Casella recognizes sustainability-focused customers

Rutland, Vermont-based Casella Waste Systems Inc. has recognized seven of its customers for their leadership in sustainability at its second annual Casella Sustainability Leadership Awards ceremony.

During the online ceremony, Casella recognized Cabot/Agri-Mark, GlobalFoundries, Middlebury Natural Foods Co-Op, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp., St. Paul’s School, the town of Stratham, New Hampshire, and Tufts University as customers “who are standing out among their peers in their efforts to reach their sustainability goals.”

“It gives us a great sense of pride to honor these seven customers for their innovative work in prioritizing sustainable practices today, tomorrow, and well into the future,” stated John W. Casella, board chair and CEO of the waste and recycling company. “Their work inspires us every day and we hope that by shining the spotlight on them that others will be driven to improve the sustainability of their operations.”

The Wednesday, April 20, virtual ceremony featured “stories of resource sustainability excellence in the areas of partnership, innovation, recycling, organics recovery, donations and reuse, closed-loop economy and education,” according to Casella Waste Systems.

“Sustainability has been at our core for the past 47 years and continues to guide our work for future generations,” Casella said. “I would like to thank all the customers we have the privilege of servicing for joining us in our ongoing, ever-evolving sustainability journey and for choosing Casella as a collaborative partner. We look forward to continuing to advance these efforts within our industry and inspiring others to do the same.”

The 2022 Casella Sustainability Leadership Award winners were:

• Andover, Massachusetts-based Cabot/Agri-Mark is a dairy farming cooperative with what Casella Waste calls “a longstanding focus on material sustainability [that] includes practices such as comprehensive industrial recycling, de-packaging for recovery and organic food product reclamation."
• Malta, New York-based GlobalFoundries is a semiconductor manufacturer that was recognized for its collaboration with Casella “to achieve an impressive 84 percent recycling rate at its Essex, Vermont facility in 2021.” The company recently added a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic drum baler “that has improved both hauling logistics and costs for the company."
• The Middlebury, Vermont, Natural Food Co-Op has used Casella recycling and organics diversion services “to achieve an impressive 74 percent recycling rate” for materials including food scraps and old corrugated containers (OCC).
• Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp. (RIRRC) was selected for operating “one of the largest and most successful leaf and yard trimmings compost facilities in the Northeast,” according to Casella Waste. The firm says it has collaborated with RIRRC to produce and market “a top-quality, Class A product” made from what Casella calls 60,000 cubic yards of “finely screened, organic-approved compost.”
• St. Paul’s School, a private boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire, was recognized for collaborating with Casella to recover nearly 68 tons of recyclables and organic materials each year. One of St. Paul’s most innovative initiatives has been the deployment of Grind2Energy technology to recover the campus’ food waste for anaerobic digestion.
• The Town of Stratham, New Hampshire, has worked with Casella for nine years and currently recycles nearly 1,000 tons per year with an estimated recycling rate of 30 percent, estimates the waste and recycling firm. In 2021, Stratham secured a grant from the Virginia-based Recycling Partnership for education and for carts that are constructed from 40 percent postconsumer recycled content.
• Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, was recognized in part for its Eco-Rep program, in which more than a dozen students support sustainability in the residence halls. During the 2019-20 academic year, the eco-reps collected nearly 2,700 gallons of food waste for composting while helping maintain the university’s low contamination rate of 7 percent.

Casella Waste Systems provides solid waste and recycling collection, transfer, disposal and sorting services in the northeastern United States.