Dive Brief:
- The National Waste & Recycling Association has launched the Hispanic Waste & Recycling Alliance, a member group to support Hispanic workers in the industry.
- The group, open to members of NWRA, aims to create career growth pathways, offer professional development and mentorship opportunities and create a “collaborative space” for brainstorming ideas and innovations in the industry, according to HWRA.
- Gary Cardoza, HWRA’s president, says the group is in its early days of planning. He expects initial focus areas to include offering English language support, as well as training and education around technology advancements in the industry. Overall, the group aims to “uplift the next generation of Hispanics in the industry into more leadership roles,” he said.
Dive Insight:
Though Hispanic and Latino workers make up a notable portion of the waste and recycling workforce, Cardoza said he was surprised that he couldn’t find a national-level organization that specifically represents them.
“I've been in the waste industry a couple of decades, and I noticed that in my travels, a lot of people of Hispanic background really didn't seem to be getting the opportunities that could be given to them,” he said. “I thought, ‘I'm going to see if I can get involved with an organization that really focuses on expanding and advancing the Hispanic and Latino community.’”
Partnering with NWRA was the right fit because the association already has the resources to connect with waste and recycling professionals from across the country, Cardoza said.
Michael E. Hoffman, NWRA’s president and CEO, said the group’s vision also aligns with NWRA’s other services and its efforts to grow membership overall.
“A very large percentage of the direct workforce is of Hispanic background, and there are a tremendous number of independent haulers that are Hispanic-ownership groups,” he said. “From our perspective as the association, we saw a clear consistency in professional development, overlapping with the things we already do around safety and training, scholarship and things of that nature.”
The group is open to any Hispanic waste and recycling professionals, as well as non-Hispanic workers who are interested in supporting the group’s initiatives, Cardoza said. He especially hopes to get frontline employees involved, such as drivers, as well as a range of members representing roles like managers, executives and suppliers.
“We have scale house attendants that have great ideas. We have guys in the container shops that have unbelievable intelligence, and I've used a lot of the ideas they've given me to bring new products to market,” said Cardoza, who owns an equipment company, Cardoza Waste Parts Nation. “You'll find a lot of times, it's from a lack of comfort with English as a second language that they don't say a whole lot. Their voices should be heard.”
HWRA’s key projects and timelines haven’t yet been finalized, but Cardoza said language-based skills and service projects are among the priorities. Other priorities could include outreach to major companies to request they post jobs in Spanish and English and provide more opportunities for workers to build their English language skills, he said.
Several members also are interested in forming a technology committee to explore innovations in equipment and AI, he said.
Cardoza and Hoffman said the blueprint for HWRA borrows from other well-established member networks NWRA offers, including the Women's Council, Future Industry Leaders Alliance and the Healthcare Waste Institute.
The Women’s Council offers an annual scholarship program. Hoffman said HWRA could develop something similar in the future, such as a trades-based scholarship that could help employees work their way up the ranks.
The group also hopes to get more companies involved not just with HWRA, but NWRA as a whole, Cardoza said.
“We’re also talking to the major private haulers to try to find out how we can integrate with them, get the word out to the Hispanic community better on what's available,” he said.
