Reader Profile: Brian Van Straten

For a mentor in landfill management excellence, look no further than Brian Van Straten. He’s the director of Outagamie County, Wisconsin’s Recycling and Solid Waste Department, which won the 2015 SWANA Bronze Award for Landfill Management Excellence and had also been recognized by SWANA in 2010. The county of Santa Cruz, CA’s Buena Vista Landfill operation won SWANA’s Silver Excellence Award for Landfill Management in 1996, eight years into the 25 years Van Straten had managed it. Outagamie County is currently the host regional landfill and tri-county single-stream recycling facility for three northeast Wisconsin counties: Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago, commonly referred to as BOW. BOW was formed in 2001 as part of an intergovernmental solid waste agreement providing recycling and solid wastes services to more than 500,000 northeastern Wisconsin residents. The partnership expanded in 2008 to consolidate recycling services and in 2009 began operation of the largest publicly owned and operated single-stream recycling facility in the US. Outagamie County operates the regional Northeast Landfill and regional MRF at its integrated 450-acre site. Synergies from sharing equipment and personnel yield increased efficiency and reliability, SWANA points out.

What He Does Day to Day
Van Straten spends his days working with staff on maintenance and production programs in the MRF and with daily regional landfill operations. As the responsible unit of government providing recycling collection services and educational outreach to all of Outagamie County’s 32 municipalities, Van Straten stays informed of outreach efforts. He works with Outagamie County’s recycling coordinator to ensure the highest level of service for single-stream collection.

Van Straten says he enjoys the flexibility of his daily duties as director. “It may shift from an internal to external view at any point in working with the BOW tri-county directors who are always looking for ways to provide for opportunities to enhance the overall delivery of services the partnership offers,” he says.

What Led Him to This Line of Work
Van Straten’s 30-year career started in Outagamie County’s Department of Public Works, where he worked in road grade construction and landfill operations before moving to his post in Santa Cruz County. Paralleling his recycling and solid waste career, Van Straten served in the United States Air Force Active and Reserves in the dual careers of finance and civil engineering.

“Serving the greater good of the municipalities for which an organization delivers services” has always been a driving force throughout his career, Van Straten says. He cites value-added customer service throughout an organization by building strong teams, mentoring, and leadership at all levels as foundational to an organization’s ability to thrive.

What He Likes Best About His Work
Van Straten says he enjoys seeing staff members develop and grow and seeks essential growth opportunities for them. “Creating a climate of respect and trust in the workplace pays huge dividends and allows for improvement ideas to be generated by staff members performing the day-to-day operations work,” he says.

Van Straten also enjoys the opportunities presented within the tri-county intergovernmental partnership as well as the challenges the partnership brings. “That oftentimes offers opportunities for additional resource-sharing of staff that provides a strong sounding board for forward thinking of how the partnership can be enhanced in future years.”

His Biggest Challenge
One of Van Straten’s cornerstone trademarks in landfill operations throughout his career has always been to engage staff to continually find ways to extend landfill life. He cites building in the value of air space into every facet of the operation as being a critical factor. That entails not only developing high in-place waste densities through enhanced flat cell compaction methods Van Straten developed in 1988, but an ongoing focus in providing a strong motivational framework in explaining to staff, public officials, and partners how valuable that air space is for the broader municipal base being served.

“Understanding the basic principles of how important air space is and maximizing it through the use of spray-on cover systems and high in-place waste densities backed with additional landfill diversion and resource recovery efforts round out this approach,” he says. “Although challenging at times, when tackled through a team-based approach, it has always provided the highest level of organizational satisfaction.”