Advancing Waste Reduction and Recycling in the Carolinas Since 1989
Special Thanks to Our 2017 Sponsors!
CRA Mid-Year Update from the Executive Director

Dear members and friends of CRA,

The summer is already flying by, and for CRA that means the beginning of a new fiscal year and lots of planning ahead...and hopefully we'll all get a vacation in too!  The Board of Directors passed our yearly budget at the June 15th meeting, making our plans for the upcoming year official, and I am excited to share them with you now.
 
For the first half of 2017, the Board and CRA staff explored ways we could expand the services we offer our members.  To that end, we created a new series of events called the Community Outreach Series, which will focus more outreach efforts in areas of North and South Carolina where we'd like to increase engagement.  We have identified these areas by mapping our membership and attendee data to see where we can grow.  By providing outreach in these areas, we will advance waste reduction and recycling efforts, strengthen our networks, and market our organization in a targeted way that increases business and educational opportunities for all of our members.  The content of the series will be based on the location and what topics are most important for discussion regionally, working closely with our State-level partners and others.  Events will be half-days and include networking lunches.     
 
Also new for CRA members this year, each CRA Council will host a CRA-sponsored mid-year event in addition to their conference workshops.  That includes Household Hazardous Waste, Healthcare Sustainability, Collegiate Recycling, Keep America Beautiful, and Business and Industry Recycling.  Workshops will be open to all members, topic specific relating to the councils work, and include a networking lunch.  

Stay tuned for a calendar of these events to be released soon so that you can plan your travel for the year.  If you would like to get involved in working on these events or with a CRA council, contact us!  Getting involved with CRA is a wonderful way to develop professional skills while making connections and helping grow the recycling industry.   We welcome you to get involved in our committees and councils.  

It is important that you receive value from your CRA membership, and we know that our most important role in the Carolinas is bringing our industry together to learn, network and inspire each other.  Thank you for all that you do to advance waste reduction and recycling in the Carolinas.
 
Enjoy your summer! 
 
Mary McClellan
Executive Director
CRA Announces Community Outreach Series 
Register Now - Plastic Bag and Film Forum on July 28

Our first Community Outreach Series event will be a Plastic Bag and Film Forum in Northeastern NC.  A new coastal campaign is underway to help reduce plastic bags and film and to help ensure the materials are recycled properly at retail collection locations. 
You can come learn more from the plastics gurus at the WRAP Project, coastal government representatives, and nearby MRF's! There will be presentations by More Recycling, the Coastal Campaign leaders, and the Eastern Carolina Vocational Center.  The event includes a panel followed by discussion, networking, and lunch.
 
Friday, July 28, 2017
10 am - 1 pm with lunch to follow

Jockey's Ridge State Park
300 W. Carolista
Nags Head, NC 27959
DEACS Update
NC Legislature Passes Budget with DEACS Intact 

Last month the NC Senate eliminated the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service, DEACS, from the proposed 2018 budget.  Among other duties, this is the agency that leads recycling efforts for the state, providing technical assistance and grant support to local governments and businesses.  CRA friends, members, and others in the recycling world responded by communicating to the legislators the value of DEACS to recycling, their communities, the economy, and NC.  Your voices were heard!

The NC House and Senate passed a compromise budget deal last week that keeps the state recycling program intact and is now in the hands of Governor Roy Cooper.  DEACS funding will remain with a cut in its administration of the seven DEQ regional offices and part of its energy work will be transferred to a reconstituted State Energy Office, but the recycling program crisis has been averted; funding for recycling in NC has been restored!  

Thank you to the many friends of recycling & CRA members, both organizations and individuals, who assisted in communicating your support for DEACS!  Special thanks to The Recycling Partnership and SERDC for their leadership and support in the effort to keep DEACS. 
EPA SMM Program on Chopping Block 
Federal Budget May Eliminate Sustainable Materials Management 

North Carolina has avoided the elimination of its recycling industry support by getting DEACS back into the state's budget, but now we are faced with a looming cut at the national level.  In President Trump's proposed fiscal year 2018 budget, EPA funding is cut by one-third. This would result in the elimination of over 50 programs, including the Sustainable Materials Management program and the Waste Reduction Model.  
According to Ron Gonen, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Closed Loop Partners,  " As a government agency - with no vested financial interest in the outcome of an investment - the EPA's thorough and unbiased annual reports on the waste and recycling industry attracts hundreds of millions of private investment dollars annually into the domestic recycling industry."  The SMM provides many other industry support functions including free educational webinars, market services, and SRO support.  
 
Please voice your support for maintaining SMM and other EPA funding by contacting your Congressional representatives.   For the House, click here to find your representative.  For the Senate, click here to find your representatives.  
5th Annual NC Marine Debris Symposium
Register Now - September 11 - 12 in Beaufort, NC

Registration is now open for the 5th Annual Marine Debris Symposium.  The  NCMDS  brings together state organizations, non-profits, researchers, citizen scientists and students to collaborate on the pollution that impacts our state and region. Speakers will be presenting from several institutions followed by Q&A sessions covering topics including recycling, plastic pollution, marine debris removal, research, education and more. There will be a beach clean-up and a short film as well.  There's a $5 registration discount for CRA members! 

And don't miss joining CRA for the Whale Tales and Trash Talks at the Beaufort Martime Museum from 6-9 pm on September 12!
 
Member Spotlight 
BMW Celebrates 25 Years in SC! 

On June 22, 1992, BMW announced plans to establish its first US manufacturing operation in SC. More than $7.8 billion in capital investment and 3.7 million vehicles later, BMW's Spartanburg County facility has become the company's largest, by production, in the world; and, its impact on the Palmetto State has been a game changer.

Since the plant opened for production in the summer of 1994, approximately 40 BMW suppliers have located to SC, fueling a rapidly-growing automotive sector. Today, that sector is comprised of nearly 400 firms and employs more than 66,000 South Carolinians with nearly 10,000 employed at the BMW campus alone.
 
But BMW isn't just a leader in economic development for South Carolina.  It is also a leader in global corporate sustainability.   In April of 2012, BMW's Assembly Hall achieved Zero Waste to Landfill.  BMW also committed to making its Paint and Body facility landfill free in 2012, which was achieved later that year.  In November of 2012, BMW announced that "No regulated Waste Stream is going to the landfill" from their operation.  The Waste Logistics department has grown from 20 associates in 2003 to 84 associates in 2017, showing a true commitment to sustainability for the long-haul.  On average BMW recycles over 600 tons of Cardboard a month, over 400 tons of Wood per month and over 400 tons of Metal per month, among other items.
Upcoming Events

July 13, 2017 
Don't Waste Food SC Summit
Columbia, SC
For more information 

July 28, 2017 
CRA Plastic Bag & Film Forum 
Nags Head, NC
Save the Date!   
March 19 - 22, 2018
CRA Annual Conference & Trade Show 
Cherokee, NC  
 
Upcoming Webinars
 
June 29 @ 1:00 - 2:30 PM
Results and Local Examples of Nationwide Public Service Campaign to Reduce Wasted Food
by NRDC & Ad Council
July 13 @ 1:00 - 2:15 PM
New Innovations in Compostable Flex Packaging: Design, Materials, and the End of the Line  
by CRRA
For more information and registration 
 
July 13 @ 1:00 - 2:30 PM

Engaging the Campus to Improve Recycling Participation
by CURC
August 1 @ 1:00 - 2:15 PM
Recycling Rigid Plastics Beyond Bottles: Residential Bulky Rigid Plastics
by APR
CRA Staff
Executive Director
336.972.3565
Programs + Systems Manager
877.972.0007
CRA Board of Directors
President
Sonoco Recycling

Vice President
More Recycling

Secretary
Waste Management

Treasurer
BMW Manufacturing

Board Development Chair
MetalTech Systems
Republic Services

Mandy Barnette
Pratt Industries

Chad Beane
Moore County Public Works

Waste Reduction Partners
Sierra International Machinery

Catawba County 
City of Concord

Amy Preble
UNC - Chapel Hill 

Onslow County

Enviro Source Solutions, Inc.
 
Ex Officio Member
Coastal Wire Company
*You may email CRA Staff or Board by clicking on his/her name
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www.cra-recycle.org

Please send all correspondence, membership payments, and event registration to:
Carolina Recycling Association
PO Box 1296
Greenville, SC 29602    

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2015 Carolina Recycling Association. All Rights Reserved