This service offers the information and assistance necessary for individuals, businesses, and local governments to successfully reduce the amount and/or toxicity of wastes which they generate and, where possible, to include recovered, non-toxic and recycled materials in their homes, their businesses, their manufacturing feedstocks, and as an important part of their local economic vitality strategies.
The incorporation of recovered, non-toxic, and recycled materials in manufactured products can help make businesses more competitive, both locally and internationally. In addition to being environmentally responsible, products with recovered material and non-toxic content are now a requirement for many federal, state, and international contracts. An increase in sales due to the competitive edge offered by manufacturing recycled and/or non-toxic content products can lead to job expansion and retention for a region.
When there are insufficient existing business to utilize all of the available recovered materials, a Community that evaluates and implements economic vitality strategies by supporting and/or establishing local value added recycling businesses can change an environmental challenge into an employment opportunity.
The Appalachian Regional Recycling Consortium (ARRC) is an integrated solid waste management and innovative recycling technical assistance service of Southeast Rural Community Assistance Program (SE/RCAP). This project provides assistance in the rural communities of Virginia.
The ARRC has been actively serving the solid waste management needs of rural communities since February 1992, and has been actively providing services in the SE/RCAP region since 1994. Offering a variety of programs including: educational information, recycling equipment and market information, recycled product sourcing, workshops and seminars.
It is the belief of the ARRC that there is a vast, relatively untapped, recycling market available in rural communities, right now. There are many opportunities for existing local businesses to utilize locally recovered materials, establish programs to reduce or reuse their own process by-products either in-house or in partnership with community reuse programs, or where the volume and/or the ingenuity are sufficient, by helping to support the creation of new businesses to beneficially utilize their process by-products.
Many existing businesses have the potential to use recovered, non-toxic, and/or recycled materials in their processes. Some businesses have already responded to the challenges and opportunities which have been identified by the rethinking of our previous waste disposal methods. A growing number have begun manufacturing products which contain post consumer and post industrial recycled materials.
Some business leaders have thought about:
- reducing the volume of waste that is generated by their business processes,
- reducing or eliminating toxic solvents and other process chemical by substituting low or non toxic alternatives, or
- using recovered, non toxic, and/or recycled materials in their process,
One of the purposes of this program is to offer the information and resources necessary to begin or expand the process of creating locally sustainable businesses. The ARRC offers business and community waste audit services to walk through your specific situation with you and provide a report on the options and opportunities available to you. For more information contact the ARRC about our business and community waste audit service.
A growing number of individuals, businesses and local governments are recognizing the importance of protecting our health and environment by using non toxic products in cleaning, finishing, and manufacturing.
In summary, local value added recycling is an exciting strategy for integrated solid waste management and innovative recycling in rural communities. Developing existing industrial recycling potential can address both environmental and economic development challenges. Working with existing businesses to help them modernize and upgrade their process lines, so that they can reduce their waste generation and/or utilize various components of the waste stream can promote better domestic and international competitiveness, help address the need for local and regional markets for rural recyclables, and support existing local industries. And after working with existing businesses, supporting and/or establishing new businesses to utilize the region's recovered materials is a next step in a comprehensive approach to economic and environmental sustainability.
RITA Workshops and Program Services
With funding from SE/RCAP, the ARRC provides RITA workshops in Virginia. The workshops provide information and resource contacts for waste reductions, solvent alternatives, waste audits, waste exchanges, recycling strategies, and local value added recycling opportunities and dialogue and brainstorming on specific situations in your community.
The RITA 2002 schedule is:
For more information on when and where these workshops will be held, or to register to participate, contact Pat Therrien at (540)639-9314 or E-mail: [email protected] The ARRC also provides on site waste audits in Virginia on a first come, first served basis, and pollution prevention technical assistance information and resources.
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Most Recently Updated ~ January 14, 2002