NPE and PaveX Competing Tradeshows Square Off

For years the National Pavement Expo (NPE) was operated by the same folks that bring you PAVEMENT Magazine, now part of IronMarkets. A few years ago the NPE was sold to an organization called Emerald Productions, which has continued operation of the event.

However, this year IronMarkets is introducing a new expo called "PAVE/X." In developing the show, PAVE/X management says they also "lured away some of the associations, leaders and influencers" in the pavement industry.

The PAVE/X Show is being held January 30th to February 1st in San Antonio, TX. The dates – which fall during the weekdays – are a departure from the traditional NPE weekend-centric events. This year's NPE is being held from January 23rd through 25th in Tampa, Florida, at the Tampa Convention Center.

We know from discussions with various sweeping industry vendors that the presence of the two different shows has created some amount of questioning about which show will produce the best outcome for their tradeshow advertising dollars. Ditto for contractors trying to decide which to attend, or both. Time will decide whether both tradeshows can survive in serving the pavement maintenance marketplace.

"Alternate Ticket Cameras Needed:" NYC Commissioner

New York's street sweepers should have cameras to ticket car owners who flout the city's alternate-side parking rules, Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch said recently.

Our editor first brought the power sweeping industry information about alternatives to standard dumping of debris in 1992 with this article entitled "Screening Power Sweeper Debris – Good for the Environment and a Real Moneysaver." Although obviously dated in terms of cost for standard dumping and, thus, money saved, the information is largely correct in the fact that screening can reduce landfill dumping weight by around 80%.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency outlines management options for reuse of street sweepings. We covered the Agency's Hazardous Waste Division Fact Sheet in another previous article. In that article, the Minnesota Agency covered their requirements for disposal of sweepings. A review of current requirements found little-to-no changes from our article.

Another earlier article was entitled "Aggressive Recycling of Municipal Street Sweepings." The article relates how the City of Portland, Oregon, conducted its sweeping operation to recycle everything it could. At the time of the interview, the City of Portland – by screening its debris – had trimmed its "former $5000/day in dump fees down to about $800 a week."

Screening was also a central topic in our coverage of the 2006 National Pavement Expo, during a time when many dumpster haulers first began refusing to pick up dumpsters containing sweepings. Some haulers even began a policy of doubling the price of dumpsters containing sweepings! You will find the article to contain a good overview on the topic of using a screening system to reduce the cost of disposal.

Finally, another of WorldSweeper's previous articles discussed how the City of Hinesville, GA, developed a screening program that removed its unscreened street sweeping waste stream from the landfill. They took that action as part of an effort to comply with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division's mandated a 25% reduction in landfill loadings.

Below we bring you current information about three organizations dedicated to reducing landfill waste. WorldSweeper did not receive revenue from any of them as a requirement for their being listed here. If your organization is still just landfilling all of your sweeping debris, WorldSweeper recommends you investigate those and other alternatives that might exist to lower your overall cost of operations while, at the same time, reducing the burden on landfills.

Carbotura Zerofill System Offers 100% Municipal Waste Reuse/Repurposing System

Carbotura management claims its Zerofill service model is technologically sound. The process removes waste from the ecosystem by breaking it all down, no matter what source it comes from, into molecules small enough they can be recombined and repurposed into sustainable use materials. There is, the company states "no more need to bury, toss, burn, treat or ship trash anywhere. With few exceptions, everything can now be fully recycled. This is what is really meant by a circular economy.

"The Carbotura Zerofill system boasts 100% diversion from landfills using any waste (except for radioactive) and no sorting needed. Other features include atmospheric carbon capture and no waste combustion needed. There is also no need for water or electrical hookups."

Carbotura was recently chosen as a pioneering urban pilot program by AcceliGOV, a Smart Cities initiative whose aim is to propel cities and communities toward enhanced sustainability and resiliency. Through them, municipalities and private companies are invited to apply for this and other pilot offerings designed to tackle distinct urban development challenges.

Find out the details on Carbotura. Or, click here to learn more about the AcceliGOV program.

EZ Screens are an Innovative American Screening Solution

Back in 1996 Al Skoropa, a veteran employee of Michigan CAT, became interested in the recycling and composting efforts that were then first gaining popularity. He built a prototype for what became his EZ-Screen 1000 and, due to the success of the design, has never looked back.

Since then, the parent company of EZ-Screen that he founded, Argus Industrial Co., has become one of the leading builders of industrial vibrating and trommel screening equipment. EZ-Screen offers models suitable for a wide range of industries – including for minimizing the disposal cost of parking area and street sweeper waste. His goal, says Skoropa, is to "provide the highest quality, job-proven screeners at the lowest possible prices, backed by the best warranty in the business."

Check out the EZ-Screen organization or, click here to see the EZ-Screen 1000XL, probably the company's best option for screening of sweepings.

CDE: Offering Screening and "Wet Processing Solutions"

CDE has a 30-year track record in processing a wide range of materials within the natural processing and waste recycling sectors. The company's website says it currently has "imaginative wet processing systems with over 2,000 successful projects installed around the world." Products include screening systems suitable for sweeper waste.

The company claims a mission of "creating our best world, a ton at a time" along with empowering its customers to transform waste into valuable resources – i.e.,laying the foundations for the circular economy. CDE's headquarters are located in Northern Ireland and the company has offices in the US, Australia, Austria, Brazil and India.

Find out the details on CDE.