U.S. Economy Affects Mexican Recycling Operations
Tons of plastic soft-drink bottles usually sold to recyclers are piling up at Mexico City garbage sorting plants, causing problems for government officials and cutting off income for hundreds of hard-up garbage sorters. The crisis has its roots not in Mexico, but rather in the slowdown in the American auto industry and the U.S. recession in general. Mexico City recyclers make no salary, but rather harvest 600 tons a month of bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which accounts for 50 percent of their meager income. Mexico sent more than 70 million pounds of recycled PET to the United States last year, more than 50 million in ground-up bottles and more than 20 million in crushed, baled bottles. Most of that came out of Reciclados de Mexico, a large plant near Mexico City that grinds color-sorted bottles into flakes. But in the last three months, as prices for PET in the United States dropped, the plant has cut back production 50 percent...Read More »
New Jersey Issues "State of the Environment" Report
To help its citizens learn about the New Jersey environment, the state Department of Environmental Protection has released an updated report on the state of the environment. "New Jersey's Environment 2000" provides a comprehensive overview of the quality of the air, water and other natural resources in the Garden State. State officials noted that New Jersey is working toward its most ambitious goals for cleaning and preserving its environment. For example, in the early 1990s, there were about 6,000 known contaminated sites in New Jersey. By 2000, the number had grown, but more than 12,000 contaminated sites had been remediated. The vast majority of evaluated sites - 88 percent - were cleaned up to highest standards and are suitable for residential use...Read More »
Studsvik, Envirocare Sign Disposal Agreement
Studsvik Corp. of Stockholm, Sweden has signed a disposal agreement with Envirocare of Utah Inc., the owner and operator of the disposal site for radioactive waste in Utah. The agreement enables Studsvik to dispose of the process residue from its radioactive waste processing facility in Erwin, Tenn. at competitive prices. Studsvik is a high-tech company, focusing on the nuclear power industry and nuclear medicine. Business is conducted through four Strategic Business Units: Nuclear Technology, Waste & Decommissioning, Industrial Services and Nuclear Medicine. The company¹s Waste & Decommissioning unit treats low and intermediate level waste from nuclear reactors and provides services for the dismantling of nuclear facilities. U.S. operations, conducted at Studsvik's facilities in Erwin, include volume and weight reduction of ion-exchange resins from commercial nuclear power plants in the United States...Read More »
Ecology and Environment Announces $24 Million Contract, First Quarter Earnings
Ecology and Environment, Inc. (Amex: EEI) recently signed a thirty-month contract in the amount of $24.4 million through its majority-owned subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. The company will provide monitoring and assessment services to the Meteorology and Environmental Protection Administration to determine the damages to the marine resources, lands, public health, the environment and property of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attributable to the 1990 Gulf War. In addition, net revenues for the company for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002 were $16.6 million, down 16.9% from the $19.9 million reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2001. Net income for the quarter was $392,000 or $.10 per share, down 33.7% from the $591,000 or $.14 per share reported in the prior year...Read More »
Stericycle Acquires Integrated Environmental Services, Inc.
Stericycle, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRCL) has purchased the operating assets of Integrated Environmental Services, Inc., a medical waste management company serving customers in Northern California. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, IES is a subsidiary of Norcal Waste Systems, Inc. The IES acquisition gives Stericycle a strategic presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, increasing the company¹s route density and operating efficiencies in other Northern California markets where Stericycle already provides service, company officials said. Stericycle is a leading provider of regulated medical waste management services in the United States, providing medical waste collection, transportation, treatment, safety and compliance programs and disposal services for over 250,000 customers...Read More »
ECS Creates Virtual Center for Environmental Risk Management
ECS Inc., a provider of integrated environmental risk management services, has launched the Virtual Center for Environmental Risk Management. This Internet resource provides agents and brokers with learning modules focused on environmental insurance and other relevant risk management topics. At the Virtual Center for Environmental Risk Management, online educational modules discuss environmental liability issues related to specific industries. Educational modules address the specifics of environmental insurance coverages, how they address specific industry concerns and how they are applied for the protection of ongoing operations or individual business transactions. Modules currently available online include Fixed-Site Facilities and The Total Pollution Exclusion. Overcoming Client Objections is another available educational module designed to help agents and brokers improve their sales skills...Read More »
City of Tulsa Files Lawsuit Against Poultry Industry
The city of Tulsa and the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority have filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma against six out-of-state poultry processors for overwhelming taste and odor problems in the city's drinking water. The suit alleges that the problems are linked to waste from chicken production. Included as defendants are Tyson Foods, Cobb-Vantress, Peterson Farms, Simmons Foods, Cargill and George's. The city of Decatur, Arkansas is also a defendant in the suit. The suit asks the court to grant monetary damages for $4 million in additional costs incurred to treat excessive waste in the city's water, injunctions to stop further pollution of water, costs for future treatment of the water, and damages for polluting the water...Read More »
N-viro Announces International Licensing Agreements
N-Viro International Corporation (Nasdaq: NVIC) has announced execution of four new License and Rep Agreements in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The agreements are with E.I.E.C. Complex, SL in Madrid, Spain; CRM Military & Civilian Technologies Ltd., in Bene-Beraq, Israel; International Trade Investment & Consultation Corp. in Cairo, Egypt; and TMI International Investments (Pty.) Ltd., in Johannesburg, South Africa. Company officials noted that the agreements assist N-Viro in working with local allies to encourage company processes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and public health risks from conventional organic disposal and utilization practices. N-Viro will also work with international contractors to develop its own organic waste process regional centers...Read More »
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