RECYCLER SECRETS: Recent Episodes
Jonathon Matthew
Ladies and Gentlemen after a long pause I have returned to bring you some insights and lessons learned during COVID-19 with my good friend Michael Csapo.
For those of you who do not know Mike, he is a stand up guy and a great asset to the Michigan recycling movement. But most importantly he is a good friend of mine who I have the privilege of having these conversations with from time to time.
So if your enticed, please take a few moments and listen to our candid conversation around what we learned in regards to "how best to and how best not to" pivot recycling and solid waste during the last 9-weeks of COVID.
Enjoy... and if you want more conversations like this one, please leave us a comment and rating in itunes.
Cheers...
I am excited to introduce you to a cool lady who is making a big difference in South West Michigan, she is the one and only Ms. Sarah E. Kelly.
Sarah is the program manger for Calhoun County’s recycling offerings and with the help of partners, county officials and her drive has built up two Mini-MRF’s (Material Recovery Facilities). She is not only changing things in the County, but she also just wrapped up a 5+ year long commitment serving on the Michigan Recycling Coalition’s board of directors and as a part of their executive committee. Undoubtably Sarah is dedicated to making a difference!
You may ask, what does a Mini-MRF look like? Well its easier to tell you what it is not.. It’s not the old standard rural recycling drop-off where you find containers in the middle of a parking lot and it’s not a fully automated recycling materials recovery facility. When you arrive you are greeted by a person, yep a real live person who helps you by inspecting and unloading your materials. As a customer of this recycling center you are informed and sent away with any unacceptable items. From there the volunteers sort the collected items into large bins which are loaded onto a semi-trailer.
In our time together we covered the following topics:
- How the program is funded
- Host Agreements / Budgets
- How much does Calhoun receive from a single semi-trailer of recycling
- Some of the Resident's false beliefs
- Contamination Issues
- Manned site vs. Unmanned site Pros/Cons
- Oops tags at a drop off facility
- And more..
Quick Links:
Calhoun County Recycling
Recycling Partnership
Michigan Recycling Coalition
Sarah's Contact Information:
Ms. Sarah E. Kelly
Phone: 269-969-6395
skelly@calhouncountymi.gov
www.calhouncountyrecycling.com
Stephanie Kersten-Johnston, Director of Innovation @ The Recycling Partnership Recycler Secrets was able to sit down Stephanie before she gave the keynote address at the 2019 Michigan Recycling Coalition Conference in May to talk about the Circular Economy, Recycling in the United States and how stay focused in a turbulent recycling world in light of global trends.
Steph is originally from the United Kingdom, and before moving to the United States, she forged a 10-year career in the corporate world in London, working with a number of global organizations on their sustainability strategies and communications processes. Since moving to the U.S. in 2015, Steph focused her efforts more specifically on the topic of Circular Economy and interpreting complex sustainability challenges through this lens.
Before joining the Partnership, Steph was Director of Sustainable Business at HEINEKEN USA, where she supported the company’s implementation of the global “Brewing a Better World” framework for the brewer’s U.S. operations. Steph is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University in New York, where she teaches a graduate class focused on Circular Economy.
She lives in trendy Brooklyn, NY, but you’ll just as often find her and her husband exploring the United States on road bikes!
Email: skerstenjohnston@recyclingpartnership.org
Organization: The Recycling Partnership
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephiejohnno/
Columbia University: https://www.sustainability.ei.columbia.edu/faculty
Books Referenced: The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular , by Tom Szaky
2019 Michigan Recycling Coalition Conference, Looking Back To Move Forward
Recently we attended the Michigan Recycling Coalition's 37th Annual Recycling Conference and were able to sit down with Paul England of Pratt Industries.
Paul has been a industry professional with over 40-years awesome knowledge and today he shares with us about how the fiber recycling industry is moving forward.
Pratt Recycling is a subsidiary of Pratt Industries, the 5th largest corrugated packaging company in the USA and the world’s largest, privately-held 100% recycled paper and packaging company. Pratt Recycling Division is a full service recycler with 16 recycling facilities. Pratt utilizes the paper products collected in the production of its 100% recycled content paper and packaging solutions. Our mission is to create sustainable recycling solutions for our customers that maximize waste diversion, create cost savings and revenue stream for valuable recyclables previously landfilled, all the while minimizing the environmental impact by preserving natural resources for future generations.
Every year Pratt diverts 2.2 million tons of waste paper, other recyclable materials and waste-to-clean energy materials from the landfill. Some items that cannot be recycled are used as fuel for Pratt’s clean energy plant which powers the paper-making process. We close the loop!
Topics Include:
- How Pratt utilizes “close loop” recycling
- Pratt's network of Materials Recovery Facility (recycle center) and how they use those to feed the paper mills
- Trends in the fiber recycling markets – paper and old corrugated cardboard
- How the global fiber markets effect the fiber industry and way
- How landfills are becoming the newest competitor to recyclers like Pratt due to the costs to process / tip fees for recycling
- Dual stream & single stream styles of curbside recycling - what functions better
- Changes in packaging – what was once highly recyclable manufacturing has changes into packing that is not recyclable at all
- Book recycling & book shredding
- How cardboard is becoming a difficult because of the direct to home sales via the internet affect. Some terms used here are impregnated materials aka contamination.
- Glass is an issue in single stream recycling because it is impregnated into cardboard, Paul explains why
- Pratts is building a New Paper Mill in Ohio near Dayton Ohio – This facility will process ½ million tons per year
- What is the last book Paul read – Red Mountain & Red Mountain Rising
Associations, Trade Shows
- Michigan Recycling Coalition
- Indiana Recycling Coalition
- Ohio Recycling Coalition
Contact Information:
Paul England // Pratt Industries
pengland@prattindustries.com
If you just fished the episode on glass recycling and wanted more, well we got you covered. Mike & Roger wrap it all up by talking about Aluminum cans and the trends in recycling and manufacturing.
Did you forget who our guests were or maybe you haven't listen to the glass episode yet. Let me introduce them again..
Mr. Mike Csapo is the general manager of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC). RRRASOC is a municipal recycling authority consisting of 9 member communities in southwest Oakland County. www.rrrasoc.org
Mr. Roger Cargill is the sustainable projects manager for Schupan Recycling. Schupan Recycling is the largest independent processor and marketer of used beverage containers in the country. Roger has extensive experience In public space recycling. He started his career running Michigan State University's recycling program. www.schupan.com
Across the United States glass recycling is a hot button topic. Over the last 24-months, there has been an increase in communities that are considering removing glass from their programs or have already stopped collecting glass.
Recycler Secrets wanted to bring you two industry experts from both sides of the street to discuss why this is happening and how we might design a better solution.
Please let me introduce you to our guests...
Mr. Mike Csapo is the general manager of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (RRRASOC). RRRASOC is a municipal recycling authority consisting of 9 member communities in southwest Oakland County. www.rrrasoc.org
Mr. Roger Cargill is the sustainable projects manager for Schupan Recycling. Schupan Recycling is the largest independent processor and marketer of used beverage containers in the country. Roger has extensive experience In public space recycling. He started his career running Michigan State University's recycling program. www.schupan.com
During this episode you will learn about glass redemption, glass drop off, single stream glass, bottle bills, recycling education, manufacturing trends and thoughts from Csapo & Cargill on how to make glass a better recyclable material.
I want to encourage you to listen to the follow-up session where the three of us talk quickly about trends in aluminum recycling including pop and beer cans.
Quick Links:
Michigan Bottle Bill FAQ’s
Oregon Bottle Drop
Ripple Glass
Today we get really raw and really personal... It's been over 30-days since you have received a new podcast from me and it's going to likely 30-more before you receive another.
On December 11th, 2018 my youngest son passed away in an auto accident.
This event has resulted in me spending the the last 31-days searching.... However because of my faith I'm "OK" - at least as OK as anyone can really be after loosing their son.
Hug your loved ones today folks, and give as much forgiveness as you can.. and remember, only God knows when your time here on earth is going to be over.
We are joined today by Adam Brent who operates an Organic Recycling facility aka compost facility which accepts industrial, food waste and yard waste materials in Michigan. In this podcast we discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the compost segment of material management.
One impressive take away from today's interview for me was how American farmers need to amend the soil to make it stable. Adam explains how using compost as a soil amendment replaces the biotic glues in the organic mater which hold together the soil pores is missing in most farm operations.
However, Our entire conversation was not this scientific and Adam talks though many layers of the composting segment of organic materials recovery.
Topics Include:
- Early Challenges of a Compost Facility
- Compost vs. Organic Waste Recycling
- Inbound Feed-stocks
- Why Cocoa accepts pre-consumer food waste but not post-consumer food waste
- Are compostable plastics also known as PLA’s are bag for composters
- Soil Composition - How America’s farmers have destroyed the soil and how compost can fix it
- What does it mean to have healthy, functioning and stable soil – See Video
- What are the largest challenges in the compost segment of materials management
- Adam’s selection of books, resources, trainings, and links to help you explore composting
Books & Publications:
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma; Michael Pollan
- Soli Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry; Eldor Paul
- American Wasteland; Jonathon Bloom
- BioCycle Magazine
- Compost Science & Utilization Publication
- USDA – United States Dept. of Agriculture – Available Reports Table
- GAO – US Government Accountability Office – Report; “Food Waste: An opportunity to improve resource use”
- EPA - America's Food Waste Problem
Associations, Trade Shows & Trainings:
- Soil Science Society of America
- American Society of Agronomy
- US Composting Council
- SWANA – Solid Waste Association of North America
- MRC – Michigan Recycling Coalition
- NRC – National Recycling Coalition
- MSU- Michigan State University
- MSU/DEQ Compost Training Slide Deck 2015
Contact Information:
Cocoa Corporation aka Cocoa Compost, Holland MI
Adam Brent – Founder & CEO
Email: abrent@cocoa-corp.com
Toll Free (855) 933-2020
Website: www.cocoa-corp.com
#compost, #organicrecycling, #Recycling, #Recycler, #AdamBrent, #Cocoacompost, #Cocoa-Corp, #soilheath, #Americanwastelandbook, #farmer, #farmers
In this weeks Quickie we meet Adam Brent the founder of Cocoa-Corp Compost who talks with us about how he got started in compost, why bio-plastics used in Zero Waste & Zero Landfill events are not good for compost operations like his and how transportation is key in growing compost.
Under ten minutes….Yep that’s a quickie!
Today's Quickie highlight is the US Composting Council 2019 Trade Show
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Andy Gale the founder of Bay Area Recycling for Charities. His company is one of a small but committed group of mattress recyclers in the nation who work with municipalities, furniture stores, colleges and landfills to divert the dreaded used mattress from a lifetime waste.
This is only one division of a company that Andy started in 2008 with the tag line: one man, one mission and one revolutionary idea. Today if you take a look into his organization you will find more than 20 employees and a cluster of services including refrigerator collection & recycling for the utility companies, a growing effort to provide compostable service wear to restaurants and other groups, Zero Waste event organizer and a vision to collaborate with others to solve the recycling problem in the United States.
Andy has built his structure as a non-profit so it functions more like a THINK TANK driven by a board of directors than a traditional company. He believes this provides the organization the ability to shift quickly as the recycling industry needs become recognizable.
Don’t delay; join us for a great interview with an awesome guy!
Topics Include:
- Mattress Recycling
- Electronics Recycling aka E-Waste
- Event Recycling
- The Difference between Zero Waste & Zero Landfill events
- Identifying Compostable Plastics vs. Traditional Plastics
Links:
- Mattress Recycling Council
- How to Identify Compostable Plastics
- Can compostable plastics be mixed with traditional plastics
- Why does the utility company want your old refrigerator? DTE, ComEd, EnergyStar
- Shop - Compostable Service Wear; Plates, Cups, Flat Wear, Etc.
- Zero Waste Event Containers from Clear Stream Recycling Systems
- What is Pyrolysis, Video
Want to connect with Andy? Here is how…
Andy Gale, Founder
Bay Area Recycling for Charities
recycling, recycler, recycle, mattress recycle, zero waste event, zero landfill event, composter, composting, pyrolysis, Michigan, mattress recycling council, Michigan recycling coalition, e-waste, electronics recycling, municipal solid waste
RECYCLER SECRETS QUICKIES!
In our second Quickie we meet Andy Gale the founder of Bay Area Recycling for Charities who talks with us about how he motivates volunteers and the difference between Zero Waste & Zero Landfill events.
Under four minutes….Yep that’s a quickie!
I am super excited to introduce you all to Crystal Young today. Crystal is the director of the Business Opportunity Center at Westshore Community College and I originally heard her back in May of 2018, she was presenting at the Michigan Recycling Coalitions annual conference.
That session was a little ditty named “Generational Communication: Flexing Your Language Style for Maximum Impact” and she killed it!
Crystal has agreed to bring you the best parts of her 2-hour presentation in just under an hour. There are some great looks into the secret sauce today folks and some concepts you may or may not have thought about to include:
- General characteristics of the 5 generations
- How do we communicate cross-generationally
- How does each group relate and participate in recycling
- Will texting replace email & how best to communicate
- What is the Nine Shift
- How the past always repeats itself
- How each generation looks at their career path
- What is the universal tool kit for communication
Looking to learn more about this topic:
Books:
The Nine Shift - William A Draves & Julie Coates
The Multigenerational Workplace – Jennifer Abrams & Valerie von Frank
Recent Articles:
Bridge the Gap: Communicating With a Multigenerational Workforce
Mastering Multigenerational Communication In The Workplace
Contact Information:
Crystal Young
Westshore Community College
Director - Business Opportunity Center
Ph:231.843.5731
Email: cyoung2@westshore.edu
Keywords: generational communication, generational recycling, recycle, matures, boomers, Generation X, GenX, Millennials, Linksters, Michigan recycling coalition
Welcome to the mic today Mr. Bill Gurn manager of facilities & maintenance operations at one of the world’s largest office furniture manufacturers, Haworth Inc. Since 1992 Bill has been driving the organization on recycling, zero waste and beneficial reuse.
On this episode you will find the following secrets that have allowed Haworth to reach Zero Landfill and find homes for some of the manufacturing’s hardest byproducts.
Quick reference of topics covered
- How Haworth’s achieved Zero Waste to landfill 2009
- Benefit of consolidating materials for waste diversion
- What are the solutions of engineered wood recycling
- What does food waste division look like at Haworth
- Where does the fabric cuts & discards end up
- The easy way to implement office space recycling
- How is the Zody® chair designed for easy end-of-life
- We talk about Materials Layers & Best Beneficial Reuse
- We identify and discuss High Volume Production Waste
- & most importantly - what really is the best office chair
Bill Gurn and Haworth want to share the secrets of how they did it and all you need to do is ask. So reach out to Bill today, introduce yourself and ask him your hardest question. He might just have the answer or know which direction to point you!
Email Bill Gurn
LinkendIn
Additional information about today’s topics
Haworth’s 2017 Sustainability Report
Zody Chair
Best Beneficial Reuse
Waste Hierarchy Explanation
recycle podcast, zero waste podcast, manufacturing recycling, zero waste, waste, recycle, compost, reduce, reuse, recycle
Recently a listener suggested we give you a few quickies. Since we don't like letting a good idea go to waste.. We give you RECYCLER SECRETS QUICKIES!
In our first Quickie ever made public Mr. Bill Gurn tells you why there are not recycling centers in each of Haworth’s manufacturing facilities & then he describes the Haworth version of the recycling hierarchy.
Under five minutes….Yep that’s a quickie!
Today you are going to meet a great guy and an awesome recycler!
Please welcome Mr. Kris Jolley who has been leading the Spartan’s towards improved waste diversion at Michigan State University since 1997. Today he heads up the waste, recycling, food waste collection programs, a materials recovery facility or mini-MRF and the MSU Surplus Store.
Are you looking for real impact - The MSU team manages over 30 million pounds of materials per year which brings roughly $4 million in value back to the university.
In our interview today we will dive deep into many topics including:
- Why MSU operates their own collection trucks
- What is the MSU Surplus Store & how it is changing the way they deals with stuff
- MSU built a Material Recovery Facility and it’s a game changer
- The MSU campus has an awesome recycle drop off area, what makes it so special
- Why is food waste collection & diversion so hard on a college campus
- Hard lesson of utilizing a bio-digester
- What industry organizations do the MSU recycle team feel provide the most value
- What problems & potential improvements keep Kris up at night
Looking to learn more about MSU
MSU Recycling
MSU Surplus Store
MSU Shadows Collection
MSU Our Table Discussion / Food Related Issues
Email Kris Jolley
Ladies & Gentlemen please give a warm welcome Mr. Tom Purkis of Aggregate Management.
His company is dedicated to diverting glass from the landfill through creative solutions and year over year Tom and his team handles inbound glass for recycling from various industries to include deconstruction, manufacturing, industrial, consumer glass or MRF glass, and many other sub segments.
But wait there’s more; Tom also provides Zero Waste and Waste Diversion consultative services to the manufacturing industry where he and his team help design specialized programs for maximum impact.
ON THE MENU TODAY
- Overview of the glass markets
- Why is recycling glass valuable to manufacturers
- Building deconstruction glass recycling
- Example of when recycled glass becomes another products
- What is Zero Waste
- What is Zero Waste to landfill
- How do companies digest the additional costs of going Zero Waste
- What makes an employee adopt & Champion the Zero Waste
- Example of Excellent Zero Waste Signage, click here
- Composting Industrial Wood
- Finial thoughts of Tom Purkis
Looking for more information around glass recycling?
- Glass Recycling Coalition announces results of 2017 Glass Recycling Survey which can be downloaded here
Ready to expand your knowledge on Zero Waste?
- Read “The Zero-Waste Factory. How in just two years, Subaru transformed its automotive assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana into the first zero-landfill factory in the US. Inside one of the great success stories in sustainability. ” This article written for Scientific American and can be downloaded here
- The EPA document, “How Communities have defined Zero Waste” can be downloaded here
Ready to connect with Tom?
Tom Purkis
Aggregate Management, LLC
269-506-6130
Today's episode of Recycler Secrets welcomes an old friend Roger Cargill and he is going to deliver a ton insights and knowledge bombs in this interview. Roger has been making a difference in the recycling world for the last 28 years and has put together recycling programs for some of the largest events in the Midwest.
As a key member of the Schupan and Sons team, which if you don't know anything about them - they are the largest driver in the can & bottle redemption process in Michigan. Roger & I are talking about a lot more than just pop-cans today folks, I promises you that he will blow your mind on a few things. So sit back, hold on and get ready to take some notes..
Want a quick peek inside todays episode
- Event Recycling
- How to successful get volunteers
- Organics at events
- The bottle bill
- How to best recycle glass aka wine and booze
- What is the best bourbon to drink
- What is changing in the aluminum can
- The best trade show to attend
- And so much more
Do you want to connect with Roger, here is how:
Schupan & Sons Inc. Corporate
2619 Miller Road, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 Phone: 800-724-8704 (800-SCHUP04) Email: rcargill@schupan.com
Website: www.schupan.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-cargill-17106a8/
Join me in welcoming Sarah Archer to Recycler Secrets today. Sarah’s company Iris Waste Diversion Specialists provides boots-on-the-ground program management, technical assistance, marketing and educational services into the solid waste & recycling industry within Michigan.
When Sarah grabs the mic you know you’re going to get some gold. In this interview we tackle some hard topics including:
- Converting recycling drop off sites from roll-off container to front-load containers
- How much does it really costs to provide education and outreach for a recycling program
- Where to find the best grants and gain funding for your program
- K-6 school recycling programs, how to get it done
- Sarah’s take on dual stream vs. single stream
- Politics in recycling
- And so much more..
So hold on your seats folks and Sarah tells you her Secrets!
Looking to connect with Sarah:
Iris Waste Diversion Specialists, Inc.
Phone: 989-272-5057
Email: sarah@iriswastediversion.com
Website: www.iriswastediversion.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iriswds
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iriswds
I am excited to introduce the listeners of Recycler Secrets to a great guy who just so happens to be a excellent hockey player and a top notch recycler. His organization processes over 6.5 million pounds of materials each year and they are a huge part of the recycling community as a whole.
Prepare yourself and open your earballs as we sit down with Nick Carlson the Vice President of Donated Goods Operations for Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc. In his role, he oversees warehousing operations, transportation and post-market & export operations. Nick also provides technical expertise around environmental and sustainability functions within Goodwill’s broader operations.
As you digest today’s episode you will learn about the following:
-The power of donated goods to drive Goodwill’s missions
-The value streams behind the different goods accepted at Goodwill and how that compares to curbside recycling.
-The different models of collecting donated goods from our homes including curbside, drop-off bins in retail store parking lots and stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army and other nonprofits.
-We explore how different Goodwill locations have formed partnerships to disassemble and reclaim value from used goods. Examples include Goodwill Detroit’s Green Works program and Houston Texas E-Waste recycling initiatives.
- How to find the really cool items that never make it on to the shelves at a Goodwill store by going to their online marketplace at www.shopgoodwill.com
And so much more. So stop reading and start listening right now!
Re
Learn more about Goodwill by clicking herecycling #RecyclerSecrets #Nick Carlson #Goodwillindustries #GreenWorks #clothingrecycling #superhero
Welcome to the recyclersecrets podcast which is being developed to introduce you to some of the most successful recycling & waste diversion professionals that are making things happen in communities across the United States.
During each podcast, we will have candid conversations where their secrets will be shared for your benefit. The plan is to quickly dive into their Secret Sauce and what makes their programs so successful or different. Our hope is you... can duplicate their winning formulas in your community.
The podcast will be hosted by Jonathon Matthews a 10 year veteran in the solid waste and recycling industry.
Stay Tuned - We will be launching in October 2018.