St. Louis County Council cites 'growing consensus' on West Lake Landfill dangers “The St. Louis County Council says there is ‘growing consensus’ that the radioactively contaminated West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton ‘presents an active danger to the community,’ and it’s putting new pressure on federal regulators to take action.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Maryland environmental officials introduce zero-waste plan “The Maryland Department of the Environment has introduced a 25-year zero-waste plan in an effort to reduce the amount of trash in the state. Taking that extra step to recycle paper, bottles and cans has really caught on over the past 20 years, but MDE officials said much more can be done.” (WBALTV.com)

Evaporator paying dividends for landfill, counties “The future is bright for the Montmorency-Oscoda-Alpena landfill financially and operationally. Several changes to how the landfill disposes of leachate have helped save the landfill more than a half-million dollars in just over a year's time. As a result it has been able to significantly increase its cash allocations to the three counties, which can use the money for county needs.” (The Associated Press)

Clean Harbors reverses decision to continue accepting Love Canal waste at landfill near Brigden “Eighty truckloads of Love Canal waste destined for a southwestern Ontario landfill will now be finding a new home on U.S. soil. In a surprise move, Clean Harbors reversed its decision Monday to continue accepting contaminated soil from the ill-famed New York neighbourhood at its hazardous waste landfill near Brigden.” (Wallaceburg Courier Press)

Recycling Twist Cuts Ford Truck Costs “Ford Motor Co.’s decision to build a lighter-weight pickup truck using aluminum body-panels has been billed largely as a way to achieve better fuel economy. The company’s boss says it is also a recycling play.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Volvo's Making Trucks With Landfill Gas “While Volvo works on an emissions-free truck, its Virginia assembly plant is running on 100% renewable energy. As of November, all the electricity used at Volvo's New River Valley assembly plant comes from methane gas captured from 13 landfills in the region. The company produces all its trucks for North America there.” (Sustainable Business)

City to install 22 more solar-powered trash compactors “Next year, Main Street garbage bins will have a whole new look, as the city is planning to replace the traditional cans with solar-powered trash and recycling compactors that alert the public works department when they are full. Officials anticipate the new feature will reduce collection frequency, fuel costs and overtime labor.” (Newark Post)

In B.C., 80% of each junked car is recycled “The days when a car was automatically relegated to the junkyard at the end of its life are in the past. Nowadays, an end-of-life vehicle, or ELV in industry parlance, doesn’t become waste in the traditional sense. Up to 80 per cent of the vehicle can be recycled or reused, sometimes at a profit.” (Vancouver Sun)

Commission wants to help keep recycling alive in Kanawha County “Kanawha County commissioners want to make sure public recycling remains available in the county through the Kanawha County Solid Waste Authority, though the question of how exactly to do so remains. ‘We’ve just really got to start over again,’ Commission President Kent Carper said. ‘Unless we want to see recycling fail in this county, we’re going to have to prop it up again.’” (Charleston Daily Mail)

Proposed solid waste processing facility in Hampden “A proposal for a new municipal solid waste processing facility in Hampden was introduced publicly at Monday night's Hampden town meeting. The plan has been developed by the Municipal Review Committee, a non profit organization made up of 187 towns in the Eastern Maine region who send their municipal solid waste, or household trash, to PERC- a waste-to-energy processing facility in Orrington. That facility burns trash and turns it into electricity.” (WCSH6.com)