High risk

If there’s a common thread in the stories in this month’s issue, it’s weighing risk: How to mitigate risk, how to better protect your company against risk—and when to take a risk.

Material recovery facilities (MRFs) face a near-constant risk of catastrophic fires from the improper disposal of lithium-ion batteries, with a new report from the National Waste & Recycling Association, Arlington, Virginia, finding more than 5,000 fires occur annually at recycling facilities. Still, facility operators can mitigate that risk with preparation.

Scott Ledford, owner of Metro Site Fabricators in Georgia, understands these risks all too well after losing his entire MRF in a fire sparked by short-circuiting batteries. “All I could think about is all the time, all the sleepless nights I spent trying to get this facility like I wanted,” Ledford said during a 2024 C&D World session titled Stopping Fires Before They Start. “It [was] all going up in smoke.”

Safety managers say their best strategies to protect against the potential dangers of fire come down to prevention, preparedness and proactivity. Learn how to develop an emergency action plan for your facility in our workplace safety feature.

With extensive fleets, waste management companies also face a continual threat of liability risk. We spoke with Apex Waste Solutions, Parker, Colorado, about how it uses 3rd Eye’s Verif-Eye camera system to help improve service verification—you can read more about here—but owners Scott Lukach and Scott Jenkins say insurance companies appreciate the safety aspects of these integrated camera systems, too. “We make sure when we have an incident, we’re sharing information with the insurance company, and they like the idea of [that],” Jenkins says. “It helps bring your premium costs down on your insurance.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Jennifer Boyd of National Interstate Insurance delves into the particulars of alternative risk transfer or captive insurance, a solution to financing risk for owners with strong financials.

Captives are not for everyone, she says, but for companies looking for an alternative to either transferring risk to an insurance carrier or retaining risk through self-insuring, captive insurance could appeal. It’s a holistic approach to risk financing that allows owners to keep a predictable layer of risk they can control and to transfer the less predictable or catastrophic risk to the insurance carrier. For business owners with above-average loss history, strong financials, an appetite for risk and a commitment to safety, she says, a captive can be an appealing solution.