Illegal Dumping of Texas Frack Waste Caught on Video “Under the cover of early-morning darkness in South Texas last March, a tanker truck ferrying fluids from an oil and gas drilling site rumbled down a country road spewing its toxic load all over the place. The concoction of drilling fluid, which typically includes undisclosed and dangerous chemicals, oil, metals shavings and naturally occurring radioactive materials, coated eight miles of roadway, according to a Karnes County Sheriff's Department report obtained by InsideClimate News.” (Inside Climate News)

Plastic bag ban gains momentum in Sacramento “California legislators have recycled a bill aimed at making the state the first in the nation to ban plastic grocery bags -- and the new effort gained momentum Wednesday despite fierce industry opposition and passionate appeals from workers who say the measure threatens their livelihoods.” (San Jose Mercury News)

EPA begins testing soil at baseball complex near Bridgeton landfill “The Environmental Protection Agency has begun conducting radiation testing at a baseball complex near a suburban St. Louis landfill where nuclear waste is buried, after private testing raised concerns. Testing at the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Complex began Monday. It is not known when results will be available.” (The Associated Press)

Michigan is a low-performing recycling state “The fact demands repeating, and with some more flair: Michiganders pay to throw away $435 million of recyclable solid materials every year, and then we pay to manage those landfills well after they’re closed. In fact, we will continue to pay to manage closed landfills until they stop leaching toxic garbage water — exactly how long we will continue to pay is anybody’s guess.” (Grand Haven Tribune)

Israel passes US, Europe in plastic bottle recycling “Israel has surpassed the U.S. and Europe in recycling plastic bottles, according to a recently released report by the ELA Recycling Corporation, a private organization which works to promote bottle recycling in Israel. According to the report, 54 percent of Israel's plastic bottles were recycled in 2012, compared to 31.8% in the U.S. and 52.4% in OECD countries.” (Israel Hayom)

Recycling firm adds bottle washing capability “Recycling company Poly Recovery unveiled a new plastic wash plant at its Pease International Tradeport headquarters Monday, enabling the firm to recycle used drink bottles for the first time. It was touted as the only recycled plastic wash facility in New Hampshire. Before now, used bottles were being trucked to recycling facilities in other states.” (Fosters.com)

Local Mom Starts Crayon Recycling Program “Malibu mom Sheila Michail Morovati has created a crayon recycling program, Crayon Collection. Morovati has been collecting gently used crayons that would otherwise have been thrown away and donating them to inner city schools. She collects crayons from kid-friendly restaurants, as well as her daughter’s preschool.” (The Malibu Times)

Medical trash-burning facility plans Tooele move “A medical waste burning facility pressed to leave a Utah suburb by residents and legislators worried about toxic emissions has picked out a new home on the western shore of Great Salt Lake, a move which has raised health concerns for its future neighbors. Illinois-based Stericycle, Inc. has taken early steps to move 45 miles west of North Salt Lake City into rural Tooele County — a plan that has won approval from state officials.” (Associated Press)

Recycling rises in Orleans Parish “Since Orleans Parish reinstated its curbside recycling program in 2011, the amount of waste collected for reuse is almost 75 times higher than when the only available option for recycling was hauling trash to a drop-off site, according to data provided by the New Orleans Department of Sanitation. New Orleanians set aside 6,649 tons of paper, plastic, cardboard and metal cans for recycling last year. That compares with 89 tons of recyclables dropped off at various sites in 2010, when curbside recycling was unavailable.” (New Orleans Advocate)

Reality of urban sanitation in Bangladesh “SNV has produced a short video on the harsh reality of current urban sanitation practices in Bangladesh. Of course they want to change this. That is at least the intention of SNV’s recently launched ‘Modernising urban sanitation in Southern Bangladesh’ project focussing on market-based solutions.” (Sanitation Updates)