It was nearly a quarter century ago, a day after the company for which I was working closed its doors, that I responded to an ad in the Santa Barbara News Press about a magazine editor position.
“I can do that,” I said to myself, throwing my hat into the ring of what has proved to be a wonderful journey filled with more memories than my feeble brain should be tasked to hold. The facts that I knew nothing of the waste industry and had no prior experience as an editor didn’t dissuade me from considering this my job, the last I would probably hold until the end of a lifetime of interesting work experiences…well, we’ll see about that.
MSW Management’s publisher, Dan Waldman, had begun the magazine in Santa Monica, CA, in 1990, but had decided to pull up stakes and head west to Santa Barbara, where the company has roosted ever since. In retrospect, it was a fortuitous decision, though in the beginning it didn’t seem so since the majority of the action was taking place on the other side of the country; but, during the 1990s, the center of waste management activities shifted westward—primarily to California, putting us in the heart of where change was taking place.
To tell the truth, while there are several accomplishments that stand out, I don’t see many truly earth-shattering changes to the way we deal with wastes today. Yes, WTE sitings are about as rare as dodos, and—as amazing as advancements in our recycling practices and equipment have been—I feel they have been overshadowed by our eagerness to ship stuff to others around the globe, a practice that without genuine oversight of their fate stands in stark contrast with the purpose behind public sector involvement in waste management…public health and safety.
Making matters murkier is an implicit belief on the part of many of our public officials that waste managers are somehow in a position to impact public consumption habits. While it is important that we all work to close the loop in the materials equation, we’re not some magical force in public behavior modification and no amount of planning effort is going to make us so. Moreover, one glance at the wide variance in recycling achievements between, let’s say, Seattle or Cincinnati and almost anywhere else, should be enough to convince us that what works one place should not be viewed as the standard for others. More important still is that, in spite of numerous efforts to rectify the issue, we have yet to come up with a generally accepted set of metrics that allow us rationally to weigh our management options.
Collection equipment of all sorts continue to become more productive and with the industry’s push toward natural gas vehicles—quieter, more easily maintained, and less polluting. As more systems turn to single-bin processing, the number of vehicles should decline, but even with the increased use of video and radar sensors, along with telematics monitoring and management systems, it’s not obvious that our safety record is going to improve to an acceptable level without a much heavier leadership commitment.
Landfills have come under increasing criticism not only as the terminus of materials that might otherwise be better employed, but also for their contribution to the production of greenhouse gases. Still, aside from the bad press and the elimination of nearly two-thirds those in service a quarter century ago, landfills are, and will continue to be for some time to come, mainstays of our solid waste management infrastructure. Remaining to be seen is how effectively our closure and post-closure care efforts are carried out.
My point in highlighting the foregoing is not to suggest failure on anyone’s part, but rather to point out that my successors will probably be dealing with the same issues for decades to come.
The People in Waste Management I’ve Come to Know and Revere
When it comes to the people in waste, I never met a person I didn’t like. I’ve spent a good deal of time considering why this is so, and have come to the conclusion it’s just the way it is and let it go at that.
Despite my extreme lack of knowledge about the ins-and-outs of waste management, right from day one I found myself welcomed by people at all levels: public, private, managers, operators…face it, it’s an industry without a restraining hierarchy.
I know better than to call out by name those who have brought so much pleasure to my job as there’s no end to the task. Instead, I’ll mention groups such as our MSW Management readers, Editorial Advisory Boards, everyone at SWANA, representatives of product and equipment manufacturers who have supported our efforts, LMOP, my faithful cadre of writers who have brought my crude ideas to life, Forester Media’s wonderfully talented staff, and finally, Dan Waldman, my boss, mentor, critic, and supporter who placed his first-born publication in my hands without restraint. Once again, many thanks.
