Across all waste and recycling facility categories, publicly reported fires in the U.S. and Canada jumped 15% from 373 in 2023 to 430 in 2024. | Mino Surkala/Shutterstock
Publicly reported fires at MRFs and transfer stations increased by 20% in 2024 over the prior year, according to an annual review by fire detection equipment supplier Fire Rover. It’s the highest yearly figure since the company began tracking fire statistics. Continue Reading
While overall workplace fatalities decreased in the U.S. in 2023, the waste and recycling industry was a troubling outlier. | Wave Break Media/Shutterstock
Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
Nine workers died in U.S. materials recovery facilities in 2023 and the death rate for refuse and recyclable material collectors jumped more than 80%, according to the latest annual numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue Reading
Overall, e-scrap, scrap metal, C&D debris, rubber and organics recycling facilities reported 373 fires, down 4% year over year. | Piotr Zajda/Shutterstock
An annual report from recycling industry fire protection firm Fire Rover found that publicly reported MRF and transfer station fires in the U.S. and Canada dropped by 9% in 2023 compared to the prior year. Continue Reading
A worker was killed in a MRF accident in Nebraska shortly after the publication of an article highlighting the often-dangerous working conditions in the recycling industry.
A Vermont materials recovery facility shuts down, and Ikea announces efforts to boost its already high recycling rate.
This story originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of Resource Recycling. Subscribe today for access to all print content.
An industry training and awareness program focused on vehicle safety kicked off Monday, just weeks after a report showed that occupational deaths among collectors were on the rise in 2015.
A New Jersey metals recycling company has been hit with more than $120,000 in fines by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
Garbage and recycling haulers had the fifth-highest death rate of all civilian occupations in 2014, with 27 people losing their lives, updated federal statistics show.
