With the large volume of snow and rain this past spring (and lingering into early summer), I think many of us in Salt Lake have been feeling like winter will never end. However, the winter seemed to fly by for us, as Momentum Recycling continued to make steady progress towards our goals:

1. Educating the community about recycling
2. Increasing the diversion rate for organizations in the greater Salt Lake area
3. Promoting our clients recycling efforts in the community

We also reflect here on our company’s growing community impact, as we continue to increase the number of organizations we serve, and the initiatives we’ve developed to expand our reach. Those efforts include our partnership with the City of Salt Lake and the Downtown Alliance to encourage glass diversion in downtown Salt Lake City, as well as our work with property management groups to increase overall business diversion rates.

Lastly, we introduce new Momentum clients and bring attention to a couple of organizations with whom Momentum works which have achieved local and national recognition for their sustainability efforts.

As always, we feel fortunate to work in a community so dedicated to minimizing our collective environmental footprint. To our partners, our colleagues, and our supporters – thank you for your commitment to recycling. And a special thanks to our clients for choosing Momentum as your partner in recycling!

Sincerely,
Kate, Jeff, John, and Lynn

Excerpt taken from Salt Lake Tribune Article, Dawn House, January 15, 2010. Full article can be seen here.

A day doesn't go by when Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker isn't asked why the state's largest municipality doesn't have a curbside glass recycling program. Now he has an answer to that question.

On Friday, Becker announced that 11 downtown businesses have initiated such a program -- for businesses only -- in what he called a first step toward curbside glass recycling that someday could encompass the entire capital.

"This program is a positive step in diverting recyclable waste from the landfill and moving us forward as a sustainable city," said Becker. "I commend the downtown businesses that have stepped up to participate as partners in the stewardship of our community."

Becker spoke at Squatter's Pub Brewery, one of the businesses paying for on-site glass pickups. Squatter's spokesman James Soares said that despite the pickup fees, his company will save about $300 a month by recycling glass. The savings will come from fees the business paid to have glass hauled to the landfill or to ship it out of state.

"And for our customers, bring in an empty six-pack of one of our beers, and we'll give you $1 off at the pub," said Soares.

Momentum Recycling will pick up and deliver the waste to the Glass Recycling Group. That company, in turn, supplies crushed glass to the Owens Corning Salt Lake City plant, which manufactures fiberglass insulation.

Most brown glass is shipped out of state to be made into new glass bottles. Other colors of glass collected at the drop-off sites are recycled into fiberglass insulation, said Debbie Lyons, Salt Lake City's recycling coordinator.

Officials are encouraging residents to patronize businesses enrolled in the recycling program. Besides Squatters, the others are Tin Angel, Takashi, Settebello, Martine, and Caffé Molise restaurants, Red Rock Brew Pub, the Hilton Downtown, Marriott Downtown, Hotel Monaco and the Alta Club.

Last year, Americans generated more than 12,000 tons of glass waste, much of it from soft drinks, beer, food and liquor bottles. Less than 23 percent of the waste was recovered for recycling, city officials said.

Increasingly, property management groups throughout Salt Lake City are seeking to minimize their building’s impact on the environment by offering tenants comprehensive recycling services. Momentum Recycling has been fortunate to forge ties with a number of these property management groups. When asked why they recycle, these Momentum clients have listed a number of reasons, including:

• Recycling can be cost effective
• Existing tenants request recycling services
• Property Managers believe in the importance of conserving resources and protecting the environment
• Recycling services are an important requirement for the attainment of LEED certification
• Prospective tenants often consider recycling to be a prerequisite when considering whether or not to lease office space in a building

CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) (www.CBRE.com)
Four CBRE buildings are now working with Momentum to increase their diversion rate for mixed recyclables and glass. Collectively, they have diverted over 16 tons of mixed recyclables and 1,000lbs of glass. According to Justin Farnsworth, CBRE Real Estate Manager, the 136 East South Temple location has eliminated two garbage dumpsters and has reached a diversion rate of 70%!

Commerce CRG (www.comre.com)
Commerce CRG manages the building at 170 S Main St. This building, whose primary tenant is US Bank, has diverted over 39 tons of mixed recyclables from the landfill over the course of the last 15 months. Kristina Leikum, Commerce CRG Property Assistant, informed Momentum that she sends the diversion rate reports to her tenants to further motivate them to increase their recycling efforts and has received considerable, positive feedback from tenants about Commerce CRG’s commitment to sustainability.

Research Park Associates (RPA) (www.researchparkassociates.com)
RPA’s facilities located in the University of Utah’s Research Park have diverted over 22 tons of mixed recyclables since they began working with Momentum 17 months ago. According to RPA Owner, Peter Green, the most effective way to achieve institutional change when it comes to recycling is to lead by example: “Occasionally, I’ve jumped into the dumpster myself” to pull out contaminants and educate staff about recycling.

Fenton Properties
Scott Dahl, owner of a multi-tenant apartment complex, has diverted 2.5 tons of green waste from his property and over 650lbs of glass.

RealForm, Inc
Rob Gilbert, owner of a four-plex, has shown a strong commitment to diverting glass from the landfill by collecting over 1.8 tons of glass since he began working with Momentum over 15 months ago. In addition to Rob’s desire to minimize his impact on the environment, he sees the recycling service as a value-added benefit that fosters a culture of social responsibility among his tenants.

A large portion of the population rents at some point in their lifetime. Unfortunately, this removes a degree of control from the tenants and keeps many people from making sustainable choices, be it installing Energy Star® appliance upgrades or recycling. By providing recycling services along with sustainable upgrades, I can show that sustainable living can be easy, convenient, and effective, and that I would like to provide my tenants the opportunity to contribute to the health of the generations that follow.

In addition to providing a reliable and cost-effective recycling solution, Momentum shows a deep commitment to sustainability and provides significant value to me with its educational efforts. By keeping me up-to-date on events, sharing news articles, and offering site visits to local manufacturers and consumers of raw materials, Momentum Recycling invests in my sustainability goals and demonstrates that we are making a significant and visible difference. My hope is that through our combined effort, my current tenants and their families will learn sustainable habits that last well beyond their leases.

Momentum Recycling is pleased to announce a new partnership with Certified Shred, which allows Momentum Recycling customers to bundle shredding services with recycling services for great savings – on one convenient invoice.

Certified Shred, Inc. is a local Utah business, and has been serving businesses and residents across the state of Utah for over a decade. Certified Shred began when local law enforcement officers recognized the need to better protect identities by keeping their documents from getting in the wrong hands. The company founders have a background in law enforcement, and used their expertise and knowledge to build a company whose mission is to provide secure, efficient shredding at an affordable price. Certified Shred employs dedicated professionals who are highly trained and customer service oriented. The company uses the latest technology to quickly and effectively destroy confidential records.

Certified Shred offers many services to choose from including:

• On Site Shredding
• Regularly Scheduled Route Service
• Purge/Cleanout Service
• Witnessed Destruction of Shredding

Contact Information:
Office: (801) 972-4748
Office Toll free: 1-866-667-2100
Fax: (801) 972-4750
e-mail: sales@certifiedshred.com
website: www.certifiedshred.com

Drop-off location:
537 West Pickett Circle. Suite 600
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

At Momentum, we measure success in terms of diversion rates. Here are our total diversion numbers for the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010:

Material:	Total Weight (Q3 2009):	Total Weight (Q4 2009):	Growth (Q3 to Q4):	Total Weight (Q1 2010):	Growth (Q4 to Q1):
Mixed Recyclables	85,440 lbs.	101,900 lbs.	+19%	104,640 lbs.	+3%
Glass	62,750 lbs.	46,450 lbs.	-26%	101,200 lbs.	+54%
Green Waste	202,465 lbs.	185,720 lbs.	-8%	174,255 lbs.	-7%
TOTAL	350,655 lbs.	334,070 lbs.	-5%	380,095 lbs.	+12%

We're always on the lookout for ways to help Salt Lake area businesses reduce their impact on the environment. Here we some recent happenings that will do just that:

• FFKR Architects Wins Sustainability Award: FFKR Architects received the 2010 "Walk the Walk" AIA Utah Sustainable Office Competition. The award was presented at the Salt Lake Sustainable Building Conference held at the Salt Palace on April 8th, 2010. The competition recognizes architectural offices that have gone the extra mile to incorporate sustainable office practices. Following up on Momentum Recycling’s audit of FFKR’s waste stream, FFKR acted on a number of waste reduction and recycling recommendations which, according to Mark Wilson, principal at FFKR, helped the firm move their organization closer to zero waste.
  
• CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Wins The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award: The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Utah awarded CBRE’s 136 East South Temple property a “TOBY”, in the 100,000 to 250,000 square foot office building category. The building has an Energy Star rating and CBRE is working towards LEED Existing Building silver or gold certification. Momentum Recycling conducted a waste audit for this facility and provides mixed recyclables and glass collection services for the building- They have reached a diversion rate of approximately 70%!

As a mission-driven company, one of our founding principles has been to build awareness of, and commitment to, recycling and other sustainability measures among clients and the greater community. Below you’ll find some recent examples of our work in this area:

• Consulting for CB Richard Ellis: CB Richard Ellis recently engaged Momentum Recycling to conduct a waste audit at their 1551 South Renaissance Towne Drive property. The resulting report showed the potential for diverting recyclables away from the waste stream.
• Educational Programs for Clients: As part of our basic customer service, Momentum conducts free "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Educational Seminars" for all new clients. In the past quarter, we've conducted over a dozen of these seminars, helping businesses and their employees understand more clearly how to maximize their diversion rates.
• Promote Your Recycling Efforts: Get a Momentum Point of Sale Sign Now! The PoS signs, which are typically placed at high customer traffic areas in client facilities, have the purpose of informing customers about Momentum clients’ commitment to recycling. We see this as a great opportunity to improve awareness about recycling opportunities among the general public, as well as a fantastic opportunity to promote our clients’ (and Momentum’s) dedication to the pursuit of zero waste. Let Jeff (jeff@momentumrecycling.com) know if you are interested in having a sign developed free of charge.
• Cross Fertilization between Clients and End-Users: As part of our mission, Momentum Recycling works to "close the loop" on recycling in our community. We organize events to bring recycling stakeholders in our community together for an on-going dialogue about zero waste and the local initiatives which have been introduced in support of this goal.
• During the fourth quarter of 2009, Momentum conducted a site visit to the Glass Recycling Group and Owens Corning. Richard Leonard, GRG’s owner, met with us to talk about the company’s glass crushing operation and Karl Sass from Owens Corning gave us a brief tour of their facility to help participants understand how the crushed glass is used to produce fiberglass insulation.
• In March, Bridget Stuchly, the Salt Lake City Division of Sustainability and Environment Outreach Coordinator, and Debbie Lyons, Salt Lake City’s Recycling Program Manager, met with us to talk about the current status of sustainability initiatives (including recycling) in Salt Lake City and the city’s vision for the future.
• Momentum Recycling will be offering more tours of other end users’ facilities, as well as tours of client facilities in the near future. Stay tuned for more information on places & dates!