Re: Plastic oil jug recycling

On Sep 25, 2006, at 2:16 PM, Enrique Vargas wrote:


> Zach,
>
> My name is Enrique Vargas and I represent Metro South Hazardous Waste.
>
> I am contacting you to gather information concerning disposal of  
> bio diesel waste.  This weekend we had two represenitives form the  
> Go Bio Diesel organization drop off some oil sludge.  I was  
> speaking with Cheryl Edmonds and she mentioned your group had been  
> in contact with a company that will dispose of your surplus oil and  
> plastic containers.  Right now we send our oil sludge for  
> inceneration.  If you had any Leads on more eco friendly disposal  
> options, your help would be greatly appreciated. I thank you for  
> your time and will be looking forward to discussing this in greater  
> detail.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Enrique Vargas
> Hazardous Waste Technician
> Metro South
> 503-655-0330

It sounds like its possible they are willing to work with us on a  
solution. I forwarded this email to the General Discussion mailing  
list about a month ago. In hindsight, probably not such a good idea.

1) I recommend we get Bill Dodds the phone tree and have him call  
specifically for getting some hands for this task. They can work on  
it as a member of the coproducts committee.
2) In the meantime someone needs to follow up with a call to Enrique  
unless, Cheryl, you've already done that. Let's decide who that's  
going to be today if possible. I'll send him an email right now to  
just touch base.

Some things to consider:

3) Can this sludge be further processed in fuel? How much fuel can we  
squeeze out of it?
4) A lot of this sludge could be used to make soap, assuming it has a  
high volume of free fatty acids in it. Maybe this sludge could be the  
raw material for our Quarterly meeting Soap making booth. ;-)
5) Can we continue to stock pile it until we find our solution?
6) Don't forget that the option is still on the table to neutralize  
coproducts and turn them into compost. We just need to work with the  
city on that. This option needs to be explored. It sounds like  
coproducts need to get busy on this one.

Good thing I'm having a new members meeting for CoProducts tomorrow  
night,eh? ;-)

**BRIAN,***

Can you export members with phone #s from the database? I will  
magically produce a new phone tree list and get it to Bill, pending  
an agreement from Cheryl, Pete and Eli on going forward with this  
approach.

On Oct 9, 2006, at 10:19 AM, Kramer, Peter wrote:

> Cheryl, I couldn’t agree more.  Sounds like you are quite involved  
> now with Mixmaster, waste water, and other aspects of the Co-op.
>
>
>
> Eli or Zac, do you have a suggestion for who within your committee  
> might be a good candidate to take on the lead for coordinating our  
> 5 gal oil jug recycling?  No one comes to mind for me right now. As  
> Cheryl mentioned, someone less involved would be great!  We just  
> need to ask these people to step up and I’m sure they will!
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>
> Pete
>
>
>
> From: Cheryl Edmonds [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 9:55 AM
> To: Kramer, Peter
> Subject: RE: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
>
>
>
> Hey Pete,
>
> I will contact the recycler again and see what's happening.
>
> I would like to see someone in the coop take this project on and be  
> the lead for it.  Recruiting that person from the co-products or  
> grease master group might be a possibility.  I don't think there's  
> a lack of enthusiasm in the coop membership...people just need to  
> be invited and then 'gently' encouraged to take a role.
>
> Any ideas on who could do this role?
>
> C.
>
> From: "Kramer, Peter" <[email protected]>
> To: Cheryl Edmonds <[email protected]>
> CC: Seth Moody <[email protected]>
> Subject: RE: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
> Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2006 23:05:11 -0500
>
> Cheryl,
>
>
>
> Thanks so much for the GREAT re-cap!  So basically, what I am  
> hearing is:
>
>
>
> We will be taking our relatively clean, empty plastic jugs to your  
> recycling source (once they are ready for us); in the mean-time,  
> just need to store the empty containers.
>
>
> We currently have some sludge buckets that we need to figure out  
> what to do with
>
>
> We have some large quantities of sludge at the bottom of 275 gal  
> totes that we will eventually need to do something with
>
>
> Have you heard from the recycling center in the last couple  
> weeks?..  Hope they know we would really benefit from their  
> services immediately!  Second, any thoughts or know any resources  
> for taking our sludge?  This could be something we discuss with  
> others (throw out on bio-d list).
>
>
>
> Thanks again for all your efforts!
>
>
>
> Pete
>
>
>
> From: Cheryl Edmonds [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 10:05 PM
> To: Kramer, Peter; [email protected]; wheelerk-/[email protected];  
> [email protected]
> Cc: [email protected]; macl9522-/[email protected]; [email protected]
> Subject: RE: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
>
>
>
> Hey Pete,
>
> Just a quick update to the oil buckets/containers.
>
> Ron and I took empty stacked buckets and 5 gal buckets full of oil  
> sludge to the transfer station on Saturday afternoon.  We intended  
> to put the stacked buckets into the garbage and turn the 5 gal oil  
> sludge buckets over to the hazardous waste division.
>
> We learned two very important things:
>
> Garbage disposal is a min. of 17$ for the first 240 lbs. We didn't  
> have 240 lbs worth, so we brought the buckets back to the site to  
> be combined with other garbage to meet the minimum.  We also bought  
> cat litter to include in these buckets because NO (NONE)) oil-y  
> residue is allowed even in stuff headed for the garbage division.   
> We bought 80 lbs of cat litter ...used 20 lbs ($2.00) to soak up  
> the residue and put the other 60 lbs in the shed.  Now those empty  
> 5 gal buckets are ready to go back to the garbage division.
>
> The 5 gal oil sludge buckets are a PROBLEM.  They cannot be placed  
> in the garbage.  They have to be dealt with via the hazardous waste  
> division; the division views these as a commercial waste problem  
> because the coop has accepted and inherited a waste problem from  
> the original user of the virgin oil (our restaurants).  The  
> bottomline is a 5.50$ per GALLON  (yes that's right!!) fee to  
> dispose of these buckets of oil sludge.  Do the math....bad news.
>
> The Oregon City transfer station did take about 10 of our 5 gal oil  
> sludge as a gesture of goodwill.  But they called me today with the  
> message that this coop is considered a COMMERCIAL operation and  
> will be charged the 5.50$ per gallon to dispose of any oil  
> sludge!!  Period.
>
> We have located a recylcer who will eventually be able to take our  
> dirty containers as they are (the milk container style).  But that  
> could be as much as a year off before they can begin to pick them up.
>
> I don't know which committe is supposed to be working on this, but  
> this issue needs to be explored more.
>
> In the meantime, the empty buckets are sitting on the palette,  
> stacked and ready to be combined with other site garbage for  
> disposal.  And the few 5 gal oil sludge buckets need to be dealt with.
>
> We had hoped for a simple, low cost recycling solution.  The metro  
> transfer station isn't IT!!
>
> Cheryl
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: "Kramer, Peter" <[email protected]>
> To: karen kruse <[email protected]>, wheelerk-/[email protected],  
> [email protected]
> CC: Seth Moody <[email protected]>, [email protected],  
> Cameron <macl9522-/[email protected]>, Bill Dodds <[email protected]>
> Subject: RE: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
> Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:00:26 -0500
>
> Karen,
>
>
>
> An update on what happened:
>
> We didn’t feel making the wall would provide benefit for flooding  
> purposes so very little was brought to the back of the site.   
> Concerns that the blackberries would back there would just grow  
> over the ‘wall’ and create the same kind of problem.  We started to  
> use the bigger chucks as a base for the slab next to the  
> container.   I have a listing out on Craigslist for free concrete.  
> We also have a suggestion from Jeff Brandt for taking all the  
> concrete to Sunderland Yard.  Its in NE Portland on 33rd right near  
> the airport (map:  http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=9325+NE 
> +Sunderland+Avenue&csz=Portland%2C+OR&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=),  
> so not the closest, but it is setup to recycle all the concrete,  
> which is ideally what we want to do with it.  I will try to find a  
> ph number for them to call and coord.  So a focus, whatever we do  
> with the concrete next Sat should be getting people with big trucks  
> who can do a couple hauls of the concrete.
>
>
> We sold 200 gal of WVO (Bruce, recent new member, lives in  
> Washugal, has his own processor).  Still having problems with our  
> WVO pump holding a prime.
>
>
>
> Felix and Zac were working on the methanol recovery still; they  
> will have to update you on that one.
>
>
>
> Recent new member (Ron, I think is the name) made a run to Metro  
> with most of our buckets filled with the nasty, bottom sludge.   
> There was some concern that Metro may not take it.  Please let me  
> know if you hear that there was a problem.
>
>
>
> Bill Dodds is going to make efforts to get to the site soon to help  
> pick up more brush.
>
>
>
> The plan for next week is to again get rid of concrete and brush.   
> MUST get people to show up with big trucks!  I might be able to get  
> someone to go down and chip the brush up.  Not 100% sure though.
>
>
>
> Oily jugs:
>
> As you saw in the re-cap above, we removed a bulk of the 5 gal  
> buckets that had all the bottom sludge from a year’s worth of  
> scrapping jugs.  As to our current stock of empty, oily jugs,  
> sounds like in talking with Cheryl this Sat, that we are still on  
> track to have this company (Cheryl, help me out here, what’s the  
> name?) come take away all of our plastic.  Its highly desired type  
> of plastic that’s good for recycling.  Just waiting on them to set  
> up their operations to handle plastic as messy as ours will be.  So  
> right now, just need to store our empty jugs somewhere on site that  
> won’t cause any spills or impede the gen 2 processor development.
>
>
>
> That portable garage, how big is it?..  I think that’s a great idea!
>
>
>
> Pete
>
>
>
> From: karen kruse [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 11:28 PM
> To: Kramer, Peter; wheelerk-/[email protected]; Matt Stein;  
> [email protected]
> Cc: Seth Moody; [email protected]; Cameron; Bill Dodds
> Subject: RE: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
>
>
>
> Hi Pete and all,
>
>   I can attempt to lead on the 30th.
>
>       How far did you get moving the rubble this weekend?
>
>       Is the plan to build the fence on the back of the property or  
> remove it?
>
>       If removal is the plan for the concrete or the brush, where  
> are we removing it to?
>
>       In terms of reimbursement, should I ask for members to record  
> their expenditures ( to the dump for instance) then send requests  
> to the board as Brian mentioned?
>
>
>
>      What is the current plan for the oily 5 gallon jugs? Are we  
> still washing them?
>
>       There was a collection of approximately 20 ,  5 gallon jugs  
> with apparently unusable kitchen waste near the shed.
>
>       Is the plan to remove this , containers and all to the dump?
>
>
>
>  I will check the Task List for suggestions / answers to the above  
> questions as I believe we are trying to use that as our organizing  
> tool.
>
>
>
>  An aside,  I saw a Fred Meyer ad in today's paper for a small  
> portable garage made of heavy plastic for approx 150dollars.
>
>
>
>  Does anyone else think this might be a nice structure to have on  
> site for shelter this winter? It could be secured I believe from  
> the wind and it is designed to withstand rain. If there is interest  
> I will suggest it to the board.
>
> kk
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kramer, Peter [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 7:41 AM
> To: wheelerk-/[email protected]; Karen Kruse; Matt Stein; [email protected]
> Cc: Seth Moody; [email protected]; Cameron; Bill Dodds
> Subject: Gobiodiesel Coop Site Coordinator
>
> Hi All!
>
>
>
> We have lots going on right now and even more that needs to get  
> done!  The plan is that we all can stay up-to-speed on what has  
> been done and what still needs to happen with the co-op relative to  
> the site specifically.  Right now we have a handful of wknds  
> covered, but still have some holes. Sept 30 and Oct 7 are open.   
> Karen or Peggy, can either of you fill those spots?!...
>
>
>
> What needs to be done?..
>
> MUST remove concrete pile; either construct wall on end of site  
> (parallel to river near the blackberry bush line) or have it all  
> removed
> MUST remove brush piles
> on-going oil jug empty/clean/removal
> finish the work on the oil jug empty system [oil separation rack]  
> (Bill D, Seth, or Greg can fill us in on what needs to be done)
> find others who would be good candidates for Site Coord position
>
>
> There are a handful of other items, I just need to get with Seth  
> and others to formalize them and prioritize.
>
>
>
> This Sat I will be taking the lead as site coord and our sole focus  
> will be the removal of that rubble.  Lots of manual labor.  If ANY  
> of you can make it this Sat, that would be a HUGE help.  Thank in  
> advance!  Please bring any wheel barrels you may have access to.   
> If anyone has access to a pickup and/or trailer, that would be  
> great as well for removal of brush.
>
>
>
> Thanks to you all for your continued involvement and leadership.   
> That’s exactly what this co-op desperately needs!
>
>
>
> Pete
>
>
>
> Peter Kramer, LEED™ AP
>
>
>
> BAS Sales Engineer
>
> TRANEOREGON
>
> 503-620-8031
>
> DIR 503-431-2541 | FAX 503-639-1454
>
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> www.TraneOregon.com <http://www.TraneOregon.com>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

--------------------------------------------------------------
Zac Imboden
[email protected]
1534 SE 35th Place
Portland, OR
97214
971-563-2477

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