Contract reshuffle, planned $63M facility upgrade set stage for 2028 curbside recycling rollout
City officials have said they will need until 2028 to educate Indianapolis residents about what they can and can’t recycle and how to use recycling bins.
City officials have said they will need until 2028 to educate Indianapolis residents about what they can and can’t recycle and how to use recycling bins.
In 2020, the city diverted only about 15% of all residential, commercial, industrial and construction waste from landfills, through a combination of recycling and composting. That was far below the U.S. rate of around 35%.
The state is contracting with Minnesota-based Pace Labs, which has a location in Indianapolis, to test for “dangerous levels of dioxins” in the toxic materials.
The EPA now is getting close to having enough certified facilities to take all of the waste from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, said Debra Shore, a regional administrator with the agency.
In addition to helping eliminate risks to your operations, being a good environmental steward has many other benefits to businesses large and small. Having a successful environmental stewardship program can boost employee morale, enhance a company’s brand image, promote creativity and innovation among employees, increase community awareness of environmental stewardship and generate cost savings.
The university said the Grind2Energy system will reduce non-consumable food waste on campus by more than 2,000 pounds a day while contributing to the clean-energy needs of a local farm.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management estimates cleaning up the reclamation site in Anderson could cost up to $262,000.
While plastic straws account for a small percentage of the waste that ends up in oceans, they’ve become a flashpoint for corporations that sell food and beverages.
The new processing facility is designed to help local automotive, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers, among other businesses, reach or maintain zero-waste-to-landfill status.
CGS Services Inc. was on its fourth generation of family ownership when Florida-based Advanced Disposal Services bought the central Indiana company.
About 75 people joined city officials at the Garfield Park Arts Center on Wednesday afternoon for a meeting to discuss ideas for a new citywide recycling program.
A recycling plant in Montgomery, Alabama, that Indianapolis officials once touted as a successful model of “one-bin” combined waste and recycling has at least temporarily shut down, citing a drop in the commodities market.
Covanta still faces opposition as it moves closer to starting construction on a $45 million facility in Indianapolis that will use automation to pluck salvageable recyclables from household trash.
Under a plan by Indianapolis and Covanta, consumers would throw everything into one trash bin and automated sorting equipment would pluck out recyclables. Opponents say the early experience of Montgomery, Alabama, provides evidence that the sorting technology isn’t effective.
Duke Energy said Friday that it has already negotiated a plea agreement under which it will admit guilt and pay $102 million in fines, restitution and community service.
Indiana is awarding $600,000 to four companies, including two in Marion County, that recycle metals, wood and other materials.
As IBJ was first to report on June 9, Mayor Greg Ballard is contemplating a new, 10-year contract with Covanta, which already is set to receive the city’s waste through 2018.
A state lawmaker who co-authored legislation setting a goal for Indiana to eventually recycle at least half of its municipal waste says the state's resource-hungry manufacturing industry was a key to the bill's passage this year.
Some of the violations cited by the state are related to poor handling of hazardous materials at the Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. facility in Speedway.
Spring gardeners, lawn manicurists and nursery folk of all varieties on the hunt for cheap fertilizer this planting season need look no farther than the Greenfield's wastewater treatment facility.