  or on www.grants.gov . Non-profit organizations, including governmental entities, may apply.
 

Jobs

 

WASTE PREVENTION, REUSE AND RECYCLING PROGRAM ANALYST; New York City

The Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling is seeking to hire
a number of creative, innovative, highly motivated and flexible
individuals to both conduct and supervise the analysis of various
waste prevention and recycling project and on-going programs.

Under the direction of one of the Bureau's Deputy Directors, the
successful candidates will be responsible for the coordination of all
analytical functions: forecasting annual budget needs; evaluation of
the Bureau's individual short term pilots and established programs;
annual and quarterly tonnage projections; the coordination of
reporting systems; and development and oversight of existing
databases.

Requirements include: demonstrated fluency and excellent written and
verbal communication skills; experience in City planning, statistical
analysis and financial management; three years full time paid work
experience, preferably in planning, recycling industries, financial
management, statistical analysis, economic development, business,
accounting, or waste management; Bachelor's degree. A Masters degree
in a relevant field may substitute for up to two years' employment
experience. A valid New York City driver's license is required.

Salary $54,488. - $70,549.

New York City residency is required (within 90 days of being hired).

The Department encourages women and minorities to apply.

Send two copies of your resume and a cover letter indicating position
applying for and current salary to the address below. Please note
that no resume without a cover letter will be considered:

NYC DEPARTMENT OF SANITATION
Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling
44 Beaver Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10004
Attention: Director

Calendar

 

**January 20, NMRC Board Meeting, Albuquerque. 12-4PM All members welcome. RSVP to English Bird

**Jan 22-25, US Composting Council Conference, Albuquerque

**Feb 7, Air and Waste Prevention meeting, English Bird speaks about recycling in New Mexico. 11:30AM-1:00PM. Contact english@recyclenewmexico.com for more info.

**Feb 13-14, SWANA National Conference - Recycling as topic, Albuquerque

**Feb 21, Recycling Alliance meeting, 9AM-12PM, Albuquerque. Contact

Gretchen Brewer at earthgb@aol.com for info.

**Feb 27-28, CFRP "Don't Trash that Slash" Training, Santa Fe. Available to all forest and land managers on benefits of using compost and mulch from slash for erosion control applications. More info kathy@recyclenewmexico.com

**March 17, NMRC Board Meeting, Santa Fe. 12-4PM. All members welcome. RSVP to English Bird

**June 12-15, 2006 "Managing Waste in the Wide Open Spaces"; NM Recycling Conference and Arid Climate Landfill Symposium joint conference, Old Town Sheraton, Albuquerque

**October 22-25, NRC Congress, Atlanta

 

 

 

If you have questions about any of the above information or have articles for future Recycling Scraps, please e-mail or call me. 

 

English Bird

Executive Director

New Mexico Recycling Coalition

PO Box 24364, Santa Fe, NM 87502

english@recyclenewmexico.com

(505) 983-4470

Fax (505) 466-6266