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It looks like SB 1110, a bill that would increase the state’s current recycled content mandate from 25-35 percent for rigid plastic containers, is headed for approval this year. The bill extends responsibility to food and cosmetics containers for the first time. Under current law, plastics industry manufacturers must either recycle by 25 percent, use 25 percent recycled content, reduce the amount of plastic used by 10 percent, or make the package reusable. Industry has yet to achieve these goals and the California Integrated Waste Management Board is initiating enforcement actions against 99 companies. “The Every Business Guide to California’s Plastics Recycling Law” identifies which plastics are covered by the law and steps needed to comply.
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Honda’s first hybrid vehicle, Insight, goes on sale in U.S. showrooms this December. U.S. EPA rates the 2-passenger car’s efficiency as 70mpg in combined city and highway driving, and over 80mpg on the highway. Honda substituted aluminum for steel making the car 40 percent lighter, and equipped it with a catalytic converter that reduces emissions to 50 percent below Japanese regulations. It will cost under $20,000 and comes with antilock brakes, electric-power steering, dual air bags and an anti-theft system.” Unfortunately, it is only available with manual transmission. The Insight also makes use of re-generative braking which recharges the battery pack while reducing wear on the brakes. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Although California remains the leader in with 20.5 percent of U.S. sales, the lead is narrowing as the industry grows throughout the country. Sales in the Northeast are very close at 20 percent. Regions with the greatest room to grow are experiencing the most percentage gain in revenue. State % of U.S. Sales 1998 %Sales Revenue Growth Northwest: WA.,OR,AL. 4.7 +10.3 Pacific: CA. 20.5 +10.8 Southwest: NV,NM,AZ,TX 9.7 + 8.2 Mountain: ID,MT,UT,CO. 5.1 + 9.4 Central: ND,SD,MN,NB,KS,OK 4.0 +19.8 Midwest: WI,IO,MO,MI,IL,IN,OH 15.5 + 8.6 South: AK,LA,AL,GA,FL. 11.0 + 7.8 Northeast: ME,NH,VT,MA,CT,NY,NJ,PA. 20.0 +14.1 East: DE,MD,VA,NC,SC,KT,TN,WVA. 9.6 + 9.2 It’s been seven years of double-digit growth in the industry. This year, expansion of natural food products into mainstream supermarkets provided a windfall for industry suppliers, but increased competition for retailers. The industry continues its strong growth pattern. “The pioneers of the industry have seen the dream of natural products reaching a mainstream audience come true,” says Cynthia Tice, founder of Center Foods in Philadelphia. “But people have to hone their skills to stay competitive.” Source: Natural Food Merchandiser
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Kathleen Merrigan, who helped write the original standards for the Organic Food Production Act, is slated to take over the Agricultural Marketing Service. This section of the USDA houses the National Organic Program. She currently works for an alternative agriculture think tank and is a member of the National Organic Standards Board. “There is definitely change afoot,” says Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. Source: Natural Food Merchandiser
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The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. financing source for home mortgages, have entered a partnership to develop and test a menu of mortgage products based on green building criteria. Fannie Mae is providing $100 million toward the effort. The products will be tested in six cities: Atlanta, Columbus, Albuquerque, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle. While this partnership has the potential to boost green building, the industry will be watching to ensure that standards are set high enough to be meaningful. By virtue of the power of financing, Fannie Mae could end up establishing the “rules” for green building. NAHB has long opposed consensus-based green building standards such as ASTM and ASHRAE. FROM Environmental Building News
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Under a new Danish law, power companies that produce more than 30 MW will be subject to CO2 emissions quotas and will be taxed if they exceed them. Total power sector emissions will be capped at 23 million tonnes for 2000. Companies that emit less than their quota will be able to bank or trade emissions permits. CO2 calculations will include the heat produced to promote combined heat and power technology. The tax will be 40 Danish Krone (about US$5.60) per ton of CO2. Source: ENDS Environment Daily
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According to Danish wind consultants, BTM Consult ApS, world wind projects in the pipeline amount to $20 billion in revenue; leading installers come from Denmark, then Germany and Spain. They forecast that wind power capacity will more than triple over the next five years. Germany In 2001, private investors begin construction of the largest offshore wind farm in the world – it will rival the largest nuclear or coal-fired power station in size. It will produce a whopping 1,200 megawatts (Denmark’s offshore wind farm produces just 11 MW) and is scheduled to be completed by 2005. The park will cover an estimated 200 square kilometres (49,420 acres) in the North Sea. Wind energy is growing most rapidly in Germany. The industry is concentrated in the two northern states with the longest coastline, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. Both states have adopted a goal of installing 1,000 MW of wind capacity. UK Britain currently generates two percent of its energy from renewable sources; its goal is to expand the proportion to five percent by 2003 and to 10 percent by 2010. Research shows that more than 70 percent of residential customers are interested in buying green power and half would pay a […]
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The Danish government is instituting Europe’s first tax on PVC. A voluntary agreement with industry in 1991 failed to achieve its goals. The government wants to keep the products out of incinerators, where 40 percent of Denmark’s municipal waste goes. Other measures call for: use of alternative products when PVC products can’t be recycled; development of PVC recycling technologies; a ban on lead in PVC; and boosting PVC recycling where the products do not contain heavy metals. In a separate policy proposal, the amount of phthalates would be cut in half over the next ten years. This group of chemicals is on Denmark’s official list of 100 “undesirable” chemicals. The French Ministries of the Environment, Economy and Industry are calling for a tax on industrial carbon emissions, dubbed the pollu-tax. It would will be tied to Frances existing green tax, the General Tax on Polluting Activities. The ministries argue an energy tax will raise about $2 billion and reduce emissions through lower energy consumption. The French government is consulting with key industries and other stakeholders until October 31 to determine an implementation scheme. In UK, 30 top companies agreed to pilot a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme that may running […]
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Despite intense lobbying by business, Philippine President Joseph Estrada signed a landmark Clean Air Act into law. Air pollution has reached alarming levels, according to the Asian Development Bank. The pollution in Manila is five times higher than the World Health Organization’s tolerable standard. The three major Philippine oil companies – Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell, and Caltex Philippines – estimate they will spend $158 million to upgrade their refineries to meet the new standards. With this law, the Philippines is the first country in the world to approve a nationwide ban on incinerators. Biomedical waste incinerators will be phased out over three years. Only cremation and agricultural burning practices, covered by existing laws, will continue. Greenpeace described the law as an environmental milestone. The law phases out leaded gasoline by next year and reduces aromatics in unleaded gasoline from 50 – 35 percent and benzene from 5 – 2 percent by 2003.
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MMA International Fund has been added to Charles Schwab’s MarketManager International Portfolio, a fund of funds. Cynthia Liu, Schwab SVP, describes Walter Oeschle, principle of MMA’s subadvisor, as “the equivalent of John Templeton,” the pioneer of international mutual funds. The Green Century Equity Fund earned Morningstar’s highest rating for overall performance in the growth and income category for the three years ending September, 1998. It also beat the average total return of growth funds tracked by Lipper for the one, three and five-year periods. In fact, 10 of the 14 largest screened SR mutual funds – with $100 million or more in assets – earned “A” or “B” ratings from Lipper based on one and/or three year returns. Morningstar gave five of the funds either four or five stars for three-year performance. FROM Co-op America’s Connections
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