The Southeast Recycling Development Council (SERDC) held its 2009 Recycling
Workshop entitled Green Prosperity: Recycling and a Sustainable Southeast on
November 3-4, 2009, at the Doubletree in Lexington, Kentucky. The workshop
brought recycling businesses, manufacturers, non-profit organizations and local,
state and federal government representatives together to help promote,
strengthen and drive the recovery of materials to support the recycling industry
in the Southeast (SE). The event provided participants with the following
sessions and information:
- information on SERDC and the mapping study of reyccling markets in the SE
- electronics recycling
- ways to improve recycling collection in local governments
- update on recycling markets and trends
recycling's role as a reducer in
carbon and greenhouse gas emission
- an update by EPA Region IV
- advances in plastics recycling and
- Toyota North America's general manager and chief environmental officer,
Kevin Butt, gave the keynote presentation.
The markets roundtable discussion provided participants with
information on market trends for electronics recycling, plastics, steel, glass
and paper recycling. The markets roundtable included representatives from the
Steel Recycling Institute, Glass Packaging Institute, Association of
Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), SP Recycling representing paper and
Synergy Recycling (electronics). The event drew approximately 100 participants,
well over the 80 attendees originally anticipated attending.
Further
activities of the Green Prosperity: Recycling and a Sustainable Southeast
workshop included a SERDC annual membership meeting, a formative meeting of the
KRIG - Kentucky Recycling Interest Group, a tour of the Lexington-Fayette Urban
County Government Materials Recovery Facility, and networking opportunities for
participants who attended from all across the southeast. Eleven states
represented were AL, MO, SC, GA, VA, MS, WV, PA, KY as well as Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. Recycling businesses benefited from interactions with local
government representatives as potential sources of supply for recycled content
materials were identified and discussed as possible business opportunities.
Local governments found new potential vendors as well as explored common issues
and concerns in the management of recycling programs.
As part of its
support structure to state recycling organizations across the southeast, SERDC
participated in discussions with KRIG representatives and the Kentucky Pollution
Prevention Center to provide information regarding SERDC resources. In the
future, the groups will explore how SERDC and the KRIG can potentially form a
synergetic partnership in support of recycling in Kentucky and create
opportunities for additional recovery of materials.
SERDC's sponsors
for the two day workshop and its current members are a large part of the event's
success. SERDC appreciates support from both public and private sector
partners. Many participants discussed the robust program, opportunities for
networking and access to expert resources as beneficial aspects to attending and
reasons why they will continue to support SERDC's work and events in the
future.