The grant was awarded under the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program, whose stated purpose is “to support the (EPA) administrator’s goal of a clean and healthy environment and clean air.”
“I’m committed to making Miami-Dade County a cleaner, greener community, and that includes looking for opportunities to become more energy efficient across county buildings and operations,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says. “This grant from the EPA is an important step forward to build a more sustainable Department of Solid Waste Management, reducing emissions and protecting our environment as we serve our neighborhoods.”
“We are very pleased with this award, which will enable us to continue living out our mission statement, which states, in part, that we will ‘provide our customers with exceptional waste collection and disposal … services that protect, preserve and improve our environment and the quality of life in our community,’” DSWM Director Michael Fernandez says.
The EPA grant will partially cover DSWM’s planned purchase of 23 automated side loader waste collection trucks and two truck tractors for hauling waste to its final disposal site.
The new vehicles should be delivered during the summer of 2022. After a brief training period with the new trucks for both drivers and mechanics, the vehicles will be placed into service.
“We’re looking forward to putting these new trucks into service as well as [having] cleaner air in Miami-Dade County,” Fernandez says.
The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, has convened a Pathway to Circularity Industry Council (Circularity Council) to assess what actions must take place to help the U.S. recycling system accept more packaging.
According to The Recycling Partnership, stakeholders from across the recycling industry have been calling for a transparent and inclusive process to assess packaging recyclability. The Recycling Partnership says it is responding to that call with the Circularity Council, which engages 35 senior industry leaders representing various material types, brands, government, material recovery facilities (MRFs), nongovernmental organizations, retailers and trade associations. The Recycling Partnership says the group will address the missing and needed detriments for recyclability of packaging, initiating national engagement around solutions for packaging recyclability.
“Packaging recyclability is critical to reaching a circular economy. Many companies are committed to delivering 100 percent recyclable packaging. Yet, the process to reach that goal has been unclear and at no point in the assessment of a package’s recyclability is the industry that is most impacted, consistently consulted,” says Sarah Dearman, vice president of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership. “The Recycling Partnership brought together this first-of-its-kind Circularity Council in 2020 to address this challenge through a clear, inclusive process to improve the U.S. residential recycling system—and we are already seeing progress.”
The Recycling Partnership says its Pathway to Circularity initiative defines five building blocks to help brands navigate current and future packaging and recycling system challenges. Those building blocks include: packaging fate, capture journey, design for circularity, package prevalence and MRF and community adoption.
“This is the beginning of a massive, system-changing concept, driving us toward a circular economy for all materials, but more stakeholder engagement is imperative for true industry adoption,” Dearman says. “The councilmembers’ leadership to help set the course is invaluable. We are eager to engage even more stakeholders throughout the value chain to collaborate on and scale these solutions.”
According to The Recycling Partnership, the Circularity Council recently aligned upon the first of several thresholds for determining a package’s recyclability. The threshold the council aligned on is for the MRF capture rate, defined as the percentage of packaging or material that enters the MRF and is subsequently captured in the correct bale or bunker to be sent to market. The Circularity Council determined that a new product’s packaging should not be considered recyclable unless the MRF capture rate is 90 percent.
The Recycling Partnership says it hopes that by setting “a high recommended threshold” will rejuvenate trust in the recycling system and ensure that residents can be confident that what they put in their bin is recycled and given a second life. The Recycling Partnership highlights more information on its Pathway to Circularity initiative online.
SWEO apprentice Lyon Marcheschi reading his route map during field training.
City of Phoenix
How the city of Phoenix has found success recruiting new drivers
Phoenix’s first-of-its-kind apprenticeship program has helped attract and retain new collection drivers.
As part of the report, the association shared statistics from the American Trucking Association (ATA) that showed the shortage of over-the-road (OTR) truck drivers in the U.S. was at its highest level in 15 years. The effects of this driver shortage have rippled through the waste industry and manifested in a lack of qualified collection drivers applying for both municipal and private hauler jobs.
SWEO apprentice Anna Aponte getting instruction from a trainer during field training.
SWANA cites an increased demand for trucking services, an aging workforce, low wages, low participation by women, tightening of commercial driver’s license (CDL) eligibility requirements, the stigma of working in the trash hauling industry, and occupational dangers as the primary factors contributing to this driver shortage.
Faced with similar challenges limiting its incoming workforce, the city of Phoenix devised its Solid Waste Equipment Operator (SWEO) Apprenticeship Program in 2017 aimed at recruiting underrepresented demographics in the waste space such as women and younger workers to become drivers.
According to Felipe Moreno, deputy director of the Phoenix Public Works Department, there used to be a surplus of qualified candidates applying for the city’s waste collection openings, but that changed in recent years.
“There was a time when everybody wanted to come to Phoenix if you worked in the municipal world because we’re a great employer, we have great benefits, the pension and pay was good, but then pension reform happened and that kind of changed the game a little bit because there was more contribution [to the pension],” Moreno says. “So, you have a lot of our younger drivers that are coming in that are more focused on that take-home pay versus total compensation. We still are very competitive regarding total compensation, but for people who just want that paycheck, it was a challenge. Between that and the CDL market getting really hot, we developed the SWEO Apprenticeship Program. That was really focused on us saying, ‘Instead of trying to compete with all the seasoned operators out there, let’s invest in ourselves and our workforce.’”
"Just because women might not be recruited to this industry very often, doesn’t mean they’re not interested. They probably just don’t feel like it’s for them because there’s not a lot of outreach their way.” –Felipe Moreno, deputy director of the Phoenix Public Works Department
According to the city, the SWEO Apprenticeship Program is the first of its kind in the U.S. Through the program, candidates receive on-the-job training and instruction needed to secure a Class A CDL license through a year-long, 2,000-hour program. At the completion of the program, participants can become full-time collection drivers for the city.
To promote the program and its benefits, Moreno says the city hosts “info nights” featuring program graduates and instructors where interested parties can come learn and ask questions about the program and a career in waste.
Those who attend one of these info nights are given priority among other candidates who may submit an application for the SWEO program via the city’s website.
Because no experience is required to enter the apprenticeship program, Moreno says candidates are vetted based on attitude.
“One of the things we’re looking to focus on is finding the people with the right attitude and work ethic, more than how many years somebody has been driving a truck because you could have 20 years of bad habits behind the wheel. Through the program, we get to mold and teach people [our] way and they can grow into the company and the organization,” he says.
Beyond the right attitude and work ethic, which the city vets through a series of interviews, Moreno says the Public Works Department looks to diversify potential candidates through its outreach efforts. One underrepresented demographic the city strives to connect with is women.
SWANA’s 2020 report estimates that about 1,000 women are employed in waste and recyclables collection, which equates to about 1 percent of the 116,000 sanitation workers in the U.S. By reaching out to women’s groups and nonprofits, Moreno says the city has been able to generate interest in the program.
He says that there were three women employed in the city as drivers before the apprenticeship program was devised. Today, the city has quadrupled that number.
“Just because women might not be recruited to this industry very often, doesn’t mean they’re not interested,” Moreno says. “They probably just don’t feel like it’s for them because there’s not a lot of outreach their way. So, we’ve made the extra effort to try to reach out to women just to make sure they understand that we’re recruiting, we’d love for them to come out and learn about the job, and we can teach them to be drivers. … I think what’s happened now is as we’ve seen women come through the program and be successful, they’re becoming our own advertisement because when you start seeing a woman on the road driving the truck, [I think women in the community start to think], ‘Oh, I want to do that.’”
Through additional outreach via social media posts, flyers and participation in job fairs, the city also works to attract younger candidates who might not be interested in college or the military by espousing the benefits of learning a trade and joining the workforce.
What it’s all about
After assessing and interviewing the SWEO program applicants, the city works to narrow down who gets accepted.
Moreno says the class size usually is composed of around three or four individuals based on the department’s budget and availability of trainers.
“We want to make sure we’re not watering down the program and having too many people with our dedicated resources,” Moreno says. “We have to make sure they get the quality instruction they need to be successful.”
"I think if you ask our apprentices, they’ll tell you the program has given them a real career. You can come right out of high school and get a job with a great pension and Cadillac benefits.” –Felipe Moreno, deputy director of the Phoenix Public Works Department
Once an apprentice is selected for the program, the first couple of months are spent on policy and procedure instruction. The next phase of the program entails studying for, and obtaining, a CDL permit. After an apprentice receives their permit, they work towards receiving their CDL license. Apprentices with a CDL license are then trained on waste truck operation and maneuverability on the city’s closed driving course before moving on to driving training routes on the street with a trainer and, ultimately, on their own. In this last phase, drivers are still supervised by the city as they slowly transition to have more independence before graduating into full-time roles.
For those who complete the program and join the city’s Public Works Department, Moreno says there are clear benefits. Unlike over-the-road drivers working in other industries, Phoenix’s waste collection drivers have a routine schedule that allows them to be off on nights and most weekends. The city’s automated trucks also make collection safer and less strenuous than what is possible in cities where manual hauling is the norm. However, perhaps the biggest draw of joining the city’s workforce is the possibility of securing a stable job and becoming an essential part of the Phoenix community, Moreno says.
“I think if you ask our apprentices, they’ll tell you the program has given them a real career. You can come right out of high school and get a job with a great pension and Cadillac benefits,” he says. “But beyond that, you have a job where you can grow and develop. We don’t expect those who have been through the program to necessarily drive a truck forever—give us a few years and then move on and grow in the organization—it’s a huge place. So, I think people start to see those possibilities that maybe they didn’t know about before.”
To date, Moreno says 13 of the 15 apprentices who have entered the program have graduated. Eleven of these graduates are still with the Public Works Department (one transferred to another municipality and another joined the Phoenix Fire Department). The apprenticeship initiative has also helped the city pull from a more diverse pool of candidates. Two military veterans have graduated the program, along with five women.
Moreno says that based on its initial success, the city is contemplating expanding its apprenticeship program to include training for those who may have their CDL but no industry experience. This program would require an abbreviated commitment as opposed to the current year-long training.
“Hopefully we’re going to continue to grow the program,” Moreno says. “I think really where we want to be is to be able to pick our workers off the vine, so to speak, and grow them ourselves as opposed to trying to compete with everybody else for all the experienced drivers. … We’re trying to sell people on the bigger picture and the benefits that come with being an equipment operator in the city of Phoenix.”
This article originally appeared in the April issue of Waste Today. The author is the editor of Waste Today and can be reached at aredling@gie.net.
Supply and demand for most recovered paper grades appear to be benefiting recyclers and brokers slightly, particularly in the domestic market. In the May buying period, the domestic price for old corrugated containers (OCC) increased for the sixth consecutive month, according to the latest information from Fastmarkets RISI’s PPI Pulp & Paper Week. Mixed paper is on a similar trajectory, though its price hasn’t been rising as steadily as that of OCC.
Recyclers and brokers say they are enjoying the seller’s market for the time being.
“OCC has appreciated in value over the last quarter, and that’s helped us,” says a recycler based in the South. “There’s a lot of demand” for the recovered fiber grade, he says.
A material recovery facility (MRF) operator based in the Midwest says he suspects the accelerating e-commerce demand is helping to boost demand for OCC in particular.
“The need for boxes has been going up by 2 to 4 percent every single year because people love having stuff delivered to their door, and COVID has accelerated that,” he says.
A broker based in the West Coast adds, “There’s huge demand for OCC and mixed paper right now, and that’s because of a combination of things. With the economy reopening, there’s demand for packaging. In addition to that, agriculture is coming into season nationwide. So, there’s just really, really robust demand for containerboard and boxboard.”
The broker adds that export demand has retreated a bit. Export prices for recovered paper, particularly OCC, surged in the March and April buying periods, but pricing and demand seem to have cooled in the May buying period.
The MRF operator in the Midwest adds, “In mid-April, we felt the effect domestically that everybody was taking advantage of export going overseas. Today, that’s curtailed itself back a bit. That has to do with some of the challenges in India with COVID. But I don’t think it’s because of a lack of demand for fiber. I think that was more because there were so many actors taking advantage of sending materials export as long as they could make it happen.”
“OCC has appreciated in value over the last quarter, and that’s helped us.” – a recycler based in the South
However, the West Coast broker says he doesn’t think the export market for OCC will stay cold for too long because of the global need for containerboard and boxboard.
During the Paper Spotlight at the ISRI2021 Convention & Exposition, which took place online in late April, Megan Workman of Boston-based Fastmarkets RISI said recovered paper demand is expected to continue to grow in the near-term future. She shared data from Hannah Zhao, a senior economist at Fastmarkets RISI, that indicates recovered paper demand will continue to rise until at least 2025.
Currently, global recovered paper demand is slightly less than 250 million metric tons per year. By 2025, that figure could be closer to 260 million metric tons per year based on Zhao’s forecast. This is a shift from 2018 to 2019, when world recovered paper demand declined because of the reduction in global paper and board production in China.
“There was a bit of a contraction in 2018 to 2019 because of China’s reduction in board and paper production, but going forward, this is going to rise,” Workman said.
The strong demand is welcome news for the recycling industry, but some challenges are present.
Transportation—securing trucking and space on ships—is expected to remain a challenge at least for the short-term future. The broker in the West Coast says he thinks ocean shipping backlogs have “gotten worse” in recent weeks, not better.
“There’s very limited space on vessels, and bookings are getting more difficult to come by,” he says. “When you do have bookings, they are seemingly constantly changing.”
He adds that trucking in the domestic market isn’t any easier. He says he’s heard of mills paying “two and three times more trucking costs” than they had in the past year.
Availability of mixed paper and sorted office paper also is tight and could become a bigger issue in the long-term future. The MRF operator in the Midwest says he has noticed much less inbound mixed paper this past year, adding that his MRF supplies Pratt Industries with the grade. He says he suspects schools not being in session in 2020 and 2021 has affected supply.
“COVID had an effect on that in the last year,” the MRF operator says. “It’s coming back a little, but long-term, mixed paper might be more like boxboard or carrier stock. I think, long-term, mixed paper as we know it will decline in generation, and the people who are heavily dependent on mixed paper will have to find alternative fibers to continue to make their products.”
Battle Motors says it is targeting its initial sales efforts to focus on the refuse and recycling space.
Photo provided by Battle Motors.
Battle Motors acquires Carrier Crane Co.
EV technology firm buys Ohio-based vocational vehicle manufacturer with presence in recycling and waste markets.
Los Angeles-based Battle Motors Co., a developer of electric vehicle (EV) technology, has acquired commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Crane Carrier Company LLC (CCC). New Philadelphia, Ohio-based CCC has been manufacturing commercial vehicles for 75 years and has 180 sales and service dealers in North America, according to Battle Motors.
Battle Motors also describes CCC as “a leader in the vocational truck industry,” including as a provider of vehicles to the waste and recycling sectors. Other industries served by CCC include “infrastructure maintenance, ground support, multi‐stop distribution, agriculture, and oil and gas markets.” The combined Battle and CCC organization will have approximately 200 employees.
“We are combining the best of last century’s severe duty diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) technology with best-in-class EV technology to produce full electric trucks for the marketplace,” says Michael Patterson, CEO of Battle Motors and Crane Carrier.
“There has been minimal movement and very little fundamental innovation in this space,” states Patterson, adding,” The merging together of a traditional mainstay of the industry with an innovative and highly advanced technology company will generate a radical shift in this important sector of the transportation industry.”
Battle Motors was co-founded by Patterson, the founder of Romeo Power, along with Paul Marsolan, co-founder of information services firm InAuth Inc., and Nick Sampson, a co-founder of EV startup Faraday Future and a former head of vehicle engineering at Tesla.
Battle Motors says is intends to bring to market “the Battle-Ready Class 8 severe duty full electric truck [this] summer with 12 top tier municipal customers.” The Battle-Ready EV truck will offer “the same comfort, visibility and reliability as the CNG [compressed natural gas] and diesel-powered” trucks, “but with lower maintenance costs, reduced noise and zero carbon emissions,” states the firm.
The initial trucks will be designed for front, rear and automated side loader applications within the refuse and recycling space, available in standard and crew cab configurations.
“Battle Motors is nearly tripling the size of the production facility in New Philadelphia from 125,000 square feet to 350,000 square feet to increase production,” says New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day, “It is a perfect fit into the advanced manufacturing initiative underway in our county and the Eastern Ohio region.”
Says Marsolan, “Our dealers and fleet managers are hungry for full battery electric vehicles, and I’m confident that we will deliver the best EV trucks in the space, just like we do with our diesel and CNG vehicles.”
“We are elegantly packaging and integrating the best-in-class of today’s EV applied science with our own new innovations,” comments Nick Sampson. “This places our products at the forefront of EV technology to deliver customer focused breakthroughs in the space.”
Battle Motors says it plans for CCC to continue production of its class 7 and 8 truck chassis from the company’s manufacturing plant in New Philadelphia. Patterson says the expansion at the Ohio facility will involve making “capital improvements in infrastructure and strategic investments in new equipment and technology to support rapid growth in the EV space.”