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In considering trends in our industry, we discussed our experiences and ideas about how best to ensure that the work and services of our companies and public sector agencies remain relevant and provide the leadership so desperately needed. The waste industry has evolved from simply moving tons around and now is at the intersection of climate change, resource depletion and energy generation. Being directly associated with population growth, leadership in waste management is equally as important as leadership in food, energy and water. Our challenge is to pass the torch to those who can recognize that working in waste management can make a difference and be rewarding.
Passing that torch is not a finite line from the old to the new. It should be a continuum. We need to recruit, educate and train the next generation of industry professionals. Critically, we need to find those with related interests and then connect them to a passion for this industry. And then throughout our relationship with them, alongside and just as important as the multitude of other tasks that are our responsibility, continue to support their development and empower them to follow their talents and interests through the industry.
Of course, interest and passion must be accompanied by the particular technical skills associated with each job function. Combined with any practical or scholastic education necessary for engineering, planning, operating, contracting, etc., we hold that it is necessary to have a foundational understanding of the industry and the importance it has relative to the challenges of a changing world. Technical proficiency and industry understanding go hand in hand, whether one is operating equipment, leading stakeholder engagement, marketing commodities or planning routes. Just as restauranteurs need business acumen, to be successful, they also need to have a passion for the food they serve.
Many of us in waste management come from a point in history when working in environmental protection was almost synonymous with activism, and not always in a positive way. In reality, activism in the world of waste and recycling drives innovation and change and helps complete the circle that connects the day-to-day, nuts-and-bolts requirements of our work to a larger worldview. In this way, activism and passion are forever linked.
Recruiting those with passion for this industry is not an easy task. The running joke is that almost no one enters this business purposely, unaware of its larger possibilities. But many of us feel differently now, whether we discovered our inner environmentalist or enjoyed the reward of providing service or thrived in the business aspects. There is no single or defined path, degree program or training certificate. It is our job to continually look for and nurture the spark in our prospective hires, subordinates and colleagues. When we find it or see it, our individual responsibility is to light their torch and help them take the lead.
Dave Weitzman is vice president and Kate Vasquez is director, Planning & Advisory Services - Solid Waste, at RRT Design & Construction, headquartered in Melville, New York.