E-news for the workplace
In this issue:

The Business Bulletin is produced by the Washington County Health & Human Services, Solid Waste & Recycling Program.

 

For more information, go to www.WashingtonCountyRecycles.com, call 503-846-3605 or visit the office at 155 N First Ave, Ste 160, 

Hillsboro, OR 97124.

Spotlight on newly-awarded businesses
Nortek Air Solutions
Nortek Air Solutions manufactures air systems for numerous sectors such as the semiconductor, aerospace, biotech, hospital and pharmaceutical industries. The Tualatin-based company earned the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program's Green Business Award for undertaking sustainable practices that took the company from not doing much to one going above and beyond.  Read more.


 

Crate & Barrel

Crate & Barrel is often recognized by its black and white logo, but there is a brighter color that it should be known for as well -- green.

 

From the items Crate & Barrel sells, to the bag you carry your purchases home in, incorporating these sustainable practices throughout its business functions earned Crate & Barrel the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program's Green Business Award. Read more.

The cost of commuting

How much do you spend each day, round-trip? Click on the graph to find out.

The Westside Transportation Alliance provides member businesses support for helping their employees get to work without driving alone. 

Read more.

Drop-off 

recycling centers

Take electronics, rigid plastics and other items not collected in residential or commercial recycling programs, to a drop-off recycling center for little or no charge. Visit the recycling center's website for more information about what 

is accepted.

 

Far West 

Recycling - Beaverton

10750 SW Denney Rd

Beaverton  97008

503-643-9944

www.FarWestRecycling.com 

 

Far West 

Recycling - Hillsboro

6440 SE Alexander St

Hillsboro  97123

www.FarWestRecycling.com 

 

Pride Disposal Company - Recycling Depot

13910 SW Tualatin-

Sherwood Rd

Sherwood 97140

503-625-6177

www.PrideDisposal.com 

 

For questions, contact the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program at 

503-846-3605.

 

Recycling alert: Styrofoam
Due to issues with commodity markets and processing capacity,  the Far West Recycling and Pride Recycling Depot drop-off recycling centers are not currently accepting ANY forms of polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) products. Centers stopped taking Styrofoam on 
May 12, 2015. 

Check back to the program website for updates on recycling Styrofoam in 
Washington County. 

Borrow recycling containers for your event


Is your company or organization putting on a public event this summer? The Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program can provide recycling equipment for beverage containers generated at 
your event.

 

Nearly two dozen ClearStream recycling containers are available for free to businesses and organizations holding events within Washington County, such as festivals and farmers markets.  

Events must be open to the public. Equipment is checked out on a first-come, 

first-served basis.

 

Make beverage container recycling easy at your next event. For questions or details, email the  Solid Waste & Recycling Program or call 

503-846-3605

This publication is produced in cooperation with the cities of Banks, Cornelius, Durham, Forest Grove, Hillsboro, King City, North Plains, Sherwood, Tigard and Tualatin.

Feeding the hungry and reducing  

food waste 

Four to 10 percent of food purchased by commercial foodservice
 operations in the U.S. will never actually be served to patrons, according to LeanPath, a Portland-based food waste prevention company. Also, in Washington County, almost 67,000 residents -- 43 percent of whom are children -- don't know where they will get all the food they need, according to 

Feeding America.

 

There are a number of reasons why food is wasted, including the over-purchasing or over-preparing of food. Luckily, if a business finds itself with surplus food, they can always donate it to a local organization. 

 

Even the smallest amounts of edible food that can be saved can make a big difference to an organization or a family in need. Numerous restaurants and other commercial businesses are doing their part to reduce food waste and feed people in need. Read More.

Understanding plastics

Resource Recycling published an article in November 2014 on the recently released Plastics Terms and Tools project. The goals of the project include communicating more clearly with consumers about plastics, helping buyers and sellers communicate when making transactions and enhancing the quality of plastics recycling data. Read more.  

Wasting food in America

Eggs discarded in a roll cart
"Americans can help reduce waste by learning when food goes bad, buying imperfect produce, and storing and cooking food with an eye to 
reducing waste."
--
Dana Gunders, NRDC
 

 

Farmers and ranchers across the globe generate 3.3 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases each year producing food that will not be consumed, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. And roughly 3.5 billion acres of land, or 28 percent of the world's agricultural area, is used annually to produce food that is lost or wasted -- that's one and a half times the size of the United States. Most of this wasted food ends up in landfills.

 

Food waste can be created at any point of the farm-to-table process -- production, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, distribution or at the consumption stage.

 

According to the National Resources Defense Council, 40 percent of all food produced each year in the U.S. gets wasted, which is 10 percent higher than the annual global average. Twenty-five percent of that food loss is due to consumer behavior and habits, according to a 2014 World Bank report. In fact, the average U.S. resident wastes 20 pounds of food each month -- a loss of more than $165 billion nationwide each year.

 

Consumers in the Metro area can help reduce the volume of food waste by properly storing food, planning meals, making shopping lists, using leftovers and better preparing the food they buy. Learn more at www.EatSmartWasteLess.com.

Businesses learn how to benefit from reusing materials through ResourceFull Use

This past April, roughly two dozen attendees learned how exchanging and reusing commercial materials can help the environment as well as save money. ResourceFull Use is an innovative resources exchange program available to businesses throughout the greater Portland Metro region. The purpose of the free workshop is to provide a setting for participants to create business-to-business partnerships for materials otherwise destined for landfill.  

 

Held at Nortek Air Solutions in Tualatin, attendees learned from Nortek's Rick Bruncez on how the company reduced its annual garbage costs by over two-thirds. Bruncez explained how Nortek implemented an expansive recycling program, established reuse partnerships for products such as fiberglass insulation and melamine foam and added other sustainability programs to benefit the bottom line.

 

At the conclusion of Brunecz's presentation, County staff awarded Nortek with the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program's

Green Business Award.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore's Heidi White informed attendees on the purpose of ReStore, how the locations benefit Habitat for Humanity building projects, which items the store needs and what items it 

won't accept.

 

This year's workshop was the fourth event put on by the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program. To learn more about Washington County's ResourceFull Use workshops, visit the 

program's webpage.

Improve recycling at work
Over 450 local businesses benefited from FREE tools, on-site assistance and training provided by the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program last year.


"Working with Washington County has allowed us to cut our garbage bill by two-thirds."

-- Rick Brunecz, Nortek Air Solutions

Request technical assistance for your business.

Contact the Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling Program by email, call 503-846-3605 or go to www.WashingtonCountyRecycles.com.