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Managed care and reduced costs are encouraging a return to reprocessing surgical instruments instead of throwing them away. Health care facilities cleaned and sterilized most instruments in-house until the 1970s, when manufacturers started producing single-use medical devices. This eliminated labor costs involved in internal reprocessing. Now, HMOs are changing the routine. Healthcare facilities are looking for ways to reduce costs associated with providing services. One way is to use reprocessed medical instruments. Surgical nurses separate the instruments, grossly decontaminate them, and ship them to a decontamination plant. They are sold back to the hospital at a significant discount. Brown-Ferris Industries (BFI) and Alliance Medical Corp. have entered into an agreement to serve hospitals nationwide. Alliance decontamination facilities will be located at or near BFI treatment and transfer locations. Recycling is slated to begin near Orlando, Florida. With the addition of this service, BFI can offer hospitals the full spectrum of recycling services.
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On the heels of BPs announcement that it will cut its greenhouse-gas emissions 10 percent by 2010, Shell pledged the same cuts by 2002. BP is making a major commitment to solar energy, and now, so is Shell. Both companies plan to improve efficiency throughout operations, and reduce venting and flaring of natural gas in exploration and production activities. Shell is making a $500 million investment in renewable energy resources, and, according to Willem-Jan van Wijk, director of Shell’s solar power division, the company aims to capture about 20 percent of the international commercial market for rural solar electricity systems, worth an estimated $1.1 billion, over the next five years. Eskom, the South African national electricity utility, and Shell International Renewables, are cooperating on a R130 million solar power project which will provide electricity to 50,000 rural households in South Africa over the next two years. Customers will pay R180 (about US$30; worth US$864)) for installation and R48 (US$8) for a monthly maintenance fee to power the equivalent of four lights and a black a[nd white TV for six hours. “This is the largest commercial, solar rural electrification project ever, he said. At a local level, it will provide opportunities […]
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The U.S. EPA released a report, “Characterization of Building-Related Construction and Demolition Debris in the United States.” C&D debris is produced at a volume of 136 million tons per year and 65-85 percent is landfilled. The report categorizes the total into residential and non-residential waste and by source – construction, renovation, or demolition. Download the EPA report The National Association of Home Builders Research Center and EPA have a case study, “Deconstruction – Building Disassembly and Material Salvage: The Riverdale Case Study.” Download it from the Smart Growth Network “Residential Construction Waste Management: A Builder’s Field Guide” is available from NAHB-RC: 800 898 2842
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Hot on the heels of the recent Clinton administration mandate to federal agencies that all copier paper bought by the government include at least 30% recycled fiber (up from 20%), a report shows that Uncle Sam isn’t the only one who’s having a hard time buying recycled. Despite purchasing preference laws in 47 states, “Only a handful of dedicated states (with paid staffs) are making progress in buying products with recycled content,” according to Purchasing Preferences for Recycled Products. Overall state government and private sector purchases of recycled paper and plastic products have declined since the early 1990s. Moreover, “despite enthusiasm from many of the Fortune 500 for money-saving waste-reduction programs,” the author found that “manufacturers are not making much of an effort to use the more challenging materials” — namely, recycled plastics. Cooking the Numbers? In many cases, companies and governments take credit for buying recycled packaging and products they would have bought anyway because the goods had long contained recycled material. Recycled asphalt, aluminum cans, and steel, for example, are often touted when promoting buy-recycled efforts. While technically correct, such products do nothing to shore up shaky markets for products made from recycled paper or plastics, among other […]
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For the first time, the environment was prominent on the agenda of the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference. It was standing room only at the Environmental Seminars in Nassau, Bahamas. There were workshops on waste management, energy efficiency, and green management. Technologies such as wind and solar power, recycling machinery and energy efficient lighting were featured at the trade show.
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Worldwatch Institute has released a study, The Natural Wealth of Nations: Harnessing the Market for Environment. While ending unnecessary subsidies to the energy, forestry, and fisheries industries would save US$650 billion in taxes, adding a modest levy for pollutant releases and resource depletion would add $1.5 trillion to the tax income. As a result, a U.S. family of four could have tax cuts of $2,000 per year. In the 1990s, China cut subsidies for fossil fuel consumption from $26 billion to $11 billion a year. The U.K. cut subsidies for coal production by 91 percent. Germany used taxes to cut production of toxic wastes by 15 percent in three years. Australia, Denmark and the U.S. used taxes on CFCs to help phase out these chemicals. For a copy contact mcaron@worldwatch.org http://www.worldwatch.org
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As a result of a World Bank initiative, 10 countries committed funds to help close Russia’s production facilities for CFCs and halons by the year 2000. This is viewed as the most effective way to halt CFC smuggling to industrialized countries. The US$19 million donation will eliminate half the world’s production capacity for ozone-depleting substances. The funds will be used to compensate manufacturers. They supplement US$10 million from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) available to assist Russia in meeting its obligations under the Montreal Protocol. The donor countries are: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, UK and USA. In addition, GEF appropriated US$60 million to help Russian industry substitute ozone-compatible products. Countries which purchase supplies from Russia will thus benefit as well. GEF is administered by UNEP, The World Bank and the UN Development Programme. Russia also committed to phase out production and consumption of carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform by 2000 and to observe controls on HCFCs and methyl bromide. The Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol meets in Cairo, Egypt, November 17 to 24.
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The Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA) is directing its message to the top CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies. BRBA, part of the National Recycling Coalition, is creating a six-page “cover wrap” to promote its initiatives. Starting with the November/December issue, it will be bound around the outside of each issue of the Harvard Business Review that is sent to the CEOs for the next year. “We’re hitting just the CEOs with the mailing, hoping s/he will adopt the message and drive it through the entire company,” says Will Ferretti, NRC executive director. The first four pages are about saving natural resources and an introduction to what “buy recycled” means. The last two pages include ads from BRBA member companies. Future editions may focus on new technologies and business-related topics.
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Created by EPA’s Office of Policy, Climate Change Impact Sheets detail the potential effects of climate change by state. Impacts on state climate, human health, water resources, agriculture, forests, and coastal areas are among the topics included. To receive any or all of the 50 impact sheets, visit [sorry this link is no longer available] or call 800-490-9198 with #s: EPA 230-F-97-008 and EPA-236-F-98-007. EPA has a global warming website: [sorry this link is no longer available] For information on EPA’s State and Local Climate Change Program: [sorry this link is no longer available] For details about each state’s activities, check out EPA’s State Climate Database
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Keep America Beautiful Inc. presented Ford with the 1998 Vision for America award which honors achievements in recycling and use of recycled-content materials and for innovative reuse of cast-off and scrap materials. Recycling initiatives established by Ford include a “Carpet to Car Parts” project, where recovered carpeting is screened, pelletized, and combined with virgin resin to make engine air cleaner housings for nearly 3 million vehicles annually. The company also uses 50 million recycled soda bottles each year to make grille reinforcements, door padding, and roof liners. Ford cars and trucks made in the U.S. and Europe are, on average, 75 percent recyclable. And Ford recycles its own tires, using them to manufacture ergonomic floor mats.
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