No Israeli Trash Cans: Cut Virginia business with Israel
CVWMA Executive Director Kimberly Hynes, Richmond City Council, Richmond Mayor Danny Avula, Ashland Town Council, Ashland Mayor Steve Trivett, Hopewell City Council, Hopewell Mayor Johnny Partin
This week The Henrico Citizen published an article 'Trash bins made from trash: Central Virginia municipalities invest in new recycling venture.' The article goes on to describe that at last week's General Assembly meeting, it was announced that CVWMA would be partnering with a 'waste diversion company' called UBQ, an Israeli company, to deliver trash carts made from repurposed waste. The article fails to mention that this partnership was facilitated by a former member of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board.
In a 2019 Richmond Magazine article, 'Too Much of a Good Thing', journalist Carol A.O. Wolf says 'During a May 17 meeting, Hynes (executive director of CVWMA) told her board of directors that she has been collaborating with former CVWMA board member Matt Benka, who works with the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB) and Tel Aviv-based UBQ Materials. UBQ converts waste into a material similar to plastic. Moreover, she noted, the company is interested in opening a plant in the United States.’
In the past the idea of collaborating with an Israeli company to bring tech to Virginia may have seemed like a good idea, however two years into Israel's genocide on Gaza, the majority of Richmond and Henrico residents would be horrified to know that they were supporting economic relations between our community and Israel. It should be noted that both Richmond City Council and then-Governor Douglas Wilder called for city/state divestment from apartheid South Africa. Our state should be following this example now with the current state of Israel being investigated for genocide by the ICC and the ICJ. Additionally, the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights, Doctors Without Borders, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and others have all called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
In addition to suspending economic relationships with Israel, it is unclear how a bin that is made by trash shipped from all over Europe to the Netherlands and then SHIPPED AGAIN to the US to collect more trash is actually reducing waste and carbon emissions. Max-R, Bright Idea Shops, R3 Site Furnishings, UltraSite, Belson Outdoors, Trash Cans Warehouse, and Pilot Rock (R.J. Thomas Mfg. Co.) are all U.S. based companies that offer similar receptacles.
Sponsored by
To:
CVWMA Executive Director Kimberly Hynes, Richmond City Council, Richmond Mayor Danny Avula, Ashland Town Council, Ashland Mayor Steve Trivett, Hopewell City Council, Hopewell Mayor Johnny Partin
From:
[Your Name]
To whom it may concern:
This week The Henrico Citizen published an article 'Trash bins made from trash: Central Virginia municipalities invest in new recycling venture.' The article goes on to describe that at last week's General Assembly meeting, it was announced that CVWMA would be partnering with a 'waste diversion company' called UBQ, an Israeli company, to deliver trash carts made from repurposed waste. The article fails to mention that this partnership was facilitated by a former member of the Virginia Israeli Advisory Board.
In a 2019 Richmond Magazine article, 'Too Much of a Good Thing', journalist Carol A.O. Wolf says 'During a May 17 meeting, Hynes (executive director of CVWMA) told her board of directors that she has been collaborating with former CVWMA board member Matt Benka, who works with the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB) and Tel Aviv-based UBQ Materials. UBQ converts waste into a material similar to plastic. Moreover, she noted, the company is interested in opening a plant in the United States.’
In the past the idea of collaborating with an Israeli company to bring tech to Virginia may have seemed like a good idea, however two years into Israel's genocide on Gaza, the majority of Richmond and Henrico residents would be horrified to know that they were supporting economic relations between our community and Israel. It should be noted that both Richmond City Council and then-Governor Douglas Wilder called for city/state divestment from apartheid South Africa. Our state should be following this example now with the current state of Israel being investigated for genocide by the ICC and the ICJ. Additionally, the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights, Doctors Without Borders, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and others have all called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
In addition to suspending economic relationships with Israel, it is unclear how a bin that is made by trash shipped from all over Europe to the Netherlands and then SHIPPED AGAIN to the US to collect more trash is actually reducing waste and carbon emissions. Max-R, Bright Idea Shops, R3 Site Furnishings, UltraSite, Belson Outdoors, Trash Cans Warehouse, and Pilot Rock (R.J. Thomas Mfg. Co.) are all U.S. based companies that offer similar receptacles.
Richmond, Henrico, Ashland, and Hopewell residents demand that you cancel this contract with UBQ Israel and use one of the aforementioned U.S. based companies