WasteCap’s Jenna Kunde presented at international conference
Thanks to the sponsorship of Oscar J. Boldt Construction, Jenna Kunde, WasteCap’s Director of Strategic Development, was able to chair a session at the International Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies held in Coventry, England in June. During the session, Dr. Carol Diggleman of both the Milwaukee School of Engineering and WasteCap’s Food Waste Committee, presented her work on new course development in environmental science. Mary Christiansen, WasteCap’s Technical Intern, was a speaker at the conference, presenting her paper which utilizes WasteCap methodologies: “An Analysis of Environmental and Fiscal Impacts of Recycling during Kern Center Construction.” The conference attracted attendees from all over the globe all working to research and develop materials and technologies for sustainable construction. For more information on the conference, click here.

Pragmatic Construction groundbreaking and breaking ground this month
Pragmatic Construction begins construction of the Elemental Townhomes in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood, the first housing constructed in Wisconsin using a "super green" Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) wall system. AAC is a precast structural product made with all-natural raw materials, including a significant level of recycled fly ash. For more information on the project, click here.

J Spear Associates wins project to trace lifecycle of MSW recyclables
This “Close the Loop” Project will identify the chain of ownership of a variety of recyclable materials generated in Wabash County, Indiana, from collection to manufacturing. Materials will be followed from points of Wabash County generation through manufacturing in order to identify the new products that are made from locally collected materials. Information gathered during this research will be used to create illustrations of the “Close the Loop” concept that can help educate the public about the benefits and products that result from recycling activities. To read more about the project, click here.

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2. UPCOMING CONFERENCES / GRANTS / JOB OPENINGS
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WasteCap Wisconsin Construction & Demolition Waste Management and Recycling Training for Accreditation
When: August 16, 2007
Where: Cherry Court Community Room at 1525 N. 24th St. in Milwaukee
Across the state and nationwide, owners are requiring construction waste recycling as a part of sustainable building. Contractors who know how to recycle will be at a market advantage. Reduction, reuse and recycling is allowing contractors and owners to use projects funds for building instead of waste disposal. This training will give you the skills you need to develop, manage, monitor, document and promote a successful recycling program for construction and demolition debris. It also provides training to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points for MR 2.1 and 2.2. More than 100 professionals across the United States have achieved WasteCap Accredited Professional status. Registration will only be open to the public from July 16 – 30. Guests invited by the City of Milwaukee can register from June 25 – July 16. Space is very limited. For more information on the training program, click here.

Greening the Heartland 2007
When: September 12 – 14, 2007
Where: Monona Terrace Convention Center, Madison
Greening the Heartland is a regional green building conference highlighting sustainability innovations, programs and activities in the midwestern states. The conference will offer important tools for planning and building green buildings. The tools include state-of-the-art design concepts, approaches and practices used in managing, enhancing, preserving and restoring resources. For more information, click here.

National Recycling Coalition’s 26th Annual Congress and Expo
When: September 16 – 19, 2007
Where: Colorado Convention Center, Denver
More than 1,000 recycling and sustainability professionals gather to take part in NRC's Congress and Expo, the nation's premier recycling and sustainability conference and exhibition. From local recycling coordinators and state and federal policymakers to corporate leaders and environmental activists, the who’s who of recycling and sustainability will be at this conference. For more information, click here.

WasteCap Wisconsin R3 Awards
When: October 17, 2007
Where: Lussier Family Heritage Center, Madison
WasteCap Wisconsin is awarding excellence in business waste reduction, reuse and recycling at the second R3 Awards. Professionals in the construction, architectural, waste and recycling industries will gather at this unique awards ceremony to listen to the first State of Recycling Address given by WasteCap’s Jenna Kunde. Also scheduled to speak are Tab Tabrizi of the Wisconsin Department of Administration and Mary Burke of the Department of Commerce. To view a list of this year’s nominees and for more information, click here.

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3. RECYCLING NEWS THAT AFFECTS YOU
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CONSTRUCTION / DEMOLITION

Recycling shingles pay off
Source: Wisconsin State Journal
The Bruce Company, of Middleton, long a prominent fixture in the landscaping business, is branching out into recycling. Since last summer, the company has been grinding used asphalt roofing shingles -- known as tear-offs -- and selling the fine powder to asphalt plants. And later this year, the company is going to begin recycling waste from construction projects, said James Altwies, the firm's environmental initiatives coordinator. To read the full article, click here.

Metal theft problem growing
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In Hartford in March, thieves tore out the drywall of a house being built in the Western Hills subdivision to steal the copper plumbing and wiring inside the walls. Prior to that, on the morning of Feb. 11, three thieves stole 3,400 pounds of stainless steel from bins behind two businesses in the Dodge Industrial Park. Hartford, a growing suburb in Washington County, is not alone. It's become commonplace for thieves to pillage metal from suburban businesses and subdivisions in the last few years, police say. To read the full article, click here.

FOOD WASTE RECOVERY / COMPOSTING

Compost operator training
Source: BioCycle, June 2007
Compost operator training programs - available in 17 states or regions - are transferring the knowledge and tools to stay on the positive side of the management challenges that arise in day-to-day operations. To read the full article, click here.

COMPUTER / ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Apple, Nokia big movers in latest Green Electronics Guide
Source: GreenerComputing
The Greenpeace Guide clearly demonstrates that companies are starting to act on their responsibility for taking back and recycling their own-branded waste, providing more and more extensive voluntary programs and informing customers on what to do with discarded electronics. To read the full article, click here.

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4. MEMBER PROFILE/WELCOME NEW & RETURNING MEMBERS
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MADISON GAS AND ELECTRIC

Environmental stewardship is part of Wisconsin’s heritage. Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) works to support that tradition while providing reliable service to 137,000 natural gas and 136,000 electric customers in south central and western Wisconsin.

Next year, MGE will be the first investor-owned utility to meet a State of Wisconsin requirement that calls for an average of 10% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy by 2015. MGE will increase its wind power capacity by nearly eight times.

MGE works to integrate environmental responsibility in all phases of its business. In 2005, MGE received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Environmental Performance for its construction recycling effort at its new power plant.

MGE partnered with WasteCap Wisconsin and met its goal to recycle 75% of construction waste when the company built the 150-megawatt natural gas-fired West Campus Cogeneration Facility. Recycling at the power plant construction site saved 2,000 tons of concrete, metal, wood, cardboard, paper and plastic and $103,000 by cutting landfill fees and selling recovered materials.

This successful effort with WasteCap Wisconsin further developed MGE’s practice of reducing and reusing as many products as possible. For example, MGE offers customers a thermostat-recycling program to help reclaim mercury. The company sells scrap wire, iron and other metals for reuse and recycles large amounts of paper. In 2006, MGE recycled more than 550,000 pounds of copper, steel, iron, lead, aluminum and other miscellaneous metals. For more information about Madison Gas and Electric, visit http://www.mge.com.

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WasteCap welcomes Whole Foods and Murphy Services LLC to the WasteCap network of professionals working to recycle, reuse and reduce waste in Wisconsin. Special thanks to Faherty, Inc., The Renschler Company, University of Wisconsin System Administration, Waukesha County, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin Public Service for their continued support of WasteCap Wisconsin and for sharing the vision of transforming waste into resources.
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For a complete list of WasteCap's current members please visit www.wastecapwi.org/members.htm.
Sign up as a member or read about member benefits at www.wastecapwi.org/join.htm.

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5. USEFUL TOOLS / RESOURCES ON RECYCLING
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Tech school demolition showcases Champion’s priorities
Source: Wisconsin Builder
The project was a challenging but rewarding one. Bradley Tech was already built on the former site of the Milwaukee Boys’ Technical High School’s sports stadium. Champion was hired to complete the flip-flop, taking down the 440,000 square-foot old school, built in five phases from 1911 to 1964. With the building gone, a new Bradley Tech sports stadium will be erected on this site. To read the full article, click here.

USGBC to boost LEED energy performance standards
Source: GreenerBuildings.com
As part of the U.S. Green Building Council's Climate Change Agenda, the group's membership have overwhelmingly voted to approve a 14 percent increase in the requirements for energy performance within the LEED standards. The change will require all LEED certified projects to achieve at least two "Optimize Energy Performance" points, which will improve the energy performance of all LEED certified green buildings by 14 percent for new construction and 7 percent for existing buildings. To read the full article, click here.

Recyclers, flatten those boxes
Source: The Capital Times
A record volume of recycling this year has city officials asking residents to flatten materials before putting them in recycling carts. Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said overflowing carts have caused material to blow out, creating a mess and taking up extra time as recycling crews clean up the material. To read the full article, click here.

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WasteCap Wisconsin thanks its sources for the news, information, and ideas in this issue. WasteCap Wisconsin is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide waste reduction and recycling assistance through business-to-business peer exchange, demonstration, and education for the benefit of businesses and the environment. To further this mission, we have developed these e-mail bulletins to provide you with information about the latest resources, recycling technologies, case studies, legislation, and other matters helping us transform waste into resources.

You can view a collection of WasteCap Wisconsin's archived bulletins at http://www.wastecapwi.org/bulletin_archive.htm. To unsubscribe, send an email to wastecap@wastecapwi.org with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. If you have been forwarded this email and would like to subscribe directly, send an email to wastecap@wastecapwi.org with "subscribe" in the subject line.

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Shannon Delaney, Communications Director & WasteCap Wisconsin Bulletin Editor
Kimberly Rauwald, Research Assistant
WasteCap Wisconsin
www.wastecapwi.org