National Waste Partners continues to grow and evolve as Bestige Holdings LLC shepherds it to greater success. In 2017, J-Mec, the premier waste and recycling equipment provider in the Midwest, joined the family and its founder, Jim Mechler, stayed on and is currently Senior Vice President of Operations for all companies.

“J-Mec has always been about customer service, innovation, and growth. The vision of Bestige and National Waste Partners was the perfect fit for us,” he said. “Leveraging the resources of Bestige, we are able to expand our wealth of knowledge and experience to other parts of the country. Our national coverage is definitely what sets us apart.”

Most recently, the company acquired GK Industrial Refuse Systems (GKI) to expand its already strong portfolio. A market leader in the Pacific Northwest and a natural fit for National Waste Partners, Tacoma-based GKI specializes in waste equipment sales, rentals, and service.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, National Waste Partners has branch locations in Chicago, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Washington, DC to provide instillation, refurbishment, and repair services. “We have coverage across the U.S.,” says Vice President of Sales, Gary Brooks. The company’s current subsidiaries – CRA, ACS, J-Mec, and GKI – boast extensive reach, but they can’t service all customers, so National Waste Partners has teamed up with other service providers to handle regions beyond the company’s geographical footprint. “We’ve got close to 200 service provider partners that we work with to cover the areas that aren’t densely populated for us,” Brooks says.

Wherever the location or whatever the situation, the team makes it a priority to give customers the individualized care they deserve. This means paying attention to what the customer is saying, rather than slapping a one-size-fits-all answer onto each problem. “One of the big things that sets us apart is we listen to what the customer needs,” Brooks says. “It’s more of a consultative approach. We don’t necessarily come in saying we have all the answers. Our first step is to listen and to see what the customer’s situation is so we can bring them a solution.”

The individualized service doesn’t stop there. “We also offer custom solutions,” says Brooks. “The applications are so unique.” The uninitiated may think all compactors are the same, but this simply is not true. Each customer has a specific need that needs a specific solution. “A compactor is not a compactor is not a compactor,” Brooks explains. “They start out the same, but how you apply them and install them is a completely different discussion. And with our in-house fabrication capability we can fabricate just about anything you can dream up to fit or work with your application.”

How does the customer know what they are getting? How can they judge the quality and reliability of a National Waste Partners’ product or service? The team recognized that customers deserve to be fully informed so they developed a system of measurement. “From my experience this is a very informal industry,” says CEO David Myles. “There’s a lot of discussion around certain things, but most of the industry relies on just talking about it and not really on a lot of numbers. So one of the first things we tried to do was say, ‘what is the uptime and what is the lifecycle of some of the equipment?’ Just to understand what the bar is.” The team has been working with manufacturers to get the answers and has “started measuring almost everything that we do,” Myles says. “And that’s been very insightful for us as an organization.”

The team measures everything, from how many times they make service visits and how often a specific model breaks down, to their service response time and whether or not the problem is resolved on the first service visit. “I think we are pioneering that effort,” Brooks says.

This is important information because reliability is crucial in the waste management industry. “When a compactor is down it’s usually down at the wrong time – like at a hotel, when they’re having a huge event,” Myles says. “Once it breaks down bad things happen as far as garbage everywhere and also odor and pest control issues.” Having clear data to back the company’s promises gives customers peace of mind. “That’s been an important distinction in growth for us as a company,” he says. “When we say something we want to be able to back it up with numbers.”

Another way the team builds trust is by readily admitting when they miss the mark during a service call. “It’s not always evident what’s broken, so people make mistakes,” Myles says. “Everybody makes mistakes.” The key is to address the error right away and focus on a speedy resolution. “You’ve got to make sure that you trust employees to admit they made a mistake. Mistakes don’t get cheaper over time; they get more expensive. So the earlier you admit a mistake the cheaper it is to resolve.” And the team is confident they can resolve whatever mistake has been made. “Everything in my mind is fixable,” says Myles.

The team is also transparent about their capabilities – they only promise what they know they can deliver. “We try not to overcommit,” Myles explains. “We aren’t all things to all people. We can’t do everything. We can’t get a compactor to Durango Colorado in twelve hours. We can’t go to remote areas and do certain things, but we can service almost anything within our service area. So the trust comes in knowing your capabilities, letting your employees tell you when something is wrong, and then, with the customers, admitting when you make a mistake.”

National Waste Partners owns its equipment, which helps the company deliver consistently reliable service. “Our approach on that is different than most in that, when we go to install a machine, we don’t send a guy and rent a forklift,” Brooks says. “There’s nothing wrong with that business model, but that’s just not us. We own our own equipment so we will show up with a semi, a forklift, the appropriate welders, supplies – everything to fabricate and install a unit. And it’s so much more efficient. We are in control. We don’t have to wait for things to be delivered; we can prefabricate things in the shop.”

This efficiency allows the team to complete more jobs in less time. “We can do in one day what it would take another company two or three days onsite, just because of the equipment and the tools we provide the team with.”

Getting the job done efficiently doesn’t just save time and money; it also cuts back on potential mishaps. “The longer that you are onsite, the more things can go wrong,” Myles says. Another way to avoid onsite complications is to do as much work in a controlled environment as possible – this also ensures a higher quality product overall. “We think we are unique in that we try to do as much offsite as we can. You are more accurate in the shop than you are out in the field.”

National Waste Partners has managed to weather the COVID-19 storm, but the team certainly felt the effects alongside the rest of the world. “It sort of threw you off the tempo,” Myles shares. “It threw our company off, it threw everybody off. It was a very sad, disturbing thing that’s happened.”

National Waste Partners took the threat seriously and immediately put safety measures in place when the pandemic hit. The team closed the offices right away. “We shut that down very quickly and had them working from home very quickly,” Myles says. The service team could not work from home of course, so the company launched new safety training for employees who work onsite. “We always stress safety, but it’s not just their own safety [now], it’s other people’s safety. We want to make sure they are distancing, washing their hands, having protective gloves and masks.” Any employee who had concerns working in the field despite these measures was encouraged to stay home and stay safe.

The waste industry was not as affected as many other industries, since people continued to produce waste throughout the quarantine. But, because National Waste Partners services commercial and industrial customers, the company did feel an impact. “All the hotels, and movie theaters, and restaurants – their waste has cut down quite a bit, especially at the start,” says Myles. “So our service went down dramatically.”

Some of this waste shifted to other areas that still needed servicing. With people staying at home and cooking at home, multifamily housing and grocery stores saw an uptick in waste. “It was an interesting experience – that sort of volume shift, which I don’t think anybody’s ever experienced,” Brooks says.

Another factor that impacted business is that customers decided to wait to make major purchases. “People’s decision model changed instantly,” Myles says. “People that were going to invest in new equipment decided to hold off until we see through this.” By mid-April the team noticed customers were starting “to make decisions again to move forward,” so the future looks optimistic.

Times remain uncertain as we adjust to the new normal, but “people still have to carry on,” Myles points out. “There’s still waste. It still makes sense to compact and bale.” And as long as there is waste to be compacted and baled, National Waste Partners is committed to providing the most efficient, reliable, and quality solutions through good times and bad.

The post A Partner You Can Count On<p class="company">National Waste Partners</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Hosseini has a history of creative problem-solving showcased through the next-generation technology available through his company. So, it comes as no surprise that the technology wizard was inspired to launch another product when confronted with a frustrating lack of communication while on vacation. “The idea came that if you use the LoRa communication, and somehow we harness the communication in a way that we can connect it to our smartphone, that may help us communicate in the area that the cellular and Wi-Fi is not available,” Hosseini remembers.

Invented by the company Suntech, LoRa—short for Long-Range Wireless Technology—enables long-distance transmission with low power consumption, making it a foundational component of Hosseini’s new invention. While Bluetooth can connect over distances of no more than one hundred metres or so, LoRa’s range is an astounding four kilometres in urban areas and sixteen kilometres in rural regions.

“Initially we developed it for peer-to-peer or point-to-point communication, but came up with the idea to use it for people communication when there is no network available,” Hosseini says. “Our goal, from the start, was to create a powerful and affordable communication device to help us communicate with each other in places where there is no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.”

The result is the exciting new product Orange Fob Pro. The technology harnesses the power of LoRa, combined with the low power and accurate GPS, to send text messages or short voice messages when other means of communication are not available. The durable, waterproof Fob is easy to take anywhere; it can be worn like a wristwatch, on a lanyard around the neck, slipped into a pocket, or attached to a keychain.

“We make it as small as possible to easily be carried around,” Hosseini says. The battery lasts more than forty-eight hours, and it has wireless charging capability. If users misplace their Fob, it will signal its location, making it easy to find. Users can communicate with another Orange Fob up to ten miles away, and using multiple devices within the area will increase that distance, since messages can be passed through devices to extend the range.

Orange Fob opens a wide variety of possibilities for people in areas without reliable cellular coverage. “The only limitation is you only communicate with your peers [that have] that Fob and are in your vicinity,” he notes. The applications are endless, from rock climbing, skiing out-of-range slopes, and cruise ship travel to road trips, sailing and boating, working in remote locations, and outdoor excursions.

“For example, you go hiking or camping with family and friends and you are in an area that either there is no cellular coverage or coverage is bad,” Hosseini says. “So you can have this Fob with you and the other person, or other people can have the Fob, and as long as you have it connected to your smartphone by Bluetooth and you run the app, you can text message everyone in your group or a specific person in your group. And you can send voice messages.”

This technology can be of critical importance if group members are separated with no other way to regroup. “When you go outdoors and to remote areas, you always have a fear of what can I do if I get lost?” he says. “How I can message my friend or family?”

Orange Fob eliminates these concerns. “From time to time you hear someone in the middle of some trip is lost and nobody can find him for a certain amount of time, or someone left a group [on a] mountain trip and they could not find that person, and, unfortunately, somebody lost his or her life because of that situation but if you have the Fob, you can send the Fob into the mode of help; you send messages to another Fob.”

Not only can people communicate on the go without cellphone coverage, but they can also share their location. For instance, “sometimes you go and travel with multiple cars, and you don’t know if your friends are behind you on the road or past you already.” Typically motorists rely on cellphone communication to stay in touch. “But if there is no cellular coverage, which may happen sometimes, you get lost,” Hosseini points out. “With the Orange Fob, you can also share the location,” allowing travel companions to find one another quickly and easily, and, if travelers are lost on the road or in the wilderness, the app can load offline maps, so they never have to rely on data and cellular connectivity to find their destination.

Overseas travelers find the technology particularly convenient and cost-saving. “When traveling abroad, you need to pay excessive money for roaming and access to text messages and voice,” he explains. “Especially when you are not in your hotel, as hotels usually provide free Wi-Fi. But by using Orange Fob, you can text message to your family and friends while all travelling together. You can share locations with each other and be connected.”

Orange Fob uses a private wireless network, eliminating security concerns. “One of the other major worries we have is cyber security,” Hosseini says. “Is anyone listening to our voice messages? Or can [they] see our text messages? Anything [that] goes on Internet will be recorded on multiple clouds and telecom systems, while when you use Orange Fob, there is no possibility [of] recording or even intercepting your text or voice messages.”

This is not the case with standard cellular communication. “When you send a text message from your phone to your friend, as on the cellular network, what’s going to happen?” he asks. “The message would be saved on your phone. Second, the message would be transferred to cellular wireless, to a telecom tower. And from the telecom tower, it will be transferred to the telecom cloud. And from that telecom cloud, it goes to another telecom cloud associated with the receiver and then would be saved there. And then from there, it goes to a local tower close to your other party. And then, from that, goes to your receiver phone. So these text messages would be recorded all over the place. Even if you delete them from your phone or even if your receiver deletes them from their phone, still there is a record with times and details all over the place.”

But with Orange Fob, if you delete the message, “It’s gone forever. Nobody can track it.” This feature makes the technology popular with companies that need to keep proprietary information safe from competitors. “They have much higher security when they use this fob, rather than communicating to a typical cellular platform,” Hosseini declares. “Imagine you have a company that has a headquarters somewhere and you have a bunch of researchers and they like to communicate. It would be much safer if you use our system to communicate rather than just normal cell phones or computers. If they’re really worried about the safety and security of their data, that’s one of the possible applications of our system.”

Orange Fob also gives the option for messages to be automatically deleted immediately after being read or after a specified amount of time. Users simply choose which security setting to apply to read messages in the easy-to-use app.

How much does this must-have technology cost per month? The answer may surprise you. “When you use a typical cellular network on your phone, you have to pay depend[ing] on what kind of plan you have,” Hosseini says. “But using the Fob, you don’t need to pay anything. It’s just buy the device and use it. There is no payment.”

Arshon Technology will launch Orange Fob in the second quarter of this year. It will be sold in a pair, with the option to add additional Fobs to the order so that multiple people can stay connected—no matter where they go. Not surprisingly, pre-launch feedback is good and it seems only a matter of time before the new product makes a mark on the industry.

The post Keeping Us Connected<p class="company">Arshon Technology Inc.</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The pandemic exacerbated the trend as employees took the opportunity to reassess their careers during the shutdown. Concern over the environmental impacts of mining and the potentially dangerous working conditions is often the motivation for choosing an alternative career.

Even though coal use is on the decline, the need for mining industry workers is greater than ever to meet the demand for critical minerals used in a wide range of products that include everything from smart phones, computers, and semi-conductors to fiber-optic cables, clean energy components, and medical devices.

Oil and gas is losing workers as well. Forty three percent of the energy industry’s employees want to leave within the next five years, taking critical insider knowledge and experience with them, a recent survey by Brunel and Oilandgasjobsearch.com reveals. And there are not enough skilled workers ready to make up for these losses. Only 400 petroleum engineers were expected to graduate from U.S. universities last year—a fall of a whopping 83 percent since numbers peaked in 2017, according to a survey conducted by Texas Tech University professor Lloyd Heinz and reported by World Oil.

As in mining, public perception of the industry is a major factor in this exodus and in the lack of workers willing to replace these losses. A recent Ernst & Young survey revealed that 62 percent of Gen Z respondents find a career in oil and gas “unappealing” and 39 percent find it “very unappealing.” Only four percent found it “very appealing.” More than two out of every three teens surveyed said that the oil and gas industry causes problems rather than solves them. Overall, the young people surveyed considered the industry to be harmful to the environment—and to society as a whole—and believed the work to be dirty and dangerous. In direct contrast, 66 percent of these teens considered work in green energy to be “appealing.”

Significant numbers of oil and gas workers are leaving the industry for renewable energy jobs. The Brunel and Oilandgasjobsearch.com survey found that 56 percent of oil and gas workers were interested in pursuing work within that sector. That is a 38 percent increase since the previous year’s survey.

Challenging working conditions are another major factor in the workforce shortage. Offshore projects and remote locations keep workers away for long periods of time, which can take a heavy toll on them and their families. Younger employees seem less willing to accept these conditions and are choosing work that is closer to home, less physically demanding, and in a more comfortable, less isolated working environment.

Money is arguably the most obvious strategy for retaining and attracting workers. Pay must be high enough to compensate for challenging work environments and compete with employers located closer to home who offer more comfortable workplaces. Bonuses or financial incentives that recognize good work can also help keep employees engaged and on board.

But money isn’t everything—a fact seen in the discontent among Fly In Fly Out workers, despite the high compensation. Employers must provide a positive work environment and promote a healthy work-life balance. This will likely require more flexibility from management and more time off. The end result is win-win, since well-rested, refreshed employees are more likely to be safe, productive, and positive-minded when they return to work.

Improving living conditions could also significantly improve retention rates among Fly In Fly Out workers. Reliable WiFi connectivity is necessary to give isolated employees access to their families and the outside world. Better dining options and amenities such as gyms, sports facilities, game rooms, and other areas for socialization could improve morale and mental health while onsite. Creating opportunities for employees to bond is also great for teambuilding and creates a sense of belonging.

While forming and maintaining connections is critical, so is privacy. Although not always doable, private living areas are a huge plus for workers who crave some peace and quiet while working in crowded, impersonal conditions.

Companies need to create a supportive environment where employees feel comfortable telling management their needs—from better dining options to more flexible hours—so the company can meet them. This includes the freedom to communicate dissatisfaction and complaints so management can respond accordingly, before workers leave for greener pastures.

Safety is another major factor that needs to be addressed in order to retain and attract workers. Obviously, employees are more likely to jump ship for other, safer jobs if they aren’t being adequately protected. In addition, improved safety boosts morale and retention rates by reassuring individual workers that they are valued.

Another way to make workers feel valued is to offer a path toward advancement. Continuous training is an investment that will pay off over the long run, despite higher upfront costs. With fewer and fewer young people looking to enter the mining and oil and gas industries, it is important to give employees a strong incentive to stay with their company. And, with increasing numbers of management level employees opting out of the industry, there is plenty of room for advancement. Providing good internships can help attract potential employees who will eventually become skilled workers that stay with the company long-term.

Another strategy is to tap into a vast reserve of workers that have not been recruited traditionally. Less than a quarter of oil and gas industry employees are women, according to Catalyst and S&P Global. BNN Bloomberg reports that women currently make up around 16 percent of mining employees—a figure that has remained roughly the same since 2001. In 2013, the mining industry had the lowest number of women on company boards of any industry group in the world, according to the study “Mining for Talent” by Women in Mining (UK) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Making a concerted effort to welcome women into the industry at all levels could make a dramatic difference in workforce numbers.

One of the most crucial factors for retaining and attracting workers is perhaps the most challenging: the mining and oil and gas industries must rebuild and revamp their image in order to maintain employee numbers. Today’s workforce does not want to risk contributing to climate change or harming the environment.

Educating the public about the state of today’s industry may help. For instance, many people still assume that North American mining is all about coal. So it is critical to spread awareness that essential products such as smart phones, tablets, and televisions cannot exist without mined minerals. Perhaps even more importantly, greener technologies such as electric cars require mined minerals. The public is more likely to choose a career in the mining industry when its connection to in-demand products and clean energy is understood.

The resource industry is in the midst of challenging times when it comes to attracting and retaining workers. But companies are not powerless in the struggle to maintain their workforce. Company leadership can make a concerted effort to improve the work environment, boost morale, improve safety, provide paths toward advancement, recruit and promote women, and educate potential employees about the positive aspects of the job. As societal values and expectations around the workplace evolve, so must the resource industry in order to forge ahead successfully.

The post Now Hiring<p class="company">Overcoming the Resource Industry Labour Shortage</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The business partners knew something had to be done. So they set their sights on uncovering the cause of these outrageous costs and learning how to bring those costs down by creating homes that were more energy-efficient.

The concept quickly became a business. Elevation started with rooftop solar, then soon added energy efficiency services after the team recognized that energy-efficient homes require a reduction in the amount of energy used in addition to the use of clean energy. After acquiring Curb Energy in 2020, Elevation brought smart energy monitoring technology into the business as part of a Whole Home Solution, giving homeowners a complete package to meet all their energy-related needs, as described at www.poweredbyelevation.com.

Elevation has grown rapidly since its inception, becoming the biggest energy efficiency provider in the United States and the 14^th largest residential installer in the nation. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, the company operates throughout Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, and Florida, and offers select services in other parts of the United States. Whatever the service or location, all work is handled in-house and comes with ongoing communication to ensure clients are informed throughout the process.

The first step toward what the company calls an ‘Elevated Home’ is a Building Performance institute (BPI)-Certified Energy Audit to seal the building in order to lower energy usage. The company’s Energy Efficiency Package includes assessing air leaks, checking insulation levels to identify areas that require sealing or insulating, and an overall evaluation of the home’s air quality, comfort, and energy efficiency. In addition to cutting heating and cooling costs, this process will eliminate hot and cold spots within the home and help to maintain the desired temperature throughout.

After eliminating energy leaks, a home may require up to five fewer solar panels, creating as much $1,000 in cost savings for the homeowner. When it comes to overall energy use, the audit may bring as much as ten percent savings for the homeowner.

Solar installation always includes high-quality premium solar panels, advanced microinverters, and a 25-year warranty on products and labor. In addition to long-term cost savings and increased home value, solar energy brings a wealth of environmental benefits including: freedom from nonrenewable resources; a reduction in air pollution; a reduction in hazardous waste; a reduction in the use of water; and more. Elevation’s solar-powered homes do remain connected to the grid and homeowners will still pay a monthly electric bill, but it will be reduced significantly. Solar tax credits can increase savings beyond what is saved on the monthly electric bill.

Elevation’s solar batteries let homeowners store solar energy, rather than letting that excess energy flow back into the grid, so they have access to clean energy even when the sun isn’t shining. That energy can be utilized as needed, rather than depending on—and paying for—energy from the grid.

The technology helps protect homeowners from the consequences of power outages, which have been on the rise in recent years. During a power outage, the solar battery will automatically disconnect from the electrical grid to make the home a self-sustaining, self-contained grid and keep essential appliances running. The typical home requires more energy than a single battery provides to be fully powered, so the team maps a homeowner’s battery to their most essential lights and appliances to keep them running no matter what.

Elevation’s patented Curb Energy Monitoring makes the flow of energy inside a home fully visible to the homeowner at any time, day or night. Miniature sensors attach to the home’s electrical panel and measure the exact amount that every major appliance consumes, so homeowners know exactly where they can save money and energy. The technology can process electricity data and detect trends on up to 18 different major appliances or zones within any given home. Examples include living room lights, washing machines, pool equipment, and dishwashers.

Curb optimizes a homeowner’s solar investment by showing dollar expenditures in real time, based on the home’s specific utility plan. In addition, the technology also gives homeowners tips on how to save money and energy. Users can also turn SmartThings IoT devices on or off using Curb Energy Monitoring.

Homeowners are not the only ones to benefit from Elevation’s services and expertise. The company offers renters access to clean energy and cost savings through a turnkey program designed to give property managers a wide range of benefits—including peace of mind. Elevation’s one-of-a-kind combination of energy solutions come together to create significant improvements in both GRESB and ESG scores throughout institutional portfolios, creating immediate cost savings for tenants.

After delivering clean energy to homes throughout the United States, the team wants to provide education to help even more people save energy. The company has partnered with the athletic department of Arizona State University—one of the largest public universities in the United States—giving Elevation the opportunity to promote home energy awareness and solutions to two million fans. The message will reach fans of the Sun Devils football team, basketball team, baseball team, and more, and will be communicated within the Arizona State University stadium and arena, as well as through field signage, game programs and websites, digital advertising, podcasts, radio broadcasts, email, and social media.

As the nation’s leading whole-home energy solutions provider in the residential market, Elevation has come a long way in a short period of time. After aiming to solve their own energy problems, the co-founders have enabled homeowners throughout the nation to solve their energy problems as well. And now, with the addition of an educational program via a major university sports program, the company is set to make an even deeper impact.

The post The Future of Energy<p class="company">Elevation</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Leck Waste Services has adopted market-leading technology to maintain an edge in the industry. “The integration of data and technology over the last five years has allowed us to scale the company at a rate averaging about 22 percent growth year over year, over the last three and a half years,” says President and Owner Jason Leck. Without this integration, “I don’t think we would have been able to scale the way we did. We went from one operating location to three operating locations.”

Notably, much of this expansion took place during the pandemic, when the industry was facing substantial challenges. “We’re a technologically-driven waste company, which has allowed us to make a lot of educated decisions,” Leck says of the continued success during high-pressure times.

In 2018, Leck Waste Services partnered with Soft-Pak®, a complete software solution for waste haulers, and 3rd Eye®, a leading fleet management tool, camera and monitor system, collision warning system, and data collection system. “All of those technologies tied together and really transformed how we interacted as a company, from operations and maintenance to safety and customer service,” Leck says.

“We have much better insight in looking at what we’re doing on a daily basis… and how we are delivering on all those things in the industry because of those partnerships that we invested in through Soft-Pak® and 3rd Eye®.” The increased insight and efficiency has meant that the company was able to “to generate revenue that we never could generate prior to having that technology in the truck.”

The camera system gives “a deeper insight into how we are servicing customer locations because of positive service verification with videos,” Leck explains. “Now, we have a recording and a picture of every service that is occurring… Our customer service department is able to be more proactive versus being a reactive customer service department.”

Issues related to overages, blocked accounts, and false damage claims have all been relegated to the past. “We saw we were paying for a lot of customers claiming that we were damaging property or doing things on site, and probably 95 percent of those types of claims and calls against the company have gone away since we instituted the camera system in the trucks,” Leck says.

Safety is another key area that has seen dramatic improvements through the company’s adoption of the technology. “One of the things 3rd Eye® does for us is send us alerts if the driver is doing something unsafe behind the wheel, whether it’s a hard brake, if they’re on the cell phone, not wearing their seatbelt, those types of things,” says Director of Health and Safety John Andel. “When we went live with the system we were averaging about eight of those alerts per month through the first year.”

Since that time, the drop in safety alerts has been dramatic, particularly compared to the number of employees since that has increased during the same period. Four years after the implementation of the system, the company has “basically doubled the size of our workforce, and we’re averaging one to two [safety alerts] a month,” Andel says.

Management is not the only fan of this monitoring technology—employees have welcomed it as well. “Drivers have been very receptive to it,” Andel says. “We’ve taken a very hands-on coaching approach with it, trying to build and grow talent. It’s made us safer as a company. It’s also improved our retention as a company. We don’t have the manpower issues that a lot of companies in our industry have. We’re hiring due to growth, but we don’t have the turnover.”

Leck reiterates the effectiveness of using technology as a teaching tool to support employees. “We decided that we were going to use the onboard cameras as a way to make best-in-class operator drivers. We used it, instead of as a disciplinary tool, as a way to actively coach for better driving habits. That doesn’t mean that people don’t make mistakes. But we looked at it as, if we recognize what the mistake is, how can we use that information to coach our drivers and our employees to not continue to make those kinds of mistakes and to improve what they’re doing?”

The price of insurance has become a substantial challenge in the industry and Leck Waste Services is using technology and captive insurance to reduce the burden. “It is a hard insurance market,” Leck says. “They’re seeing premiums rise 20 to 25 percent year-over-year. We’re seeing less than half of that increase with National Interstate Wastecap because we were able to drive safety as one of our core values and culture here at Leck. It really just transformed how [we operate].”

This coaching and increased safety has led to substantial cost savings for the company. “There’s a direct correlation between how we performed and money coming back,” says Leck. “At the end of the day, we could be looking at a couple hundred thousand dollars’ worth of premiums that are coming back to the company in order to allow the company to grow, and that’s all directly related to the technology that we invested in.”

In May of 2021, Leck Waste Services acquired a transfer station, the first step in meeting goals. “The main focus is going to be post-collection growth,” Leck says. “We’ve always been a collections company and the first piece of the post-collection growth strategically for the company was to acquire a transfer station.”

Currently, Leck Waste Services is in the process of modifying the newly-acquired transfer station to increase tonnage. Jumping through the hoops for permit renewal in 2024 is the current emphasis, but “ultimately, down the road, we’d like to be able to have some sort of recycling MRF facility to be able to process all of [the additional waste] that we’re expecting,” Leck says. An MRF or materials recovery facility collects and separates recyclable materials and prepares them to be sent to manufacturers that use recycled materials in their production.

The new transfer station has expanded the company’s potential for additional waste services. “Up to this point, we were mainly a solid-waste collections company, and through our acquisition that we did last year of the transfer station, we now have taken on more liquid waste hauling, septic and portable toilets, and that side of the business,” Leck says. “And I do foresee that, in the future, that would be something that we are looking to scale up in operations because it’s a lucrative business if it’s operated properly.” He predicts the potential to be “double-digit growth on that side of the business.”

Armed with the latest technology—and applying its potential to the fullest—the company is positioned for future success. Add to this, an acquisition with plenty of growth potential, as well as a strong track record as a family-owned and operated business, and it is clear that Leck Waste Services has a bright future ahead.

The post Driven by Technology<p class="company">Leck Waste Services</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

“We know the community; we know the people; we know the businesses; we know the metro city mayors and have mutually beneficial relationships with them,” says Echo Tech President Robert (Bobby) Lee. “Growing partnerships we have garnered over the years has given Ecotech the opportunity to grow with the community and to provide a benefit to all that use our services.”

Because the owners were born and raised in the area, they have formed a company culture “of wanting to help others and to solve issues that occur within the solid waste, recycling, and disposal industry for the region,” Lee adds. “We have a pride and the ability to make Louisville and Southern Indiana a great place to reside, being that we have grown up here.”

Service is another particularly important aspect that sets the company apart. “When a customer calls, they get a live person that knows the area and our services and can better answer their needs,” Lee says. “The Ecotech employee wants to help the customer and will do whatever it takes to get the solution, even if it requires getting other team members involved. Senior management is always available to help, no matter the customer, no matter the circumstances.”

To ensure service remains top-notch in every circumstance, the team strives to meet the inevitable challenges that come with running a business. “Challenges develop daily,” Lee says. “The difference between Ecotech and others is that when mistakes happen, we fix them in a timely manner and ensure that the mistake does not happen again. Quality service is what we strive for with every customer, no matter the size.”

Creative problem solving is another differentiating factor. “Ecotech can think outside the box and do more for our customers,” Lee says. “Yes, we specialize in solid waste and recycling, but when a customer needs more and doesn’t have a clue what to do, we will go out of our way to find them the proper help or will do the job ourselves. From operating heavy equipment to helping with a project to paper shredding for local cities, we try to be the one-stop-shop for everyone. We provide solutions for all that we can handle.”

Another defining feature of Echo Tech is the team’s commitment to philanthropic endeavors. “One of Ecotech’s missions from inception was to give back, be it through donations, community work, or hosting events for those in need,” Lee says. “Having the opportunity and the ability to help those in need has been a focus for all Ecotech employees and shows in everything we do.”

For example, in 2012, Henryville, Indiana was hit hard by a devastating tornado. “Many lives were changed, and many homes were destroyed,” Lee says. “Ecotech was one of the main providers for helping with the cleanup and helping others get their lives back. Many of the Ecotech employees volunteered and worked thirty days straight to provide some comfort to those in need in the area. We were involved in cleaning and disposing of the debris, helping residents sort through the rubble to salvage personal items they could, and doing whatever it took to help bring some hope from the tragedies the tornado brought about.”

After supporting the Henryville tornado victims, the company launched the 10,000 Trees initiative to help restore the local foliage and beautify the area. The team pledged to plant 10,000 trees in ten years, starting in Henryville. Since then, they have planted trees in nearly every community throughout the Louisville and Southern Indiana region, with a total of 8,900 trees planted so far. The plan is to reach 10,000 trees by 2023.

Lee has special needs family members, which inspired him to support the special needs community since Echo Tech was founded. This commitment began with donating and supporting the Special Olympics and Dreams with Wings. Four years ago, his grandson Trystan was diagnosed with Autism, and the team decided to take their efforts a step further to “spread awareness of all special needs individuals,” Lee remembers.

“Ecotech has become ‘the puzzle piece’ company. We have branded our trucks with the Autism puzzle pieces to help spread the message that special needs individuals and individuals on the spectrum are just like everyone else. Supporting and helping the families with these individuals should be supported by all.”

Currently, ten Ecotech employees have special needs family members. “We have incorporated those families in the events we host and participate in to not only help them but let them be a part of the special needs community and to provide them with resources to help their families when needed,” Lee says.

For the past two years, Ecotech has hosted a sensory-friendly meet-and-greet with Santa Claus in partnership with the local non-profits Barren Heights and Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT). When the pandemic hit, the team set up a drive-through bay in the truck shop with lights and decorations, so children could get their picture taken with Santa Claus and tell him what they wanted for Christmas from the safety of their vehicle.

Last year, the team was able to set aside a room where children and their families could take all the time they needed to have a one-on-one meet and greet with Santa Claus without the stress of a crowd. They also created an elf workshop where participants could make crafts, play games, enjoy a snack, and celebrate the holidays with other special needs families.

In 2021, the event welcomed 135 children, and the team is eager to expand the celebration this year. “We invite all, not just special needs, to be a part of the meet and greet and to volunteer their time to help make it a special time for all children,” Lee adds.

In 2021, Ecotech won FEAT’s Autism Friendly Business of the Year award. “What this means is that our company has been set up to employ and help those with special needs work at our company,” Lee explains. “Having a sensory-friendly room as well as accommodating their needs is part of becoming an autism-friendly workplace.”

Three years ago, it launched a program where employees could voluntarily donate $1.00 or more from their weekly paycheck. “Each quarter, we choose a foundation or a cause to donate to,” Lee says. Ecotech matches the amount donated from employee paychecks during that time.

Each quarter’s recipient can vary greatly, depending on current needs. For instance, during the pandemic, the company purchased 600 meals for front-line workers at a local hospital “that were a major support and help during the COVID crisis.” Ecotech has also used employee donations to help build an accessible park for special needs kids in Georgetown Indiana. In addition, it has been FEAT’s 5K Run for Autism’s premier sponsor for two years.

Ecotech has exciting plans for the future. With the rising price of fuel as a driving motivation, the company is currently in the process of implementing a compressed natural gas (CNG) station at its shop, which will be able to fill up to seventy-five trucks. “The CNG station will not only help us with our fuel cost but will also help reduce our carbon footprint,” Lee says. The team expects to complete the station by the fourth quarter of 2022. Ecotech currently boasts twenty-five CNG trucks and plans to convert all front load and residential trucks to CNG.

Despite recent challenges from the pandemic and the ongoing worker shortage, Ecotech continues to grow and thrive. “Ecotech has obtained double-digit growth every year for the past six years,” Lee says. “Though 2022 has been a little slower due to the economic crisis, we have positioned ourselves with the proper equipment and employees to grow each line of business and support our customers and community for many years to come.”

The owners are set on keeping that commitment to the local community, despite potentially lucrative opportunities to sell. “With all the mergers and acquisitions in the market, many have asked us if we plan to sell,” Lee says. “No, we do not. In 2023, Ecotech will be in business for twenty-five years, and we plan to be in business for at least twenty-five more. Through relationships, strong leadership, proper planning, and hard work, Ecotech has positioned itself to be a leader in the market and has the capability of future expansion. Ecotech has a reputation of a strong, hardworking, caring local company that many are attracted to. We plan on continuing this reputation.”

The post A Company That Cares<p class="company">Ecotech</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Co-founder Sascha Deri has deep roots in the industry, going back to 1999 when he launched his first renewable energy company. “They started with this vision of helping people go forward with renewable energy even though it was pretty tough to do at the time,” Galasso says of Deri and his business partners. KiloVault and its products “have really grown out of that experience, knowing what’s really required to make a reliable and flexible system in these environments.”

The minds behind KiloVault “saw a gap in the market between the products that were available,” Galasso says. “You had offerings at the high end that had a lot of features and you had products that were sort of at the low end of the market with few features and reliability concerns, and so we wanted to come up with a product line that was meeting in the middle, offering the latest features and functions at a competitive price that more and more people would be able to afford. That’s really what we were aiming for, what we’ve continued to deliver on.”

The underlying motivation is to make a positive difference in the world. “We are looking to help consumers and companies move forward managing their own power needs, helping them transition to renewable energy,” Galasso says. “We really see it as our fundamental, underlying vision to help all sectors of the market leverage renewable energy—and one of the key elements is providing reliable and affordable energy storage.”

The intermittent nature of renewable energy requires reliable storage solutions. The sun only shines for so many hours a day and the wind does not always blow. “You want to be able to bridge the gap between those time periods with energy storage,” Galasso says. “And that is true on the grid scale, but it’s also just as true on the residential or the individual company scale, where you can save significant money by having your own electrical production capability.”

For example, businesses in the United States’ commercial and industrial sectors will typically pay a demand charge based on their peak use of electricity within a given month. “That’s so the utility can scale and ensure that they can provide power at that level throughout that period,” Galasso explains. “But what it means to the company, the consumer of electricity, is that the highest level that you hit during the month is sort of a penalty you are going to pay for the rest of that month. And so what you’d really like to do is lower that peak and round out your energy needs. Energy storage can help you do that by producing power through solar and then leveraging it at those peak times.” The result can be significant cost savings each month.

Additionally, renewable energy storage can be indispensable when primary power sources are unreliable—a situation that has been occurring more frequently in North America. “With wildfires in different parts of the U.S. and Canada disrupting power lines… in California, in particular, we’re anticipating rolling blackouts again, potentially during the fire season this year,” Galasso says. “And so that creates a need for companies, community members, and residential facilities to have access to power during those disruptions.”

In addition to wildfires, freezing temperatures have caused a tragic loss of power in recent years. “There were tremendous disruptions due to the cold snaps that put out both distribution and production for large parts of Texas,” Galasso points out. “These disruptions are unfortunately becoming more frequent, even in the United States and Canada. And then if we look at other locations like Puerto Rico, the grid there has had historic instability problems and that’s driving a lot of need at all levels for more consistent and reliable power.”

All of these examples are only “the tip of the iceberg because as we look more broadly throughout the Americas, there are a lot of areas where there’s instability in the grid and with the availability of electric power to businesses and residences.” Galasso says that it is difficult to see a solution for these infrastructure issues at the national level, but that individual renewable energy storage is a realistic answer to the systemic problem. He likens this approach to the telecommunications transformation that came when cell phones were introduced to underdeveloped nations and countless people who did not have access to landlines were suddenly able to connect through wireless technology.

“In a large way, community solar and other more distributed production can have an impact in those same kinds of markets by allowing communities that have limited or no access to electricity today to get more reliable power for their everyday needs through micro grids and other technologies that are really quite practical these days—and also very dependent on the need for energy storage to make those be practical,” Galasso says.

KiloVault products are designed to provide the solution people need, from remote locations in the developing world to the most technologically advanced cities. The company’s very first products set a precedent with their safe lithium technology. “We use lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) as our base technology, which avoids the thermal runaway conditions that can happen with some of the other, more exotic combinations of lithium and precious metals,” Galasso says. “And it’s been proven to be very reliable for home use and even large-scale energy storage needs.”

Last year, KiloVault introduced the newest version of its HLX+ Series, a 12V battery with expanded communications capabilities and the ability to operate in lower temperatures using a built-in heater. This technology “allows it to adapt to the environment,” making the HLX+ series ideal for colder climates. The team is also adding accessories for easier mounting and convenient monitoring of the batteries.

One of the company’s most popular products is the larger capacity HAB battery, which was introduced nearly four years ago and is designed for residential and light industrial and commercial use. “It’s been very successful for us getting into many new markets,” Galasso says. “Our customers really like the fact that it comes with built-in features like mobile apps and a cloud service that keeps your firmware up to date and allows you to do remote monitoring. We also allow it to integrate with popular inverters.”

KiloVault products are compatible with inverters and charge controllers from Schneider Electric, Sol-Ark, MidNite Solar, OutBack Power, Victron Energy and other leading suppliers. An inverter is an electrical component that is used to take the stored energy in the battery and convert it to AC energy for use in homes and businesses. “We meet the various UL standards and CSA standards for electrical compatibility,” Galasso says.

Currently, the KiloVault HAB is available as a single unit of 7.5 kilowatt-hours or a dual unit of 15 kilowatt-hours. “But it’s also expandable to up to 105 kilowatt-hours with fourteen units being used in parallel,” says Galasso.

With so many technological advancements already under the company’s belt, one can only guess what is on the horizon for KiloVault. One thing is for sure: the team will continue their mission of delivering innovative and affordable energy storage solutions throughout the world to those who need them most.

The post Transformative Energy Solutions<p class="company">KiloVault</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

In November 2021, Resource in Focus profiled the association’s efforts to lead the industry through the global pandemic. Six months later, the organization continues to navigate the challenges COVID has brought while simultaneously dealing with ongoing, industry-specific issues.

The workforce shortage remains a major concern. “The solid waste industry is experiencing a significant worker shortage, due to the confluence of a number of factors,” says Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer David Biderman. “First, the pandemic has meant that during each of the surges, including the Omicron variant in December 2021 into February 2022, an elevated percentage of workers were either sick or quarantining because someone in their family or household has the coronavirus. Second, some industry workers, particularly drivers and helpers involved in collection, have moved to other industries that offer higher wages. Third, there was a driver shortage even before the pandemic,” he explains.

“The industry has had to make operational changes in some places in response to the worker shortage,” he continues. “Trash and recycling collection was delayed in January 2022 in many communities. Fortunately, as the Omicron surge has receded, those delays have largely ended.” However, collection is still not back to normal in all places. “Some communities have reduced the frequency of recycling collection from weekly to every other week,” he reports. “Some communities have suspended curbside collection of recyclables or yard waste, hopefully temporarily.”

The association is actively working to help overcome the challenge. “As the worker shortage has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, SWANA has shared best practices being used by waste companies and local governments to recruit and retain workers, including raising wages, paying recruitment and retention bonuses, targeting veterans, using social media to reach younger prospects, and highlighting the benefits of working in the solid waste industry,” Biderman says.

Most recently, SWANA’s March 2022 SOAR conference (named for sustainability, operation, action, resources) in Kansas City featured a session on recruitment and retention strategies for solid waste and recycling. In addition, the association has produced multiple reports on the worker shortage. In early 2020, SWANA’s Applied Research Foundation (ARF) issued a report highlighting innovative methods that communities are using to recruit and retain drivers, with a focus on the City of Phoenix’s efforts to attract female drivers.

In May 2021, SWANA published a report on the labor shortage, and then issued a warning in December 2021 regarding the delays caused by the Omicron surge combined with the increase in waste from the holiday season. This year, the association has been featured in several national-level media stories on the impact of the Omicron variant on the waste industry.

Another top SWANA priority is promoting safety throughout the industry. “One of the biggest challenges facing the waste industry is safety and, specifically, fatal incidents involving the industry’s workers,” Biderman says. “Collecting solid waste is currently considered the sixth-most-dangerous occupation in the U.S. by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historically, nearly every week, a solid waste worker, often in collection, is killed on the job. Earlier this week (March 23), a private-sector collection employee in Florida died when the truck he was riding in overturned. Earlier this month (March 1), in a similar incident in Kansas City, the turning over of a truck caused a fire and two collection employees were killed.”

“SWANA has greatly expanded its safety program over the past five years, adding a variety of new resources and initiatives to provide training and information to workers in the industry,” he says. Perhaps most notably, the association boasts a chapter-based Safety Ambassadors program with a safety position in each of the organization’s forty-seven chapters, located throughout the United States and Canada. Some chapters even have multiple safety ambassadors.

“SWANA communicates frequently with its Safety Ambassadors who share information about chapter-led safety efforts, data, and upcoming events,” Biderman says. In addition, the association offers a new weekly safety newsletter, free safety posters, and ‘Slow Down to Get Around’ truck stickers.

A hauler outreach program provides safety information to waste collection crews when they arrive at landfills and other waste disposal facilities. This commitment to safety will continue long term; the issue is expected to be a core part of the strategic plan to be released in June 2022.

The safe disposal of PFAS chemicals is another key issue in which the association continues to be actively involved. It commented on a draft Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report a few years ago and, more recently, a SWANA committee led by Ivan Cooper guided the organization’s technical response to the National PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which the EPA announced in fall 2021.

“Although SWANA and its members agree that PFAS needs to be regulated and discharges reduced, there is widespread concern that EPA’s regulations may have unintended consequences for many communities’ solid waste programs,” Biderman summarizes.

“Landfills did not manufacture PFAS nor did they use them in consumer products such as clothing, cosmetics, or kitchenware [such as] Teflon. Landfills—and waste-to-energy facilities—are passive receivers of waste materials that contain PFAS. During the decomposition of waste at a landfill, leachate is generated, and it contains PFAS, which typically is sent to a local wastewater treatment facility (WWTF). Some of these facilities have begun to prohibit or restrict their intake of leachate due to public health concerns or impending regulations. This has the potential to increase operational costs for landfills as the number of outlets for leachate decreases and/or landfills are forced to install expensive PFAS treatment systems to handle the sixteen billion gallons of leachate they generate annually.”

The EPA is expected to issue a proposed regulation later this year as part of the agency’s Strategic Roadmap that will designate two PFAS compounds as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund program. “SWANA and other waste management stakeholders have met with the EPA and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to express concerns about the application of these proposals to landfills,” Biderman says.

“Specifically, if leachate from landfills contains a listed hazardous substance which creates Superfund liability, WWTFs are very unlikely to accept it, and past discharges by WWTFs of treated wastewater could create costly Superfund liability for landfills. This liability would likely be passed along to customers in the form of higher disposal costs. SWANA is educating federal policymakers and others about the potential for communities throughout the United States being forced to pay substantially higher waste disposal costs if the soon-to-be proposed Superfund regulation includes landfills.”

The association is eager to keep guiding the industry through these challenges and more. “SWANA intends to continue to be an industry leader,” Biderman says. “As the only national association in the United States and Canada that is coast-to-coast and includes members from both the public sector—cities and counties—and the private sector—haulers, landfills, recycling—SWANA plays a critical role in shaping the industry’s future.”

He explains that, “SWANA will continue to educate the industry, advocate for it in the media and in Washington, D.C., and provide safety resources and information to help get the industry off the list of the ten most dangerous occupations in the United States. Data released by SWANA in March 2022 suggests that SWANA’s efforts in this area may be paying off, as there was a 45 percent decline in solid waste industry worker fatalities in 2021 compared to 2020. At the same time, more work needs to be done in this area to ensure this was not a one-year blip.”

In addition, the association plans to become a ‘climate change champion,’ incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into its operations and activities, and help make the waste industry a more attractive place to work.

“The solid waste industry is a terrific and important industry, and the pandemic has proven that it is essential as well,” Biderman summarizes. “Industry leaders need to continue to innovate, be responsive to customer needs and regulatory trends while providing cost-effective and environmentally protective services.”

This will not be easy, but the goal is within reach—especially with industry-wide support. “We have a lot on our plate and invite solid waste industry personnel throughout the United States and Canada to join SWANA and engage with our chapters and technical divisions,” Biderman says. “Together, we can shape the future of this great industry.”

The post Overcoming Challenges in the Solid Waste Industry<p class="company">Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

Armed with little more than a cattle truck and the determination to provide for his wife and three children, Abe began going door to door, asking if he could empty people’s trash. At first he wasn’t even sure what to charge, offering to provide the service for whatever customers wanted to pay.

At that time, 95 percent of the local population burned their own trash, often producing heavy smoke that hung over Omaha neighborhoods. Abe hauled trash to his farm, where he burned it in a below-ground silo, sparing his customers the smoke. The difference in local air quality was immediately tangible and demand for his service grew quickly. Abe set up a fee schedule, charging just $1.00 for monthly service and $2.00 for weekly service and collected 50-gallon drums from local factories for his customers to use. To help get the company off the ground, Abe’s wife, Arlene, worked with him to unload trash. Their son, John, came home from college every weekend to drive routes, until he eventually decided to make trash collection his fulltime focus.

Fast-forward nearly seventy years and Abe’s humble startup has grown to become one of the biggest recyclers in Nebraska. Still family-owned and operated, the company will pass from John Christensen to his four children when he retires in the near future. “They all went to college and graduated and they all came back to work for me,” Christensen says. Now his children and their spouses all run the company together, successfully taking Abe’s Trash Service into the third generation. “They take perfect care of the business.”

Indeed, the close-knit family atmosphere is foundational to the company culture. “It’s absolutely perfect working with family members every day,” Christensen says. “I see my kids every day. I see my son-in-law and my daughters-in-law every day. My grandkids I see three or four times a week because it’s all family-owned. Being a family business [is] just absolutely positive.”

The family’s collective commitment has been key to the company’s long-term success. “I think the management team is very important,” Christensen says. “Me and my three sons—I have three sons and a daughter—we actually go out and work on the trucks and change tires and even me, at seventy years old, I still go out and drive a roll off truck quite often, at least three or four days a week. I’ll go do a stop here or a stop there.”

In addition to ensuring that the business is operating smoothly, this hands-on-approach is great for morale. “The people that work for you, they like being out with the boss and [that] the boss does the same thing they do.” In fact, the company culture is so positive and morale so high that the first employee Christensen ever hired stayed with the company all the way through to retirement—then returned after four months. “He’s back working full time for us.”

The commitment to day-to-day operations certainly makes the Christensen family stand out. “Most people in my position don’t drive a truck or go work in their shop,” Christensen points out. But the founder’s can-do attitude still runs strong all the way through to the third generation of Christensens. “My three boys, we all do everything—whatever needs to be done.”

Understandably, the company’s greatest challenge came with the pandemic. “Probably, in all these years I picked up trash, it was the worst time,” Christensen says. “Because all the smaller restaurants, all the small shops, all the small bars, all the commercial accounts, unless they were in a big shopping mall or something, they just discontinued service because they had to close their doors… People were calling up and just quitting. And then we told them, ‘don’t quit. We’ll put you on vacation, because I hope everybody gets opened up sometime soon and I’d like to be your trash service again.’ It’s pretty amazing how many people discontinued services.”

Residential demand picked up, but only in volume, not in profit. “The residential tonnage went up because everybody was staying home all day,” Christensen recalls. This increased demand created additional strain on the business, particularly when COVID infections swept through the company despite the team’s precautions. “We tried being really careful with our company,” Christensen says. “We didn’t let the drivers in the office [and we] kept everybody separated, but we still got it. There were a couple of times we had five or six people out at a time because of COVID.”

Employees and Christensen family members who stayed well rallied together to get the job done each day. “Everybody just put in a lot more hours. My kids went out and did routes. I can honestly tell you that not one time were we a day late. We just stayed out and made sure everything got done.”

Certainly, the industry has transformed since the 1950s, when Abe Christensen first peddled his trash hauling services door to door. “There have been a lot of changes in trash hauling from when I started,” Christensen remembers. “When I started, I picked up trash and I dumped it in a field and I burned it, which is highly illegal now, and that’s what my dad did too.” Now sustainability is at the forefront of the company, particularly a commitment to divert waste from landfill.

For instance, Abe’s Trash Service recently signed an account with a large, national company whose trash had been going straight to landfill. “They switched over to us and we spread it all out on farm ground—our farm ground and neighboring farm ground—it’s probably about 60 to 70 tons every day.” There are a number of trace chemicals in the waste including lime, phosphate, potash, potassium, and zinc. “It’s good for the farm ground,” Christensen explains.

The material comes from green waste construction, a concept that strives to reuse or recycle as much construction material as possible rather than sending it to landfill. “All that wood is usually thrown into a dumpster and drywall and concrete and things like that as well,” Christensen explains. “The wood and the drywall, we grind that with our residential yard waste and commercial yard waste and compost it. And then we spread it out on farm ground. It makes excellent compost.”

In order to remain at the leading edge of the industry, the family works hard to keep up with the latest developments on everything from sustainability to new technology. “We keep up to date on all the new activities going on in recycling and trash hauling,” Christensen says. The team is already planning their annual trip to this year’s Solid Waste Convention, where they stay abreast of current trends and changing regulations. “You learn all the new things that are happening and see the new equipment out there,” Christensen says.

This willingness to embrace change—while holding fast to the work ethic that built the company—is sure to keep Abe’s Trash Service running successfully into the third generation and beyond.

The post A Family Success Story<p class="company">Abe’s Trash Service</p> appeared first on Resource In Focus.

The industry faced tremendous pressure during the global pandemic, and SWANA has been there to support members through the tough times. “SWANA and the industry have overcome a lot of adversity over these last eighteen months,” says SWANA Applied Research Director Jeremy O’Brien. Residential waste spiked by twenty percent at the onset of the quarantine, and commercial waste plummeted, as people stayed home from work.

The industry had to navigate the shifting landscape while meeting the challenges of operating safely to reduce the spread of the virus and coping with a high number of COVID-related employee absences. “That’s created some delays in the collection of waste in certain areas and some concern, especially the residential sector,” O’Brien says. “They are used to having their waste picked up on a regular and efficient basis, so this is a new thing for them. But, I think through all of this society, in general, has really begun to recognize how important and essential solid waste management is as a public service and how much they depend on it. It’s just one of those things where, I guess [like the singer] Joni Mitchell said, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.’”

Now, the public has developed “a renewed appreciation for good solid waste management systems and services, and we appreciate that as an industry, especially our workers because their work is hard and often overlooked and underappreciated.”

An ongoing focus for SWANA is waste-to-energy (WTE), the thermal treatment of solid waste that produces baseload electricity and/or steam. WTE is “universally ranked above landfill disposal in every waste hierarchy,” O’Brien reports. He explains that the technology is commercially proven and reliable for a community’s non-recycled residual waste and that “many WTE facilities in the U.S. have been operating reliably, safely, and consistently for over forty years.”

WTE reduces the volume to be landfilled by a whopping ninety percent. The residue, or ash, is stable, inert waste and does not generate methane or create acidic conditions—which can cause serious problems for the environment. And, WTE goes a step further to eliminate harmful substances. The thermal process destroys pathogens, pharmaceuticals, and hazardous chemicals that remain in waste disposed of through traditional methods.

One substance that does remain in the residue is metal and aggregates, which can then be recovered and reused. “More metals are recovered than from source separation recycling programs,” O’Brien reports. WTE also enables recovering the energy value of discarded waste products, conserving fossil fuels.

However, there is opposition to WTE throughout North America, particularly over concerns that thermal treatment harms the environment and public health. O’Brien explains that SWANA is focused on “overcoming the negative public perception of WTE,” and is working hard to win over environmental groups through education. He points out that, according to the EPA, WTE “generates electricity cleaner than coal and almost any other source,” and that “WTE emissions are 70 percent below MACT standards.” O’Brien also shares that, in 2007, the National Research Council found “no association between human health impacts and the operation of WTE facilities. Health benefits may outweigh health risks.”

Over 96 percent of residual waste in Europe is diverted through WTE, but there are some key challenges to implementing the method in North America. In addition to environmental concerns, there is the fact that setting up a facility is “significantly more expensive than landfilling,” O’Brien says. “[It] requires large upfront capital cost investment.” Another problem is that the energy sold by these high-cost WTE facilities is bringing lower prices due to competition from low-priced natural gas recovered by fracking.

There is also the concern that low-income populations might be negatively affected by any new WTE facilities. In the past, people with more privilege typically pushed these sites out of their neighborhoods into the backyards of the underprivileged. “Siting of new facilities is always difficult, but will be more so due to the need to address environmental justice concerns,” O’Brien says.

SWANA’s role in promoting WTE begins with educating local government policymakers, solid waste managers, and the general public about the benefits of thermal treating solid waste before its disposal in landfills. The organization also provides performance and cost data on other residual waste management options—such as mechanical-biological treatment and sending untreated waste directly to landfills—so that communities can choose the best option for them. It conducts and publishes applied research on all waste management options to ensure members and the public has access to reliable data and analysis.

O’Brien predicts low growth in WTE facilities over the next decade due to the relatively low cost of landfill disposal and low energy prices coupled with the high cost of building new WTE facilities. “Most activity will center around the replacement or rehab of the seventy-plus existing WTE facilities which are reaching the end of their service lives.” But, he believes there will be “renewed interest in WTE/thermal treatment over the long term as the drawbacks of other options—long haul disposal, mechanical biological treatment—become more documented and recognized.”

Protecting public health from a group of manufactured chemicals known by the acronym PFAS is another important SWANA initiative. PFAS are found in a wide variety of products from antilock brake systems and firefighting foam to nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpet. These highly durable chemicals have incredibly strong bonds that do not break down easily, so they remain in the environment. “It is showing up in our drinking water, and pretty much every human on the planet has a little bit in their bloodstream because it’s so ubiquitous,” O’Brien says.

The issue has been given a considerable amount of attention at both the state and federal levels, and Congress has passed the PFAS Action Act requiring the EPA to designate these chemicals as hazardous within one year. SWANA is issuing two reports on PFAS in WTE emissions and landfill leachate this year to keep the industry abreast of the issue.

Another notable SWANA report that came out this year promoted opportunities for women in the industry. “We produced a report on the need for women to get involved in solid waste collection, how it could be a good option for them,” O’Brien says. The report highlights a couple of communities that are making a special effort to promote woman drivers—an effort worth recognizing in an industry in which fewer than three percent of drivers are women.

In yet another initiative, SWANA helps the solid waste industry in other regions of the world to overcome challenges. “We have an interest in helping developing nations modernize systems, and we have a focus in Latin America,” O’Brien says. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve received a grant to aid Colombian solid waste managers in developing their systems, and we developed a course on landfilling for them and also brought them over to the U.S. to tour some of our facilities.”

Another SWANA initiative is to improve safety throughout the industry. “Safety is a big priority for us, and the pandemic has increased our focus on health and safety,” O’Brien says. A specific issue the organization is addressing involves lithium-ion batteries, which are used in a wide variety of commonly used items including smartphones, tablets, laptops, digital cameras, electronic cigarettes, power tools, and electric vehicles. “Unfortunately, some people put these batteries in their recycling bins and when they get to the materials recovery facility they hit the concrete on the tipping floor and they can tear open their packaging and it can cause a fire,” O’Brien says. “It’s a growing problem, so we’re trying to address that.”

SWANA is developing a new five-year plan this fall. Moving forward, the organization will help the industry become more sustainable and support its role in the circular economy. SWANA will also help the industry address new challenges such as food waste diversion, plastics recycling and litter management, extended producer responsibility initiatives, and materials recovery facility automation and robotics. The industry has overcome a lot in recent years and has many challenges yet to overcome, and SWANA is committed to leading the way through it all.

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