In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers, and legislators.
"When it comes to recycling, there is little to celebrate."
— Danny Katz, director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPirg), to The Denver Post regarding a recent report on the city's recycling rate. According to the report, Denver's residential diversion rate is 18%, which the report notes as "abysmal."
"You can't just give people a bin or a cart and expect them to know."
— Brenda Pulley, senior vice president of recycling for Keep America Beautiful, in an interview with Waste Dive regarding America Recycles Day. For years, Keep America Beautiful has prided itself on not only helping communities across the nation get the bins they need to recycle, but also helping consumers understand best practices when it comes to waste diversion.
"People basically define success in a way that makes them look good and they declare victory and go home."
— Rob Watson, founder of LEED green building certification and the Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (SWEEP), in an interview with Waste Dive. Watson explained that the intention of SWEEP is to move to a more life-cycle, circular economy approach to materials management, as opposed to declaring our own definition of diversion success.
"Republican control in Washington could result in very real recycling reverberations."
— Dan Leif, managing editor of Resource Recycling, in an "Editor's Analysis" post that explained the implications of Donald Trump's impending presidency. Leif notes that immigration and the workforce, corporate tax structures, global trade and overall economic health are all factors that are bound to affect recyclers across the nation.
"The literature compiled by academics and researchers across North America notes that the best systems in terms of good value and cost control are actually mixed systems. That’s what we have right now."
— Toronto Councilor Joe Mihevc in an interview with the Toronto Sun regarding privatizing waste collections on the east end. While the west end saw success with privatization, some opponents to the east-end collections plan are worried that it will end up costing the city more money than intended.
”It’s hard to argue with success."
— Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers discussing Republic Services' reputation in the area, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. While Republic has held a strong position in Southern Nevada for decades, many companies in the area are alleging that Republic is limiting competition — and they're taking action to fight it.