R2 Solutions, the body that oversees the R2 electronics recycling certification, will start charging a $1,500-per-facility annual fee to companies that wish to remain certified. Executive director John Lingelbach admitted that the fee will impose a burden on the smallest recyclers, Waste & Recycling News reported.
South Korea has enacted the Law on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, which institutes a REACH-style registration and restriction system for chemicals made in or imported into the country, Bloomberg reports. The law's thresholds are 1 metric ton for registration and 10 metric tons for evaluation. Registration begins January 1, 2015.
Indonesia's Ministry of Industry has brought the country's chemical classification and labelling framework into line with the fourth revised edition of the UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS). Amended decree 87/2009 requires companies to come into GHS compliance for substances by July 12, and for mixtures by the end of 2016, Chemical Watch reports.
An ASTM subcommittee has proposed standard STM WK40773, Practice for Invasive Plant Listing, which is designed as a foundation for invasive plant lists to support building codes and related applications. The standard also describes criteria and procedures by which to develop invasive plant lists for specific geographic regions.
Kaiser Permanente plans to achieve LEED Gold for all major new construction projects, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Its first project under the plan is the Kaiser Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro, Ore., which has already received its certification. The company expects to spend $30 billion during the next 10 years to build about 14 million square feet of hospital and medical office space.
AkzoNobel’s UK Decorative Paints business has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for the third time since 2009, recognising a 12.9 percent absolute reduction in operational carbon emissions over the last two years. Over the last year, the division has installed LED lighting and an energy monitoring system, and cut miles travelled through route planning, new double-stack trailers and other transportation improvements.
Stream Data Centers has been achieved LEED Gold for its Private Data Center facility in Richardson, Texas, according to Data Center Dynamics. The 73,320 sq ft facility uses recycled and regional materials and systems designed to optimize water efficiency, energy efficiency and air quality.
