HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, September 17, 2008 (ENS) – Pennsylvania is making $1 million in grant funding available for manufacturers to buy equipment that increases use of recycled content in finished products. Grants of up to $500,000 are available to buy machinery or equipment that will increase consumption of recyclable materials recovered in Pennsylvania.

Another $950,000 will be available to help expand and develop markets for recovered materials, and stimulate demand for products with recycled content through the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center.

Announcing the new funding, Governor Ed Rendell said that strategic investments to increase the use of recyclable materials will help manufacturers manage energy costs, reduce pollution and bolster local recycling collection programs.

“Recycled materials is an important resource for Pennsylvania’s manufacturers. They can cut soaring energy costs by incorporating recyclable materials that require less energy to process than virgin raw materials,” said the governor.

“Diverting these valuable materials from landfills also protects our environment by preserving natural resources, reducing pollution from the processing of virgin materials and conserving landfill space,” he said.

“These initiatives to increase demand for recycled materials also benefit Pennsylvania’s municipal recycling programs, which collect bottles, cans, papers and other materials from homes and businesses,” said Acting Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger.

“Increasing demand for these commodities means local governments can benefit from higher prices for the materials they collect,” he said. “By diverting more materials from landfills, local governments and businesses also can save on their waste disposal costs.”

The Recycling Markets Center has been expanding its scope of services to increase the demand for recycled commodities. By supporting research into innovative uses for priority materials such as organic wastes, hard-to-recycle plastics, glass and tires, the center is developing new markets for recyclable materials.

The center is increasing its business assistance programs, shortening the time it takes to market new products or processes that use recycled commodities and developing markets for recovered construction materials in certified green buildings.

The Recycling Markets Center has launched new programs to help manufacturers that use recycled materials to document their reduced carbon emissions and earn tradable carbon credits through the Chicago Climate Exchange, CCX.

In August, the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center became the first recycled markets development organization to join CCX, the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding integrated greenhouse gas emissions reduction market.

As a member, the center will annually inventory and report its indirect emissions to CCX to verify and audit. Reporting requirements include vehicle use, air travel, as well as business operations.

Once the verification process is complete and total emissions are confirmed, the center is required to purchase and retire CCX Carbon Financial Instrument contracts through the CCX trading platform to fully offset the indirect emissions it produces.

To scope recycled materials processes for carbon emission reduction opportunities, the center has partnered with Environmental Credit Corporation of, State College, Pennsylvania.

Environmental Credit Corporation President, Scott Subler, said, “RMC is taking a leadership role in introducing Pennsylvania recyclers to rapidly developing opportunities in the carbon market. We’re excited to be working with them on this important issue.”

Pennsylvania’s recycling and reuse industry leads northeastern states in employment, payroll and sales numbers, according to state figures.

More than 3,200 recycling and reuse businesses and organizations make more than $18.4 billion in gross annual sales and pay $305 million in taxes.

Recycling and reuse industries in Pennsylvania employ more than 81,000 people at an annual payroll of approximately $2.9 billion.

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ALBANY, New York, July 9, 2008 (ENS) – Two railways will construct a new $40 million intermodal and automotive rail logistics center at a former rail yard in the towns of Halfmoon, Mechanicville, and Stillwater. Work is expected to begin in the first quarter 2009 and be complete by April 2010.

The new rail terminal in Saratoga County will anchor the western end of Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor, a new high-speed freight rail route between the Capitol Region surrounding Albany and the Boston area that will be activated once track and signal improvements are complete.

This is a great announcement for the Capitol Region and for all of New York State,” said Governor David Paterson. “I want to thank Norfolk Southern and Pan Am Railways for choosing to locate here.”

“This is exactly the sort of smart investment in our transportation infrastructure that we need to make during these tough economic times, and one that will spur further economic development,” the governor said.

“As soaring energy costs have forced businesses to re-think how to transport consumer goods, the rail industry has once again become an increasingly viable and affordable option,” said New York State Senator Joe Bruno, a Republican who encouraged the rail companies to locate in New York.

Rising gasoline and diesel prices
make rail freight an attractive option.
(Photo courtesy Pan Am Railways)

“Transportation by rail is still the most economically efficient way to move freight, and even more so today with ever rising fuel prices,” Bruno said.

The state will contribute $3 million to help build the terminal, Bruno said.

In May, Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern announced plans to create a joint venture, called Pan Am Southern.

The key component of Pan Am Southern is the Patriot Corridor, the 155 mile main line track that runs between Mechanicville and Ayer, Massachusetts.

Pan Am Southern also includes 281 miles of secondary and branch lines, including trackage rights, in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.

The new Saratoga County rail logistics center will serve as the primary distribution hub for the Patriot Corridor.

The Pan Am Southern joint venture is subject to the approval of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, which is expected to issue a decision on the transaction in October.

“On behalf of the Pan Am Southern joint venture, I would like to thank Senator Bruno for his leadership and commitment to bring rail yard operations back to Saratoga County,” said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive officer.

“With the demand for moving freight throughout the U.S. and New York’s Capitol Region at unprecedented levels, this rail facility will serve as the premier distribution point for consumer products and finished automobiles for upstate New York and western New England,” said Moorman.

As fuel prices rise, more shippers are turning from truck to rail travel. Moorman said the railway is seeing companies that have not used rail to ship goods in 30 years.

David Fink, Pan Am Railways’ president said, “This new terminal will add much-needed freight capacity to the Capitol Region, and is critical to the success of our Pan Am Southern joint venture.”

Rail officials named companies that are committed to use the new rail system, including automakers Ford, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes Benz and Subaru, and transport companies Hanjin, J.B. Hunt and United Parcel Service.

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