The Energy Recovery Council wrote to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman and ranking member Lisa Murskowski today to offer its support for an amendment filed by Senator Ron Wyden to include waste-to-energy as a renewable resource in the renewable energy standard (RES).  The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to mark up the RES on June 4 and Wyden's amendment would ensure that waste-to-energy receives proper recognition as a renewable energy source, consistent with other federal and state laws. 

A newly released report entitled "A Compatibility Study: Recycling and Waste-to-Energy Work in Concert, A 2009 Update" shows that waste-to-energy and recycling continue to work hand-in-hand in communities across America.  In this June 2009 report, Eileen Berenyi of Governmental Advisory Associates concludes that communities nationwide using waste-to-energy have an aggregate recycling rate at least 5 percentage points above the national average. 

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.