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June 10
Webinar: Procurement of Recycled-Content Products: Stimulating Recycling Markets and Creating Demand
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June 17
GRC Webinar: What Cleaner Glass at the MRF Means to Your Community
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June 18
4th Annual - VIRTUAL - Kansas City Glass Recycling Summit
Sponsored by Ripple Glass
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June 24
Webinar: The Intersection of Safety and Sustainability
Learn More
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A MESSAGE OF PEACE, HOPE AND SOLIDARITY
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From the IRA Board
 The Iowa Recycling Association acknowledges the current extreme pain and grief of the black and brown community. We want you to know while we are colleagues, we are also friends and allies in your struggles for equity and an end to violence in our communities, no matter what form it takes.
We also acknowledge and thank the black and brown members of our profession for their passionate dedication to community health and safety. And, for their work to protect this planet we all call home. How can we come to love and care for this Earth well, if we cannot do so for one another? Together, we can make our communities safer and our place on this planet more secure. Stay strong, stay on message – and recycle on!
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PLASTIC BAG AND PLASTIC FILM RECYCLING IS EASY AND CONVENIENT
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Christine Collier, IRA Board Member, SCS Engineers
It’s important to make sure we recycle right, not just recycle often! It’s exciting to see all the new products made from the bags and the technology used to sort them – but how individuals recycle does matter.
It doesn’t take many plastic bags to get wrapped up in the recycling equipment. This causes the equipment to work inefficiently and forces it to shut down multiple times every day. The facility staff then must enter or climb on the screening equipment to cut away bags as in this video.
If you use a plastic bag to collect your recyclables, empty the recyclables into your recycle bin and reuse the bag or recycle it at your grocery or retail store. Don’t mix plastic bottles with plastic bags; that’s what causes safety and efficiency problems in the first place.
Most grocery stores and retail stores such as Walmart, Target and Lowe's have recycling bins for this type of plastic. If you are not reusing the bags, take them to a drop-off location, which is probably the same store where you got them. Find the stores nearest you by visiting this site – a list of all the store drop-off locations in your zip code.
More than just your plastic retail bags can often be recycled, but it’s good to check with your drop-off site to see what’s accepted. Examples of what often can be recycled include:
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Produce, newspaper sleeve, bread, and dry-cleaning bags (free of receipts and clothes hangers)
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Zip-top food storage bags (clean and dry)
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Plastic shipping envelopes (remove labels), bubble wrap and air pillows (deflate)
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Product wrap on items such as cases of water/soda bottles, paper towels, napkins, disposable cups, bathroom tissue, diapers
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Furniture and electronic wrap
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Plastic cereal box liners (but if it tears like paper, do not include)
Now, if you are on the other end of the consumer chain and looking to provide a program for your school, community, or solid waste planning area, there is no need to start from scratch! Many other such entities have already developed successful recycling programs and are more than happy to share what they have done. Additionally, end-users in need of this material are also ready and willing to assist with setting up programs, such as the one found here. Plastics wraps, bags, and film may not be going away any time soon, but as long as they are here, there is recycling for them.
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FALL CONFERENCE CONTINUING AS PLANNED
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The 2020 Iowa Recycling and Solid Waste Management Conference is currently continuing as planned.
We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and will be following the recommendations of major public health organizations. Our planning team remains vigilant in these efforts for the health and well-being of our valued attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.
If changes are made to the conference, those will immediately be posted at the conference website.
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COMPLETE THE FALL CONFERENCE SURVEY
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The Iowa Recycling and Solid Waste Management Conference planning committee is asking for your input to help make informed decisions regarding the activities scheduled for October 5-7 in Cedar Rapids.
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WASTE AND RECYCLING WORKERS WEEK
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR FRONTLINE WORKERS!
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The week of June 17th is Waste and Recycling Workers Week. Celebrate next week with the Iowa Recycling Association by thanking and showing appreciation to our curbside collectors and drivers, sorting facility staff, landfill, compost, and scalehouse operators, and all other essential workers that keep our industry moving day in and day out.
The year 2020 has delivered unprecedented circumstances, and yet, our waste and recycling team members continue to show up every day to keep our communities safe, healthy, and clean. A simple verbal “thank you”, a share on Facebook, or a friendly reminder to community members on how to correctly use programs are all ways to show appreciation. See a full list of ideas to celebrate at the Waste and Recycling Workers Week website.
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SWAP DEADLINE QUICKLY APPROACHING
The Solid Waste Alternatives Program (SWAP) works to reduce the amount of solid waste generated and landfilled in Iowa. Through a competitive process, financial assistance is available for a variety of projects, including, but not limited to, source reduction, recycling and education.
The program provides financial assistance in the form of forgivable loans, zero interest loans, and 3% interest loans. A 25% minimum cash match is required for each budget line item requesting funding assistance. Projects are selected through a competitive process. Emphasis for selected projects is placed on tonnage avoided or reduced, sustainability and ability to replicate.
The next application deadline is July 1, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.
Program information, guidelines and the SWAP application form can be found at: www.iowadnr.gov/swap.
For questions, please contact one of the following at the DNR:
Amy Wilken Tom Anderson
amy.wilken@dnr.iowa.gov tom.anderson@dnr.iowa.gov
515-725-8349 515-725-8323
FOOD WASTE GRANT COMING SOON!
On June 11th, the DNR will be announcing a new grant opportunity to help address food waste, an issue that negatively impacts environmental, economic and social sustainability in Iowa and across the country.
The competitive grant opportunity will help efforts to expand storage and cold storage of donated food. Food banks, food pantries and other non-profit organizations receiving donated food for distribution to food insecure Iowans will be eligible to apply.
Information and application materials will be able to be downloaded at www.iowadnr.gov/FABA. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until available funds have been awarded.
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LEGISLATIVE SESSION RESUMES
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Lawmakers returned to the Capitol Wednesday, June 3, following  an 11-week suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since they paused activity days prior to the second funnel deadline, most bills that did not pass the House or Senate, plus committee in the other chamber by Friday, June 5 are “dead” for the remainder of session. Tax, spending, and government oversight bills are exempt from those requirements. Now lawmakers will focus most of their energies on drafting the budget for the 2021 fiscal year (FY21), which begins on July 1.
On the policy side, as the suspension of retailer container redemption requirements continues, lawmakers have introduced no new bottle bill legislation. Furthermore, the lone House bottle bill proposal to survive the first legislative funnel ( HF 2534) failed to advance through the second legislative funnel. The measure would have doubled the handling fee paid to points of redemption from one cent per container to two cents. It also would have authorized the establishment of proprietary, automated drop-off centers across the state. |
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EPA LAUNCHES SMM PRIORITIZATION TOOLS
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Last week, EPA launched the Sustainable Materials Management Prioritization Tools. These life cycle-based tools offer a starting place for governments, trade associations, NGOs, companies, small enterprises, and other organizations to establish priorities for environmental improvement, focus their limited financial and human resources where action could offer greater holistic benefit, and consider key industries for collaboration.
The SMM Prioritization Tools generate dynamic charts that present over 10 million data points from a fully transparent, open and freely available life cycle model created by EPA. These charts provide insights across more than 20 environmental, social and economic indicators for over 390 categories of goods and services in the United States. They can be a great starting point when developing sustainability initiatives. All data used by the Tools are publicly available.
Learn more about the tools and check them out today! |
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GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP RELAUNCHES
Keep America Beautiful® today announced the annual Great American Cleanup® is resuming and will run through Oct. 18.
The Great American Cleanup, the nation’s largest community improvement program in its 22nd year, normally runs during the spring months (March 19-June 20). This year, the program was suspended because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as government and public health officials called on the public to avoid large gatherings and events to avoid the spread of the virus.
Since the intensity of an outbreak may differ according to geographic location, local health officials should be relied upon to issue guidance specific to their community as volunteer health and safety is our No. 1 priority.
Volunteers are being asked to register if they wish to be contacted as individual events are rescheduled in their area.
National Sponsors for the 2020 Great American Cleanup include: Altria, Better Natured™, Diageo, Dow, The Glad Products Company, Igloo®, Niagara Bottling, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company. |
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| For those of you not feeling comfortable volunteering for a group activity or seeking an alternative to an actual cleanup in places that are not yet deemed safe, you can participate in the Great American Cleanup Virtual Experience, a “virtual park” that one can interact with and beautify. As participants earn points through completing online activities, walking, or fundraising, the virtual park will be cleaned and beautified. Ultimately, participants will help identify where a Keep America Beautiful community beautification project will take place when the fundraising target is reached. |
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FLORAL BUCKET FISH HABITAT IN JOHNSON COUNTY (PLUS RECYCLING) 
By Alicia Presto, Iowa Waste Exchange, Area 4
Through a referral from the Iowa Recycling Association, a floral supply company representative in North Liberty connected with the local resource specialist for the Iowa Waste Exchange to identify reuse or recycling options for several thousand black, plastic buckets used in floral displays at stores in the area.
Working with the Iowa Waste Exchange, a portion of the buckets were used by Johnson County Conservation at Kent Park Lake. The 27-acre lake has undergone a major restoration project, which included draining and dredging the lake. To aid the re-establishment of fish habitat, the buckets were filled with concrete and tubing then installed before the lake was filled.
In addition to the fish habitat project, a portion of the buckets were given to a local fish farmer to use in operations. The remaining buckets, totaling 505 pounds, were recycled by Cedar Poly, which is a plastic recycling company located in Tipton.
For more information about the Iowa Waste Exchange, visit the program website here.
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