Dump fees

Today important flows of plastics originate in mandatory recycling schemes, such as those imposed by take-back obligations on packaging, End-of life vehicles, or waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE). For such materials, the drive for collection and recycling is not normally economic, but mandatory. In snch cases, there is often a dump fee, to be paid for farther processing a stream of waste plastics into recycled products. The value of such fees varies from some 50 /tonne for injection into blast fnmaces in the European Community to as much as 50-100 kYen ( 370-750 /tonne)... 

During two years of trial operation, the pilot plant demonstrated its suitability. Although the process can be considered proven, it is at present neither used by BASF, nor elsewhere in Germany, because the quantities of plastic waste and dump fee needed for the plant to be economically viable are not available in Germany (Figure 1.1). 

Despite the lack of attention to this issue in the literature, some general principles can be outlined here. First, one of the important considerations is the impact of the solids on the environment Second, there is the question of economics. It is better to take some advantage of a waste material rather than pay to have to dump it, and it is likely that dumping fees will increase with increasing shortage of conveniently located suitable dump sites. 

Another major concern is being named as a potentially responsible party (PRP) in a lawsuit to clean up a disposal site. Many generators have paid disposal fees to service companies to legally dispose of their hazardous wastes only to be sued by the Federal EPA. The San Francisco Examiner reported on 12-1-88 that "100 companies to pay 66,000,000 at 190 acre dump operated by Industries, Inc. located in Monterey Park, 10 miles from Los Angeles."... 

Work is currently underway to re-measure the 1S-2S energy level splitting. An electron accelerator beam dump at AT T Bell Laboratories has been shown to produce 4 x 104 slow positrons/pulse at 30 Hz, and further improvements are expected.[ll] We anticipate a 10 increase in the number of available thermal Ps. In collaboration with M. Fee and K. Danzmann at Stanford, we are also working... 

Rubber products pose a special problem in the environment, and their dumping in landfills usually requires a special fee. Discarded in piles or buried, they occasionally catch fire and produce noxious gases. In developing countries, many used or damaged automobile tires are repaired or disassembled to make other products. Granulated rubber produced from... 

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