Canadian Company Touts Recycling Database

Emerge Knowledge Design Inc., a Canadian environmental software company, has introduced a solid waste and recycling data management system named Re-TRACTM.

Within one year of being on the market, Re-TRAC has landed contracts across the U.S. Re-TRAC, a web-based product, is now being used by 13 county governments in six states  representing 10 million people. The state of South Carolina just signed a 5-year contract for a full state-wide rollout of the system.  Re-TRAC has also been nominated for the “Outstanding Recycling Innovation Product or Process” award to be handed out the National Recycling Coalition Conference in Minneapolis at the end of August.

Rick Penner, President of Emerge, is very pleased with how well Re-TRAC is being received. “The response from clients has confirmed that Re-TRAC is capable of significantly improving the way that solid waste and recycling data is collected and managed.  Not only does Re-TRAC save time for staff who have to manage the information, but the automated reporting helps program managers to better target their waste reduction and recycling efforts which results in improved service delivery and potential financial savings.” 

“Most people until now have been creating stand alone data management systems, often requiring re-entering of the same data and creating cumbersome data storage and retrieval issues.  This can result in staff time being tied up on data collection and retrieval tasks instead of higher-level recycling program management and enhancement work.  For example, the time saved by using Re-TRAC can be used instead to  do more public education or provide technical assistance to municipalities or private companies wanting to improve their recycling programs.  Re-TRAC was designed to address those inefficiencies and improve productivity and job satisfaction.” said Penner.