skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 27, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

Boise Forges New Partnership to Turn Plastics into Fuel

play audio
Play

Friday, January 12, 2018   

BOISE, Idaho – Boise has found a new destination for some plastics after China announced it will no longer accept certain recyclables.

China has been a major market for western U.S. cities' recycling material, and its announcement has put many in a tough spot. Starting this spring, Boise is partnering with Salt Lake City based Renewlogy to turn certain hard to break down plastics into diesel fuel.

Colin Hickman, communications manager for the City of Boise Public Works, says the goal is to keep these plastics out of the landfill, and adds that China's decision is a wake-up call for how recyclables are processed.

"Another part that's also come from it has just been a realization and a recognition of us sending our materials across the globe,” says Hickman, “and how do we manage our resources more regionally, more locally? And so, the Salt Lake City alternative really appealed to us, because it's taking ownership of the materials that we use here in Boise."

The city has received a $50,000 grant from Dow Chemical to get the program up and running. Hickman hopes Boise's program can serve as a model for other cities.

Priyanka Bakaya founded Renewlogy in 2011 over concerns about the amount of plastics in landfills and the environment.

Plastics can be identified by numbers '1' through '7' on the containers. She says types '1' and '2,' which include most water and soda bottles, are most likely to be recycled.

Renewlogy's technology works on the harder plastics – numbers '3' through '7' – breaking them down into the material they came from, which is oil. Bakaya says it's a clean process.

"We do it in the absence of any oxygen, so it's a completely enclosed system and that's why it's very clean,” she explains. “You're not burning the plastic, you're not creating any dioxins from it. You're just simply putting it in an enclosed environment and breaking it down into its constituents."

Bakaya encourages people to reduce their use of plastics.

Hickman adds the city will also keep looking for ways to cut down on plastic waste.

"How can we find some changes in everyday life?" he asks. "We're not talking about drastic changes, but if there's small things that folks can do so that, by the time we get to recycling, we don't have nearly the amount of materials, that'll be a concerted part of our education and outreach efforts going forward."



get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021