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With support from the UWSP College of Natural Resources and the College of Letters and Science
Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology
March 29, 2012
In This Issue
WIST Initiatives
First speakers confirmed for Focal Point 2012
Life Cycle Assessment
Celebrate Earth Day
Sustainability in the Small City: A Workshop
Research, Education, and Laboratory Services
 

pilot paper machineThrough its three divisions, WIST offers laboratory services, outreach education, and research to create sustainability solutions for businesses and organizations. Technology and ideas developed by WIST and its partners will spur economic growth in Wisconsin and the region and help all of us preserve and protect a healthy environment for future generations.


Follow-up Links

 
Capitalizing on sustainable technology: first speakers confirmed for October 10th event

Kelly Rooney, director of recycling for Veolia ES Solid Waste, and Kevin Hansen, technical manager at Erco Worldwide, are the first speakers slated to present at Focal Point 2012: Capitalizing on Sustainable Technology. The one-day conference is set for Oct. 10 at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

 

Rooney and Hansen will discuss how their companies are incorporating sustainability practices to increase profitability.

Rooney plays a key role in executing the company's overall recycling strategy, focused on expanding and improving the organization's existing recycling processes and capabilities. Hansen is an engineer at ERCO Worldwide's Port Edwards plant. ERCO Worldwide focuses largely on the production and supply of inorganic products along with the technology for the production of chlorine dioxide.

 

Focal Point 2012 will demonstrate how some of the region's leading companies are developing and adopting new technologies that are more sustainable and which contribute to their bottom line and competitiveness. Sustainable technologies are those aimed at sustainable development, or step-change advances aimed at reducing the material, energy and environmental impacts of production processes or products which at the same time give their proponents production differentiation and competitive edge.

 

The conference will showcase examples of renewable energy and biofuels, innovative use of renewable raw materials, resource efficiency, new product ownership models, and biocatalysis applications. 

 

More information about the conference is on the WIST website. Further speakers and program details including registration information will be announced shortly. 

Life Cycle Assessment may be right for your company

 

LCA chartLife cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool in measuring total environmental effects of creating, using and disposing of a product or service. Now WIST is ready to use this tool to work with businesses to examine their processes from an environmental perspective.
 

Karyn Biasca, a professor of paper science and engineering at UWSP, will lead the LCA work for WIST. But Biasca emphasizes that the assessment is a collaborative process, with a business providing the data and information needed and WIST providing the analysis.

 

Biasca has taught LCA courses for five years and currently teaches an LCA introductory course for WIST.

 

"LCA helps to identify environmental hot-spots - points in the process where businesses are generating a significant part of their environmental impact," Biasca said. "Every industry wants to improve its environmental footprint. They want the life cycle assessment information so they can make effective changes."

 

To discuss how WIST's Life Cycle Assessment collaboration can be of value to your company, contact Karyn Biasca by email at Karyn.Biasca@uwsp.edu or by phone at 715-346-3962.

WIST to join UWSP students in celebrating Earth Day
Have you ever wondered what really happens to material when you throw it in a recycling bin? Where does it go? How is it processed or reused? To help celebrate Earth Day 2012, WIST is joining with the local chapter of the American Chemical Society, the Campus Sustainability Coordinator and students to host an event in conjunction with the annual UWSP Eco Fair on April 18. The event theme is "Rethinking Recycling" and it will include featured speakers, interactive displays, and drawings for prizes. Representatives from companies and organizations that pick up cardboard, plastic containers, paper, batteries and other recyclable material at UWSP will describe how the material is handled and each presentation will include time for audience questions.

 

April 22 is designated as Earth Day each year and is celebrated around the world. Because that date falls on a Sunday this year, UWSP will mark Earth Day on Wednesday, April 18 to increase participation opportunities for students, faculty and staff. Look for us in the tent on the Sundial from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sustainability in the Small City:
A Workshop
This workship is set for April18 in the Dreyfus University Center at UWSP. Details about the workshop are in this poster.