Hauler hero: A recycling collection truck driver stepped in to halt an assault in the middle of his Youngtown, Ariz. collection route. ABC 15 News reports the employee was driving his truck when he saw a woman on the ground being struck in the head by a man. The driver stopped, jumped a fence and intervened, and stayed with the victim until sheriff’s deputies arrived and arrested the suspect.
Bright idea: Now that the grand eclipse of 2017 has come and gone, many U.S. residents are likely wondering what to do with their viewing glasses. Gizmodo reports that the group Astronomers Without Borders is undertaking a drive to collect the specs so they can be reused by students in developing countries during future eclipses.
Parted out: More than 18 months after its bankruptcy, the Greys Paper Recycling plant in Edmonton, Alberta is being dismantled and auctioned off. According to ReidsAuction.com, the equipment up for grabs includes balers, a glass pulverizer, pulpers and more. The auction was previously authorized by the Edmonton City Council.
Fatality: An elderly woman was killed in an accident at a Florida recycling facility. NBC affiliate WFLA News reports the 82-year-old woman, who was avid about recycling and regularly collected and sold recycled materials, happened to enter the wrong area of the recycling facility, where a 31,000-pound front-end loader struck her.
Glass addition: Residents of a coastal Oregon city will receive glass and yard debris collection service beginning this fall. The Daily Astorian writes that the Astoria, Ore. City Council voted in June to approve a contract for the expanded services, which will be provided by Recology Western Oregon.
Railroad uproar: A coalition of trade groups are blasting rail company CSX Corp. for what they call “chronic service failures” across the country. Reuters writes that the groups complain of delays causing bottlenecks and threatening rail-dependent businesses nationwide, and they want politicians to allow other rail companies to use CSX track service during problem periods. The company, meanwhile, says the issues are temporary while a new service feature is being implemented that focuses on increased efficiency.
Labor agreement: Workers at the Brooklyn, N.Y. Sims Municipal Recycling facility have approved their first union contract. According to Waste360, the Sunset Park MRF workers completed an organizing drive to gather support for the labor agreement, which has them joining the Teamsters Local 210 and will bring immediate pay increases and a health-care plan.
EPR expansion: The Canadian province of Ontario is beginning its transition to a full extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for residential paper products and packaging (PPP). According to a letter from the province’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the transition will move the system from its current shared-cost model to full producer responsibility, and it will set the stage for a later transition to an individual producer responsibility system.
