WasteExpo 2018: Keeping up with the trends

Recycling and waste industry trends are dependent on a number of variables, speakers at WasteExpo 2018 said during the April 24 session titled Industry Trends: What Should You Be Watching? These variables include data, policy and economic health.

WasteExpo is taking place April 23-26 in Las Vegas. It is organized by the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, and information, event, commerce and education provider Waste 360.

JB Lindeburg, president and principal of RRS Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, said during the session that China’s recent restrictions on certain materials are shaking up the recycling market, but he was optimistic on the outcome.

“My silver lining in this particular problem is that, fundamentally, we will come out of the other side stronger,” he said. “But it will take some changes.”

He also said that lithium-ion batteries are a growing issue in material recovery facilities (MRFs). While the advancements in these batteries are admirable—they are becoming smaller, more popular and cheaper to manufacture—Lindeburg said the fires they cause are becoming more difficult to prevent and detect because of the way the fire rapidly flares.

Lithium-ion batteries are becoming a business opportunity along with a safety issue, Lindeburg said. Organizations such as Call2Recyle, Atlanta, are working to mitigate the risks of battery recycling.

Ocean plastics are another hot topic in the recycling industry, Lindeburg said, calling the material a “sanitary issue that needs a solution.” He said the way ocean plastics are being handled is reminiscent of the e-scrap issue where, when news was covering the issue, brands were visible in photos of e-scrap piles, causing more brand attention to avoid customer decline.

The issues in China, with ocean plastics and with lithium-ion batteries can be solved, in part, with better education, Lindeburg said. “We lost the will and investment to teach everyone how to use our system properly,” he said. Investing in what he called the “users” of recycling will “get stuff put where it’s supposed to be,” he said.

On the solid waste side, Michael Hoffman, managing director of environmental services research with Stifel, St. Louis, said economic patterns affect volumes. With an improving gross domestic product (GDP) and no sign of a recession in 2018 or 2019, Hoffman said, “It’s a good time to be in garbage.”

Tax reforms will help C corporations and S corporations, creating new businesses and, thus, an increase in commercial collection.

Hoffman called the housing cycle a “macrodriver” of the solid waste industry. The housing cycle, he said, refers to people purchasing new homes, wanting to build new homes and creating neighborhoods that need schools and other infrastructure. Volumes decreased during the housing crisis, he said, but are slowly gaining as the market rises.

Brad Staley, president and CEO of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), Raleigh, North Carolina, said four larger trends make up where the solid waste and recycling industries are heading: data, policies, operations and societal change.

“What was a simple industry is becoming much more savvy and much more innovative,” he said.

Data can create new policy and guidance based on “sound science,” Staley said, or correct poor policy based on old or bad data. Data can help landfill manage leachate, invest in landfill gas to energy projects, mitigate odor emissions and hot spots and help evaluate drivers, truck operations and collection routes.

Maintaining municipal solid waste (MSW) generation data is important, Staley said, because it helps to determine greenhouse gas emissions, which determine policy. Inaccurate data can mean inaccurate regulations, he said.

Safety is the focus on the operations side of these industries, Staley said. For example, MRFs are looking to decrease contamination by hiring more hand sorters who are in danger from hazardous contamination such as sharps.

Society is becoming more focused on sustainable materials management, the circular economy and minimizing environmental burden during the manufacturing process. While society is looking for the “highest and best use” of recyclables and organics, Staley said education needs to become more refined to get it right.

Creating a “meaningful conversation” about how to handle certain materials, including reduction and reuse, can benefit residents, hauling companies and MRFs, he said.