Members of the Phoenix-based International Secure Information Governance & Management Association (i-SIGMA) have approved bylaws changes proposed last year that limit the use of “NAID” and “PRISM International” to the organization’s certification programs to remove market confusion between membership and certification.

As a result, members now are to refer to themselves as i-SIGMA members, and only where members have completed necessary certification audits, including unannounced third-party audits, may they refer to themselves as being NAID AAA certified or PRISM Privacy+ certified. All information also has been consolidated from three association websites to one.

“At the end of the day, it means the NAID member and PRISM International member status and logos are going away,” says i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson. “They will no longer be confused as inferring any form of certification.

“Certified firms may continue to represent themselves as being NAID AAA certified and/or PRSIM Privacy+ certified,” he adds, “however those service providers choosing not to be certified will be limited to the use of the i-SIGMA member logo.”

After the merger of NAID and PRISM International in 2018 that formed i-SIGMA, the association bylaws created a divisional structure that divided member companies into two constituencies. According to a news release, removal of the divisional structure will not affect the continued availability of NAID AAA certification or PRISM Privacy+ certification but will allow all i-SIGMA members to access those programs.

“With the NAID and PRISM International designations limited to the i-SIGMA certification programs, it will retain the strength of those brands without diluting the names with market confusion over companies which are or are not certified,” Johnson adds. “This will create greater clarity in the marketplace and allow members to still receive the full benefits and backing of their trade association.”

The release also states that association members should actively be transitioning any nomenclature and logo usage since brands outside of certification will be retired. More information regarding the changes at i-SIGMA can be found at its newly updated website: www.isigmaonline.org.

Waste Management Organic Growth, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Waste Management (WM) and Tailwater Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas, has announced a joint venture to provide financial, commercial and operational support to Continuus Materials, a Houston-based manufacturer of roof cover boards. The venture aims to assist the company with scaling production facilities within the waste-to-product industry. The financial terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.

According to a joint news release from Waste Management Organic Growth and Tailwater Capital, Continuus Materials develops and operates manufacturing facilities that upcycle plastic and fiber materials from municipal solid waste into Everboard, a proprietary, high-performance, low-slope roof coverboard. Continuus Materials says its process reduces landfill waste and generates significantly lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than competing products made from traditional materials.

“At WM, we are unlocking impactful, sustainable solutions as we move toward a more circular economy, and the Continuus Materials business is one example of what we’re aiming to achieve,” says Jim Fish, president and CEO of WM. “Continuus Materials brings an innovative solution that recovers recyclable materials in addition to materials that cannot otherwise be recycled and gives them a new, purposeful life. We look forward to working together with Tailwater Capital to grow the Continuus Materials business while achieving a shared goal of reducing waste.”

The joint venture enables Continuus Materials to develop additional facilities at WM sites and launch its first full-scale municipal solid waste-to-Everboard production plant. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce more than 150 million square feet of Everboard annually within the first three years of operation. Continuus Materials currently supplies Everboard to a range of commercial customers, including large national retail chains, industrial manufacturing facilities and distribution centers.

“We are pleased to join together with WM and the Continuus Materials team to support a visionary business that is committed to extracting valuable new products from existing waste streams,” says Edward Herring, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater Capital. “This joint venture is an extension of Tailwater’s long track record and continued focus on identifying opportunities to implement sustainable solutions across the recycling and byproduct supply chain.”

Rubicon Technologies, a waste and recycling management software provider based in Lexington, Kentucky, has announced the acquisition of Civix, a routing software and solutions company in Freiburg, Germany. 

According to a news release from Rubicon, the acquisition expands and enhances the routing capabilities of the company’s flagship software products for municipal and private fleets, RUBICONSmartCity and RUBICONPro. The acquisition also helps to drive Rubicon’s growth into additional international markets.

Civix is the developer of FleetRoute route optimization and strategic planning software and associated technologies for data collection, in-cab navigation, tracking, performance monitoring and messaging.  It also provides operational consulting services.

The company has customers in North America, Europe and the Middle East and works with local governments, councils and municipalities, private companies and federal governments. As part of the acquisition, the president of Civix, Paul Patterson, and his team have joined Rubicon.

“On behalf of our team, we are thrilled to have joined the Rubicon family to do our part in accelerating the Company’s mission to end waste,” Patterson says. “Rubicon has partnered with FleetRoute for several years, and now with this acquisition, we will be able to directly integrate our best-of-breed technologies and leverage the synergies between them to bring our customers to new levels of efficiency and performance.”

RUBICONSmartCity is a cloud-based technology suite that helps city governments run faster and more efficient waste, recycling, and heavy-duty municipal fleet operations. RUBICONSmartCity tracks trash and recycling and documents litter, bulky waste and illegal dumping with photos. The software also reduces recycling contamination so cities can sell their recyclable commodities for as much money as possible, and it reduces the cost of collection by ensuring trucks are taking the most efficient path to collect waste and recycling. 

Finally, it also equips vehicles with capabilities to look for critical infrastructure and quality of life issues that can affect communities, helping cities deliver better public services across all ZIP codes. 

RUBICONPro, a complementary product offering, helps private waste and recycling haulers provide customer service to commercial and residential customers through a similar feature set, the company says.

“This acquisition will help Rubicon provide current and future public and private sector customers with an expanded level of service and will enhance our ability to deliver on the promise of creating more efficient, effective and sustainable waste and recycling services for communities,” says Michael Allegretti, chief strategy officer at Rubicon. “The addition of Paul and his experienced team to Rubicon brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our business as we expand to more and more fleets across North America and abroad.”

RUBICONSmartCity is in more than 70 cities across the United States, including Asheville, North Carolina; Baltimore; and Columbus, Ohio. The solution is available to purchase on Sourcewell, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, the HGACBuy consortium and Marketplace.

Waste Pro USA, headquartered in Longwood, Florida, has added Mark O’Brien as a new division manager of the company’s Nashville Division in Nashville, Tennessee.

O’Brien began his career in the waste and recycling industry more than 30 years ago in Virginia. According to a news release from Waste Pro, he has held positions in sales and marketing as well as management for a national waste hauler. Most recently, he served as executive director of sales and marketing for a waste and recycling provider in Connecticut.

In the new position, O’Brien will lead one of Waste Pro’s newest divisions, which services 20,000 customers in the Nashville metro area.

“We’re very excited about the experience and expertise Mark will bring to our Nashville operations,” says Keith Banasiak, chief operating officer and senior vice president at Waste Pro. “We’ve seen tremendous growth here since being selected by the city of Hendersonville and opening our Nashville facility in 2019. We’re looking forward to starting the new year under Mark’s leadership in pursuing great opportunities in 2022.”