The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced it will phase out single-use plastic products and packaging on public lands by 2032 in an order issued by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to coincide with World Ocean Day June 8.

Secretary's Order 3407 aims to reduce procurement, sale and distribution of single-use plastic products on Interior Department-managed land, including national parks, and is part of the implementation of President Joe Biden's Executive Order 14057, which calls for federal agencies to minimize waste and support markets for recycled products.

"The Interior Department has an obligation to play a leading role in reducing the impact of plastic waste on our ecosystems and our climate," Haaland says. "As the steward of the nation's public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and as the agency responsible for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats, we are uniquely positioned to do better for our Earth."

Haaland continues, "Today's order will ensure that the department's sustainability plans include bold action on phasing out single-use plastic products as we seek to protect our natural environment and the communities around them."

The order directs the Interior Department to identify nonhazardous, environmentally preferable alternatives to single-use plastic products, like compostable or biodegradable materials or 100-percent-recycled materials. Single-use plastic products include food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, cups, cutlery and disposable plastic bags.

According to the department, less than 10 percent of the plastic that has ever been produced has been recycled, and it notes that recycling rates are not increasing. In a report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the plastics recycling rate in 2018 was about 9 percent, and a report from the nonprofit Last Beach Cleanup and Beyond Plastics, an environmental project affiliated with Bennington College, shows the 2021 plastics recycling was less than 5 percent.

The Interior Department lists many alternatives it is considering to "account for the variety of geographic locations and social context in which departmental facilities operate." It notes that paper, bioplastic or composite bags can replace single-use bags; bio-based plastic, glass, aluminum and laminated cartons can replace single-use bottles; and similar material can replace single-use food packaging.

The labor shortage has made waves throughout almost industry since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the waste sector has been no exception. With a lack of drivers, mechanics and material recovery personnel, discussions surrounding hiring methods have become a growing practice among industry leaders.

This year’s WasteExpo served as a meeting ground to highlight these issues. During a “60-minute snapshot” session on labor that took place May 10, a panel of speakers from different facets of the waste industry spoke of their experiences and what methods are being used to mitigate them.

Moderated by Katie Raverty-Evans, vice president of chapter management and member relations for the National Waste & Recycling Association, the session dove into several key factors affecting the ongoing labor shortage, including barriers of entry for women, training, wages and retention.

“We are really in uncharted waters,” said Pamela Hobbs, D&I council chair and chief human resources officer for WIN Waste Innovations. “These days it is a very challenging area they we’re in; it’s really hard to find talent. … Personally, I have never seen anything like it in my 20 years in the waste industry.

“I don’t think there’s any one magic wand that we can wave to fix all of our issues, but I think there are a couple of things that we can do to really position ourselves better in the industry.”

For Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women in Trucking—a non-profit organization aimed at encouraging the employment of women in the trucking industry—shifting talent acquisition to focus more on the recruitment of women is a good place to start.

“Other women [often] will look at the waste industry and think, ‘I don’t fit there.’ But if we show women are already in the industry and enjoy what they’re doing, they will look at them and go, ‘I never thought about that,’” she said. To better attract women to the industry, Voie said the Women in Trucking association employs a host of educational and promotional methods to create awareness of the important role women play in trucking.

Similar hiring efforts have been made by Casella Waste Services to attract talent, but more so along the line of showcasing benefits the company can offer personnel. According to Kelley Robinson, senior vice president of human resources for Casella, transparency during the hiring process has been a critical retention factor.

“Over the last four and a half years, we’ve been really focusing on talking to our [current] and future employees in a transparent way about how to get ahead in the future,” he said. “Talking about advancement [and] talking about careers can be a key motivator and it helps the quality of life for our people.”

To offer personnel a better perspective of the company’s career opportunities, Robinson said Casella has built a series of multi-tiered career path programs for mechanics, drivers and customer service representatives with built-in pay scales.

“When we talk to our employees, we don’t say you can earn this amount of money, we say you will earn this amount of money,” he said. “The intent of showing them the pay structure is to commit to them about what their pay will be in the future. So, essentially, we’re trying to give them a better offer before they get it from someone else.”

At Waste Connections, the company has taken a slightly different approach, instead focusing on creating new talent.

“There are just frankly not enough drivers and mechanics available,” said Sue Netherton, vice president of people, training and development at Waste Connections. “To survive in this industry, we need to be willing to create drivers out of non-drivers and create mechanics out of non-mechanics.”

While Casella does not currently have its own CDL (commercial driver’s license) school due to its widespread service areas, the company has worked to create certified driver trainers.

“We bring driver trainers in, we teach them a specific methodology for teaching drivers and we help pay for those CDLs, but we do it in a little bit more of a decentralized way,” Netherton said.

Hobbs echoed this sentiment, noting that good hiring practices need to be a combination of both training and recruiting.

“I think there are some good and talented drivers out there that we can recruit of the market, but I [also] believe that given the shrinking pool, we have to start looking at ways to grow our own talent within,” she said. 

While refuse and recyclable material collection continues to hold the ranking as the sixth deadliest occupation in the U.S., the overall industry has made strides in recent years to create a safer working environment for personnel.

These efforts can be seen through the implementation of new technologies, proactive safety measures, as well as better planning and facility design—especially at material recovery facilities (MRFs). Given the many hazards that can be found within a MRF, whether it be on the tipping floor or at the sorting line, these types of facilities can serve as a prime example of how to address and mitigate safety issues.

Keeping comfort in mind

For Bob Gardner, senior vice president at Long Beach, California-based SCS Engineers, applying general measures to maintain a comfortable space for personnel is the first place to start.

“I spent a week during the commissioning of a facility in Maine and had a lot of time to reflect and look at what was going on around me,” he says. “I [created] a list of seven things that I observed [regarding safety], and the first one was noise protection.

“There were a number of people who were in that facility that didn’t have [noise protection], and I can see how over time that can have an impact on your hearing—especially when you have a big MRF with a lot of motors going, machines moving, things clanking all over the place; it’s a noisy place.”

The second area of concern for Gardner was dust control, which can pose hazards such as lung and eye irritation, choking issues and reduced visibility. When processing solid waste through trommels, screens and conveyors, Gardner says dust generation is inevitable, thus necessitating the use of masks or respirators.

“There are so many places within the MRF where dust could be generated,” he says. “When you go to the tip floor, when it goes into the hopper when you’re loading it., when it goes to the trommel or through all the screens, so there is a real [risk there].”

A safety hazard that has garnered significant attention in the media has been the issue of medical needles on sorting lines.

“This is a real issue. I sat there and looked at the fines line [at the Maine MRF] … and the amount of medical stuff that was on that fines conveyor was phenomenal,” Gardner explains. He adds that MRF personnel have expressed growing concerns surrounding needle pricks, leading many facilities to begin experimenting with different gloves to better prevent medical needles from piercing skin but also allow for enough dexterity for workers to properly do their job.

Be aware of common hazards

In terms of facility planning and design, Gardner says slip hazards should remain top of mind when considering personnel safety. Stairs going up to platforms or liquids on the floor from “drippage” are often slip hazards, so proper stair and hand railing designs can help prevent dangerous falls. Facilities should also keep sorbents on hand to deal with liquids on floor areas.

“Slip hazards are more of a design issue than anything else,” he says. “It’s important to make sure you get nice nonslip surfaces and railings and so forth, which are generally required by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).”

In addition to proper design, being aware of equipment hazards at a MRF also should be “common sense,” according to Gardner. Given the many rotating parts found at a MRF, he says equipment should be respected and personnel should have awareness of daily operations and their hazards.

“I always joke when I’m doing yard work that anything that isn’t eye level, you don’t see. So, being aware of the equipment hazards, trip hazards and the like is really important,” he says. “It’s more of a self-awareness kind of thing.”

This kind of awareness also comes into play during the startup and shutdown of equipment, which often includes specific processes and procedures. For the workers involved, Gardner says proper training can help keep everyone on the same page.

“In a MRF, lots of things can get wrapped around the axels of the various screens ... that are turning, so you don’t want somebody [working] in a machine when you ultimately turn it back on,” he says.