Mark Lewon, outgoing chair of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), urged attendees at the ISRI2018 convention to pay attention to and get involved with the organization’s political advocacy efforts. The convention took place in mid-April in Las Vegas.
Lewon, who also is president of Salt Lake City-based Utah Metal Works Inc., stated, “My role as chair has been to advocate for advocacy.” He continued, “Protecting our industry and advocating for our businesses is an ongoing responsibility” of all ISRI members.
Lewon said, “I will always be an advocate for my business [and] keep an eye on my government leaders.”
Regarding his two-year stint as chair, he said, “I worked to leave you an association in just a little better shape than when I found it.”
Lewon also advocated for increased ISRI involvement among those in the audience, saying, “You meet some of the most amazing people from every part of the industry across the globe” when getting involved with the organization.
Also at the ISRI2018 Opening Session, auto shredding pioneer Sam Proler was honored posthumously with an ISRI Lifetime Achievement Award. The Texan died in February 2018 at the age of 101 after having spent decades as part of a scrap industry family that spread its “Prolerizer” metals shredding technology throughout North America.
A video tribute to Proler quotes him as having said, “Think, think and think some more. If all you do is work, you will just get tired.”
Proler’s daughter Joyce Proler-Schechter, who accepted the award on his behalf, said that if Sam had lived two months longer and been able to accept the award himself, he likely would have remarked, “What took you so long?”
Carlos Gutierrez, a former United States Secretary of Commerce and Fortune 500 CEO, served as the Opening Session’s guest speaker and commented that global trade commentators like himself are “not used to being on the front page.”
While President Donald Trump has questioned trade terms with China and portions of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico), Gutierrez expressed optimism the U.S. is unlikely to withdraw from NAFTA. The former executive said among voters and the business community, “NAFTA is not as unpopular as China.”
He continued, “NAFTA has been a success. Every one of the three countries is better off; that’s good news for North America. As it stands today, it looks like it is going to survive.”
Gutierrez said the Trump administration has heard from business leaders and politicians, “including from red states,” that “the supply chains and IT systems built over 24 years [post-NAFTA] would take a long time to dismantle.”
The greater threat from NAFTA could come from Mexico, he added, where a left-wing populist political party is poised to take power. Actions taken by that party could involve “animosity toward U.S. firms,” said Gutierrez, adding, “We shouldn’t go back to that.”
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An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).
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SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC
An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).
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SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC
An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).
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SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC
An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).
Gutierrez said “the real action” in trade relations will be in Asia, where he called the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “a strategic mistake; it left our allies confused and frustrated. We can still correct that.”
While China is using its “One Belt, One Road” program and 16-nation RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) alliance to build global trade links, it also faces mounting local government and state-owned enterprise debt that will have to be addressed eventually, said Gutierrez.
ISRI2018 was April 14-19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
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