From the article:

[Taryle Spain, director of client services for the LVCVA and leader of its “green team”] said overall, the LVCVA recovered 2,665.9 tons of materials of 4,070.7 tons processed for a recovery rate of 66 percent. That percentage is well ahead of most of the city’s convention rivals and just ahead of the Orlando convention center’s reported recycling rate of 65 percent.

Waste Age is well acquainted with the Las Vegas Convention Center, as it seems like WasteExpo is held there every other year (but not this year). While I have not spied any separate recycling receptacles during those shows, it’s likely most of the material is being separated post collection.

The slick video, viewable below, sings the praises of waste to energy (WTE) in general and the Union County, N.J. WTE plant in particular, highlighting the benefits of the technology and its status as a renewable resource.

The MERCURY Awards, established in 1987 by MerCOMM Inc., recognize outstanding achievements in professional communications. Winners were chosen from 290+ categories and classifications, honoring “creativity, determination, functionality, originality, and smart thinking.”

So it went for Casey Ray, a St. Louis hair salon owner who in March 2009 was lucky enough to stumble across discarded but highly valuable scripts for the films “New Moon” (second in the blockbuster “Twilight” vampire series beloved by tween girls and their mothers, released late last year) and “Remember Me” (still unreleased) in the Dumpster behind her business. Ray returned the scripts to production company Summit Entertainment in exchange for tickets to the premieres and after-parties for each film, and autographed copies of the scripts.

After attending the events for “New Moon,” Ray decided to sell the “Remember Me” tickets on eBay. Summit balked and was further angered when Ray then tried to unload the tickets via private sale. They grudgingly agreed that Ray could transfer the tickets, but only if she relinquished the autographed scripts, prompting the inevitable lawsuit from Ray.

There’s a solution here. Perhaps Ray could be hired to tease out the hair of the brooding vampires and werewolves in the imminent third “Twilight” film?

Source: St. Louis Business Journal

So there’s certainly a need for Art Bin, an installation by British artist Michael Landy. Literally a room-sized steel and polycarbonate waste receptacle at the South London Gallery in England, the bin is filled with drawings, paintings, sculptures and other pieces deemed unworthy or simply disposable by their creators. Established artists, amateurs and students from around the world have augmented its contents. According to Landy, the growing pile of creative detritus is, itself, an artistic statement. As he told CBC News, Art Bin mulls “the worth our society gives to things.” Each new submission changes the nature of the piece.

True to the ephemeral spirit of the work, Art Bin will close on March 14 and all of its contents will be shipped to a landfill. Whether the landfill operator has the foresight to repurpose the facility as a gallery and start charging admission remains to be seen.

Source: CBC News

Waste Age has covered paint recycling before and I even saw Mike Rowe do it on “Dirty Jobs,” but it still seems like an extremely rare phenomenon. Prior to this event, whenever we inquired with our local waste handler about the best way to dispose of paint, we were told to either leave the lid off and let it dry out, or absorb it with kitty litter, both ending with a trip to the landfill. That was unacceptable to us, so in the basement it sat until a better option came along.

Do you have regular access to paint recycling where you live? If you are a waste handler, does your company offer such a service?

I was fascinated to discover that all of the medals being awarded in Vancouver include gold, silver and bronze (actually copper, since little or no bronze is used in electronics) reclaimed from computer motherboards. It’s the first time Olympic and Paralympic medals have contained e-waste. The short film below, produced by Dell Computer’s blog Motherboard, shows how the medals were created and the thought process behind them.

Honorees receive up to $500 cash, an award certificate and tantalizing “other forms of recognition,” which I’m hoping equates to a personalized bobble-head doll.

The application deadline is Feb. 28, 2010. Guidelines and applications are available at http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/ecoheroawards.html

“Electronics have always been popular searches on Earth911.com, but with the increased attention these devices have received, this past year was our highest yet,” said Corey Lambrecht, president of Earth911, in a press release. “Also, overall recycling searches increased 12 percent over 2008, as consumers want to know more about how to dispose of these items.”

The top 10 products consumers looked to recycle in 2009 using Earth911’s database were:

1. Computers

2. Batteries

3. Televisions

4. Paint

5. Aluminum cans

6. Used motor oil

7. CFLs

8. Glass

9. Fluorescent lamps

10. Christmas Trees

A .PDF of the full report can be obtained at here.

In Mr. Jones’ estimation, the mess approximated a “mini-Mardi Gras” (he’ll be able to make a proper comparison in exactly one week). But he was rooting for the Saints all the way: “You had to hope for them to win. But I said, ‘If they win, we’re gonna have record trash.’”

You can listen to the whole interview below.

And be sure to check out the February issue of Waste Age, in which we interview O’Donnell about his experience.