What does recycling mean to you? For us, recycling is a word of endless opportunities to innovate, grow and advance the industry of recycling. We will always be looking for ways to redefine recycling.
Recycling Made Easy Through Long Beach Services
Check out this article in The Green Gazette about how “Long Beach’s environmental services bureau and SA Recycling offer convenient, local ways to be eco-friendly.” Click here to read.
SA Recycling Takes Delivery of Two All-Electric Yard Trucks
SA Recycling took another big step in the green direction last week. They acquired an all-electric yard truck which will be used to move containers and roll-off bins throughout SA Recycling’s Port of Los Angeles facility; a second truck will be delivered sometime this month. The trucks are provided through a generous grant from the Port of Los Angeles in partnership with Balqon Corporation, leaders in heavy duty all-electric clean truck technology. The trucks will replace older diesel trucks that have been used for years in the port and will play a significant role in cleaning the air. SA Recycling applauds and thanks the Port of Los Angeles for their efforts and funding to make this truck delivery program possible. In roughly three years’ time the Clean Truck Program has efficiently reduced port-related truck pollution by at least 80%, achieving all its goals in record time. Emission studies show that since 2005, emission from trucks alone have been reduced dramatically, including a 92% reduction in sulfur oxides, an 89% reduction in diesel particulate matter, and a 77% reduction in nitrogen oxides, helping to make this port complex the cleanest in the nation, if not the world.
SA Recycling’s commitment to the environment is crystal clear, from its state of the art shredder filtration equipment to its stormwater treatment plant, they are committed to doing their part to Green the Port. Making steel from recycled metal, versus making it from iron ore, reduces greenhouse gases by up to 90%, thus making SA Recycling a significant contributor to the reduction of worldwide greenhouse gases. They will be celebrating their 50th year of operation on Terminal Island in late February, a milestone that marks the achievement and dedication of so many great employees that make up the framework of their organization.
SA Recycling Teams Up With Orange County Firefighters
SA Recycling and Orange County Firefighters are teaming up with a new program that aims to collect 110 cars to be donated to fire training center in Anaheim for firefighter lessons. Through SA Recycling’s 1-800-Got-Scrap cars ready to be recycled will be donated for training purposes. Donors of vehicles will be paid between $200-$450 for their vehicles and SA Recycling will donate $50 for each car to the North Net Fire Training Facility. The article is featured in the OC Register, for more information, click here.
Receive Up To $1500 To Retire Your Vehicle
Have an old vehicle you would like to get rid of? The State of California’s Bureau of Automotive Repair is willing to pay individuals who meet eligibility requirements up to $1500 for retiring their old vehicle. The program is call the Consumer Assistance Program (CAP). The Consumer Assistance Program is administered by the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) and is designed to help improve California’s air quality. Through the program, a consumer may retire a qualified vehicle and receive $1000 or up to $1500 if the consumer meets low income eligibility guidelines. Also, through CAP, consumers who own a vehicle that fails its biennial Smog Check inspection may be provided up to $500 in financial assistance toward emissions-related repairs. You may retire your vehicle at
any time if you and your vehicle meet eligibility requirements. Some of the major requirements include that you must be the registered owner with vehicle title issued in your name, vehicles undergoing an initial registration in California are ineligible and the vehicle must be able to be driven to a CAP contracted dismantler under its own power. These are just some of the requirements, the websites FAQs provide more answers.
To apply for the CAP, you can obtain an application online. Click here for application. Applications are processed within seven to ten business days. If you are approved, you will receive an official Letter of Eligibility with specific instructions on how to retire or repair your vehicle. For more information and to visit the Bureau of Automotive Repair’s website, click here.
Cars Run Off Coffee
We all know vehicles are ever increasingly going green. Well, now they are going bean. Coffee bean that is. “The Coffee Car” was created by the Teesdale Conservation Volunteers of Durham, England and has broken the Guinness World Record “for vehicles run on gas from organic waste”. The vehicle’s top speed is 77.5 miles per hour, beating out the previous record holder, the wood-burning Beaver XR7 that travels up to 47.7 miles per hour. So how does a car run off coffee? According to BBC news, “Engineer Martin Bacon from County Durham equipped the car with a gasifier which burns organic material at high temperature. This produces combustible gases which, after cleaning and cooling, are used to fuel an adapted combustion engine.” The coffee car successfully drove from London to Manchester, roughly 209 miles. Most of us run on coffee anyway, why not our cars? See you in the espresso lane!
Engineer Martin Bacon with The Coffee Car.
Recycling Automobile Exhaust
When you think of all the possible things you can recycle, automobile exhaust does not usually top the list. With rising gas prices and environmental concerns, it’s important to discover new ways to be energy efficient. The engineers at Oregon State University took to looking at the wasted energy that come from our cars’ exhaust to do just that.
According to Science Daily, the engineers at OSU have successfully completed a prototype to capture and use the low-to-medium grade waste heat that is generated from automobile exhaust pipes. “This could become a very important new energy source and way to improve energy efficiency,” said Hailei Wang, a research associate in the School of Mechanical.
The advantage of this over similar products in the past is that OSU’s prototype has the ability to produce electricity through a thermally activated cooling system, as well as being portable. This
technology would be especially useful if there’s a need to have cooling systems where heat is being wasted,” Wang said.
This revolutionary technology potentially has cost savings as well. For example, it could “be used in hybrid automotive technology, taking waste heat from the gasoline engine and using it not only for air conditioning but also to help recharge the battery that powers the vehicle” according to Wang.
The engineers at Oregon State University say there will have to be more tests to perfect the system.
To read the full article from Science Daily, click here.
U.S. Coast Guard Visits SA Port
Monday, June 27, 2011 - 12 men and women of the United States Coast Guard visited SA Recycling’s Port of LA facility. The tour, led by Captain of the Port Roger Laferriere and Captain Jenkins was certainly a planned visit to give a better understanding of what we do and how well we protect the environment. We showed the USCG team our state of the art massive 9,000 HP all electric shredder (one of four this size in the United States), our enormous electric sheer (capable of cutting steel plates up to three inches thick), our vessel loading operation, the de-poluting station (where we drain vehicle fluids and render vehicles safe for shredding), the mechanic’s area (where a touching story was shared with one of our associates was told), the employee’s break and lunch room facilities, and last but certainly not least, the storm water filtration system. The stormwater system collects water throughout our facility and filters the water with a series of pumps, storminator filters, and clarifies allowing the water to be used over and over again in the yard: storing one million gallons of water.
The tour concluded with a positive awareness of what operations SA Recycling executes in the port, giving assurances to the USCG that we are in full compliance of all rules and regulations. Once we explained the DNA of the company, where a man who changed course in his mid-life with his three young Eagle Scout sons and one daughter, it was certainly easier to comprehend why we are so diligent on ensuring our safety and environmental procedures are precisely followed. The US Coast Guard is the most highly respected protector of the seas in the world and we thanked them for keeping the port and our oceans free of the ills that afflict other countries. My hats go off to the brave men and women of the Guard; “Semper Paratus”.
Long Beach Unified Elementary Honors SA Recycling
On June 16th, the fifth graders of Long Beach Unified Elementary schools took time from their graduation ceremony to acknowledge SA Recycling. The fifth graders honored SA Recycling’s willingness to help them in their efforts to launch a recycling program for their CRV bottles and cans that helped them raise $1,500 to purchase over an acre of rain forest property. The children plan to continue their environmental efforts and raise even more money next school year. For the full article, click here.
Green Cleaning
With a dire need to constantly create efficient green energy alternatives to sustain the world’s population and ecosystems, hybrid cars and solar panels only comprise of the surface of the colossal green iceberg our society tends to focus on.
The self-perpetual green metamorphosis our society has embarked on is slowly affecting industries most people would neglect to consider. Mijanou Pham, owner and founder of Celebrity Green Cleaners, is no novice or band-wagon follower at running a green business in Orange County. In 2003, before green was officially in, General Electric approached Mijanou and her business to embrace GE’s environmentally safe and revolutionary “GreenEarth” cleaning system.
Where most other dry cleaners use the chemical perchloroethylene (perc) to clean delegate clothing, GreenEarth is a biodegradable substance which is comprised of pure liquid silicon. Since GreenEarth is essentially liquefied sand, when the substance finds itself in the environment it simply decomposes into its three natural elements: sand, water, and CO2. On the other hand, perc is highly composed of petroleum, a substance that is not biodegradable, nor is safe to use or be overly exposed to. According to the EPA, overexposure of perc has been linked to headaches, dizziness, loss of balance and coordination, allergies, as well as a variety of other health issues which include cancer. Currently, the State of California is in the process of eradicating the use of perc to improve health and environmental concerns for current residents.
By using a green dry cleaner such as Celebrity GreenCleaners, consumers of green cleaning services benefit in a variety of ways. Using the GreenEarth cleaning system assists in promoting environmental responsibility, while endorsing improved personal health with the lack of exposure to perc. Consumers of GreenEarth cleaners may also benefit their wallets indirectly as well. With the GreenEarth cleaning system naturally increasing the lifespan of clothing, inevitably, consumers will save vast amounts of money by not having to frequently purchase new clothes. Finally, you are probably wondering how much more it cost to use a GreenEarth dry cleaner. To my surprise, the cost of using a GreenEarth dry cleaner is practically same as using a standard dry cleaner, leaving you with no valid excuse to not go green for you dry cleaning purposes.
With the motto “It’s ready, it’s right, or it’s free!”, Celebrity Green Cleaners has been serving citizens of Southern Orange County for over 20 years, and continues to promote green dry cleaning services throughout the community. Celebrity Green Cleaners has over five locations and was Orange County’s first GreenEarth cleaner, making them the experts of green dry cleaning. If your current dry cleaner advertises “organic” or “green washing”, be aware because this means the cleaner uses hydrocarbon to clean your clothing, which is a petroleum based product. Only certified GreenEarth cleaners are 100 percent green and safe for the environment. For more information on Celebrity Green Cleaners you can visit www.celebritycleaners.com.
Rethinking The Plastic Bag
Despite increasing awareness efforts on the need to recycle plastic bags, it is estimated the U.S. uses over 89 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps each year with a dismal 12 percent recycle rate. Hilex Poly is one of the leading plastic bag manufacturers in North America, collecting more than 100 million pounds of plastic for recycling purposes each year. The company is now attempting to execute their eco-objective of transforming traditional cultural norms by educating retailers of the detrimental impact using white plastic bags entail.
The underlying problem with using white plastic bags is the simple fact white bags can only contain and utilize 10 percent of recycled content. Using a blue plastic bag may contain as much as 35 percent of recycled material, with gray plastic bags containing up to 40 percent of recycled matter. Phil Rozenski, the director of sustainability and marketing for Hilex Poly, believes the reason why companies fail to use colored plastic bags is a direct result of marketing. Restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies all contribute to the white bag problem by not switching to an eco-friendly color
for branding purposes.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle the U.S. plastic recycling industry faces is simply collecting enough material to meet demand. Last year the U.S. collected 880 million pounds of material, with Hilex Poly collecting a total of 11 percent of the 880 million pounds alone. One positive outlook we must recognize is the reuse rates for plastic bags in the U.S. Americans last year reused 48-60 percent of their bags as bin liners or for pet waste removal. Although it is great for the environment to reuse plastic bags, these bags fail to ever see the light in a recycling center.
To help with this green effort, customers may purchase reusable grocery bags made out of recycled material for a small cost. Another option would be to simply save and collect all of your plastic bags and recycle them at your local grocery store on your next visit. By recycling and refusing to use plastic bags, people of all ages, shapes and sizes can significantly
reduce plastic consumption resulting in a greener and environmentally friendly planet.
