Keep America Beautiful Offers New Recycling Guide
Since the recycling rate of America's municipal solid waste has remained nearly flat at 27 to 30 percent for the past four to five years, Keep America Beautiful, Inc. has produced a new School Recycling Guide to help America's schools do their part to increase recycling. Last week, the EPA set a new national recycling goal of 35 percent, to be reached by 2005. The School Recycling Guide is designed for students and educators in middle schools through junior colleges. The School Recycling Guide is available from Keep America Beautiful, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, for $7.50. Orders may be placed by phone at 203-323-8987, fax at 203-325-9199, or email at orders@kab.org...Read More »
Republic Names O'Connor As Chairman
Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) has announced that the Board of Directors has named James E. O'Connor Chairman-Elect. O'Connor will succeed H. Wayne Huizenga, who is retiring as chairman effective December 31, 2002. Huizenga will remain a member of the company's Board of Directors. O'Connor will be the second chairman in Republic's history, and will continue to serve as the company's president and chief executive officer. Prior to joining Republic, O'Connor worked for 26 years with Waste Management, Inc...Read More »
Hawaii Permits Continued Dumping At Honolulu Landfill
The Hawaii Department of Health has issued a permit that will allow Honolulu to continue dumping trash at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill in Kapolei for nearly two more years. All of Oahu's trash, about 800 tons a day, is dumped at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill. On top of that, 500 tons of ash from the city's waste-to-energy H-Power plant is also taken there. The landfill was about to reach its limit, likely within weeks, but the city asked for and received a new permit to add another 30 feet atop the landfill. The permit is good until June 2004, but the city estimates the new space will be used up by April of next year...Read More »
German Court Strikes Down New Recycling Regulation
Plans to spur Germans to higher recycling efforts suffered a blow recently when a court ruled against a new regulation putting a deposit on drink cans and many previously deposit-free bottles. The administrative court in Duesseldorf said the impact of the deposit for consumers and companies was too great to be settled by government mandate, and should have been put before the German parliament. Drink companies, who have filed complaints with courts across the country, hailed the verdict as signaling the beginning of the end for a regulation they say will be too expensive to implement. Germans already pay deposits for many glass and plastic bottles. But the government has missed recycling targets set out in earlier legislation as metal cans have become highly popular...Read More »
Supreme Court Rejects Delay of Major Asbestos Trial
U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court has rejected two requests by companies seeking to delay the start of a major West Virginia asbestos trial while the high court considers their appeals. In one request, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) and industrial conglomerate Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) asked the court to stay the Sept. 23 trial in Charleston, West Virginia, pending a decision on whether it would hear the appeal. Owens-Illinois Inc. filed a second similar request with the high court. In the appeal, the companies are challenging as unfair the single mass trial, in which about 8,000 people who claim they were exposed to asbestos have sued about 250 defendants, including various groups of employers, building owners and manufacturers...Read More »
Startech Reports Third Quarter Results
Startech Environmental Corp. (Nasdaq: STHK), a manufacturer of plasma-based systems for the conversion of waste into commodity products, announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2002 ended July 31. The company reported a net loss of $1.2 million for the quarter versus a net loss of $825,246 for the same period in fiscal 2001. There was no revenue in either period. The company said it is making substantial progress on additional sales for projects in the United States, Poland, the Philippines, and Japan...Read More »
EPA Approves South Carolina's UST Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the approval of South Carolina's Underground Storage Tank Program. The EPA's state program approval regulations set standards for state programs to meet in lieu of overarching federal regulations. The EPA worked with South Carolina officials while the program was under development. Once the state's legislature remedied certain legal points in accordance with EPA requirements, South Carolina applied for formal approval. A program is approved if it is judged to meet three criteria: Standards for performance at least equal to federal standards; contains provisions for adequate enforcement; and regulates at least the same USTs as are regulated under federal standards...Read More »
Clean Harbors Completes Acquisition of Safety-Kleen
Clean Harbors, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLHB) has completed the acquisition of Safety- Kleen Corp.'s Chemical Services Division and secured $260 million in financing. As a result of the acquisition, Clean Harbors will be on pace to achieve annualized revenues of approximately $750 million, and will have 4,400 employees and 38,000 customers, including a vast majority of the Fortune 500. Clean Harbors purchased the division for $34.3 million in cash and the assumption of certain environmental liabilities valued at approximately $265 million. The company had originally announced a cash component of $46.3 million, which was reduced prior to closing, primarily due to a reduction in the amount of working capital assumed...Read More »
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