Category Archives: Resource Based Economy

Late last year, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., as part of an American initiative to the supply chain for critical national economic and national security items to the United States for development and manufacturing, announced that it would build a $12 billion advanced microchip factory in Phoenix.Its adecision that makes it likely the companys entire supply chain will follow, also moving to Greater Phoenix.

Last month, Korean-based Samsung announced, for the same reason, that two Phoenix sites were among four national finalists for a $17 billion chip factory to produce advanced logic devices and would likely result in their entire supply chain of approximately 100 companies following along, too.

And just a couple of weeks ago, Chandler-based American computer chip giant Intel announced that it will spend $20 billion to build two additional factories in Arizona, the largest private-sector investment in the states history.

These announcements, while independent of one another, are in fact related, both to the U.S. decision to concentrate critical development and manufacturing here in America and to the reawakening that the United States is, in fact, the best place for advanced manufacturing on the planet.

The talent at Arizona State Universitys Fulton Schools of Engineering, the largest engineering college in the country, along with yeomans work from local economic development leaders, are two of the reasons why Phoenix is so attractive to these companies and so well positioned to take advantage of what is happening. This story is part of a larger opportunity for the state to multiply and expand advanced manufacturing in the future and to accelerate investment from the national and international high-tech sector, which is rapidly expanding around computational technology, information technology and all of the engineered systems that make these technologies work.

The United States is refocusing on an industry it allowed to go global, bringing back engineering and manufacturing jobs as it does so and also lay the foundation through expanded research activities for development beyond the present micro-electronics technology base to a future micro-electronics technology base which will carry us forward well into the 21stcentury.

In the 20thcentury, America was a global leader insemiconductor manufacturing with several U.S.-based companies owning and operating research and development laboratories, which are essential to the operation of micro-electronics, and factories to service both domestic and global markets. Over the years, international companies and foreign governments with strategic interests expanded the industry particularly to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China.

What didnt shift was the importance of semiconductors, particularly the advanced semiconductors of the 2020s and beyond, to Americas national economy, future technological advancement and our national success both in terms of safety and defense. While America still leads the world in chip design, research and development, and technology, today, it accounts for only 12% of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity, according to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

So, it was in a welcome display of congressional bi-partisan leadership that action was taken in December of 2020, passing the Chips for America Act (Creating Helpful Incentives for Producing Semiconductors). This act of Congress initiated the transformation back to American dominance in semiconductor research, development and manufacturing. One of the concerns that had been percolating for some time was driven home through lessons learnedduringthe Covid pandemic relying heavily on globally distributed manufacturing entities carries significant risks, not only related to national security, but also to supply chain and economic development.

Today, as evidenced by the activity we see right here in Greater Phoenix over the past several months, the American semiconductor manufacturing industry and our global allies are reinvesting in a development and manufacturing foundation in Arizona. And the competition domestically to attract the semiconductor leaders including their expanding investments and supply chains is fierce and is significant to our region.

Kyle Squires

What this means for Arizona is that opportunity is knocking. We need to be ready to step forward and seize it. We are in better position to be successful than ever in our past, but there are investments we must make to be prepared. The New Economy Initiative proposed by the Arizona Board of Regents seeks to capitalize on what is happening in the rapid evolution of the American technology-based economy and its significant expansion here in Greater Phoenix and Arizona and position our state to not only seize the current opportunity in semiconductors but in other key technologies that will define future industry and the prosperity of both of our region and our nation.

Specifically, ABORs proposal calls for an investment in Arizona State Universitys Fulton Schools of Engineering tocontinue its current trajectory as a catalyst for a highly skilled workforce, new company creation, and to continue to drive research and technology development of the creative solutions that are critically needed by the semiconductor industry. The public investment of $46 million forfiscalyear 2022 would provide multipliers and sustaining support for the investments being brought here by the private sector. And most importantly, in the longer term, this investment will lay the foundation for emergence beyond present manufacturing technologies to all future manufacturing opportunities.

If metropolitan Phoenix is to continue on its journey to become a global leader in knowledgebased businesses, advanced engineering, advanced manufacturing and leading-edge technology, a position that will strengthen the Arizona economy across the board and throughout the state, it is important that we continue to invest in educating the workers that these advanced technology companies will need and in developing partnerships that drive continued growth, continued research and development, expansion, and ultimately future innovation and future industries. Arizona State University is the states best resource for doing exactly that and its an assignment we gladly accept.

Its no accident that TSMC, Intel and Samsung are all here as their most significant home base for manufacturing and advanced technology development. Its no longer about the climate or affordable housing in Arizona. State leaders have positioned us well by creating welcoming public policy. Industry leaders see ASU, with the largestengineering school in the country, as a resource for talent, research and partnerships a meaningful incentive for business to come here, invest here, and grow here.

Public investment in ASU will result in tangible and impactful outcomes and is part of a far-reaching goal to increase Arizonas competitiveness in the New Economy; a revolution that will be dominated by agile companies where automation and data-enabled decision-making power future industries. The FY 2022 budget request will mean investment in workforce development, expansion of the ASU engineering faculty, labs and technology to educate new learners, and for Science and Technology Centers that will bring companies, researchers and students together driving an increase in the numbers of inventions, patents, and affiliate startup companies and fueling economic expansion for the entire region.

Ultimately, this funding will accelerate the positioning that we are already well on our way to being, that is, Greater Phoenix and Arizona as one of the leading global engineering and innovation centers in the world.

Such progress will enhance the entire Arizona economy, converting us from a state that depends on the cycles of hospitality, tourism, construction and growth to an economy with multiple foundations, including one for 21stcentury expansion built around science and technology, a sector that is now and will continue to drive expansion and opportunity for everyone.

Kyle Squiresis dean of ASUs Fulton Schools of Engineering.

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Something very positive is happening in Greater Phoenix - Arizona Capitol Times

What is getting you through the pandemic? Maybe its your favorite album. The familiarity of a movie youve seen countless times. A book that made you feel understood. The arts are essential to our lives, more so now than ever before. But at a time when there is a desperate need for creative expression, the livelihood of artists has never been more tenuous. This is especially true for artists in Houston, where so little relief funding has been directed.

Last month, we learned about Houstons share of the American Rescue Plan Act stimulus funding and how it might be used once the first half arrives on May 10: better pay for firefighters, preserving city services and adding police. We need to use this money to help our local creative community that has helped us all survive this difficult time.

Public funding for the arts in Houston largely comes from a percentage of Hotel Occupancy Taxes (HOT). Grants to artists and arts organizations are awarded based on HOT projections for the coming year, and not on existing income. Contracts for 2020 grants were signed prior to the pandemic using projections that were basically halved; artists expecting $15,000 received less than $9,000. For small organizations that employ many of our local artists? The cuts were even worse. This grant money keeps the lights on, pays wages and is a major source of income for the workers who receive it.

Though the city has approved allocating 63 percent of 2021 HOT funds to the 2020 grantee pool, the pandemic has exposed how deeply flawed our approach to public funding for the arts in our city is, and it must change. Even former Mayor Annise Parker acknowledged in the City of Houstons 2015 cultural plan that HOT tax funding is insufficient to support our arts community. Now, in order to prioritize everyones health and safety, Houstons cultural economy has come to a freeze, and an estimated 60 percent of cultural workers were furloughed or laid off nationally. At a time when it is nearly impossible for artists to find employment and most cultural organizations are still unable to safely operate, the city must do more.

Its unfortunate that despite our world-renowned reputation for performing and visual arts and diverse cultural offerings, Houston is not anywhere near the top of the list when it comes to public funding for the arts for major metropolitan cities nationwide. We are still severely underfunded, and Houston continues to trail its peer cities in this area. As of 2017 the City of Houston spent $6.70 per resident on arts and culture compared to Dallas $16.70 and Austins $22.90.

A Brookings study estimated that by July of 2020, Houstons creative workers were losing $1.3 billion in average monthly earnings. The city knows that artists are struggling and has thus far provided $5 million in CARES aid for artists and arts organizations, but its nowhere near enough. The Mayors Office of Cultural Affairs has told us that theyre using every available resource to help artists, and fortunately, we now have $600 million more in resources available from the new federal stimulus package.

The pandemic has exposed just how harmful and unsustainable Houstons approach to funding the arts is, and how urgent the need is for relief. If Houston continues to follow its current course of disaster-prone arts funding, we face a bleak future for our city. Small and mid-sized cultural organizations will close, artists will choose to leave, and the quality of life for all of us will suffer. But what if we re-imagine a future where our local government treated the creative community as essential partners in weathering this crisis? What if our city followed the lead of other cities that prioritize investing in the arts, despite having smaller populations and fewer resources than we do? With increased funding, new organizations could emerge, artist business owners could create and sell more work, and our creative economy would support the citys economy. If this vision for Houston moves you, stand with us by calling on the mayor and city council to provide significant relief and recovery funding from the new stimulus funds, and to restructure how Houston funds the arts.

Artists and cultural workers in Houston have come together to organize under the new collective, Arts Accountability Houston (AAH). AAH is building a movement to hold our local government accountable to provide short-term relief and long-term change. We have a unique window of opportunity to fundamentally change our city, and we need your help to make this a reality. Join us in making sure local artists get an equitable share of the stimulus funds coming on May 10 so that Houstons arts and culture ecosystem doesnt just survive the final stretch of this pandemic, but emerges stronger and more resilient.

Chong is a visual artist in Houston. Oliver is an organizer. Schlosberg is a Houston-based arts administrator. They are members of Arts Accountability Houston.

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Opinion: The arts got you through the pandemic. Its time to support artists. - Houston Chronicle

In the words of Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary General of the United Nations, "Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, addressing the climate challenge presents an opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all."

We are all aware that climate change is a real threat, and in order for it to be tackled effectively we need to work together as businesses, governments, NGOs and individuals. At Mondi, sustainability is at the heart of what we do, creating packaging and paper that is sustainable by design. We make this a reality through our own innovations and by partnering with like-minded organisations across the value chain.

One example is the role we play in maintaining healthy forests, which are critical to regulating the carbon balance on our planet. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's forests every year. This is approximately the equivalent of the current CO2 emissions of India.

Mondi has been working with the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) since 2017, exploring the outlook of climate change and impact on Europe's forests and wood supply. We have a responsibility in ensuring forests are protected and managed sustainably and we are firmly committed to zero deforestation and no illegal logging.

At Mondi, our Working Forest model acknowledges that forests take many forms around the world - from high-yield plantation forests in the south to vast lower-yield boreal forests in the north. We manage around 2.3 million hectares of natural forestry landholdings in Russia and 254,000 hectares of plantation forestry landholdings in South Africa. We apply a risk-based approach through our Due Diligence Management System to ensure we source responsibly across our entire supply chain, with more than 90% of our wood sourced domestically from the countries where our mills are located.

In addition to our work to ensure that we are able to source fibre from healthy and resilient forests, we also recognise the impact of climate change on water resources. Droughts, floods, melting glaciers, sea-level rise and storms occur more frequently owing to changing climate.

While we at Mondi are dependent on water for our manufacturing processes, there are many other users who also need access. Our membership of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) supports our efforts to implement good water stewardship in our operations and beyond, adopting, promoting and contributing to a universal framework for the responsible use of water.

With the support of the AWS and WWF, we developed a Group water stewardship standard that is designed to set out how our mills will use operational and catchment-based context to determine appropriate levels of water stewardship responses. Our approach has always had landscape and catchment level management at its core. Additional standards and practises, along with tools such as the WWF Water Risk Filter, ensure that we minimise risks to our operations and reduce pressure on this globally shared resource.

Mondi is aware of its responsibility towards the environment and the communities in which we operate, especially as the two main resources we utilise for our products are water and wood. We actively work towards safeguarding biodiversity by protecting water resources as well as forestry in our operations and beyond. The strategic partners and our work with IUFRO and AWS are just two examples of the importance of collaboration that can make tangible differences in the fight against climate change in these key areas.

We are encouraged to keep working on sustainable solutions and are proud to have engaged in these strategic partnerships that are in line with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 17 to revitalise global partnerships for sustainable development. We are proud to have secured a place on CDP's Triple A List' in 2020 for our ongoing efforts in tackling climate change as well as acting to protect forests and water security.

Earlier this year, we launched our 10 year Mondi Action Plan 2030, MAP2030, designed to tackle global sustainability issues across the value chain in aligment with UN Sustainable Development goals. Our commitments focus on three key action areas where we can make the most impact and drive real change towards a more sustainable future: circular-driven packaging and paper solutions, created by empowered people, taking action on climate. In addition our science-based targets were approved by the Science Based Targets initiative in 2019; and in 2020 we reduced our total Greenhouse Gas emissions by 24 per cent against a 2014 baseline. We continue to make good progress as we support the global transition to a low-carbon economy. We believe that working collectively is a driver for change and it's only by working together that we can protect our planet.

Gladys Naylor is Group Head of Sustainable Development at Mondi

See more here:

Forests, water, and climate: How Mondi partners to make a difference - http://www.businessgreen.com

The winners of the 2021 Queens Awards for Enterprise have been announced today (29 April), celebrating the achievements of UK businesses.

This year, 205 businesses representing every part of the United Kingdom and a diverse range of sectors have been recognised by Her Majesty The Queen as among the best in the country.

The focus of this years awards is on Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility, an especially important theme given the challenges that have been faced through the pandemic, with businesses playing a valuable role in their local communities.

This years Queens Awards for Enterprise are given for outstanding achievement in:

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: The past year has been a tough time for many businesses across the UK, which is why it is more important than ever to celebrate the achievements of our wealth creators and recognise the contributions they make to our communities.

In the last 12 months, British businesses showed the entrepreneurial spirit that this country is renowned for, continuing to drive social mobility, find new markets to export to and produce innovative products and services.

I congratulate this years winners and I wish every business that applied for an award this year every success in the future as we build back better from the pandemic.

The social enterprise arm of the environmental charity Hubbub,which in 2020 became a certified B Corp, is behind theworlds first voting ashtray, the Ballot Bin, designed to tackle the most common form of plastic litter: cigarettes.

More than 3,300 Ballot Bins have now been sold in 38 countries around the world, from South Korea to Macedonia.Over 500 of these have been bought by local authorities in the UK and are proving an effective tool in the battle against litter SouthendBIDs twenty-one Ballot Bins reduced cigarette litter by 46%according to an independent study. The bins are also being used by large corporations including McDonalds, IKEA and Amazon.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world and, given their filters are made from cellulose acetate, are an often unrecognised single-use plastic.The Ballot Bins in total collect approximately 4 million cigarette butts per year, preventing them being littered and leaching out toxic chemicals and harming wildlife.

Our wider projects are going from strength to strength thanks to organisations keen to make a tangible impact on key environmental issues

Drawing onthe charity Hubbubs work,Hubbub Enterprise createsproducts and services that nudge people to do the right thing and take engaging environmental campaigns to scale. In addition to the Ballot Bins, it is responsible forcreatingrecycled plastic fishing boats to tackle litter in waterways, launching pioneering recycling campaigns like #InTheLoop and is currently helping major UK businesses to engage employees in sustainability.

Alex Robinson, Managing Director of Hubbub Enterprisesaid We aredelightedthat our work has beenrecognisedwith such a prestigious award.Our Ballot Bins have provided a playfuland effectivesolution totacklesome of the4.5 trillion*cigarette butts which are littered worldwide each year.

Our wider projects are going from strength to strength thanks to organisations keen to make a tangible impact on key environmental issues.

Weve now taken over 2700 employees and school children out on our recycled plastic fishing boats to help learn about plastic pollution and remove litter from waterways.

Were also working with corporations like Investec and KPMG to engage employees with away days and long-term behaviour change campaigns and are providing consultancy to businesses across the UK.

Now thattwo thirdsof local authorities have declared a Climate Emergency,Hubbub Enterprise hasalsorecentlylaunchedaclimate comms kitfor local authorities tohelpresidentstake everydayaction to tackleclimatechange.

Toast Ale has been honoured with a Queens Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development.

Toast Ale is a social enterprise set up in 2015 to tackle food waste. The brewery works with bakeries to prevent surplus bread from being wasted, using it to produce its popular range of craft beers. The circular economy approach to brewing also reduces the environmental footprint of the beer because less natural resources are required.

Toast was the first UK brewery to become a Certified B Corp. It has open-sourced its recipe and collaborates with breweries and bakeries all over the world to drive systemic change. All Toasts profits go to charities fixing the food system.

Food production is the biggest contributor to climate change but one third of all food is wasted. Were here to change that, over a pint.

Louisa Ziane, co-founder of Toast, said: Were incredibly proud to be one of 205 organisations nationally to be recognised with a prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise.

Were a small business but have had a huge impact over the past 5 years, preventing over 2 million slices of bread from being wasted whilst inspiring brewers all over the world to use surplus bread. Food production is the biggest contributor to climate change but one third of all food is wasted. Were here to change that, over a pint.

Reconomy, the UK provider of outsourced waste and resource management, recycling services and environmental compliance,has been awarded a Queens Award for Enterprise, presented on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, for demonstrating excellence in the field of innovation.

From the many thousands of applications received each year, Reconomy is named amongst a small number of businesses to be honoured in 2021. Reconomy will now join the select group of companies able to use the esteemed Queens Awards emblem for the next five years.

Reconomys innovative business model has transformed the management of housebuilding, construction, commercial and industrial waste in the UK, utilising market-leading digital technology to manage waste more efficiently, transparently, safely and with greater consideration given to the environment and sustainability.

The sector has long garnered a reputation for being antiquated and analogue in its business practices, with very little consideration given to exploring new ways of working. In recent years, through continuous innovations, Reconomy has digitised the process of managing waste from end-to-end.

It demonstrates that we are not only at the forefront of the outsourced services industry, but are also a leading light across all sectors as we pursue our ambition to be the leading provider of technology-enabled services to drive the circular economy

This has included the development of unique and exclusive supply chain integrations through Reconomys digitalXchange, which provide for a truly automated exchange of waste movement and associated compliance data. Reconomys suite of apps further advance its technological position by driving automation across previously manual operational processes, as well as offering digital ordering and invoicing capability.

Reconomy has experienced an unprecedented period of sustained growth during the last five years. In 2020 the company claimed 47thspot inthe Sunday Times PwC Top Track 250 list leaping 150 places from its 2019 position.

Paul Cox, CEO of Reconomy, said: This is an incredible honour for everyone associated with Reconomy and a landmark day in the journey of our business. The Queens Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious, sought-after award that any UK business can receive and is an incredible testament to the hard work of all our people.

The development and roll-out of new technology underpins every aspect of our business model, and this award acknowledges our continued commitment to innovative thinking. It demonstrates that we are not only at the forefront of the outsourced services industry, but are also a leading light across all sectors as we pursue our ambition to be the leading provider of technology-enabled services to drive the circular economy.

Luminary Bakery, a London-based baking business and caf established in 2014 to help women in deprived areas of the capital through a range of issues including long-term unemployment and domestic abuse. The organisation offers a safe and professional environment where women can use baking as a tool to gain skills and recover their independence.

The Community Shop in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. This is a local social enterprise offering surplus food from big chain shops and supermarkets to disadvantaged customers at discounted prices. They have been recognised this year for their work in promoting opportunity within their community, providing employment and training opportunities to disadvantaged local people.

Glencraft Mattresses, a Scottish mattress maker based in Aberdeen for over 170 years. Glencraft uses sustainable, ethically sourced materials to make mattresses, and has been recognised for its important role in providing opportunities to local people, many of them previously unemployed. The company has a Royal Warrant and has been supplying mattresses to the Royal Family for 4 generations.

Cenin Holdings, a company based near Bridgend in south Wales which makes low carbon construction products including cement, fly ashes and ground stabilisation products. They mostly use sustainable products and renewable energy generated on-site and have worked with Cardiff Universitys SOLCER house project, developing cutting edge green energy. Cenin have been recognised with a Queens Award for Sustainable Development as a small local business with an outstanding impact on cutting emissions, pioneering low carbon manufacturing and environmental sustainability.

Environmental Street Furniture (ESF), a designer and maker of innovative, high-quality furniture in Northern Ireland based in Belfast which exports to 26 countries around the world and has been recognised in the International Trade category. ESF was established in 1998 and uses technology, creativity and modern materials to produce furniture for outdoor spaces for private homes, street displays and brands which has helped boost British exports and earned the company a global reputation for excellence.

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Sustainable innovations get the royal vote in this year's Queen's Award - Circular Online

A few thousand years ago, King Solomon declared in Proverbs 29:18: When there is no vision, the people perish. While the wise King Solomon probably had bigger and deeper things on his mind when he recorded those words, after watching the Wyoming Legislature this past session, it seems like he was talking directly about us, about the state of Wyoming in 2021.

After this session, the question keeps coming back to me what is our vision? What is the vision for the state of Wyoming? The problems are easy to define massive structural deficit, unsustainable spending models in K-12 education, continued lack of ability to diversify our economy and attract new industries and the struggles of our natural resource-based economy.

Who in this state is stepping forward to honestly talk about those problems and give us the path forward to resolve them? What do we want Wyoming to look like in five years, 10 years, 20 years, and what steps can we take today to put us on that path?

I do not pretend to have the answers, but I can tell you a few things that are not vision and are simply making our problems worse. We are now dominated by performative outrage and performative politics. We spend hours fighting about things that serve no purpose other than to put on a performance and punt on actual meaningful legislation.

First, simply putting on a performance and disparaging everyone that tries to honestly address this problem is not helpful. This sort of name calling is not only childish, it is counterproductive. Tearing down others without offering solutions is intellectual laziness. Besides, the performative crowd is just flat wrong on so many things.

Did you know that Wyomings general fund budget was approximately $3.5 billion in 2010. Today, it is $2.97 billion. That same legislator you are calling names is responsible for a 15% cut in government spending over the last decade. That is not inflation adjusted, that is not a reduction of a proposed increase (the way the federal government counts cuts) that is a reduction in actual dollars spent. We spend $500 million less dollars today than we did 10 years ago. Show me any other government in the world that could say that.

Heck, we like to say government should be run like our household budgets show me any other household budget that is 15% less today than it was 10 years ago. The cuts have been deep, and they have been real, and our legislators should get credit for that. Calling those legislators names is simply absurd.

Second, because we have made such drastic cuts to the general fund, essentially all of the available cuts left are going to be painful. I laugh at the performative types that talk a big game about cuts during election season, but then get to Cheyenne and are the most vociferous against specific proposed cuts. Specific, actual cuts have constituents and cause real pain to those constituents.

Finally, and probably most importantly, we have got to find efficiencies in our K-12 education spending. We just do. From 2010 to today, our state has increased education spending by almost 25%. At the same time we are cutting everything else in the state, education spending has actually increased at a pretty dramatic pace. How is that even possible? We can and should combine school districts; we can and should reduce money spent on administration and things outside of the classroom; we should stop paying for ghost positions; we can and should implement efficiencies like combining health care plans that save money, but protect teachers and the classroom.

None of those things are really that hard. It just takes courage to take on the education establishment. The ironic thing is, if teachers dont engage and work on these things now, they will be the ones that bear the brunt of the massive cuts when they come and they will come.

One last point: Wyoming is perhaps the largest beneficiary of the blue state bailout from Bidens COVID-19 legislation. The bad news is we are officially a blue state and part of the blue state bailout because we cannot seem to balance our budget. The good news is this bailout buys us another couple years to fix our problems.

We can engage on those problems and start to fix them NOW to give us the softest landing possible or we can continue to ignore them and go over the cliff. Engaging now takes courage. We will have no choice when the cliff comes.

Matt Micheli is a Cheyenne attorney, a longtime political consultant and former chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party. Email: Matt_Micheli@yahoo.com.

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Micheli: We must stop calling each other names and engage on key problems - Wyoming Tribune

Beginning this week, Washington residents can once again apply through the state Department of Social and Health Services for emergency cash assistance to help meet their immediate needs. The department announced on Monday that it received additional funding and a new order from Gov. Inslee to reinstate this temporary program to help Washingtonians through financial hardship.

The governors April 15 proclamation enables the state to offer Disaster Cash Assistance Program (DCAP) benefits to people who are not eligible for other cash assistance programs. The assistance is available to all Washington families and people without children who meet the income and resource limits of the program.

The benefit amount depends on household size, income, and need, and ranges from a maximum of $363 for a single person to a maximum of $1,121 for a household of eight or more people. The program can cover expenses like housing or shelter costs, utilities, clothing, minor medical care, household supplies, and transportation costs for work. It can also help with food for those not otherwise eligible for ongoing food benefits.

Disaster cash assistance is for people who are not eligible for the other programs. It is a very limited amount of money, said Norah West, Assistant Director of DSHS Office of Communications, Economic Services Administration. She said people can apply online at http://www.WashingtonConnection.org and then call the Customer Service Contact Center at 8775012233 to complete the required interview. She said they can also call 8775012233 first, to complete the entire application process over the phone. The Washington Connection website is a single point of entry for many services from the state, and the application process asks far more questions than are required for this program. West encouraged people to call if they only seek information about this program because the very simple process can look much more complicated online.

West added, the program is, typically is only available once in a 12 month period, but because of COVID lasting as long as it has, theyve made it available on a month-to-month basis. She adds that families seeking support may want to spend more time on that website, because there may be other assistance programs that are more beneficial.

Once approved for the Disaster Cash Assistance Program, people will receive their DCAP benefits on an existing Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, or a new EBT card will be sent via U.S. mail.

Were seeing some progress toward combating the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccines becoming available to all Washingtonians and additional funding from Congress to reinforce our economy, explained Babs Roberts, director of DSHS Community Services Division. But we know people are still struggling every day to meet their immediate needs like costs for shelter and utilities, and even clothing and transportation costs for work. Reinstating DCAP is another positive step to help Washingtonians move beyond the pandemic.

This cash assistance is available to Washington residents regardless of citizenship status and does not require applicants to provide a Social Security number. Substitute House Bill 1151 states that people who have received DCAP benefits previously and are still in need may reapply each month the program is active.

Due to much higher than normal call volumes, the department asks that people call before 11 a.m. and to keep in mind that the busiest call times are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Customer Service Contact Center is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Excerpt from:

State has emergency cash available, based on income - The Daily World

Adam Mikka, Caves Beach, NSW

Our leadership crushes people too

Christine Holgate may have tripped over a highly technical hurdle in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act but in economic substance what she did is covered by the fringe benefits law and done in any other context would be unexceptional.We think we are better than the authoritarian regimes we sanctimoniously criticise but we are not we just crush people differently.

Peter Haggstrom, Bondi Beach, NSW

Cut personal, not corporate, tax rates

John Kehoe is right and the OECD is wrong (Big business 30pc tax rate cuts growth, April 15). Personal income tax cuts are long overdue. The personal marginal income tax rate should not exceed the company tax rate on personal annual incomes up to $300,000. Income tax between individuals, companies and superannuation needs to be in balance. We have a way to go.With a sensible personal income tax regime, the incentive to negative gear and top up superannuation contributions to avoid tax is reduced. Incentive to work is encouraged. There is less need for top-up bonuses.One expects certain dumbness from the OECD in relation to commentary on the Australian taxation system. Given our resource-based economy, we would be mad to reduce the company tax rate. Our dividend imputation system means the corporate tax rate does not need to be reduced. A 30 per company tax rate is the sweet spot. The small company tax rate should be reinstated to 30 per cent rather than the large company tax rate reduced.The company tax rate is not in the top 10 reasons to invest. Taxation is an afterthought in the investment decision-making process. Business investment and working capital requirements are finance- rather than taxation-related. The company tax rate has no effect on productivity. It should also be borne in mind that company structures are used to avoid higher personal tax rates and effectively utilised as a secondary form of superannuation.

Graeme Troy, Wagstaffe, NSW

Beijing not keen on geopolitical harmonyChinas communist government does not appear to understand that respect is a two-way street. It is a supremacist regime that views all other nations and cultures as being inferior to it. And treats them, accordingly. Not a formula for geopolitical harmony.

Michael J Gamble, Belmont, Vic

Origin should rethink its hydrogen exports

It would seem at first glance that Origin Energy hasnt fully done its homework (Origin signs Townsville hydrogen export accord, April 15). It is to be congratulated for looking to the future with ambitions for hydrogen but for export, ammonia is a better form of hydrogen for transport due to its greater energy density, lower handling cost and by being in liquid form.A further point is that with exporting of hydrogen, Origin is getting ahead of itself as hydrogen will be needed here for storage for seasonal power generation and in low wind/solar situations. If we had a national energy plan of any sort this would of course be spelt out. The random development of this countrys future energy needs continues in its haphazard way because the debate has been so dramatically skewed by incumbent interests and an out-of-touch government.

Robert Brown, Camberwell, Vic

Lack of service from big super funds

Tony Boyds article (RBA study exposures super flaws, Chanticleer, April 13) was on the mark in one important aspect. The large retail and industry funds may well compete on price but they certainly do not compete on service.The commentary exposed the flaw in large super fund offers. They seemingly dont and cant offer advice to members who are financially illiterate and require an advisory service.Asset allocation advice is crucial at times of crisis and it should be givenby professionals who care about their clients. While there is a costto financial advice there is a greater cost in not receiving it.

John Abernethy, director, Clime Investment Management Limited, Sydney, NSW

Gobbledegook cant explain RBAs stance

The RBA should take comfort from rising house prices ... says Coolabah Capital Investments, whose RBA model predicts house prices will rise 14-36 per cent in the next three years, according to research similar to the Reserve Banks modelling (RBA model predicts 25pc house price rise, April 15).The reason for the RBAs supposed comfort is because higher asset prices are a key part of the transmission mechanism of both conventional and unconventional monetary policy, whatever that gobbledegook means.These increases, via the 0.1 per cent interest rate policy, are deliberate RBA/government policy. This policy must be reviewed as almost permanent, near-zero interest rates and rising house prices cause permanent hardship.

Malcolm Cameron, Camberwell, Vic

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Letters of 16 April 2021: Holgate cloud hangs over board - The Australian Financial Review

Craig Cookson of the American Chemistry Council and Kate Bailey of Eco-Cycle spoke during a session moderated by Dan Leif of Plastics Recycling Update at the 2021 Plastics Recycling Conference. | Screenshot from the 2021 Plastics Recycling Conference.

The recent Plastics Recycling Conference, held online, featured eight sessions over two days. Here are some of the talking points that caught our teams attention.

Record-high recycled polyolefins prices are expected to drop in the latter half of this year, although the prices probably wont fall as much as virgin prices, according to Joel Morales, executive director of Polyolefins Americas for IHS Markit.

In an April 7 session covering resin markets, Morales explained a few of the drivers behind higher polyolefins pricing: COVID-19 boosted demand for PE and PP, and at the same time plastic production was hampered by both the virus and the early 2021 deep freeze in Texas. Costs to ship resin (and other goods) from Asia to North America have risen sharply, and Chinas demand for plastic has grown considerably. Those factors have lifted prime prices, which has helped lift recycled HDPE and PP prices to new heights (recycled natural HDPE pricing was also boosted by brand owner sustainability goals, Morales noted).

But Morales expects virgin and recycled resin prices to come down starting in a couple of months. Thats because plastic production is expected to catch up to demand, and Asia-to-North-America freight markets are expected to normalize a bit. That being said, he doesnt think recycled resin prices will drop as fast as virgin for every penny that virgin plastic prices drop, recycled HDPE and PP prices may drop by six-tenths of a penny, he predicted.

Recycled is being used really because brand owner and downstream awareness is asking for it, he said.

Overall, IHS Markit forecasts pricing troughs for PE and PP in coming years as a result of new production capacity coming on-line, but those declines arent expected to be too deep because COVID-19 has created a new normal of higher demand.

For PET, the pandemic-stimulated demand boost has differed by region, with North America experiencing a 4.5% increase in demand in 2020, said Martin Wiesweg, IHS Markits executive director of Polymers EMEA. Production capacity growth will slow over the next couple of years until a large Corpus Christi, Texas plant comes on-line, likely in late 2023, he said. That plant, with a capacity of over 1 million tons of PET per year, will be a game changer, helping to drive down virgin PET prices until they reach parity with imported resin.

In terms of RPET, IHS Markit sees an increase in PET bottle collections worldwide in coming years, with Wiesweg noting the high recovery rates enabled by bottle deposit programs and brand owner demand. Overall, virgin plastic demand will slow in the future and RPET demand will grow.

Three speakers outlined efforts in Maine, New York and California to implement packaging EPR during an April 7 session. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies make packaging producers responsible for the funding and management of the collection and recycling of end-of-life materials.

Maine state Rep. Nicole Grohoski said a bill shes supporting will help boost recycling rates, reduce costs for municipalities and ratepayers, and drive improvements in packaging design. Her states bill will include an eco-modulation concept, through which producers pay lower fees for selling packaging that is easier to recycle, less toxic, includes more PCR and has better instructions to the consumer for recycling.

The Maine bill is still in the final drafting stage, but Grohoski expects it to be introduced very soon.

In New York, Sen. Todd Kaminsky, chair of the Senates Environmental Conservation Committee, has made an EPR bill his No. 1 priority this session, he said. The goal is to boost recycling rates and increase the use of recycled materials, while also reducing municipalities costs, so they can lower taxes or invest in other needed projects they may not have been able to afford (his town on Long Island has a 100-year-old water tower in need of replacing, for example, he said).

On the West Coast, California has a number of EPR programs in place for various materials, and legislators have introduced packaging EPR bills. Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council and chair of the California Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling, shared a few lessons California has learned. She warned against handing the keys over to producers without having clear expectations in statute and a well-funded state agency to provide oversight. Never let the fox watch the chicken coop, she said. That is never a good idea. It doesnt go well.

She also urged that recycling stakeholders be given a formal voice in the system; otherwise, the producers stewardship group will ignore them, Sanborn said.

In a presentation during the conferences opening panel on April 7, Nina Butler of Stina Inc. shared some initial data from the annual plastics recycling research her company (which was formerly called More Recycling) performs with support from several industry groups.

Butler said the soon-to-be-released study will show that in 2019, the all-bottle recycling rate for the U.S. was 28.4%. This represents a drop of 0.5 percentage points from the 2018 number, and it continues a trend of falling rates in plastic bottle recycling that has been seen since 2016. The summary report of all the categories of post-consumer plastic recovered for recycling is new; in the past, separate annual recycling reports were performed for different plastic categories.

Butler said that the continued move away from the export market and low virgin pricing both contributed to the drop in 2019 both of those factors lessened demand for recovered plastic. The research determined 88% of of U.S. post-consumer material plastic recovered for recyclingwas processed in the U.S. or Canada.

Butler said declining plastics recycling rates might be reversed in future years as the market finds its footing in the wake of Chinas National Sword import prohibition. Were hopefully going to be shifting away from that trend as we adjust to not having as much material going offshore, she said.

Recycling technologies were the focus of an April 8 panel featuring leaders of chemical companies Eastman and SABIC and PET reclaimer PetStar.

Matthew Marks, senior sustainability specialist at SABIC, noted that his company has portfolios of both mechanically recycled polymers and chemically recycled plastics. SABIC earlier this month announced a PC/PET compound made with at least 10% mechanically recycled PET, which is recovered from areas where the plastic is at risk of becoming marine pollution. The company has also commercialized recycled plastics made via a pyrolysis process, which converts mixed plastics into an oil that is fed into plastic production equipment. SABICs chemically recycled PP is being used in Magnum brand ice cream tubs sold in Europe.

Holli Alexander, Eastmans strategic initiatives manager for global sustainability, discussed her companys large-scale push into chemical recycling. By 2030, her Kingsport, Tenn.-based company wants to recycle over 200 million pounds per year of scrap plastic via chemical recycling technologies. Eastman recently broke ground on a $250 million methanolysis plant, which will break down low-grade polyester scrap into chemicals that can be used in new products.

The capacity of the plant, which is now expected to come on-line in 2023, will be around 110,000 metric tons annually. Eastman is working to develop a supply chain for scrap plastic thats not better suited for mechanical recycling, Alexander said. We want to expand the pie rather than divide up the pie of recycled materials that are already being collected, she said.

Jaime Camara, CEO of PetStar, said his Mexico City-based recycling operation demonstrates that mechanical recycling of PET into drink packaging is viable on a large scale. His company is owned by Coca-Cola bottlers, who use the RPET in their bottles, including at up to 100% recycled content. PetStar pulls feedstock from around 1,200 collection points and produces around 120,000 pounds per year.

The company converts B Grade bales into high-quality resin. Technology is part of what enables that achievement PetStar relies on a front-end sorting system, AMUT wash lines and Polymetrix extrusion and solid-stating equipment. But the reclaimer also relies on standardized processes and qualified personnel, Camara said. You need to have the right technology, but its much more complex than that, he said. Ive seen many failures in recycling with the right technology and many successes with maybe not that good of technology.

Recently, decision-making in Malaysia has grabbed the attention of many in the recycling industry. Customs officials in the Asian nation have rejected around 300 containers of scrap plastics over the past two years, Reuters reported April 6. At the same time, one much-watched container from Los Angeles has been accepted into the country.

During an April 8 session looking at changes to the Basel Convention waste treaty, Adina Renee Adler of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries said that over the past couple of years, Malaysian officials have been working hard behind the scenes to understand the specifics of scrap plastic shipping and contamination. This work came as importers and exporters scrambled to make sense of new Basel Convention rules on the regulation of plastic exports, which took effect at the start of this year.

I do want to give the Malaysian government a great deal of credit, Adler said. They started to implement the Basel Convention changes earlier in 2020 or even 2019. They were trying to control non-compliant material, but it also gave them time to train customs agents. They reached out to us and other organizations to understand specifications. Its been a real pleasure, ironically, to watch all that take place, to see them understand what truly is waste and what is a usable end-use manufacturing product.

The U.S. Plastics Pact is well into its work of helping U.S. companies and organizations fulfill their commitments made through the Ellen MacArthur Foundations New Plastics Economy initiative. The pact has a target of 2025 to meet various plastics recycling and waste reduction goals.

As part of that work, pact stakeholders are figuring out which processes count toward targets and how terms such as materials recovery are defined.

During an April 7 session, Emily Tipaldo, leader of the U.S. Plastics Pact, described how one hot-button topic in the world of plastics recycling is handled under the pact: Chemical recycling, which is addressed based on the type of technology being employed, in line with guidance laid out by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Broadly speaking, chemical recycling is considered within the scope of materials recovery processes recognized by the pact, alongside mechanical recycling. But the pact looks at the technologies differently based on the end products, Tipaldo explained. If the output is a manufacturing feedstock, such as a monomer that can be used in polymer production, the U.S. Plastics Pact counts it as recycling. But if the process is generating a fuel or oil, it does not count.

I think one way that were looking at it is, again, being mindful of our timeline, Tipaldo said. We dont want to necessarily cut off any one solution, but we need to be realistic about what were driving to in the short term.

The pact will be looking at ways to help further commercialize chemical recycling technologies. That could include supporting the development of bale specifications for chemical recycling.

The debate over whether and in which cases chemical recycling should be considered recycling is also playing out at the EPA, which recently received a range of comments on how the U.S. should define and measure the national recycling rate.

Speakers in an April 8 session came from two often-opposing sides of the packaging and recycling debate: Craig Cookson of the American Chemistry Council, representing plastics producers, and Kate Bailey of Eco-Cycle, a nonprofit MRF operator in Colorado. Bailey is also a founding member of the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers, a group of nonprofit recycling organizations with similar policy goals.

Although Bailey and Cookson represent interests that are frequently at odds, they touched on many areas of agreement. They agreed that well-crafted EPR policies must avoid monopoly control over the recycling system. They discussed the merits and role of life-cycle analyses. They also agreed that the packaging waste discussion needs to focus on a wider array of materials and not only plastics.

Cookson noted that ACC is concerned about any policy that pits materials against each other, for example through punitive fees only on plastic. Bailey agreed its not necessarily fair to single out plastics.

Theres really no such thing as a good disposable, she said. Aluminum cans have their own impacts. Glass has impacts. Every material across the board has detrimental impacts. Its about balancing those concerns.

Thats not to say the speakers agreed on all topics. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, reintroduced in Congress last month, saw disagreement. Bailey noted that Eco-Cycle and the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers are excited for the act and the huge, systemic policy change it represents.

ACC, on the other hand, has come out strongly in opposition.

Were over 50 minutes in, and finally Kate and I can disagree about something, Cookson joked as the legislation was discussed near the end of the session.

Like every business sector, the plastics recycling industry is navigating what the end of the pandemic looks like. For some companies, that means helping employees through the vaccination process.

Sonoco Recycling has worked with local medical providers to help employees and their spouses in certain age groups access vaccines. The company has shared the latest vaccination information with employees.

Its really mostly about keeping folks educated and accommodating them as they go seek out vaccine, said Palace Stepps, vice president of recycling for the company, during the April 8 closing session of the conference.

Henrik Dullinger, vice president of business development for reclaimer PreZero, said his company is figuring out how to move back into increased employee business travel. The company has multiple locations, and travel has been a necessity for some company representatives during the pandemic. Recently, Dullinger said he perceives more interest in business travel as more people get vaccinated.

Still, he said, a return to normalcy is not imminent. Mask mandates and COVID protocols will remain part of the companys practices, he said, and the decision to travel will lie with the employee.

We will keep it optional for those people, even if theyre vaccinated, to travel via airplane, Dullinger said. We dont want to make it mandatory at this point. Everybody needs to feel more comfortable getting back out there.

Senior Reporter Colin Staub, Managing Editor Dan Leif and Associate Editor Jared Paben contributed to this report.

A version of this story appeared in Plastics Recycling Update on April 14.

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Online event dives into plastic markets, policy and more - Resource Recycling

MLA Dan Davies speaks to environmental initiatives in rural B.C. ahead of Earth Day

The following is an exchange in the Legislature April 19 fromPeace River North MLA Dan Davies speakingto a motion recognizing Earth Day.

"On Thursday, April 22, British Columbians will join fellow Canadian provinces and countries across the world in recognizing Earth Day. This year's theme is to restore our Earth,which focuses on the natural processes, emerging green technologies and innovative thinking that can restore the world's ecosystems.

"The theme rejects the idea that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change. Instead, it affirms that it is up to each and every one of us to restore Earth, not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live within it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, our livelihoods, health, survival and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option; it is a must.

"As members of this House know, I represent the constituency of Peace River North, which is home to the energy capital, Fort St. John. Fort St. John, in the Peace region, is known for thriving economic development in the natural gas sector. However, the Peace region has a lot more going on than just that. We are also known for our other industries, such as forestry, agriculture, mining and tourism. Its natural resources have allowed our economic growth within our beautiful region, and it's also our lifeblood.

"A lot of rural British Columbians, especially my constituents and the residents of Fort St. John, are often viewed as anti-environmentalist because our economies depend heavily on the natural resources. This perception and stigmatization of natural resource-based jobs and communities is completely inaccurate. Much of the natural resource development that takes place in our region goes toward green initiatives such as electric cars, greener transportation options and more eco-friendly residential and commercial developments. Rural businesses and organizations are constantly looking for new ways, new innovative technologies, to create greener industries and a greener economy for British Columbia. In fact, we lead the way.

"Earth Day has always been a significant day for me and my community, and we commemorate it every year. On a personal note, this date is also my wedding anniversary. On this Earth Day, I'll be celebrating 15 years with my wife, Erin. Every Earth Day, rural communities have a conversation about environment and remind ourselves that energy conservation is the best thing that we can do.

"In fact, the city of Fort St. John was key in building one of the farthest-north passive houses in the world. At the time of completion of the house, it was "only the third certified single-family passive house in Canada. Over the past several years, the city of Fort St. John has made it a priority to conserve water and energy and ultimately reduce both costs and greenhouse gas emissions.The city has also adopted a community-wide GHG reduction target of 12 percent below 2007 levels by 2030 and continues to maintain a carbon-neutral status in its corporate operations.

"This is rural community leadership. But we, as individuals, can all do better. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Reduce water waste. Car-pool when able. These are all small ways that we can all reduce our environmental footprint.

"This year the communities in Peace River North will continue to engage in meaningful conversations on Earth Day. Government, as well as all of us, must fight to end this false narrative that rural British Columbians do not care about the environment. B.C. is a global leader in pursuing cleaner resource extraction and renewable energy alternatives, but we need to continue the work. With our growing population, B.C. needs to find fast and innovative ways to expand renewable energy. I encourage all members to support these initiatives in their communities.

"In fact, I will take a quick opportunity to remind the members of this House that it was the previous B.C. Liberal government that began the Site C project, which would provide a clean source of reliable power for the next 100 years. This dam was designed to be a renewable energy source, and when it was proposed, its estimated cost would have been $8 billion. Unfortunately, as a result of mismanagement, delays and certain stakeholders playing politics with the project, the construction of Site C is now an estimated $16 billion and, regrettably, will not be completed until 2025.

"Nevertheless, it is clear, by overwhelming support of the initial Site C project, that rural British Columbiansdeeply care about sustainable sources. Together, I truly believe that we can achieve a balance between protecting resource-based jobs and environmental protection through cooperation, reducing the stigmatization, as well as mutual respect."

Email Managing Editor Matt Preprost at editor@ahnfsj.ca.

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From Hansard: Rural B.C. leads the way in environmental innovation - Alaska Highway News

Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), one of the leading organisations that works on creating awareness about energy efficiency as a resource, today released the Green Vehicle Rating (GVR), countrys only vehicle rating system based on environmental performance. An information tool, GVR aims to reshape consumer knowledge on vehicles and help buyers calculate its impact on a communitys health and environment.

With the launch of the industry-first tool, AEEE has set out to move the ever-growing 2 and 3 wheeler rider base towards greener options in the country. GVR also intends to help buyers identify high-performing vehicles, make informed decisions with a web-based rating system for vehicles followed by working towards increasing the demand for greener variants.

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Funded by Shakti Foundation and supported by American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the tool uses Form 22 or the Road Worthiness Certificate mandated by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2017 to calculate the environmental performance of the vehicle. Based on the data available in the Form 22, GVR takes a composite approach to pollutant emissions data and fuel efficiency data as reported by the auto dealers and online auto marketplaces.

Green Vehicle Rating (GVR) takes the self-reported emissions data in Form 22 and makes it easier to understand the true impact of a vehicle on the road without getting lost in numbers. With GVR, we aim to propel towards creating a culture of energy efficiency in India by shifting this ever-growing consumer base towards cleaner modes of transportation said Dr Satish Kumar, President and Executive Director, AEEE.

Also read:Simple Mark 2 spotted testing: 240 km-range electric scooter to launch by mid-2021

The GVR website (www.aeee.in/green-vehicle-rating/rating-result/) allows a buyer a model to model comparison of the vehicle, the Real Cost of Ownership, damage cost, emissions levels along with commonly sought specifications like mileage, cost, engine capacity etc. To help consumers assimilate the impact, these costs are represented in Rs per km terms.

As the nation moves towards reducing carbon footprint, clean mobility can help India meet its Paris Agreement commitment of reducing carbon emission intensity (emission per unit of GDP) by 33 to 35 percent of 2005 level over 15 years. 2 wheelers in India account for 61% petrol sales and over 67% households in India own 2 wheelers. In line with this, the government can use the tool to grow the share of efficient and less polluting vehicles, while moving forward on its commitment to clean mobility and adoption of EVs.

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Green Vehicle Rating: Indias first two-wheeler ratings based on environmental performance - The Financial Express