by Todd Dresser
Recently, there has been much discussion regarding the need to reduce the amount of mercury and toxic heavy metals entering the environment via the disposal of solid waste. In response to this problem, the state and federal governments have adopted Universal Waste Regulations prohibiting the disposal of the following heavy metal bearing articles as solid waste: fluorescent lamps, electric ballasts, computer components, and batteries. Locally, we became concerned about this problem when we learned that many of the nearby solid waste incinerators were found to be releasing elevated concentrations of mercury to the atmosphere. As a result, we were concerned about what pollutants we may inhale as well as what materials may be deposited into our surface water supply. In response to these concerns, we developed a Universal Waste Recycling Initiative as a means to reduce the amount of mercury and heavy metals entering the solid waste stream. The following is a general description of the approach we have undertaken and the successes achieved.
In January 1998, the Burlington Board of Health began an outreach effort to educate and inform the local community regarding the need to properly manage a variety of Universal Waste items. In addition, we also began to require local businesses to develop Universal Waste management plans. In order to assist this effort and to provide a financial incentive to comply, the Board of Health also established a municipal Universal Waste Recycling Program at this time. As a governmental agency, the Board was able to utilize a recycling contract negotiated for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to then offer this competitive pricing to our participants. An additional benefit to this approach has been that many businesses have found it appealing to participate in our program because we have made it easy for them to comply by being prepared to manage their waste.
Initially, we focused our recruitment efforts on the facilities we expected to generate a large volume of Universal Waste (e.g. office parks, malls, and multi-tenant property management companies). A combination of educational outreach and municipal coordination has prompted more than 60 companies responsible for the management of over 200 locations to join the program. In addition, another 20 businesses responsible for the management of another 45 facilities have developed independent recycling initiatives. The quantifiable success of the program is the amount of material we have been able to collect between March 15 and July 31, 1998: 42,000 linear feet of lighting (approximately 11,000 lights), 8,000 pounds of ballasts, 2500 pounds of computer equipment, and 100 pounds of batteries. Prior to our program, the bulk of these materials would most likely have been disposed of as solid waste.
This effort has shown us that we can work with local businesses to quickly and easily obtain significant results in removing toxic metals from the solid waste stream. In addition, we have also been contacted by a number of firms located outside of Burlington who would like to join our program.
For more information regarding this program please contact Todd Dresser at the Burlington Board of Health at 781-270-1956 or via e-mail at tdresser@burlmass.org.