The Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA), Milwaukee, celebrated the 25^th anniversary of its meeting, C&D World, in Nashville Feb. 20-13 and announced strategic initiatives designed to guide its efforts to serve the C&D industry. The group also held a fundraiser for its issues and education fund.

During the meeting, Troy Lautenbach, CDRA president, announced the group has retained association management company Bostrom, with offices in Chicago and Washington, to manage the group’s activities. “The Bostrom team brings tremendous organizational, government affairs, events and resource management experience to the CDRA. By leveraging this experience CDRA will continue its growth and expand member services and value,” Lautenbach said during C&D World.

Bostrom has begun its work with the association and will be collaborating with the CDRA board of directors to update its strategic plan. This will lead to a range of initiatives focused on driving increased awareness of the societal value construction materials and demolition debris recycling brings to communities throughout North America and continued market development for reclaimed resources. Bostrom’s Mik Bauer will serve as account manager. In this role, he is the primary liaison for CDRA. Bauer brings more than 6 years of managing professional membership associations and nonprofit organizations.

During C&D World, the association also held its annual fundraiser. The event raised nearly $63,000 to be used to fund research, education and other initiatives aimed at advancing C&D recycling. The fund has been active since 2000, funding several research projects and outreach efforts supporting all facets of C&D recycling.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, has dismissed two civil rights complains filed against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) by Uniontown, Alabama, residents who claim that permitting the Arrowhead Landfill to operate near the city is a violation of Title VI and the Civil Rights Act, a report by AL.com says. Uniontown has a 90 percent African American population and an average per capita income of $9,000 per year.

Title VI and the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by entities that receive federal funding. The report says EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office announced in a letter dated March 1 there was insufficient evidence of discrimination by ADEM.

Conflict between the residents and landfill operators began when the landfill was permitted in 2005, the report says. In 2009, the conflicts became more intense after the landfill began accepting wet coal ash slurry from the Emory and Clinch Rivers in Tennessee after a coal ash spill and accepted more than 4 million tons of ash.

Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice was formed in 2005 to organize opposition to the landfill and the landfill owners sued the group for libel and slander in 2016, seeking $30 million in damages. The report says the lawsuit was withdrawn last year.

Uniontown residents also testified in 2016 before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the report says. The commission said the EPA’s Civil Rights Office has never made formal findings of discrimination.

In its letter, the EPA recommended that ADEM work with the community to promote understanding, the report says. “While not legally required, [EPA’s civil rights office] believes that ADEM could increase tis leadership role by bringing together the Arrowhead community, permittees, as well as other local government entities to share important information, ensure that its citizens and stakeholders understand roles, rights and responsibilities and address issues constructively,” the letter states.

Rotochopper, St. Martin, Minnesota, recently held its Rotochopper University training. Owners and operators gathered at Rotochopper’s manufacturing facility in St. Martin for the training the last two weeks of February. The customer service department hosts Rotochopper University annually for companies that have purchased Rotochopper grinders the past year.

The two-day class includes a manufacturing facility tour, equipment operation best practice training, a hands-on demonstration and plenty of networking opportunities allowing machine owners to learn from each other. This year the education focused on how to properly feed a grinder, how to perform preventative maintenance and how to troubleshoot. The hands-on demonstration showed attendees how to install B-Loc keyless bushings on a Rotochopper grinder.

Rotochopper offered two class options with nearly 70 students from 38 companies across the U.S. and Canada attending.

“The training as a whole was excellent. The real-life examples used are easy to relate to and provide valuable insight in our own operation. Spike and the customer service team did a great job of making the class fun and enjoyable yet very informational,” Andy Kosek, an attendee representing Creekside Soils, Hutchinson, Minnesota, says.

Rotochopper manufactures industrial wood waste grinding equipment including horizontal grinders and mobile baggers.

Pictured above: Emmie Leung, founder and CEO of Emterra Group

Emterra Group, a Burlington, Ontario-based company owned and operated by women, is using International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018, to celebrate recent minority business certifications the company’s divisions have received.

Emterra Environmental has been certified as a women’s business enterprise through WBE Canada. Additionally, Emterra Group divisions—Emterra Environmental, Emterra Tire Recycling and Canadian Liquids Processors—have qualified for certification as a minority business enterprise through CAMSC, the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council.

“In an industry traditionally dominated by men, it’s nice to be recognized for being a woman and a minority,” says Emmie Leung, founder and CEO of Emterra Group. “By adding these certifications to our organization’s resume, we are distinguishing ourselves from our competitors and showcasing the contributions we have made to Canada’s social fabric.”

(To read about a recent honor Leung received, click here.)

Emterra Group is a family-owned and operated international organization with four distinct divisions, 25 locations and more than 1,100 employees across Canada and in the U.S. state of Michigan.

To become certified as a women’s business enterprise through WBE Canada, Emterra Environmental participated in “a rigorous and stringent due diligence process to confirm that the business is owned and managed by women,” the company says. To achieve certification through CAMSC, Emterra’s Canadian divisions followed a similar process to confirm the business is owned and controlled by members of a minority group.

Along with these new certifications, Emterra also enjoys the benefits of having access to a pool of other certified enterprises, adding diversity to its supply chain.

Emterra Group is a leader in waste resources management in Canada. Its four divisions offer municipal and industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) customers a fully integrated approach to collecting, processing and marketing waste, recyclables, packaging and printed paper, organic waste, used tires and waste liquids. Emterra has operations in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and in the U.S. state of Michigan. The company annually ships approximately 500,000 metric tons of recyclables to end markets to be remanufactured into new products.