Association of New Jersey Household Hazardous Waste Coordinators Meeting
September 24, 2014
Duke Farms – 10:00am
Welcome and Introductions
ANJHHWC President Daniel Napoleon called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. Meeting began with self-introductions.
Welcome & Duke Farms History and Emerging Priorities
Nora Wagner, Director of Programs at Duke Farms and Kathleen Kincaid, Operations Coordinator gave an overview on the environmental stewardship and history of Duke Farms. The property covers 2,700 acres as well as 18 miles of trails and 27 endangered species.
Paint Care Update & New Legislation – Ed Waters
Ed Waters, Director of Governmental Affairs for the NJ Chemistry Council provided an update on the Paint Care legislation. He reported the bill has been released with five yes votes and no votes against it. There will be a meeting on September 29 to review what retailers have come up with regarding the bill. Small retailers have given a very positive support of the bill. Ed is working with Senator Beach to get the bill through the Senate. Somerset County’s Senator Kip Bateman has signed on to the bill. Ed also noted Lowe’s and Home Depot are not on board with this bill.
NJDEP / Electronics Update – John Purves / Dana Lawson
Dana Lawson
Dana Lawson reported NJDEP met with electronic manufacturers on August 6th. She said manufacturers maintain that municipalities are hiring the wrong recyclers. NJDEP met with enforcement on September 12th to discuss developing a fee structure. There was a meeting with the Assistant Commissioner regarding municipalities that are about to pay for 2015 collections. Dana said to let Guy Watson know if we are paying for collections. An updated collection list for edits was sent to ANJR and Dana asked County’s to update their section. Dana reported each manufacturer was asked to give a collection total for their site and enforcement will be contacting the manufacturers.
John Purves, Attorney
John Purves reported that he met with DEP reps and stated a change is needed and manufacturers need to be more responsible for NJ’s electronics program. He met with Commissioner Martin on September 23rd and noted once again that legislative changes are needed. He is pushing for a change in law and different costs in 2015. There were no commitments for costs or weights from the manufacturers. John suggested ANJHHWC write a letter to the Commissioner/Assistant Commissioner stating that the e-waste program is in trouble and a legislative change is warranted.
Working Lunch
A motion was made by Ron Berenado and seconded by Monica Gismondi to approve the minutes of the March 19, 2014 meeting. There were no comments on the minutes. Motion was approved by all without objection.
Treasure’s Report
Chris Sikorski provided the Treasures Report. He reported the ANJHHWC’s account balance is currently $20,226.83. There have been minimal expenses…the report was accepted by the membership.
County drop-off location updates
Counties in attendance each gave brief updates on events pertaining to HHW, tires, paint, e-waste, etc.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm. For those interested, there was a brief walking tour on the site until 2:00pm.