A Little Birdie Told Us - Just Born now certified as Landfill Free! At SWS, we’re proud of all of our clients. Of course, there are some we have a real sweet spot for — especially when it comes to ones with products we grew up with, like Just Born. As the makers of everybody’s favorite marshmallow treat, Peeps®, and candies like Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, Mike and Ike® and Hot Tamales®, they’re loved by kids everywhere. And now that they’re Landfill Free, we’re sure they’re just as popular with the environment!

Although recognized by The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania with the PA Waste Watchers Award, up until recently Just Born had only been able to recycle 92 percent of its waste. The remaining eight percent of non-recyclable waste was sent to a landfill.

But now, thanks to a custom-built, state-of-the-art compactor installed by SWS in March, that gathers their non-recyclable waste for conversion to energy, the Just Born, Inc. headquarters and primary production plant in Bethlehem, PA is now a Landfill Free facility. All waste generated by the company is now reused, recycled or compacted and collected by SWS to be processed as a renewable fuel at a Covanta Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility.

To celebrate Earth Day, Just Born unveiled a “Landfill Free” banner at its Stefko Blvd. location this April.

Says Dieter Scheel, our VP of Business Development, “We were excited to help Just Born augment their recycling program with the use of a state-of-the-art, custom-built compactor. It’s a pleasure working with a company that shares our passion for preserving the environment.”

For more information about Just Born, visit www.justborn.com.

For more information about SWS, please go to www.landfillfree.com or call 215-723-7723.

Emerging Technology: Baxter, the Adaptive Manufacturing RobotWe’ve shared stories about The Rodon Group before. A forward-thinking, large-volume plastic injection molder best known for manufacturing K’NEX children’s construction systems, they were the first plastics molding facility in the area to be awarded the designation of “Landfill Free Facility” by SWS.

And now, a new manufacturing robot named Baxter has found a home at The Rodon Group. The brainchild of Rethink Robotics of Boston, MA, this user-friendly robot is a new manufacturing tool created to help American manufacturing companies compete more effectively. Designed to complete repetitive production tasks, the robot will complement The Rodon Group’s highly automated facility.

According to Rethink, “Baxter is America’s first adaptive manufacturing robot. Designed to use common sense and work safely alongside people, it will take U.S. manufacturers’ productivity to new heights—and deliver a truly competitive edge.”

Baxter places The Rodon Group on the cutting edge of the automation revolution. By delegating repetitive tasks that are often done by hand to this new robot, The Rodon Group’s factory employees can focus on tasks that add more value to their manufacturing environment.

Baxter does not require safety caging or programming. Working alongside one of The Rodon Group operators, Baxter can be shown how to do a task and re-purposed as needed. Rethink Robotics estimates that it takes 10 minutes to train Baxter to do a task, allowing the plant operators to focus on more complex and production-critical assignments. Initially, Baxter will be utilized to help package K’NEX construction toys, specifically tracks for the Mario Kart Wii racing set toys.

For more information about The Rodon Group, visit www.rodongroup.com.

For more information about SWS, please go to www.landfillfree.com or call 215-723-7723.

News at SWS:Move ‘Em Up, Move ‘Em OutIf you have college-aged kids of your own, you’ve been there – College Move Out Day. That’s the day at the end of the semester where everything that can be packed up and taken home is, and the stuff that’s been outgrown, isn’t needed or can’t be wedged into the car or tied to the roof gets thrown into the dumpster. Tons of stuff, literally – and we should know.

With Muhlenburg College, Cedar Crest College and Lehigh University as clients — with a combined student count of over 40,000 — we see a lot of extra trash volume during this time period. Roughly 250 tons worth of trash and recyclables, as a matter of fact. By offering additional services above and beyond their regular services, SWS is able to help our higher learning clients manage move-outs more efficiently, conserving valuable time and resources for other, more important things. Like preparing to start all over again next semester.

For more information about SWS, please go to www.landfillfree.com or call 215-723-7723.

Employee News: Waste Expo 2013 Four SWS employees attended the Waste Expo trade convention in New Orleans this May, in search of the best technologies and most promising trends in the industry today. Aside from the buzz about the growth surge in waste disposal services for the fracking industry, some of the topics covered at this year’s Expo included Dealing with the Media, Compressed Natural Gas Trash Trucks, Extended Producer Liability, and What to Expect from OSHA in 2013 and Beyond.

We’re Growing!We’d like to formally welcome four new employees:

• Walt Rokuskie Jr, Class A Driver: brings over a decade of experience and safe driving excellence to the safest operations department in the region

• Ryan Fischer, Shop Employee: handles recycling, processing, composting and container delivery

• Jon Apple, Director of Property Management: brings many years of project and property development experience to SWS

• Dawn Woodrow, marketing department: lends much-needed assistance to our sales and marketing team

For more information about SWS, please go to www.landfillfree.com or call 215-723-7723.

Electronic products are one of today’s fastest growing streams of consumer and commercial waste. The PA Covered Device Recycling Act (CDRA) of 2010 imposes certain responsibilities on manufacturers and retailers of covered devices sold in Pennsylvania including desktop computers, laptop computers, computer monitors, computer peripherals and televisions.

This includes a requirement for manufacturers to establish and conduct ongoing recycling programs that offer covered device collection opportunities at certified electronics recycling facilities at no cost to consumers.

Retailers offering covered devices for sale in PA may only sell ones labeled with a brand registered with the DEP, and must notify customers of how and where they can be recycled. Any recycling programs offered must be free of cost to consumers.

Electronics Recycling Facilities which process or recycle covered devices collected from consumers through electronics collection programs in PA must maintain an R2 Certification, an e-Stewards

Certification, or an internationally accredited third-party environmental management standard for the safe and responsible handling of covered devices.

For more information, a list of registered and non-compliant covered device brands, or all covered device collection opportunities currently

offered to consumers, visit the Pennsylvania DEP website.

For more information on SWS’s Electronic Waste Program, please contact Nate LeSuer at 215-901-9800.

For more information about SWS, please go to www.landfillfree.com or call 215-723-7723.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection Covered Device Act