On May 25, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen announced that an additional 15,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas will be available for fiscal year 2018. This allocation is in addition to the 66,000 visas already issued this year. Secretary Nielsen made this decision after consulting with Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, members of Congress and business owners.

“The limitations on H-2B visas were originally meant to protect American workers, but when we enter a situation where the program unintentionally harms American businesses, it needs to be reformed,” Nielsen says. “I call on Congress to pass much-needed reforms of the program and to expressly set the number of H-2B visas in statute. We are once again in a situation where Congress has passed the buck and turned a decision over to DHS that would be better situated with Congress, who knows the needs of the program. As secretary, I remain committed to protecting U.S. workers and strengthening the integrity of our lawful immigration system and look forward to working with Congress to do so.”

The H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program was designed to serve U.S. businesses unable to find a sufficient number of qualified U.S. workers to perform nonagricultural work of a temporary nature. Congress set the annual H-2B visa cap at 66,000. A maximum of 33,000 H-2B visas are available during the first half of the fiscal year, and the remainder, including any unused H-2B visas from the first half of that fiscal year, is available starting April 1 through September 30.

On Feb. 27, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determined that it had received sufficient H-2B petitions to meet the full FY 2018 statutory cap of 66,000.

In the FY 2018 Omnibus, Congress delegated its authority to the secretary to increase the number of temporary nonagricultural worker visas available to U.S. employers through September 30, just as it did in the FY 2017 Omnibus. In the intervening time since enactment of the FY 2018 Omnibus, the secretary consulted with the secretary of labor on the issue, in accordance with Congressional requirements, and developed this rule.

Eligible petitioners for H-2B visas can file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Eligible petitioners must submit a supplemental attestation on Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-2 with their petition.

Details on eligibility and filing requirements will be available in the final temporary rule and on the Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2018 webpage to be published on uscis.gov when the final temporary rule is posted for public inspection.

Ikea, Leiden, Netherlands, has announced it will remove all single-use plastic products from its 363 stores by 2020. The company says it also plans to design its products with circular principles, with the goal of only using renewable and recycled materials by 2030. All of the company’s new commitments can be found here.

“Ikea’s decision to remove single-use plastic products from its stores by 2020 is a great step in the right direction,” says Graham Forbes, plastics campaigner for Amsterdam-based Greenpeace. “Now is the time for other big retailers and corporations to follow suit and reduce the amount of throwaway plastic on their shelves.”

He adds, “A truckload of plastic enters our oceans every minute, and plastic pollution has been found in remote locations like the Antarctic, the Arctic; and even the deepest point of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.

“Ikea has taken an important first step toward delivering the sort of bold action required by reducing plastic pollution at the source, although it’s important for the company to remove these single-use products and not simply substitute bioplastics or other environmentally harmful materials.”

Forbes adds, “The momentum is on our side, and the days of single-use plastics are numbered.”

 

Waste Connections, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, is giving residents in seven of its service areas access to exclusive rewards from local businesses through the Recycling Perks program. Each time residents recycle curbside, they earn points they can use to get discounts from businesses that participate in the program—the vast majority of which are local businesses.

Through Recycling Perks, residents can save as much as $25 per month, while businesses get increased exposure in their communities, according to Verde, the Chesapeake, Virginia-based company that offers Recycling Perks.

“We love the fact that a local representative will be in each area and that the rewards are mainly from local businesses that residents know and trust,” says John Love, a Waste Connections division vice president who is based in the Omaha, Nebraska, area.

Regarding Recycling Perks, he says, “We're impressed with their ability to customize the program to suit the individual needs of each Waste Connections market. Their staff has been super helpful and great to work with, and we're excited to be partnering with such a first-class company.”

Waste Connections will offer the Recycling Perks service in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, through its Novak Sanitary Service brand; in the Omaha, Nebraska, metro area through its Papillion Sanitation brand; in Fremont, Nebraska, through Waste Connections of Nebraska; in the Wichita, Kansas, area through Waste connections of Kansas; in Buhler, Kansas, through Stutzman Refuse Disposal; in Denver through Waste Connections of Denver; and through Colorado Springs, Colorado, through Waste Connections of Colorado Springs.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with a world-class organization like Waste Connections, as well as the regional markets they serve,” says Bill Dempsey, president of Recycling Perks. “Our goal is to enhance the Waste Connections customer experience, provide outstanding local support while working to activate other Waste Connection markets as their objectives call for us to engage.”

Recycling Perks has been working with municipalities since 2011 to incentivize recycling. It is one of five services offered by Verde. More information is available at www.verdeoutreach.com. 

George Adams Sr.

Scrap industry veteran and pioneer George Adams Sr. died Tuesday, June 5, 2018, at the age of 96. In 1973 he founded Orange County Steel Salvage, which was later renamed Adams Steel. In 2007 Adams Steel partnered with Sims Metal Management to become SA Recycling.

Adams was born Sept. 29, 1921. in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to Mary (Kerston) and George Adams. He began his career in the tool and die department at Louis Marx and Co. as a teenager. In 1939, Adams started a mechanical engineering apprenticeship at General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania. His work and studies were interrupted by the onset of World War II, with Adams enlisting in the U.S. Army in early 1942.

He served in the 95th Infantry and received two purple hearts. After the war, Adams went into the lumber business, opening the first all-electric sawmill in western Pennsylvania.

In 1950, he was called back into the service. He served as a master sergeant in the 101st Airborne Infantry Basic Training Division at Camp Breckinridge Kentucky. After the completion of his service, Adams moved to Los Angeles to work at the Continental Can Co., doing machining and tool and die work.

Adams then started a succession of companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors, including Gemite Construction Co. in 1960. Gemite went on to build single-family homes, apartments, fire stations and mobile home parks.

In 1973, he acquired a small auto-wrecking business in Anaheim, California, that had a one-man scrap metal operation. From those humble beginnings, Adams founded Orange County Steel Salvage, growing the business with the help of his four children: George Jr., Terry, Mike and Wendy.

His dream to build a car shredding operation was realized in 1980 when the company completed installation of a 2,500-horsepower automobile shredder in Anaheim.

The company grew over the years to become Adams Steel and eventually formed a partnership with Sims Metal Management in 2007, becoming SA Recycling.

According to his son George Adams Jr., who now serves as CEO of SA Recycling, “Of all the many things that he taught me, the most important one was to never give up, to never quit. No matter what happened, he just got back up and started swinging. My dad didn’t know what it was to lose because he would never give up, therefore, he couldn’t lose.”

Today SA Recycling is one of the largest scrap metal recycling companies in the country with 75 locations from coast-to-coast, including three deep-water port facilities, 12 auto shredding plants and more than 2,000 employees across eight states. The company is operated under the direction of George’s children.

Adams leaves behind his wife of 63 years, Dolores; their children, George, Mike, Terry and Wendy; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be June 20 in Orange California at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery. Further details are available by emailing MRobison@sarecycling.com.