by Brianna Crandall — October 23, 2015—Sustainable waste and energy solutions provider Covanta and optimized resource management provider Veolia have partnered to make Veolia’s RecyclePak program available to businesses, consumers, and cities to assist their ability to recycle universal wastes such as lamps, ballasts, batteries, and other products that contain hazardous substances, in a convenient and environmentally responsible manner.
Universal waste is material designated as hazardous waste but containing materials that are very common, explains Covanta. By separating products into their components and reusing the components and by-products, businesses and consumers are reducing waste, diverting waste from landfills, saving energy, and conserving resources, says the company.
For example, while the majority of a mercury-containing lamp can be recycled, according to the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers, only 24 percent of the approximately 600 million mercury-containing lamps that are discarded each year are properly recycled in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations.
Covanta customers can now use Veolia’s award-winning RecyclePak to recycle lamps, batteries and other products containing hazardous substances.
The RecyclePak program ensures complete compliance while making small-quantity recycling easy for consumers and businesses. Covanta’s customers can simply purchase a container from the new joint Web site covanta.veoliaes.com, place their universal waste into it, and then ship it to one of Veolia’s recycling centers using a prepaid shipping label.
For more information on the joint Covanta / Veolia RecyclePak program, visit the partners’ Web site.
Covanta provides sustainable waste and energy solutions. The company’s 45 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities and businesses around the world with environmentally sound solid waste disposal by using waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta’s modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert approximately 20 million tons of waste into clean, renewable electricity to power one million homes and recycle approximately 500,000 tons of metal. The facilities reduce greenhouse gases, complement recycling and are a critical component to sustainable solid waste management.
Veolia Group provides optimized resource management. With over 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and replenish them. In 2014, the Veolia Group supplied 96 million people with drinking water and 60 million people with wastewater service, produced 52 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 31 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy.
