The waste and recycling industry has acknowledged for several years what national statistics have borne out: the occurrence of serious injury and fatality (SIF) accidents in the sector is out of proportion to its size.

Trade groups including the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) have created programs and educational materials in attempts to measurably reduce such tragic incidents.

Kristen Bell, a partner with Ojai, California-based Krause Bell Group, says companies like hers and the industry overall may not enjoy complete consensus on how to address the issue. She comments, however, “What we’ve learned through research is that if you want to prevent fatalities—and that’s usually the first goal—that requires a special focus on situations that lead to fatalities and life-altering incidents.”

Words and deeds

As the waste and recycling industry has produced materials and messaging to address workplace safety issues, the word “culture” has been applied generously to the list of factors that can create the needed improvements.

Bell says establishing a strong safety culture is a process that includes everyone—executives, site managers, employees and even customers and vendors.

“What’s not well understood is how each person connects to reducing risk in their organization or creating that culture. That can be difficult for people to understand,” she says.

The industrywide attention to safety has, fortunately, led to more frequent meetings devoted to the topic, says Bell. However, if employees at a facility “have a safety chat in the morning” and that is followed the rest of the day by talk of adhering to schedules and “how quickly can we get this material processed,” that second message is the one that employees will internalize, she says.

“There is a role for every single person in the organization to create a safe workplace,” says Bell. “Everyone is connected to it, even people outside the company.” That being said, executives may be in a position to influence safety in ways they do not always consider, Bell acknowledges.

Bell offers as an example hiring for an operations or facility management position and not asking about the candidate’s safety qualifications or intentions to emphasize safety. “One of the most important decisions an executive or manager can make relative to safety is who they hire—it’s crucial,” says Bell, who indicates Krause Bell has performed pro bono work for ISRI pertaining to its Circle of Safety Excellence program, which recognizes member companies for outstanding commitment to the safety of their employees.

The company that hires a manager who is an excellent safety leader is likely also to be happy with that person’s leadership in general, according to research conducted by Krause Bell. It doesn’t always work the other way around, however.

“The same type of employee who feels safe and supported by his or her leaders also coincides with the type who will put his or her best effort forward, and the business will thrive,” says Bell. She adds, “That’s important. Being reassured that the effort that goes into safety improvement will benefit the business in general is a big deal. [That happens] through culture.”

The profit motive is far from the only one, however, that will cause employees to pay close attention to avoiding SIF accidents.

A clear motive

Awards and other forms of recognition often are part of corporate and organization safety programs, and some choose to reinforce or incentivize this with a financial reward.

When it comes to the recognition aspect, Bell says her company indeed views it as helpful to recognize good safety practices and track records, “especially when people go out of their way to do the right thing.”

As far as financial incentives, Bell says, “They are very, very tricky.” She continues, “You could easily incentivize the wrong behavior, and you shouldn’t have to pay people or bribe people to work safely.”

Rather, Bell says of employees at all levels, “We’re already motivated to protect ourselves and each other. We want to protect people and keep them from being injured. If nothing else, we’re going to keep people whole and alive and not having a life-altering injury.”

With that motivation being essentially intrinsic, Bell says her firm’s experience is that incentives such as gift cards or raffle contents are “not really necessary and can be harmful.”

Budgets and attention may be better off focused on consistent messaging that builds a safety culture from top to bottom. “Every minute of every day is sending a message about safety,” says Bell. “We want to develop great awareness of the impact of our messages on people, and how they’re hearing [these messages].”

For executives and managers, “It means we’re creating culture every time we’re interacting with someone,” Bell continues. “It’s kind of daunting as a leader. The implication is we have immense power, and we may not realize how we’re affecting people.”

Communication within an organization on safety or any other topic is not a one-way street. While company leaders can endorse a safety message, they cannot create a culture alone.

Feedback loop

In the waste and recycling sector, associations including NWRA, SWANA and ISRI all produce and distribute materials made available to member companies and organizations. Posting and distributing such materials, however, may only be a half measure.

“Our experience is [employers] are sending plenty of that material out, but there needs to be more listening,” states Bell.

Her advice to executives and facility operators is to be more in tune with what the company’s workforce is communicating: “Focus more on what you’re hearing from other people; focus on getting messages percolating up from your workforce. It will help improve your safety and your culture.”

The importance of listening extends to daily or weekly safety meetings, says Bell. “You want to have a safety meeting that is a conversation. Ideally, you won’t be waiting until the end for questions. You’d be formatting it as a dialogue.”

Most Krause Bell clients are holding such meetings “every single day and before every big task,” says Bell.

Managers who are seeking out and hearing safety concerns may be more likely to keep the topic in mind during their own workday. The attention to safety may then more easily extend beyond a facility’s workforce and to regular facility visitors.

Says Bell, “Every interaction you have with a delivery driver or a customer is an opportunity to influence them. What do they see at the gate? What do they hear from the person at the [scale house] booth? For a vendor, it can be what is in the contract [that they pay attention to]. Every interaction is a chance to influence.”

Underlying the cultural aspects, Bell says companies need to be keenly aware of just where the SIF risks lie. “A really great place to start is with senior leaders asking the question: How much exposure to SIFs do we have?”

This can be especially crucial when looking from the vantage point of employees “who are just starting out,” says Bell. “On our website, visitors can download a book chapter on that topic.”

Despite efforts to make workplace safety a focus in recent years, national workplace SIF statistics have too often demonstrated the waste and recycling sectors remain a dangerous place to work. Pointing to the oil and gas industry as one example, Bell adds, “The good news is, other industries have paved the way toward better safety; we can apply what we’ve learned.”

The author is a senior editor with the Recycling Today Media Group and can be contacted at btaylor@gie.net.

Staying tuned into the latest technology is a crucial task that today’s material recovery facility (MRF) operators face. While these facilities are designed to last many years, it’s becoming increasingly important to design with flexibility in mind right from the start because retrofitting a MRF is no small feat.

Toronto-based GFL Environmental Inc. Vice President of Recycling Steve Miranda says MRF design is “all about adding value.”

He adds, “When designing or even retrofitting, we’re trying to think years in advance of what is the norm today.”

The decision to upgrade or retrofit a MRF can be based on various factors. “Ultimately, we’re service providers and will behave the way our customers want us to behave. So if our customer wants a certain outcome, we will go and achieve that outcome for our customer,” Miranda says.

Regulations, technology innovations and demand for higher quality recyclables are growing, and Miranda says those factors typically lend themselves to more technology integrations and decisions at the MRF.

“Retrofitting is expensive, you’re moving extremely large pieces of equipment, and you have to look at the process as ‘how long will this do what I need it to do,’” says Joaquin Mariel, chief operating officer at Austin, Texas-based Balcones Resources. Mariel says many plans need to start five to seven years out before implementation, and operators are usually looking at $5 million or more when it comes to the needed investments.

In addition, Jake Hansen, general manager of Sarasota, Florida-based Single Stream Recyclers, a Balcones company, explains that the retrofit process he was involved in was challenging, as it is with most already-established facilities. “You have to make sure all the different pieces of the puzzle are lining up completely to get [all the equipment] in properly.”

He says designing a MRF from start to finish is preferable to retrofitting a facility, particularly when robotics are involved.

Relying on robotics and opticals

Single Stream Recyclers operates an artificial intelligence- (AI-) powered MRF that includes 14 robotic sorters. Hansen says he has been involved in almost every aspect of Single Stream Recyclers’ operations over the years and worked closely on the implementation of the MRF’s robotics. He also is involved in the general maintenance of those units, he says.

Hansen says it would be tough to operate a MRF today without using optical sorters and robotics. “They make a cleaner, more efficient product than humans ever could.”

Single Stream Recyclers operates 14 robots at its MRF to increase sorting efficiency and the quality of recovered recyclables. “The end goal is to recycle as much material as can actually be recycled,” Hansen says. “A lot of people look at whether it’s polymer type A or fiber type B as to how material can be sorted during processing operations, but the dimensions of those products that enter into a facility also directly affect the recovery of recyclables and the quality after they are recovered, ultimately meeting the demands of our end market customers.”

He adds, “Technology has greatly assisted in advancing the ability to recover these products with great quality versus traditional mechanical operations.”

While using more automation can enhance the productivity of human labor, MRF operators don’t see technology as a threat to the workforce. “You will never be able to get rid of humans in this industry,” Hansen says. “There are too many variables, and there is always important maintenance to be done.”

Rather than serving as a replacement for personnel, Miranda says automation can be viewed as a companion to the people who staff a MRF.

“I don’t know that there will be an elimination of manual labor in processing facilities,” Miranda says. “It will change the approach and the way people utilize their labor force in operations. There will always be a need for labor. I don’t envision one of these facilities running without any labor; I just don’t think that’s possible.”

He adds, “But the use of technology is definitely an important complement to manual labor to further advance recovery processing and in-depth understanding of our operating efficiencies.”

A look ahead

“Every couple of years there’s a new [technology] that we might get to look at integrating if we happen to be designing or retrofitting, whether it’s an upgrade to technology or brand new technology,” Miranda says. “But when you look at the past decade or even the past two decades, what a MRF looked like 15 or 20 years ago is really different than whatever it might look like today.”

While humans will remain integral to the operation of successful MRFs, Hansen says he would like to see systems refined to the point that they would greatly reduce the need for human labor.

“It’s still all new technology, even though it’s been a couple of years. [Robotics and artificial intelligence are] still new to the industry, and they’re still developing, and they’re still going through all the different hiccups that they’re going to experience,” Hansen says.

And, while the focus at Single Stream Recyclers has been on robots, Hansen says he personally would like to see advancements when it comes to optical sorters, which prove to be very valuable to Single Stream Recyclers’ operations, he says.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say just robots in general will be evolving. My favorite technology that we have are optical sorters, and they are the most efficient technology we use by far,” he says.

While Hansen says robots lend themselves better to quality control applications, optical sorters outperform robots in terms of volume of material processed.

Dealing with data

With sophisticated technology comes something of perhaps greater value: data. Operators running these machines know they are able to collect and analyze data from all stages of their operations.

“Because we can depict the quality of material we’re producing, we’re able to use that information to show our buyers right away,” Hansen says.

Data can help operators fine-tune the design of their MRFs. “With operations, you will absolutely need to know the composition of your stream to help you design properly,” Miranda says. “If you don’t know what you’re feeding a system, how are you going to know how to optimize?”

He continues, “I think it’s important for us as an industry to continue to look to these technologies and support them however we can. It only helps all of us. It helps the industry achieve the common goal of recovering all the recyclables that we can and producing a quality that end markets can use to put these materials right back on the shelves.”

This article originally appeared in the April issue of Recycling Today. The author is the conference producer for Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at lrathmell@gie.net.

If you’ve ever sat in a busy restaurant with an open kitchen, you likely can appreciate the organized chaos that back-of-the-house workers have to navigate during any given shift. Food is simultaneously being prepared, cooked and plated in a synchronized dance as order tickets keep filtering in. Managers, busy overseeing this process, have to keep a watchful eye not only on the choreographed chaos of the kitchen, but also on everything that is happening in the dining room. This seemingly never-ending cycle geared towards satisfying the customer in an expeditious manner doesn’t leave a lot of time for food service operators to focus on the waste management needs of the facility.

That’s where companies like Columbus-based Elytus come in.

Elytus is a software company that provides web-based solutions to multiunit operators to help with waste service contract management, environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.

The company, whose customers include multilocation chains such as Hardee’s, Wing Stop and Applebee's, helps restaurants manage everything from hauler procurement, waste pickup schedules, bill auditing, container monitoring, waste tracking and reporting, and employee training.

According to Elytus President Matthew S. Hollis, this software allows restaurants to make data-driven decisions regarding instituting environmentally sustainable waste and recycling programs.

“We consider ourselves to be a third-party administrator or an agent/consultant,” he says. “And what our software does is it helps the restaurant keep track of all of their contracts, all of their equipment, all of their pickup days, and all of their service issues, as well as all of their waste diversion metrics so that they can get a holistic idea of what it is that they’re generating, where they’re generating it, and get a grasp on how to handle it.”

The obvious benefit of restaurants having better oversight and management of their waste programs is that it reduces the chance for health and safety issues to arise.

“I think the biggest issue that we see from a commercial kitchen perspective is that waste is directly tied to sanitation, which is a health department concern,” Hollis says. “So, at the end of the day, if the waste is not handled properly, or if it’s not picked up on schedule, or it’s not separated properly, then the health department can fine them or potentially shut them down. Also, poor waste management can lead to vermin issues, odor issues, those types of problems.”

Hollis says that opposed to retail locations, where the waste stream might largely be composed of cardboard, plastics, Styrofoam and other inert materials, the organic composition of restaurant waste leaves little room for error when it comes to proper oversight.

The increasing prevalence of organic waste bans and similar diversion-based regulations across the country further exacerbate the onus of waste oversight for these operators.

“The majority of regulations [pertaining to commercial waste] that have been coming down from cities, municipalities, counties and states are all about organic waste bans. Additionally, there are bottle bills for making sure that glass bottles are recycled in certain states and that type of thing. So, the restaurant has to comply with the separation of organic material. They have to comply with making sure that they get the bottles separated correctly and all their other recycled materials are properly sorted,” Hollis says. “On top of that, they want to keep a clean appearance and they’ve got the aforementioned health department considerations to be mindful of. If you look at all of these considerations, it’s clear why these operators can’t take an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality to managing this waste.”

The application behind the app

Elytus was originally founded in 2007 to help haulers and waste brokers manage their businesses. However, after a chain restaurant executive came to Hollis looking for help getting a grasp on the company’s waste generation for its locations in multiple states, the company expanded its platform.

Hollis offers a real-life example of how its web-based platform and mobile app, WINstream, help make the job of customers easier: “Where we really start to make a difference is at the moment the waste is discarded. For example, it’s a busy Friday night, the general manager of the restaurant goes out to the back of the building and they find out that the bin is overflowing and they’re heading into the weekend. They need to get an extra pickup scheduled. That manager can drop what he or she is doing, sit on the phone and call the hauler, and then try to remember to follow up with the hauler if the pickup doesn’t happen in a timely fashion, or they can just take their phone, open the WINstream mobile app, snap a photo of the dumpster, it uploads it, and then we handle the rest to make sure the hauler gets it done. The restaurant doesn’t have to follow up on any of that.”

Beyond managing pickups, the Elytus software can be integrated with scales from different providers to provide information on the amount of food waste or recycling that a location is generating. Similarly, if the hauler is weighing these containers, the software can receive the weights of every pickup to assist in waste diversion reporting.

Elytus can also perform weight-based waste audits that let operators know what percentage of their waste stream is composed of the various materials they are generating.

Additionally, the company’s software can be used in conjunction with container monitoring sensors and cameras to gauge dumpster fullness and collection intervals.

Collectively, Elytus is then able to pool this data to generate easy-to-read and easy-to-understand reports.

The benefits of this reporting functionality become clear when considering Elytus’ clientele—Hollis says that the company’s restaurant customer base is comprised of chains that average in size between 50 to more than 1,000 locations. By being able to compile all the waste information from every one of these locations, Elytus enables company management to see data from both a macro and micro perspective at a glance. Moreover, this reporting functionality is able to be customized for each customer based on preferences.

“The industry has shifted where there are often excess yardage charges and contamination charges for waste,” Hollis says. “What our clients will say is that they might want one automatic report to be sent to the general manager at each one of its 50 locations every month that says, ‘This is how much you spent in excess yardage charges, this is how much you spent in contamination charges, and here are the information and photos to support that.’ Customers can then take corrective action or prioritize retraining for certain locations based on this data. This data can also be sent to the regional manager where they can see what the top performing restaurants were and what the bottom performing restaurants were to better focus their attention on how to address the issues. All this information is available on a dashboard. But every customer has a different [appetite for] what they want to see regarding data and reporting based on what their focus is.”

COVID crash course

Hollis says that the ability of Elytus’ software to handle its restaurant customers’ shifting waste management needs was put to the test beginning last March with widespread restaurant shutdowns and occupancy restrictions stemming from COVID-19.

“In March, when the whole world was shutting down, so were our clients,” Hollis says. “And we manage thousands of restaurant locations across dozens of chains and all of them were shutting down. Everybody initially thought this might just be temporary, so our immediate goal was to take all of the trash and recycling services of our clients and just switch pickups to be on an on-call basis so the customers were not getting any charges.

“It turned out to be a testament to what we were able to do for our customers because if you had 500 restaurants, maybe you have 100 suppliers—that was going to be 100 calls you were going to have to make. In order to do that, you’re going to have to go through every single account, ramp all of the services down, and then when the bills come in … verify that the hauler actually ramped it down and got the billing correct.”

Because of Elytus’ role in managing its customers’ waste services, auditing billing and verifying service changes, Hollis says the company’s workload skyrocketed as its clients were shutting down.

Likewise, as locations have opened up, Elytus has been able to help customers restart and manage their waste services on a case-by-case basis based on local restrictions and COVID case numbers.

“Nothing has been uniform. One state opens up while another is closing. Some restaurants are full dine-in while some have shifted to carryout-only,” Hollis says. “What we have really worked hard to do is align the services with the customer’s business based on where they are at that point in time. Whether that be through sales or guest counts, we are looking at metrics to say, ‘Where’s your business at? Don’t just turn your service back automatically to where it was prior to the pandemic because you might not be operating at that same level that you were prior to the pandemic.’ And we’ve been able to save the customers a ton of money by ramping all of those services down and then bringing them back up gradually as needed. … If we didn’t have our software to manage this, I don’t think we could have done all that.”

The author is the editor of Waste Today and can be contacted at aredling@gie.net.

In February 2020, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) released a report, “Recruiting Personnel for Solid Waste Collection Services.”

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.

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.

Recruiting new drivers

The Phoenix Public Works Department’s Solid Waste Division provides residential collection and disposal of trash and recyclables for more than 400,000 households in the city.

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.”

The author is the editor of Waste Today and can be reached at aredling@gie.net.