Harry Hayes has been director of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department since 2007. | Photo courtesy of city of Houston
Harry Hayes’ journey to the top of Houston’s solid waste department in many ways began over 40 years ago, when he confronted fears about being the only Black kid in French class.
Temple, which is located about 70 miles northwest of Austin in central Texas, first explored curbside recycling in 1998.
The community of Temple, Texas sees high participation in its weekly curbside program, which has evolved from a small collection effort in one neighborhood to a citywide single-stream service that also helps neighboring communities move their recyclables.
A research project in Ontario compared single-family and multi-family streams in medium-sized urban cities with single-family streams in rural programs. | Diana Parkhouse/Shutterstock
Officials in one area of Ontario dove deep into recycling stream composition data, producing results that informed a municipality’s new recycling contract. Continue Reading
The Des Moines, Iowa Metro Waste Authority recently approved a loan agreement to finance construction of a new MRF, which officials say could cost about $24 million. | cnetten/Shutterstock
Plans to build a new publicly funded MRF in the Des Moines, Iowa area have drawn criticism from the region’s current recycling contractor.
A number of recycling industry groups have spoken out against racism in recent weeks. | Pix_Arena/Shutterstock
Recycling organizations, environmental advocacy groups and municipal programs are joining the call to oppose racism and work for systemic change.
Keefe Harrison, who leads The Recycling Partnership. | Brian Adams Photography/Resource Recycling Conference
The Recycling Partnership is bringing together three dozen individuals from across the recycling value chain for some frank discussion about how to get more types of material consistently collected and moved to end markets.
Calgary, Alberta saw a large recycling facility temporarily close because 16 employees tested positive for COVID-19. | Darko-HD Photography/Shutterstock
A MRF serving Calgary is back at half-capacity after workers tested positive for the coronavirus, and a local program in Missouri is being put on hold as employees go into quarantine.
In several communities of varying sizes around the country recycling programs are facing cuts due to budget constraints. | John-Fs-Pic/Shutterstock
It’s too early to say how big of a hole COVID-19 will punch in municipal budgets. But communities are already facing tough decisions about how to allocate limited resources, and in some cases, recycling isn’t making the cut.
Republic Services is among the haulers that experienced year-over-year decreases in first-quarter recycling revenues. | Rosamar/Shutterstock
Two years after China’s imports ban upended material flows, recycling revenues are still falling for the largest waste and recycling companies in North America.
