Battle over disposal ban: Lincoln, Neb.’s mayor vetoed a recycling bill he previously supported because the City Council removed a disposal ban on OCC and paper, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star. The plan originally proposed by Mayor Chris Beutler would have imposed the landfill ban, required haulers to provide curbside recycling service and funded a recycling education campaign, but the council removed the landfill ban provision while leaving the rest intact.
Cardboard recycling success: The Corrugated Packaging Alliance has released an infographic detailing the U.S. recovery rates of cardboard in the past 20 years. The graph shows 93 percent of cardboard was recycled in 2015, up from 54 percent in 1993.
New paint recycling technology: A U.K. design company has developed a cost-effective way for paint to be recycled on a large scale, according to environmentalleader.com. The researchers developed an industrial vacuum cleaner that sucks the unused paint from the cans. It then goes to waste management giant Veolia for recycling.
NWRA on Connecticut: The Connecticut Chapter of the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) is reacting to the state’s recently announced plan to cut waste by 60 percent by the year 2024. While NWRA supports the goals outlined in the plan, it questions the millions of dollars in savings promised to municipalities.
Stopping phone book delivery: Despite the move to the digital age, phone books are still getting dropped on doorsteps across the country. And according to the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), it costs local governments millions of dollars each year to recycle them. That is why PSI has developed a phone book opt-out toolkit for local governments and community leaders who want to stop the deliveries.