Well, it was all a little cooler today. No, wait...I was just inside a lot. The air conditioning works great here. Totally had me fooled.

There was only one set of technical sessions today. The one I attended was on the current state of Landfill Gas-to-Energy subsidies. I actually found the article in the current issue of Biocycle more understandable than the presentations. However, there were a few things worth pointing out. In the recently approved energy bill passed by Congress, LFG is now considered a Renewable Energy - the same as solar and wind. SWANA and the EPA are aggressively promoting LFGE subsidies. Given the high cost of natural gas, these folks see an opportunity. The implications of this are varied and I have discussed them with a few of my colleagues recently. It's of immediate interest for those of us (meaning me) concerned with solid waste disposal. However, anyone interested in organics diversion should check in on this issue from time to time. It's controversial.

Related to this...

Someone at the conference turned me on to a really interesting website:

http://www.competitivewaste.org/index.htm

This is the website for The Center for a Competitive Waste Industry. This is a public interest research group that advocates against consolidation in the waste industry. Granted, it sounds a little like the horse has already left the barn on this one. But, there's some pretty provocative material here. This group is highly critical of government support of the landfill industry at the expense of recycling (including LFGE over composting). Also, there is a paper on this site that offers an explanation as to why recycling has fallen away from the vanguard of environmentalism.

If you all have heard of this website already, I apologize for being late to the party. I don't get out much.

SWANA's Lawrence Lecturer this year was Jeff Cooper, Producer Responsibility Policy Manager of the Environment Agency for England & Wales. His speech was on the topic of EU Producer Responsibility - Focusing on three EU Directives:

Packaging and Packaging Waste

E-waste

End of Life Vehicles: that is, vehicle dismantling and the environmentally friendly recycling of disgarded automobiles. This includes targets for reuse, recycling and recovery of vehicles and their components. The directive also pushes producers to manufacture new vehicles that can be recycled more readily.

There have been some successes with producer responsibility for packaging, end of life vehicles and E-waste. These successes are increasing recovery and diversion from landfill, meeting UK diversion goals. However, a lack of tangible drivers for product eco-design, and an over emphasis on recycling targets, has undermined their ability to fully deliver on the recycling/waste hierarchy. Sounds familiar.

End of life product management will have significant economic implications for British industry. The End of Life Vehicle initiative could end up costing more than £500 million/year. Estimates of the E-waste initiative range between £350 million/yr and £670 million/yr.

The conflict between environmental goals and economic impacts have worked against the implementation of producer responsibility. A major paradigm shift for both producers and consumers will be necessary in order to fully implement these initiatives.

I found it intersting to keep in mind Mr. Cooper's perspective on EU policy as a British Government official.

The last speaker of the day was Bruce Jenner. Yes, that Bruce Jenner. I bagged his speech and went and had an excellent Tortilla Soup with ancho chili on Congress Ave.

Add food to the list of things I like about Texas. Late. Peace out.