National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) President and CEO Darrell Smith sat down with WCA Waste Corp. CEO Bill Caesar May 7 at WasteExpo for a fireside chat that covered a range of topics, including how to lead, dealing with shifting recycling markets, hiring challenges and how to change corporate culture in a waste organization.  

Here are some highlights from the discussion:

Darrell Smith: You had your entree into the corporate and consulting world working with companies like McKinsey & Company and Macquarie. Can you tell us how you [got started and how these experiences taught you to succeed in the waste management industry]?

Bill Caesar: What you carry with you is how you look at an industry, whatever industry that is, and decide what’s important and what the drivers of success are. What are the things you have to do to succeed and what metrics do you need to look at? What are the environments that you’re working in? Who are the competitors? All these things about how you look at a problem or an industry are things that are highly leverageable. … The [details change], but all the other things are very transferable and were highly useful in my transition from consulting into the waste management field.

DS: What kind of leader are you? How do you motivate people?

BC: There are a couple things I would say describe my leadership style. The first one is honesty. I make a point of ensuring that everybody knows [the reasons behind] what I think is important. I’ll always be straight with them, and I will always be fair. I can’t claim that I will always be patient, but I will always be fair and honest—both for the people that work for me, and for the people that I work for because its important as a manager [to know] that you don’t just manage people, you’re managing the board, you’re managing the people who own the company and are invested in it. You have to be the same person to groups on both sides of that equation. And that philosophy has served me well to this point.

I don’t get questioned on whether or not what I believe in is for the right reasons. If you were to ask me what my approach to management is—there is management by walking around [and learning from immersion], and I do a little bit of that—but I manage by asking questions. I ask questions all the time. Ninety percent of the time I don’t know the answer to those questions—I’m not testing anybody—I ask questions because I honestly want to know why something happened, what does it mean, what did we learn, how are we going to move forward, etc., but I don’t look back on much of anything. I may not be the most optimistic person, but I am definitely a forward-thinking person. When [mistakes happen], we figure out how to move on but we don’t dwell on those things. But I do want us to learn from things when we make mistakes and I want our people to understand how things came to be so we can better manage them.

DS: How’s WCA doing recovering from challenges with the recycling market?

BC: I think with WCA, recycling accounts for 1.8 percent of our revenue. It is not the most important thing I do every day. However, even at 1.8 percent, it has a meaningful impact in delivering the financial performance my board is looking for. … We’re doing the best we can. If there was a secret to recycling, it would’ve gotten out by now. You need to force the people that are bringing you material to pay you more for it. You don’t give them rebates anymore. You improve your operations, and you try like hell to get somebody to buy the stuff you’re making—it’s not that complicated. It can be real complicated if you want it to be, but at the end of the day, you need to run your plant as efficiently as possible, don’t pay for crappy material and sell everything that you can, if you can. At the end of the day, the vast majority of the value that you create [from recycling] is a function of things that are completely out of your hands.

DS: Can you talk about your recruiting efforts? What is WCA doing to manage its [hiring needs]?

BC: A year ago, we put together a group of people to look at what the drivers were in our whole recruitment process. We tried to understand what we could be doing better in how we attract people—what do our benefits need to be, what do our comps need to be, how are we going to promote the company, what happens when our employees show up on their first day of work, how do we introduce them to WCA, and how do we try to get them to realize that we not only want them to work for us but we want them to be part of us? We found that we were lacking in that first impression that we made with employees. We realized we probably didn’t train our front-line supervisors to help new employees get started. We probably didn’t totally think through how to deal with employees coming from outside the industry … so it was a broad-based effort for us. We called [our efforts to improve our recruitment process] Project Genesis because [it was all about improving what we did] starting from the beginning of your introduction to WCA. I can’t tell you that as a result of this that we’re in the top quartile, but we’re a lot better than we were.

DS: How does WCA approach safety?

BC: If there is one piece of advice I’d give the industry, it would be to make sure that your employees know that their lives are worth more than any piece of equipment you own, and that they should never put themselves in a position where they could get hurt because [they fear] a piece of equipment is going to get damaged. I don’t feel like we can do a lot about distracted drivers, we can’t fix that, but I can make sure my people know that avoiding damage isn’t worth their lives.

During the audience Q&A portion of the session, an audience member asked about how a waste company can change its culture over time.

BC: I start with leadership. I think it is very hard for front-line people to change what they’re doing if front-line leadership hasn’t bought into it. When I came to WCA, we made some changes in leadership. Some because it was clear that the individual was incapable of doing the job that we needed them to do, some because the person doing the job realized that maybe they didn’t want to do it in this environment, and that was good. I feel so good about the team I have today. We have capable people who are smart, who are doing what they need to do and they care about people—that makes all the difference.

AMP Robotics, Denver, has announced the launch of its AMP Cortex dual-robot system (DRS) focused on material recovery in municipal solid waste (MSW), electronic scrap and construction and demolition (C&D) recycling applications. 

The AMP Cortex DRS expands on the company’s existing product line of high-speed recycling robotics guided by the AMP Neuron AI platform. The AMP Cortex DRS uses two high-performance robots that rapidly sort, pick and place materials at an unprecedented speed of 160 pieces per minute, creating optimum productivity, the company says.

According to an AMP Robotics news release, the AMP Neuron uses computer vision and machine learning to recognize different colors, textures, shapes, sizes and patterns to identify material characteristics. Then, it directs the robots to pick and place the targeted material. The system can operate 24/7 with continuous high-precision sorting, preventing contaminants in material streams. AMP Robotics reports that it also increases the overall quality and purity of commodities to be reclaimed. The company says the system is modularly designed to drop into existing facilities without requiring a major retrofit or downtime, enabling customers to quickly benefit from advanced automation.

From sheets of paper to cardboard, sorting fiber is a major challenge for recycling lines, often becoming a contaminant for other recycled commodities. AMP Robotics reports that the design of the two robots opens up new material applications, namely the ability to efficiently process difficult material streams of postconsumer fiber. 

“The launch of the AMP Cortex dual-robot system marks another key technology milestone for AMP as we continue to advance the application of AI and robotics for the industry,” says Matanya Horowitz, chief executive officer of AMP. “Our latest innovation further improves the economics of recycling by helping waste management companies meet increased quality standards, reduce operational costs and achieve their productivity goals.”

AMP’s latest announcement follows recent press about its partnership with Ryohshin Ltd., Osaka, Japan, to develop two new robotic systems using AMP Neuron AI to recycle C&D materials for the Japanese market. Also, ERI, a large e-scrap recycler, announced plans for additional installations of the AMP Cortex system in its facilities.

“We are very pleased about how our latest material application helps solve the challenge of recycling fiber products,” Horowitz adds. “Our AI platform continues to adapt and deepen with new material applications proven by what we have recently achieved with C&D and e-waste. As we scale our business, we remain focused on continuous improvement and innovation. The launch of our latest AI robotics system serves as another great example of this.”

AMP Robotics is exhibiting at WasteExpo 2019 in Las Vegas from May 6-9. In addition to speaking at the conference about AI and robotics in recycling, Horowitz will also be receiving Waste360’s “40 Under 40 Award” and the publication’s annual “Innovator of the Year Award,” created to recognize forward thinkers who use technology to better the waste management industry.

The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, opened up grant applications for the 2019 Residential Curbside Recycling Cart Grant program, offering more funding and flexibility for advancing cart-based curbside recycling in communities across the United States through financial and technical assistance. According to a news release from The Recycling Partnership, this request for proposals (RFP) offers communities the opportunity to apply for grant funding to convert bin or bag-based curbside recycling programs to carts or to implement new cart-based curbside recycling programs.

“Cart-based recycling collection is safer and more efficient,” says Rob Taylor, director of grants and community development at The Recycling Partnership. “Curbside recycling with carts costs communities less because of fewer workers’ compensation claims, lower insurance premiums and better route efficiencies, which translates to less fuel, maintenance and overhead for public recycling programs. In addition, residents can more easily fit all of their recyclables into one container, then simply roll those items to the curb—anything that makes it easier for residents to recycle means less trash in our landfills.”

More than 450,000 new carts have been introduced in the United States over the last four years as a result of The Recycling Partnership’s funding activities, the company reports in a news release. The partnership’s grant program has been substantially revised for 2019 with the intention of accommodating a wide variety of strategies for implementing cart-based recycling collection. With more flexibility, the partnership reports that it hopes to engage with more communities across the U.S. to advance residential recycling.

“Implementing curbside recycling with carts is an exciting, high-profile initiative that can have huge cost savings and requires a high degree of readiness and commitment on the part of an applicant community’s elected officials, community leadership and those involved with the community’s recycling program, including hauler(s) and materials recovery facilities (MRF),” says Cody Marshall, chief strategic engagement officer at The Recycling Partnership. “The more we recycle, the more we reduce pollution and conserve resources. It’s directly connected to greenhouse gas, water, and energy savings. The approximately 450,000 carts we have deployed over the past four years equates to 170,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions (carbon dioxide) avoided.”

2019 program requirements and details

The Recycling Partnership made three updates to its curbside cart RFP: no minimum community size requirement; funding is available for a full-cart distribution is increasing from $7 per cart to $15 per cart; and there is more funding flexibility—if a community isn’t ready to roll carts out to every home, the partnership can provide funding for a variety of cart distribution approaches. 

Previously, The Recycling Partnership required that grant applicants agree to automatically deliver recycling carts to every household within their jurisdiction. The partnership reports that the new grant program, however, allows communities to consider different implementation strategies—from providing every household a cart, to implementing in phases or even allowing citizens to opt-in or out of recycling service.

The various strategies are valued differently in terms of grant funding availability based on their effectiveness when it comes to encouraging recycling behavior to the largest number of residents and diverting recyclable materials from landfills on a community-wide scale.

“The Recycling Partnership is transforming recycling for good by making sure every American can recycle, and recycles all that they can,” says Keefe Harrison, CEO of The Recycling Partnership. “Our recent research shows that Americans value recycling and expect that products should be recyclable and that communities will provide curbside recycling pickup.”

The partnership intends to award funding for Residential Curbside Recycling Cart Grants on a rolling basis, according to a Recycling Partnership news release.

Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas, Norcross, Georgia, expanded its North American authorized dealer network with the addition of Dundalk, Maryland-based Correlli Inc. 

Correlli Inc. is an equipment all-in-one service provider, according to a Hyundai Construction Equipment news release. President Patrick Correlli and his sons started the business on June 1, 1999, as an independent repair shop. The business supports repairs on all makes and models of construction equipment.

According to Hyundai Construction Equipment, the company’s North American network now includes more than 70 dealerships in about 150 locations. These locations offer sales, service and parts for the full line of Hyundai excavators, wheel loaders, compaction rollers and other construction equipment.

“The Correllis are and have always been a customer support driven company and customer satisfaction is No. 1 with them,” says Bill Klein, Hyundai Construction Equipment America’s district manager-Northeast. “They have five service trucks on the road, 10 technicians and four on-the-road salespeople to support the customers’ needs. They will be a great addition to the Hyundai family of dealers in the Baltimore, Maryland, area.”