In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers and legislators.
"If you want to be in the garbage business, if you can borrow money or already have it, you are in. One truck and some containers, and you’re in business."
— Michael Hoffman, managing director of Stifel Financial Corp., on building a business in the waste and recycling industry. Stifel assists waste management companies with financial consultation as they work through mergers, acquisitions, and other business decisions.
"We're going to be trend setters, I like to think ... We know this is going to be a big test."
— Adrian Marquez, assistant to the Highwood, IL city manager, to the Daily Herald on the city's efforts to mandate food scrap collection. DuPage, Will, Cook, and Kane Counties are all promoting food composting as municial hauling contracts reach a turning point.
"I anticipate that for many South Australians, this will understandably be an emotion-charged debate. However it is important that everyone is afforded the opportunity to have their say."
— South Australia state Premier Jay Weatherill on the possibility that a nuclear dump in Ausralia could handle 13% of the world's atomic waste. Weatherill noted to Straits Times that the government has not taken a position on the situation.
"There’s an e-waste problem in the world ... If we really want to leave the world better than we found it, we have to invest in ways to go further than what happens now."
— Lisa Jackson, Apple’s head of environmental affairs, on the magnitude of iPhones and other electronic products that get disposed of each year. Bloomberg reported that Apple collected more than 40,000 tons of e-waste in 2014, recovering enough steel to lay 100 miles of railway track.
"Every time you touch trash, it raises the price. Every time you touch recycling, it raises the price."
— Sid Doering of Gallegos Sanitation Inc. on the issue of waste contamination. Doering explained to the Coloradoan that through consumer education and shifted regulations, curbside collection will offer cleaner materials.
"I’ve been doing this job for 30 years ... I’ve seen many vehicles hit the railing on 95. I’ve never seen such an impact. There’s nothing similar to this."
— Dennis Fernandez, administrator of structures maintenance for the Florida Department of Transportation's Miami district, to the Miami Herald on a garbage truck accident that sent the truck plunging 100 feet off of an I-95 ramp. Miraculously, nobody was killed in the incident, however an investigation is being conducted to find what caused the driver to break through the wall.
Source sending photos of truck flying off highway by I-95 near Little Havana by 7th St pic.twitter.com/tP1g0RmeEF
— Doug Hanks (@doug_hanks) February 15, 2016