Close this Advertisement

FMA Congresses and Waste Management Changing Attitudes: From Garbage Collection to Environmental Performance

  • Sep 17, 2010

We've all heard the old adage, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Waste Management Inc. actually proved it with a study a couple of years ago that found the materials in U.S. landfills alone holds about $10 billion in value every year. North America's leading provider of comprehensive waste management solutions knows that we are a throw-away society and has perfected getting garbage to the landfills. Its challenge now is to get people to understand that realizing a zero-waste operation is an achievable goal and that there is value to the trash being thrown out, if we all just change our perspectives.

Waste Management is leading the charge in offering integrated sustainability solutions by helping companies look at waste streams from top to bottom and inside out. This shift in the way the company is positioning its business is a major turnaround for how it is viewed by its customers.

"We're transitioning our brand and want to be known as an environmental performance company that helps businesses meet their sustainability goals," said James Hall, Managing Director of Waste Management's Green Squad. "It's a challenge to have people understand that we're changing this industry and the way people look at their garbage."

One of the ways that they've been able to reach out to industry influencers is at the FMA Congresses' August event, where they were able to hold a workshop with attendees entitled, "Getting to Zero - and what it's like when you arrive," which Hall found to be very productive.

"We've had a really good experience with attendees," said Hall. "There has been great engagement and education with the people here that has allowed us to further our message."

Waste Management reports that its customers have so far realized savings of more than $60 million through zero-waste action plans, which can drive efficiency and profitability. It is this approach that attendees learned more about in the workshop.

"Networking was also a lot easier because it was arranged for us," Hall added. "It was a deliberate effort on the part of event organizers, so it was much easier to get engaged. That was a big differentiator from other events we've attended."

Comments

Sat, Sep 25, 2010 Patricia Beauregard Illinois

Zero Waste is a great concept; however, we live in a society where most things are made to be disposable. Glass bottles were replaced by plastic and aluminum, cloth was replaced by paper and plastic, appliances have a much shorter lifespan, and, in many instances, it is cheaper to replace objects than to repair them, etc. Is it realistic to believe that people will be willing to give up the convenience of disposables and go back to earlier times? Many areas in this country do not support recycling and even in those areas that do, a very low percentage of people recycle regularly. I don't believe that I will see zero waste in my lifetime. A depressed economy may help, but when the economy recovers, waste will increase.

Thu, Sep 23, 2010 Michigan Mark Michigan

Hello: Time to sell your stock in Waste Management since they've gone looney. Their business plan is to put garbage in a landfill and to charge money to do that. How is recylcing going to help them maintain their existing and closed landfills and their core business? They probably understand they need to do this looney stuff to save face with an ignorant body of government officials, the press and much of the public and to present themselves as a green company. However, I would hypothesize that it won't actually effect their bottom line much doing this non-core work - recycling is a hassle for Waste Management and for all of us that put the garbage into the recyclers bins, roll-offs, etc. The vast majority of people do it because we have to do it per a law. Now if somebody paid me to take my waste, that would be real incentive and I bet we'd see a real huge leap in ther percentage of people, business, etc. that recycle.

Tue, Sep 21, 2010 Tony Nocito New York City

I am all for zero waste. It is the best thing we can do for society and its future. What will our children do to eliminate waste in the future? It has to start and continue on through education of the consequences and the benefits of not having zero waste. We also have to take a hard look at hazardous wastes and how we can permamently eliminate the hazards in our environment, which will make a healthier future and a healthier people.

Tue, Sep 21, 2010 Clark E. Dodge USA

Aloha from Hawaii. I love to read things like this and want to off my recommendation the Waste Management take the lead in a waste eating shredder collector and even a burner to get rid of the hundreds of tons or garbage waste floating in our oceans. As a Chief Engineer I offer any help in this endeavor. I am a former elected official and know many leaders in Hawaii, Washington State and in Washington DC. I offer any help I can to make this happen. Other countries need to join this as Garbage/solid waste, is the number 1 polluter of our oceans. www.cedconsulting.com.

Add your Comment

Your Name:(optional)
Your Email:(optional)
Your Location:(optional)
Comment:
Please type the letters/numbers you see above