In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers, and legislators.
"I don't want to be the guy on the sidelines when it comes to disruptive technology ... I want to be the disruptor."
— Waste Management CEO James Fish Jr. in an interview with Forbes regarding integrating IT into the company's fleet. Rubicon Global, dubbed the "Uber of trash," hopes to challenge Waste Management's tech efforts with its cloud-based hauler management platform. The company recently partnered with Suez to jumpstart the process.
"It seems that educational efforts are being graded upon contamination rates — which aren't really due to lack of education, but often times due to the collection method."
— Ted Onufrak, executive director of Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority in Bellefonte, PA, in a recent opinion piece for Waste Dive. Onufrak challenged the growing trend of single-stream recycling, suggesting that a lack of source separated collections leads to increased contamination and confusion among customers.
"...What they're doing is just scratching the surface of all the trash that's coming in."
— Billy Dutton, an organizer with the Help Your Harbor program in Newport Beach, CA, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times regarding the program's initiatives to minimize marine debris. Newport Beach is now considering installing a water wheel, similar to the two in Baltimore, to boost cleanup efforts.
“Everyone is telling me what a good thing I did and calling me a hero ... I'm not anything like that. I just saw someone who needed my help.”
— Sam McGregor, a trash collector in Logan, ID, in an interview with Idaho State Journal after he saved a near-frozen kitten on his route. McGregor joins a long list of "hauler heroes" from across the country who have gone out of their way to make lasting impacts on their communities.
“The packaging community is definitely not going to stop innovating, nor should they."
— Adam Gendell, associate director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), in an interview with Waste Dive regarding who should be responsible for increasing the recyclability of plastic packaging. Gendell noted that brands and recyclers have been working together to solve problems as they occur, however more can be done to streamline the conversation.
"Our future grows even brighter when forward-thinking public policy unleashes our ability to invest, innovate and compete on a greater scale at home and around the globe."
— American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Donna Harman in a statement regarding the association's top advocacy priorities in 2017. AF&PA put "smarter" regulations at the top of the list, along with resolving policy on biomass carbon and updating a "cumbersome" air permit process.