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In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers, and legislators.
"...We knew that Progressive had very good assets stake with good asset positioning in markets that predominantly 85% more similar to ours. What we didn’t really know fully is how they ran the business relative to how we do and it’s a very, very different approach."
— Waste Connections CEO Ron Mittelstaedt during a recent earnings call, as reported by Seeking Alpha. Mittelstaedt noted that 2016 was a strong year overall for the company, especially due to its acquisition of Progressive Waste, however the deal has required more work than originally expected.
"Where technical innovation is concerned, the past is a poor predictor of the future — significant opportunities exist today to accelerate the commercialization and performance of new technologies."
— Ocean Conservancy CEO Andreas Merkl in a recent report titled "The Next Wave: Investment Strategies for Plastic Free Seas." The report predicts that about 250 million metric tons of plastic will likely enter the oceans by 2025 if industry organizations do not team up to find a long-term solution.
"Despite having preventative maintenance programs and dedicated maintenance staff, there are always going to be things that happen to the equipment that are outside of our control."
— Kent County, MI Department of Public Works Director Darwin Baas regarding the county's recycling and education center, as reported by MLive. The center was shut down earlier this week due to a baler malfunction — causing materials to be diverted to a waste-to-energy facility — but has since announced it is back up and running.
"...Even if we are in a situation we don't like, we do our best to negotiate our way through it. We never just walk away from a customer when we've got a contractual obligation."
— Republic Services CEO Don Slager in the company's most recent earnings call. Slager noted that, while the company saw a decrease in volumes of small containers and residential business, it was partially due to a strategic decision to not renew certain contracts that failed to meet criteria.
"I thought we as a community had decided to stop that mountain from growing."
— Austin City Council Member Leslie Pool referring to the Austin Community Landfill, as reported by the Austin Monitor. The council voted unanimously this week against pursuing a three-year, $7.7 million contract for city facilities and special events with Republic Services.
"For the skeptics out there that don’t think it’s feasible, I would say it’s definitely doable."
— Lamy Chopin, global development leader for packaging & specialty plastics at Dow Chemical Co., regarding the future of pyrolysis technology, as reported by Plastics News. Dow has launched a Hefty Energy Bag initiative that encourages consumers to use an orange "energy bag" to collect hard-to-recycle materials. Some of those bags are then submitted for processing through pyrolysis.