Day: August 20, 2018

Food waste, Publications

Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States in 2015: Survey Results

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Download the document.

In 2017, EPA surveyed operators of anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities that accept food waste about their operations in calendar year 2015. In July 2018, EPA published a report of the findings. This report, which is the first of three years of data collection, covers data for calendar year 2015 and summarizes data received from three types of AD facilities:

  • Stand-alone food waste digesters;
  • On-farm digesters that co-digest food waste; and
  • Digesters at water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) that co-digest food waste.

The report includes information about the processing capacity of AD facilities as well as the total food and non-food waste processed in 2015. It also includes information about facility operations, pre-processing/de-packaging technologies, feedstock types and sources, biogas cleaning systems, biogas production and uses, and solid/liquid digestate uses.

 

Aquaculture, Publications

Can Aquaculture Survive Without Forage Fish?

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Read the full story in Civil Eats.

Humans eat huge amounts of farmed fish. Farmed fish eat huge amounts of smaller fish. A new study explores this unsustainable cycle, and offers a path forward.

Air quality

Health, climate groups launch website to help Montanans endure wildfire smoke

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Read the full story from Missoula Current.

While wildfires endanger lives and homes, smoke silently attacks those beyond reach of the flames, health officers said Thursday in announcing a new website intended to answer Montanans’ questions and help them stay healthy during smoky summer months.

Circular economy, Plastics

France to discount goods with recycled plastic packaging

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Read the full story in WasteDive.

France has announced a plan to discount goods that have recycled plastic packaging, such as recycled bottles, according to Reuters. Those items could cost up to 10% less than products with packaging made from virgin resins.

The government also intends to increase landfill taxes while reducing the tax on recycling operations in addition to implementing a plastic bottle deposit program. Major recyclers Veolia and Suez have reportedly favored such steps in the past.

The actions will be implemented over the next few years, although the timeline is vague, and they are in line with the Circular Economy Roadmap that France released in April. The document contains 50 goals including using 100% recycled plastics across the country by 2025, reducing resource consumption 50% by 2025 and increasing extended producer responsibility.

Environmental law, Water

Should Rivers Have Rights? A Growing Movement Says It’s About Time

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Read the full story at e360.

Inspired by indigenous views of nature, a movement to grant a form of legal “personhood” to rivers is gaining some ground — a key step, advocates say, in reversing centuries of damage inflicted upon the world’s waterways.

Behavior change, Sports

Can talking trash actually make sports more sustainable?

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Read the full story in GreenBiz.

Kelsey Hallowell is a professional trash talker.

She plies that unusual trade for Reduction In Motion, a forward-leaning waste reduction consultancy in Baltimore. One of Kelsey’s clients is the Maryland Stadium Authority which, among other things, owns Camden Yards (home of baseball’s Orioles) and M&T Bank Stadium (home of the NFL’s Ravens).

We talked to Kelsey, whose official title is communications and outreach coordinator, about the unique aspects of working with sports venues. And talking trash.

Carbon capture/sequestration, Environment, Materials science, Publications

Faster way to make mineral to remove carbon dioxide from atmosphere

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Read the full story at ScienceDaily.

Scientists have developed an accelerated way to produce magnesite, a mineral which can capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, at room temperature. Removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would slow global warming. This work takes a different approach to existing processes, and may make it economically viable, but it is at an early stage and is not yet an industrial process.

Environmental health, Environmental justice

Children Are Being Poisoned by Lead in D.C. Homes. Inspectors Are Still Approving Them.

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Read the full story from the Washington Post.

Between March 2013 and March 2018, at least 41 families discovered that their homes, subsidized by a housing voucher and approved by city inspectors, contained lead contaminants, according to a tabulation requested by The Washington Post through the Freedom of Information Act.

Archaeology

How Archaeologists Play A Role In The Forest Service’s Response To Wildfires

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Read the full story at NPR.

When wildfire starts, a lot of people decide what areas should burn, and where a fire should be fought. One of those people is an archaeologist from the U.S. Forest Service.

Environmental health, Pharmaceuticals and personal care products

Chemical attraction: How cosmetics can damage the planet

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Read the full story in Resource.

The damaging effect of cosmetics on the environment was brought into the public eye by the UK ban on microbeads. But what about those less visible, chemical ingredients? Kate Dickinson explores the steps being taken to regulate the European cosmetics industry

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