E-newsletter highlighting grant deadlines, upcoming workshops and available resources for municipal recycling and solid waste leaders.
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Doing Business with DEEP during the COVID-19 Pandemic
DEEP is continuing to carry out its mission and provide services while keeping both the public and our workforce safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for the latest updates on DEEP's response to COVID-19.
DEEP's COVID-19 Response
UPDATE: Department of Revenue Services reinstated the 10c fee for plastic grocery bags July 1, 2020.
Additional Resources:
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Missed recent webinars?
Originally June 30, 2020
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Did You Miss the June 23, 2020
Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting?
- Betsey Wingfield, CT DEEP Deputy Commissioner, Opening Remarks
- Mike Noel, TOMRA, Bottle Bill Redemption Update
- Dan McGowan, Mattress Recycling Council, Update on Mattress Recycling Program
- Laura Honis, PaintCare, Update on Paint Recycling Program
- Courtney Forrester, on behalf of Simple Recycling, Update on Textile Recycling
- Christine Beling, US EPA, EPA AD Grant Overview and Food Recovery Challenge Update
- Sherill Baldwin, CT DEEP, RecycleCT Updates
- Mark Latham, CT DEEP, E-Waste Update
- Jennifer Heaton-Jones, HRRA, E-Waste Update
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SAVE DATES
Connecticut Compost
Webinar Series
The first CT Composting Conference that was scheduled in March 2020 has been reformatted as a series of webinars.
The focus will continue to be to assist farmers and municipalities currently engaged in composting - incl. just leaves, leaves and grass clippings or manure and just manure - to understand how to add food scraps to your recipe.
Five Wednesdays, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
August 26
September 9
September 23
October 7
October 28
CT NOFA will continue to handle registrations, and if you pre-registered for the March 2020 conference, they will be in contact with you soon about refunds.
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Community Toolkit: Adding Food Waste to a Yard Trimmings Compost Facility
The Center for EcoTechnology (CET), in partnership with BioCycle,
recently released a toolkit
providing guidelines and recommendations for how to add food scraps to yard trimmings composting sites. The publication aims to help municipalities determine whether their yard trimmings compost facilities are ready, or could be ready, to handle food waste as an additional stream.
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Tackling Food Service Waste
Pre- and Post-Pandemic
In 2019, PSI decided to update and expand their Restaurant Guide, which provides concrete tools and steps businesses can take to reduce use of single-use plastics and other forms of disposable service-ware. The Guide's goal was to help reduce the amount of marine debris washing up on Long Island’s beaches.
With the pandemic, PSI was able to pivot their work to focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on restaurant waste, focusing attention on creating resources for our partner restaurants and the broader Buffalo community, which includes the updated guide "
5 Easy Steps to Reduce Plastic & Benefit Your Business" for restaurants and eateries.
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Washington’s Residential Building Code Amendment Explicitly Allows Lumber Reuse without Regrading
King County, in consultation with experts, developed a
building code amendment
providing a clear directive to the engineer/designer and removing potential liability from building officials while maintaining safety and increasing the economical use of salvaged lumber for those wishing to reuse quality material.
Previously, quality, ungraded, salvaged lumber could not be reused in a structural capacity without either the high cost of grading or being allowed by the Building Official. The amendment assumes conservative, material base values that reflect past construction methods in Washington to expand the use of salvaged lumber without compromising safety.
Adopted Washington Residential Building Code Language
R602.1.1.1 Used Sawn Lumber.
Used sawn lumber in good condition and devoid of areas of decay shall meet the requirements of Section 602.1.1 or shall comply with the following:
1. Dimensional lumber that has a nominal thickness of 2-inches with a nominal width of 6-inches, or less, shall be assumed to be spruce-pine-fir stud grade and shall have structural properties assigned in accordance with current adopted standards. All other dimensional lumber shall be assumed to be hem-fir No. 2 grade and shall have structural properties assigned in accordance with current adopted standards.
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GRANT
SustainableCT
Round 2 Match Fund
Sustainable CT
is a statewide nonprofit that works with Connecticut cities and towns to promote sustainability and quality of life initiatives. The
Community Match Fund
supports community-led sustainability projects through a dollar-for-dollar funding match and fundraising coaching and support.
Anyone in one of the
107 cities and towns
participating in our program is eligible to propose a project and access the funding, meaning nonprofits, community groups, individuals, and anyone else are all encourage to participate.
More information on the program can be found at:
SustainableCT supports wide-ranging projects so please reach out to
Abe Hilding-Salorio
if you have an ideas you'd like to talk about.
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GRANT
Resilient Communities:
Libraries Respond to Climate Change
The American Library Association (ALA) invites library workers to apply to be part of
Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change, a pilot program to help public and academic libraries engage their communities in programs and conversa
tions that address the climate change crisis.
The project will fund in-person and virtual film screenings, community dialogues and related events based on local interest and will provide instruction and support for the libraries to be centers for community education and support during extreme weather events.
Applications will be accepted from
July 1 to August 28, 2020
. Participating libraries will be selected through a peer-reviewed, competitive application process managed by ALA’s Public Programs Office.
Selected libraries will receive:
•$1,000 programming grant to support in-person or virtual climate-related programs and activities
•a small collection of documentaries/docudramas on DVD, with public performance rights
•Climate Resilience Hub support, provided by Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) in coordination with ALA
•digital promotional materials, online learning opportunities and more
•Participating libraries will collaborate with a community partner organization to host three public programs in 2020-2021 that focus on climate change science, sustainability, emergency weather preparedness, environmental justice or related subjects
If you wish to discuss a potential application one-on-one with a Resilient Communities advisor, please email
publicprograms@ala.org
to make arrangements. (Project advisors will not serve on the application review committee.)
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GRANT
2020-2021 EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Solicitation
This program engages small businesses (under 500 employees) in federal research and development in EPA priority topic areas. Phase I contracts are awarded for 6 months to develop “proof of concept” of the technology. Completed Phase I projects are eligible to be considered for $400,000 Phase II contract funding to develop and commercialize the technology over a 2-year period.
EPA Sustainable Materials Management topics are:
o Innovative technologies that prevent food waste
o Technologies that will improve the US recycling system
o New applications for industrial non-hazardous secondary materials and food processing byproducts
o Safe building deconstruction tools or safety equipment
o Building materials that improve energy efficiency and have reduced embodied impacts
Eligibility:
See solicitation, qualifying small business with less than 500 employees.
Funding:
Phase I Individual awards of $100,000.
Closing date
:
August 28, 2020
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Accepting Applications for the NERC 2020 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) is now accepting applications for its 2020 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award program. The award recognizes individuals or organizations for the impact they have made on an environmentally sustainable economy within the NERC 11-state region. Applications are due
August 14.
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Mandato
ry Recycling & Disposal Bans for the U.S. Update Published
RRS White Paper.
The growth of textile waste in the United States is outpacing the growth of every other major category of waste. This report evaluates the current state of textile waste in the U.S. waste stream and explores a future-state system in which textiles are maintained in best and highest use throughout the value chain.
New EPA Tools and Resources:
EPA’s DDRT GIS Mapping Tool launched nationally to assist federal, state, local and tribal emergency disaster debris planners and responders to quickly identify recycling, composting, and disposal facilities that may be able to accept disaster debris. It includes a cool feature that allows responders to map around blocked routes.
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Archived Municipal Recycling Coordinators E-News and Webinars
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What's IN? What's OUT?
Recent Questions from CT residents & Added to RecycleCT Wizard
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CHANGE to
What's IN, What's OUT LIST
Black Plastic Containers are OUT
Last year in reviewing the list of what's IN vs. what's OUT with CT MRF operators, they asked for two things:
- Take black plastic containers off the list
- Focus promotions on issues of safety in effort to reduce explosives, flammable and other problematic items incl. syringes, diapers, and knives.
So with the start of Phase III of the What's IN, What's OUT campaign, we are now sharing that black plastic containers are off the acceptable list. They are now OUT. This change has been updated in the RecycleCT Wizard too.
Phase III of the campaign will focus on safety issues as well as tell the story of "closing the loop"
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Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
- 2:00pm -
How to Build A Better MRF Contract
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by Resource Recycling and The Recycling Partnership.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
- 1:30pm -
AgSTAR Farm Anaerobic Digestion Project Development Handbook
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by NEWMOA/NERC.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 - 1:00pm -
State Actions to Address Recycling Market Changes webinar.
For more information. Hosted by Northeast Recycling Council. (NERC).
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
- 2:00pm -
Introduction to the Government Recycling Demand Champion Program
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by NERC and APR.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
- 2:00pm -
What to Expect from Domestic Paper Markets
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by Resource Recycling and the Recycling Partnership.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - 2:00pm -
Teaching Practical Strategies for Reducing Wasted Food Through Community Events webinar.
For more information. Hosted by NERC.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - 2:00pm -
Keeping Materials in Motion webinar.
For more information.
Hosted by Resource Recycling and the Recycling Partnership.
August 16-19, 2020
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Destination: Zero Waste, CRRA Virtual Conference
.
For more information
. Hosted by California Resource Recovery Association.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
- 2:00pm -
The Path Forward
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by Resource Recycling and the Recycling Partnership.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - 2:00pm -
Measure Matters: How Do We Measure Now? webinar.
For more information.
Hosted by Resource Recycling and the Recycling Partnership.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
- 2:00pm -
State & Local Laws Mandating Minimum Recycled Content
webinar.
For more information
. Hosted by NERC.
October 20-22, 2020 -
The Changing Face of Recycling: Finding New Solutions, NERC Fall 2020 Virtual Conference.
For more information. Hosted by the NERC.
New Date:
November 17, 2020 - 8:00am - 4:30pm -
Using Recycled Content in Infrastructure Workshop, Concord, New Hampshire.
For more information. Hosted by NERC/NEWMOA.
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Have an idea or topic for future municipal recycling webinar? Let us know what you and your colleagues would like to learn more about. Contact
Sherill Baldwin.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request an accommodation contact us at (860) 418-5910 or
deep.accommodations@ct.gov.
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CT DEEP | Source Reduction & Recycling Group | 860-424-4193 | www.ct.gov/deep/recycle
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