Each year, the Energy Recovery Council and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recognize June as Hauler Safety Month, as part of an Alliance agreement entered into by ERC and OSHA.  Starting today, waste-to-energy facilities across the national are focusing on trash haulers during a month-long national safety campaign The OSHA and ERC Alliance focuses on providing the association’s members and others, including small businesses, with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help them protect employees' health and safety.  ERC members plan hauler safety day events at more than 60 facilities nationwide centered on the campaign “SAFETY: DO IT FOR LIFE” that personalizes the importance of keeping safety first in mind at work for the waste hauler and his or her family.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 33-25 on May 21 to pass sweeping legislation that would overhaul U.S. energy and global warming policy and recognize waste-to-energy as a climate-friendly renewable resource.  Democrats largely held together in support of the 946-page bill shaped over several months of closed-door negotiations and nearly 40 hours of debate.

The Energy Recovery Council welcomes the Islip Resource Recovery Agency as a new municipal member. Located on Long Island, NY, the Agency owns the MacArthur Waste-to-Energy Facility, which processes 486 tons of trash per day and has a baseload electric generating capacity of 12 megawatts.  The facility is operated by Veolia ES Waste-to-Energy, Inc.  The facility has earned the STAR designation under OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), making it one of the nation's elite workplaces with respect to healthy and safety.

Congratulations to the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County and ecomaine for winning the 2009 ASME Facility Recognition Awards for large and small facilities, respectively.  ASME selects winners based on environmental performance, innovative and technical contributions to solid waste processing, health and safety records, and facility economics.  The awards were accepted today during an awards luncheon at the 17th Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference in Chantilly, VA.  Ecomaine and the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County are both associate members of the Energy Recovery Council and exemplify the outstanding performance and achievement in the waste-to-energy sector. 

Waste-to-energy is becoming headline news again and portals such as the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News are highlighting waste-to-energy.  WSJ environmental editor Jeffrey Ball wrote a story that appeared on page A9 that discussed the emerging presence of waste-to-energy and its ability to generate renewable electricity from waste.  While recognizing that today's waste-to-energy plants are far different than incinerators of yesteryear, Ball notes that Congress and states are have implemented or are considering policies that would recognize waste-to-energy as a climate-friendly, renewable source of electricity.  Bloomberg News published a story online on May 11 which described the efforts of companies to increase waste-to-energy capacity around the globe in order to reduce waste and increase renewable electricity capacity.  Both articles were balanced and note that some activists will always be opposed to waste-to-energy, but coverage in major news outlets shows that waste-to-energy is indeed making headway in the public domain.