On Thursday, Scott Pasternak from Burns and McDonnell welcomed attendees to the third day of virtual WASTECON® and began by talking about the importance of SWANA and its amazing commitment to the industry. He said was excited about the session that he was introducing, “Media Relations for Solid Waste Professionals” because it has never been more relevant than right now. He pointed out that while the industry had a number of challenging issues before, now has been compounded with the pandemic as well as the increased important of media scrutiny that is on 24/7.
Mark Burnheimer, a CNN reporter for many years, helps leaders deliver messages clearly and memorably, and he wanted to share his insight into how the industry could deal with the media when needed, including rules of engagement, the “care and feeding” of the reporters, dos and don’ts and a live demo. He encouraged attendees to ask questions throughout in order to keep the discussion interactive. He pointed out that not only does almost every solid waste professional do interviews the wrong way, almost everyone does them the wrong way. People interpret it as a Q&A process, which is fine, but if you do this, you are not likely to get any benefit out of the interview or get your objectives met. You need to approach the news interview the right way – it is a presentation; make sure you are prepared. You need to meet your objectives first, then the reporter’s (most people reverse the formula). However, he said, you should help the reporter as well. You can’t just get in front of media with a press release; reporters are looking for a story, and when they come to you, they already have the story in mind, and are looking for participation in that story. If you don’t deliver, they go poking around for their own, which usually does not work out for you. Be sure to take advantage of the interview, otherwise very awkward things can happen like going off the subject and the reporter or participant hijacking the interview. Burnheimer did stress that for better or worse, we do need the media. However, do not spend the entire interview trying to explain something or answer a question, go right to the conclusion and just give a summary – a 10 or 12 second response. Reporters are not the enemy, but they are not your best friend – they are there to do a job; they are not there to be an advocate for your organization. Approach the interview carefully with discipline, care and caution. A reporter’s objective is to get a story and they typically look for drama, so it is important that we use our own words when we respond. Don’t let a reporter plant words in your mouth and do not be ill-prepared, back up your messaging with data and facts during the interview. Don’t answer something you don’t know, however answer with a referring it to someone else or can’t speculate on that; you don’t want to look like you’re hiding something. “No comment” equals drama and that is catnip to a reporter, so we need to have alternative answers. Never say anything that would get you trouble. Don’t ever go off the record; it does not prevent the reporter from going to another source to get the same information. He stressed that you should not say anything that you don’t want to see on their home page or go viral. Do not ignore or stonewall the media because you may find that they come to you instead and that is never a good thing. Frontload your positive messages; don’t be reactive in the interview. Don’t just end the interview, use that last part to reiterate a positive message. Finally, keep in mind that If you are going to an interview, think about how you dress. He recommended not wearing solid black or white, or contrasting colors like pinstripe, no bright colors that will distract the eye and watch the lighting arrangements and eyeglasses reflections. Be sure to wear solids or more subtle patterns. If a viewer is concentrating on clothes instead of words, it is a missed opportunity. If you have a communications director let them vet these reporters and interviews. Do research on these reporters who they are and their reporting style, do they have any biases, where did they work before? Preventing ugliness in an interview is easier than fixing it after it happens.
Following Burnheimer’s session, Bob Craggs from Burns & McDonnell moderated the session, “Paying for Waste Services During the Downturn” featuring speakers Vita Quinn from SCS Engineers, John Chalmers from the Baltimore, MD City of Public Works and Kim Braun from Culver City, CA. Sharing their experiences during the height of the pandemic and looking at alternative funding opportunities, this session presented ways to plan for the economic downturn and the future. Chalmers said that prior to the pandemic, it was hard to get good employees, especially CDL drivers. Once the pandemic hit, it definitely had an effect on operations; they suspended all services except collection. In June, they faced a huge setback from COVID outbreak; thankfully everyone who was affected has recovered. He also talked about the major challenges of increased tonnage on waste and recycling, resulting in extending route times, creating more work. It was a challenge to switch from curbside recycling collection to citizen drop off centers. However, there was strong participation at these locations and the department used opportunity to show residents how to properly recycle. Chalmers was proud that they were able to still offer the service when so many others had stopped theirs. It actually resulted in an improvement in quality if material. He said they received an emergency procurement contract with Rubicon to optimize their routes and the digitization helps them to be more accountable and track performance. He also stressed the need to keep up employee morale and retention. The department increased pay for employees and transitioned several to permanent employees. There needs to be investment in employees, equipment, technology, and we should focus on bringing more young people into this industry. He said the entire experience has really brought a spotlight to solid waste; everyone has appreciated solid waste workers and he hopes this will continue into the future.
Braun talked about the effect of the pandemic on City of Culver as well. In March, their commercial volume decreased by 30 – 40 percent, while single and multi-family residents increasing by 30 – 40 percent. C&D dropped 50 percent from March to June. These changes made it difficult financially because waste services are paid though a parcel tax, but as the pandemic started, more people were staying home resulting in more trash without more funding for the service. The recycling facility closed down as a result of the pandemic and they had nowhere to process recyclable material, so they ended up having to landfill some of it during that time. However, they did find a recycling facility that would accept the city’s materials temporarily. In June, there was a slight uptick due to businesses reopening and in July, it was a little better, but the pandemic is still here. The California governor closed everything down in November again. The shutdown was lifted at the end of January. Businesses can now open with strict regulations. She pointed out that while they expect to see an uptick, this is only the tip of the iceberg and they don’t want another shutdown. For the city’s next fiscal year budget, they are going to change the recycling campaign focusing on only permitting #1 and #2 plastics to align with market availability, but it will take a lot of education to change behaviors.
Quinn commented that we need to look at our waste streams in the pandemic. It is a matter of whether people have jobs and are able to continue to pay their bills, which can include utility funds. She asked how can we share costs of creating services with other funds, especially when you are not immediately rehiring? Is there an opportunity to share services and slash costs? We need other strategies that are not simply about cutting budgets again. It is time to think about your programs and ways to continue them instead of just stopping and dealing with the consequences. Look at your plan and what you are charging right now. Make sure you go beyond just looking at this year’s budget, so you can stave off negative impacts of an economic downturn. Look at having reserves and what you need especially during downturn.
The final session of the day, moderated by Clay Layne from Caterpillar, focused on leaders from big cities talk about innovation, challenges, recovery and future opportunities. Speakers included Matt Keliher from the City of Toronto, Edward Grayson from the New York City Department of Sanitation and Michael Fernandez from the Miami-Dade County Solid Waste Management.
Fernandez talked about the long battle and constantly making adjustments and transitions, while trying to keep everyone motivated and morale up, commenting that “we are still on the frontlines.” Employees are a priority, especially making sure they are safe and have the supplies they need. They are committed to showing people that everyone is in this together and it goes a long way and has been appreciated. He said they department has seen many older employees retire and this has resulted in losing the institutional knowledge in the business. They do try to promote from within so they can keep that institutional knowledge. They are evaluating their aging facilities throughout the county as well as landfill capacity, looking at perhaps refurbishment or expansion. He stressed that we need to think outside the box with regards to expansion – you can’t just build a landfill in someone’s backyard. He spoke about powering vehicles with the waste; you have your own power source in your backyard – use it. We need to make sure that we do training to avoid safety risks from happening, and ensure that the trucks are equipped properly. He stressed the need to take advantage of technology and use it. It is a very exciting time in the waste industry with what is available. Being optimistic, he wants to put COVID behind us. He said we are all leaving some sort of mark that we are doing something good for the community and future generations for waste; he is glad to be a part of it.
Grayson said that in New York City, COVID is a major focus since the city was of the epicenters. With more than 27 workers out, the pandemic wreaked havoc on operations. They had severe budget constraints, cutting back several programs in order to focus on residential. However, he has that a federal stimulus along with the vaccine, will lessen some of the challenges and get them to make some great strides forward. He said they continuously work on keeping up employee morale. The team has put themselves on the line and he wants to ensure that they know that essential does not mean expendable. They also care about the people they serve, since they are the backbone of the business. He explained that in the face of challenges, there are opportunities for improvement and efficiency. He has worked on finding solutions and adaptive changes with a reduction in staff. The department is also pressing ahead with some of the capital programs because some of their facilities are decades old, and constantly require a capital upgrade procedure every year. He stressed that we must move material out and manage the waste stream. While they are committed to zero waste, it does not mean zero jobs; it means how can we make better decisions on the waste streams from end to end and now is the time to focus on those commitments. One of the ways to do that is to invest in the fleet, working through obstacles in infrastructures, etc. This pandemic has redefined what essential is, what heroes are. He stressed that the industry should not waste this opportunity to invest in the workforce. There is a lot of prosperity to come; we can get through this.
Keliher agreed with the points Grayson and Fernandez made, saying we will get out of this but need to make sure we are coming out of it better and stronger. Be sure that you are always supportive of staff and show that the work everyone does is critical to the city. The city of Toronto is on a rate-based program, charging residents for what is put on the curb, so they have a little more flexibility, but they are making sure that they have all the safety features on their vehicles. In addition, we need to make sure that growing cities and regions have space for landfills and getting rid of material. With regards to EPR, currently Toronto receives up to 50 percent cost recovery from producers, eventually moving up to 100 percent and taking over recycling collection – it will be a massive shift, affecting staff and operations, so they need to make sure that employees know that jobs will not be cut. He also talked about continuously expanding their organics management program. The current facility is at capacity, so they are moving forward with third anaerobic digestion facility. One of the facilities generates natural gas, which is put it back into the grid to fuel buildings and the city fleet. One of the big challenges they have is the movement to more green products. Products that claim that they are compostable are really not, so in most systems in North America and right now they were are having problems with those products due to them making their way into the recycling system and messing it up. As a result, these products are not green at all since they have to be thrown in the landfill. Producers have a lot of responsibility in the solid waste program – not just in compostables but also in plastics. He stresses that they can rise to the occasion, but the biggest challenge is on the producer side of that equation. Finally, he pointed out that garbage is one of the only professions where you can literally come from any background and find a home in waste and no matter where you go in your career, you can still be in this industry.
David Biderman closed the conference by thanking all attendees. While it was a great event, he said it was made better because of the audience and their questions. He thanked the speakers for giving their time to prepare and present as well as the sponsors for their support. He pointed out that SWANA turns 60 this year. The association has had a long impact, a great reputation and a bright future. It is not merely the largest solid waste association, but they’ve also become the most important. However, this could not happen without the board of directors, chapters, staff and technical divisions. Finally, he hoped we can get off zoom and hold an event person, confident that WASTECON will take place in 2021 where we can recognize our solid waste leaders and see each other once again.
Virtual WASTECON® was a great, informative dynamic event and we also hope to see all of you at WASTECON in person in Orlando, FL from November 1 – 4 this year!
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