Meeting Location:
- Trenton Thunder Staium, Trenton, NJ
Call To Order:
The meeting was called to order at 10:00am by Joann Gemenden.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made to approve minutes from March 27, 2013 meeting held at the Burlington County Eco-Complex, this motions was seconded and unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
Chris Sikorski provided a Treasurer’s report. I reported that the ANJHHWC has a balance of just over $17,000 and he provided a report on the audit of the books to the group that was done by the Tom Burbridge and Melissa Harvey. He reported on membership by the various counties.
Dry-Cell Battery Recycling Report:
Todd Ellis of Call2Recycle provided a report on rechargeable battery recycling program that Call2Recycle operates. He reported that collections in NJ are increasing continually which is great and we have big increases in the tonnages being recycled. The retail sector experienced the biggest increase and the biggest decrease was in the public sector. This is good as all the publicity has help to sustain this program and to move the management of these batteries from the government sector to private sector retail outlets. Joann thanks Call2Recycle for implementing such a comprehensive and convenient system for the collection and recycling of these batteries. Reenee Casapulla stated she has had problems getting reporting on batteries and E-waste from Staples even though they do accept and recycle these materials. Todd mentioned that he could provide battery recycling numbers from Staples themselves to us and he could reach out to get Staples to report better on all their recycling. As far as chemistry, small seal- lead acid batteries have had the biggest increase and Lithium showed the biggest drop-off. A lot of this switch is due to the fact that the lithiums are often sealed within devices. Joann reported that Verizon’s FIOS service is changing out all their UPS batteries and leaving the discarded batteries with residents to recycle and we need to get Verizon to recycle them directly as opposed to leaving them for residents to bring to their respective HHW programs.
E-Waste Recycling:
Guy Watson reported on E-Waste in NJ. He stated there are some issues with E-waste these days so Guy is going to report on it as his office recently surveyed everyone on their programs. Guy stated that things changed dramatically in some areas of the state in that residents are calling NJDEP and complaining that firms aren’t recycling E-waste for free anymore and recyclers are now charging since they are being charged for CRTs without being reimbursed for accepting material from manufacturers. Companies reaching obligations started not accepting materials anymore by May of the year. Guy is concerned about reaching obligations by May when NJ has established very high obligation levels. Joann suggested a statewide stakeholders meeting on this matter because public sector bailed out manufactures and their obligations to manage these materials on their own. We need manufactures to appreciate the fact that the public sector helped them out establishing e-waste programs in NJ in accordance with the E-waste recycling law. Larry Gindoff reported on MorrisCounty’s situation where a local scrap yard, Don-Jon, that handled many municipal-waste recycling programs withdrew from providing service without much warning. Guy stated he thinks and audit of facilities and programs is in order. In Camden, the fact that they are inundated with scraps yards leads it to being the wild west of E-waste. People are recommending Camden stop all curbside collection to help the scavenging problem.
Paint Program Update from Ed Waters:
Joann welcomed Ed Waters to the 3rd straight meeting. Ed reported that NJ SenatorBeach is their sponsor of the legislation. They had work through concerns with the model legislation with respect to the need to attach fining mechanism in the bid. With Paint Care being a private entity and prices being set by private business, the legislation had to make sure there were no anti-trust issues which would need to get resolved.
Universal Waste Recycling:
Emilia Puro from National Bulb described their bulb pickup service which they do on demand from municipalities. Their office is in South Jersey but their recycling facility is in Elizabeth. They provide boxes and transport included in the price of recycling bulbs.
Joann discussed thermostat recycling programs and her conversation with Scott Cassell of Product Stewardship Council. The Thermostat Recycling Corp. runs a manufactures program in several states. It is available to all HHW programs for a small fee. They send is a green bin with a liner in it they can mail it back to manufacturers, there is a one-time fee of $25 for the box, but that is to cover the box. The program is old and a bit stagnant but it may make sense for us. Joann will reach out to them if this makes sense.Joann suggested we all go to TRC website and survey the facilities that accept thermostats in each county.
Medicine Disposal:
It was reported that medication disposal is expanding into each county with part of Operation Take Back.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 noon.
