Tag Archives: Waste Management

MLB pulls 2021 All Star Game out of Georgia

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Well, well, well. Major League Baseball on Friday pulled this year’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s new restrictive voting law. The “Midsummer Classic” was set for July 13 at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, in addition to other … Continue reading →

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The reopening metric we should be heeding

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: This graph is amazing. It shows that measuring #SARSCoV2 levels in municipal sewage almost perfectly predicts forthcoming #COVID19 cases with a full week’s notice (R=0.994). It’s one of several discoveries in this new study from @Yale: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf. C-19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

From the “Shit happens” department

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I apologize, I couldn’t help myself. City health officials and Rice University scientists have begun testing Houston wastewater samples for COVID-19, a process they hope will reveal the true spread of the new coronavirus as clinical testing continues to lag. … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

EcoHub sues over OneBin failure

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

All right. Continuing the saga that has unfolded at City Hall — in which City Council members have said a deal with one company “smelled,” and in which another company, EcoHub, claims Mayor Sylvester Turner snubbed him out of the … Continue reading →

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Rebidding reycling

Posted on July 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Do-over! Pummeled by procurement concerns on a 20-year curbside recycling contract, Mayor Sylvester Turner said Friday he will seek a new round of proposals from the four final bidders. Turner had met with small groups of City Council members Thursday … Continue reading →

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Mayor introduces new recycling deal

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There’s some stuff to like in this, and there are also questions to be answered. The city would send all 65,000 tons of bottles, cans and boxes its citizens recycle each year to a new processing facility to be built … Continue reading →

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Hauling Glass

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

In times of change, there are always opportunities to do well. Where some saw rubbish, 8-year-old Pan Berlanga saw opportunity. He launched his first business after the city of Houston and Waste Management in March negotiated a new recycling contract … Continue reading →

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Recycling officially re-upped

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

That new recycling agreement with Waste Management was on Council’s agenda yesterday. Here’s a reminder of what it was about. Originally, Houston was to ink a four-year deal with Waste Management, paying a $95-per-ton processing fee, a nearly 50 percent … Continue reading →

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Recycling agreement reached

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the Mayor’s office: Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that he has reached agreement with Waste Management (WM) on a proposed new contract that will allow the city to continue offering recycling services without any disruption. The proposal, expected to be … Continue reading →

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Now what for recycling?

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Sure hope there’s a plan. Houston’s curbside recycling program is in limbo after Mayor Sylvester Turner and City Council rejected a new contract with Waste Management on Wednesday, prompting concern among residents and environmental activists about a potential lapse in … Continue reading →

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Recycling contract impasse

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Uh, oh. The city of Houston’s curbside recycling program could be put on hold after negotiations between Waste Management and Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office reached an apparent impasse over a new contract Tuesday. Though Turner said he remains committed to … Continue reading →

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RIP, One Bin For All

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It had a good run, but at the very least the timing was all wrong. The One Bin For All program would let Houstonians throw all trash in the same bin, to be separated for recycling later. The hope was … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 4

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

It was a bad year last year. Recycling continues to hurt Waste Management’s bottom line, as low oil prices and low commodity prices have made that a challenging business for at least the past year. The Houston company on Thursday … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 3

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

A story in the WaPo about the ongoing struggles of the recycling business. Once a profitable business for cities and private employers alike, recycling in recent years has become a money-sucking enterprise. The District, Baltimore and many counties in between … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler, part 2

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As if they didn’t have enough to deal with. As low commodity prices have left recyclers short on cash to invest in technological upgrades, product manufacturers are coming out with new types of packaging that make business even tougher. These … Continue reading →

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It’s hard out here on a recycler

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Whole lot of not so good in there. When Waste Management bought the plant in 2010 and converted it to handle single-bin recycling, commodity prices were high, the city was on board and Houstonians were eager to recycle. As the … Continue reading →

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“Environmental tort reform”

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. After failing in their attempt to limit cities and counties’ ability to take industrial polluters to court, some Houston businesses and statewide lobbyists now want to limit how much local governments can collect in penalties, a sort … Continue reading →

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CNG garbage trucks

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You won’t hear them coming. Waste Management [announced on Friday that] it is pushing forward on a nationwide plan to convert all of its 18,342 trucks from loud and smoky diesel engines to quieter and cleaner compressed natural gas-powered machines. … Continue reading →

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Trash into treasure

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Waste Management Inc. is looking at ways to turn trash into energy, which is the next best thing to actual treasure. “In my mind, it’s pretty simple why we’re doing it: If we don’t figure it out, somebody is, and … Continue reading →

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