In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers, and legislators.
“But as a garbage man, I probably know more about people on my route than their pastor does — because their trash tells a story.”
— John Marboe, a trash collector and pastor from Alexandria, MN, as reported by WBHM. Marboe explained that he finds his job important because he is helping his community in a valuable way, even if his job sometimes goes unnoticed.
"This is cumbersome on staff. It’s cumbersome on businesses, and the exemption policy is going to be a nightmare."
— Mount Pleasant, MI Commissioner Jim Holton regarding an amendment to the city's waste ordinance, as reported by Central Michigan Life. The city decided to limit collection times to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., sparking opposition from local haulers like Republic Services.
“New York has done this with about as much aplomb and stakeholder involvement over a multiple year period that you could ask."
— Steve Changaris, northeast regional manager of NWRA, in an interview with Waste Dive regarding a potential commercial organics recycling law in New York state. After much discussion about the law, Governor Andrew Cuomo has included the plan in his proposed executive budget for FY18.
"I think many of us are accustomed to being the only woman in the room. I don't think it's the waste industry specifically."
— Waste Management's Devina Rankin in an interview with Waste Dive for the Women in Waste spotlight series. Rankin, who recently took on the role of the company's acting CFO, shared her journey into the waste industry, her tactics for handling multiple high-level positions at once and her experience being the only woman in Waste Management's C-suite.
"...Every worker in the waste sector deserves to go home to their families at the end of the day with all ten fingers and toes."
— SWANA CEO David Biderman in a blog post on Waste Management World regarding safety across the waste industry. Biderman and SWANA have worked aggressively to address workplace safety through webinars, workshops, regular safety alerts and a chapter-level Safety Ambassador program.
"Most of us grab a cup of coffee or tea at least once a day, and in the same way that disposing of a plastic bottle or can responsibly is becoming the norm, we can achieve the same thing with coffee cups."
— Shirine Khoury-Haq, chief operating officer at London insurance company Lloyd’s, in an interview with Resource regarding a local effort to recycle coffee cups. A new partnership between the City of London Corporation, Network Rail, and multiple coffee chains aims to divert 5 million coffee cups for recycling per year