Archive: June 18, 2022

EPA Recognizes New York Food Recovery Challenge Award Winners Making Significant Progress Reducing Food Waste

Contact: Tayler Covington, [email protected], (212) 637-3662

NEW YORK (April 23, 2020) – Today, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the exceptional accomplishments of three New York businesses and organizations participating in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Rock and Wrap It Up!, the Golub Corporation, and Wegmans Food Markets applied innovative approaches and engaged in a variety of practical cost-effective actions and best practices to prevent and reduce food waste.

“Food Recovery Challenge participants are leaders in showing how preventing food waste and diverting excess wholesome food to people is an environmental win and a cost-saving business decision,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “Their accomplishments serve as excellent examples to other companies, governments, organizations and communities.”

“The Food Recovery Challenge recognizes outstanding accomplishments in food waste prevention and diversion, sustainability, and environmental stewardship,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “These sustainability-focused organizations are increasing awareness about food waste issues and, especially in times of crisis, setting the standard for others to pursue the goal of not wasting food and feeding people, not landfills.”

Food is a valuable resource. Efforts to reduce food waste and ensure excess food doesn’t go to waste are needed now more than ever. The innovation these businesses are showcasing can also serve as an example as the nation works together to address the COVID-19 public health emergency. Over 1,000 businesses, governments and organizations participated in EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge in 2019. Participants prevented or diverted over 815,000 tons of food from entering landfills or incinerators, saving participants up to $42.3 million in avoided landfill tipping fees.

This year’s winners used innovative best practices to prevent and reduce food waste, such as:

• Expanding composting infrastructure to more than double yearly food waste composted,
• Creatively working with food banks and organizations to donate food that would otherwise be wasted,
• Repurposing wholesome food into new dishes instead of letting it go to waste, and
• Initiating programs that encourage composting and reducing food waste in the workplace.

Rock and Wrap It Up! (RWU!) (Cedarhurst, NY) Nanjing Clover Medical Technology Co.,Ltd. Tel: +86-13813931455(WhatsApp) Website: www.hiclover.com Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Add: Gangjia Zhihui Industrial Area, Xin Gangwan Rd. Liuhe, Nanjing, China 211500 HICLOVER Solution for Fighting COVID-19, with ISO9001/CE Certification. Auto. Control Waste Incinerator & Auto. Roll Air Filter(Air Purification) RWU! identifies potential donor organizations who have wholesome, surplus food and pairs them with local food rescue services. Currently, RWU! works with musical bands, educational institutions, the hospitality industry, sports teams, hospitals, and TV/film shoots throughout North America. In 2018, its participating entities donated over 145,000 pounds of food and estimates that its donors rescue at least 20 million pounds of food nationwide each year. RWU! also created a new project called the Andy Parise Veterans’ Toolkit, a searchable app that allows veterans to find food pantries, colleges and educational institutions that will serve them donated food in all 50 states. Syd Mandelbaum, Founder and CEO of RWU! says of his work, “One man gathers what another man spills.”

The Golub Corporation (Price Chopper, Market 32, Market Bistro) (Schenectady, NY)  The Golub Corporation’s Fresh Recovery program engages over 13,000 store teammates to collect tons of non-saleable, but edible, fresh food for Feeding America food banks, providing millions of meals to those in need. Food salvage and produce spoils are also donated to local farmers for use as animal feed. In 2018, Price Chopper and Market 32 stores donated 1,728 tons of food, prevented 16,193 tons of food waste, and produced 5,756 tons of compost, totaling 23,677 tons of food waste diversion from landfills – a 14 percent improvement over 2017. “We’re proud that our entire team is engaged in efforts to combat food waste and feed our hungry neighbors,” said Pam Cerrone, Director of Community Relations. “And it’s good to see quantitative evidence that our efforts are paying off.”

Wegmans Food Market (Rochester, NY)

Following the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy, Wegmans first minimizes food waste at the source by using imperfect produce in its culinary operations. Next, unsaleable perishable food items are picked up at Wegmans stores throughout the week by local food pantries and food banks and distributed to those who are in need. Finally, food scraps are diverted from landfills by offering them as feed for local livestock. Finally, food scraps are sent for anaerobic digestion to be turned into energy or for composting. In 2018, 98 Wegmans stores diverted more than 28,896 tons of food waste through its diversion programs, which included donating 10,161 tons of food and composting 18,735 tons.

Background

Food waste is the single largest type of waste thrown away each year in our daily trash. In 2017, more than 40 million tons of food waste was generated. Food waste adversely impacts the economy, our communities and the environment by wasting the resources used to grow and transport food. At the same time, approximately 11 percent of America’s households had difficulty providing enough food for all of their family members in 2018. Hungry people in need would benefit from the redirection of nutritious, wholesome food that would have otherwise been thrown away. The strategies used by Food Recovery Challenge organizations, plus those implemented by individuals, communities and public-private partnerships help to lessen these impacts and bring the United States closer to meeting the national goal to reduce food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030.

Two award winners this year, MGM Resorts International and Sprouts Farmers Market, are also U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, a group of businesses and organizations who have publicly committed to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent in their own operations by the year 2030.

For more information on the Food Recovery Challenge national and regional award winners, visit: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/food-recovery-challenge-results-and-award-winners

For more information on the national food loss and waste reduction goal, visit:

https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/call-action-stakeholders-united-states-food-loss-waste-2030-reduction

For more information on the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, visit: https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-food-loss-and-waste-2030-champions

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.

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EPA Awards $11.5 Million to Clean Up 580 School Buses in 43 States

$1.8 Million Designated for New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, [email protected]

NEW YORK (April 23, 2020) Today, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $11.5 million to replace 580 older diesel school buses. The funds are going to 157 school bus fleets in 43 states and Puerto Rico, each of which will receive rebates through EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) funding. The new buses will reduce pollutants that are linked to health problems such as asthma and lung damage.

“Earth Day’s primary goal is to protect the environment for future generations. These rebates help do just that by continuing to improve air quality across the country and providing children with a safe and healthy way to get to school,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “While many fleets are currently off the road, when these local school districts start up again, EPA and the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act have helped equip them with cleaner running buses, moving farther along the route to healthier kids and communities.”

“Reducing air pollution from diesel engines has enormous benefits for the health of our children and our communities. We are pleased to be able to provide resources that help support school bus fleets and schools as active, engaged partners in protecting public health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez.

“School buses are essential in ensuring children have access to school, but older diesel school buses have been linked to negative health impacts. These EPA grants will replace aging diesel fleets, providing safe and reliable transportation for South Jersey students, as well as reducing carbon pollutants in our environment and ensuring that our children and everyone in South Jersey will have better, cleaner air to breathe,” said Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01).

“On behalf of the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), and in recognition of the 50th Earth Day, we would like to express our continued gratitude and support to EPA for their stewardship of the DERA program,” said John Benish NSTA president. “As our partnership continues to grow, many school bus contractors around the country have been able to upgrade their fleets with newer, cleaner, and more efficient buses. The beneficiaries of this partnership are the school children we transport every day, as well as the communities where we operate. We look forward to advancing this cause even more in the future.”

“Sometimes you don’t miss something until it’s not there, and many parents miss sending their kids to school on the convenient yellow school bus right now,” said Charlie Hood, Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS). “After we weather the coronavirus crisis, be assured that school buses will return, transporting students safely and economically.  Especially with the budget challenges public schools will be facing for the foreseeable future, the EPA’s School Bus Rebate program is a boon.  It helps school districts and contractors replace their old school buses with new ones that are more cost-effective and meet stringent, modern standards for reduced emissions and clean air. This 50th Earth Day is a great time to mark how DERA has been a plus for both taxpayers and the environment.”

Applicants replacing buses with engine model years 2006 and older will receive rebates between $15,000 and $20,000 per bus, depending on the size of the bus.

EPA has implemented standards to make newer diesel engines more than 90 percent cleaner, but many older diesel school buses are still operating. These older diesel engines emit large amounts of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which are linked to instances of aggravated asthma, lung damage and other serious health problems.

Since 2008, the DERA program has funded more than 1,000 clean diesel projects across the country, reducing emissions in more than 70,000 engines.

A comprehensive list of the 2020 DERA school bus rebate recipients can be found at www.epa.gov/dera/awarded-dera-rebates

For more information about the DERA program, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

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TAPI Puerto Rico, Inc. to Pay Penalty for Environmental Violations

Contact: Brenda Reyes, [email protected], 787-977-5869

PUERTO RICO (April 23, 2020) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that TAPI Puerto Rico, Inc. (TAPI) has agreed to pay a penalty of  $539,784 for alleged Clean Air Act and other environmental violations at its pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Guayama, Puerto Rico. On April 13, 2020, the Department of Justice filed in federal district court in Puerto Rico a complaint against and a Stipulation and Settlement Agreement with TAPI to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

“Hazardous air pollutants are those known to cause cancer and other serious health impacts. Therefore, it is vitally important that facilities with these chemicals adhere to their permits and the law,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “EPA takes these violations seriously as we continue our work with state and local governments to reduce air emissions of 187 toxic air pollutants to the environment.”

The EPA identified several areas of the facility’s operations that were in violation of environmental regulations. A few of the numerous alleged violations include the following.

• Since TAPI had the potential to emit over 10 tons/year of acetonitrile, a hazardous air pollutant, TAPI was subject to the Clean Air Act’s Pharmaceutical Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards (MACT) and it should have amended its Title V permit application to include the Pharmaceutical MACT requirements.
• TAPI failed to comply with the hazardous waste regulatory requirements that would have allowed it to store hazardous waste for under 90 days without a permit, and therefore did not qualify for the permit exemption; TAPI stored and/or treated hazardous waste in a surface  impoundment without a permit; TAPI failed to maintain and operate the Facility in a manner that would minimize the possibility of fire, explosion or any unplanned sudden or non-sudden release of hazardous waste that could threaten human health or the environment as required by its RCRA permit. 
• The company also failed to timely submit to EPA annual toxic chemical release inventory reporting  for its use of naphthalene in its operations  as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The company also failed to submit timely reports to EPA’s annual Toxics Release Inventory, as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, for its use of naphthalene in its operations.
• TAPI violated its Puerto Rico wastewater pretreatment permit by failing to operate and maintain its pretreatment systems to ensure permit compliance. This included, among other violations, wastewater leaking from a corroded tank, large cracks in three tanks and an overflow of an equalization tank.

TAPI’s parent company, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, is a multinational pharmaceutical company and one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the world. EPA will continue to monitor developments associated with the parties. However, the violations are no longer occuring as the facility ceased operating. 

To learn more about EPA’s work in Puerto Rico, visit https://www.epa.gov/pr

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2.

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