In the News

A look through some of the headlines from the recycling industry-focused magazines and Web sites our company publishes reveals a disturbing trend:

These are a few headlines garnered just from the last four months. A similar set of headlines can be gathered from earlier in 2002 as well as the previous two years.

Americans say they support recycling, but apparently they don’t want to see it or hear it. Recyclers of concrete, asphalt, wood debris and other C&D materials face a number of challenges, with the survival of their businesses always being the foremost challenge.

But in addition to securing contracts, processing effectively and operating profitably, C&D recyclers are increasingly facing the specter of NIMBY: Not in my back yard.

Complaints against C&D recyclers come for many reasons and from many sources, including, of course, from competitors.

But not all complaints are the work of underhanded competitors. The process of crushing concrete and asphalt and grinding wood and other debris can be noisy, dusty and loud. When materials pile up, they can be an eyesore and—in the case of organics—can attract pests and emit a foul odor. Such conditions cannot be wished away, and they certainly won’t be ignored by nearby residents and business owners—even in parts of town that are zoned industrial.

One can certainly analyze the contradiction of Americans who want jobs in their community. They say they support recycling, they want highway projects carried out with their tax dollars to be done affordably, and they want to buy products made from recycled content such as mulch—but they want to make sure that all the dusty, noisy processing takes place in someone else’s ZIP code.

It can be difficult to determine what you as a business owner, or what the CMRA as an association, can do to point out the flaws in such thinking. At the same time, to simply shrug one’s shoulders and conclude that all is helpless is not the way most successful business owners address potential problems in their industry.

The CMRA can continue to take steps to generate positive public relations for the industry. Its certification program, in cooperation with the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), is one potential way for conscientious C&D recyclers to distinguish themselves as legitimate recyclers.

But while an association can provide support and make recommendations, ultimately business owners bear a lot of the burden themselves for how they are perceived by regulators, potential customers and their neighbors.

Well, it’s certainly not any different in the business world. Most recyclers are not in the retail business, so the curb appeal of their properties is not considered a priority. Some recyclers are finding that this may have been a mistaken assumption.

One scrap recycler who operates several scrap yards in Florida and Ohio says that since the company was founded in 1962, it has landscaped the perimeters of its properties and scrupulously maintained building exteriors. This often contrasts sharply with competing scrap and salvage companies.

According to the company’s owner, during the 40-year span, he has seen competitors with a "Well it’s junk, what do you expect?" attitude toward their properties be targeted as neighborhood eyesores and otherwise receive negative attention from neighbors, activists and regulators. Fighting these battles costs his competitors time, energy and money—an expenditure of resources that this recycler has usually been able to avoid at the cost of some trees, flowers, grass and fencing.

Fencing is an area where business owners are faced with some choices. There is an up-front cost to building a fence or a wall, and there are ongoing costs. And then, even when a fence is installed with good intentions, accusers can say the fence was built because the company has something to hide.

Automotive recyclers are involved in an industry high on the list as a likely target for nuisance eyesore complaints. There is nothing attractive about collecting wrecked cars and storing them outdoors after stripping them of saleable parts. The industry’s trade association, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), has long advocated fencing as part of its certification program.

As an industry known to outsiders as "junk yards," they have collectively learned the same thing as the Weber family: Perception counts for a lot. Looking like a good neighbor can, with a little bit of effort, help you avoid problems.

Former ARA Public Relations & Promotion Committee Chairman Gary Wiesner put it this way in an essay he wrote:

"Everyone knows who we are: the municipalities, the zoning and environmental officers, the fire and safety inspectors, our friends, neighbors and even people wanting to do business with us.

There are two schools of thought in this matter. The first is if they don’t know I’m here, I can’t get in trouble. But if we need our businesses to make a profit, we have to be known to all and be in the forefront of what we do.

We can be the standard bearers for our industry and proudly tell all who will listen that we are at the top of our game. We are at the highest point in our professional careers, and we are anxious to show off at any chance we get. We Are Certified Auto Recyclers "

In his essay, Wiesner was endorsing certification and addressing a different audience of recyclers. But his thoughts also apply to this group and the value of public relations and having a community presence.

The trade association for this industry, the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA), has introduced a program called About Face that encourages the beautification and proper maintenance of quarrying locations.

The majority of the 12 criteria for facilities to be considered as "About Face" award winners can also be applied to C&D recycling sites:

1. Entrance and Approach: Well-maintained landscaping using planters, pavement, professional signing, fencing and other decorative materials.

2. Office and Scale House: Appearance of outside landscaping and interiors. Use of shrubs, flowers, paved parking, curbing, signing, traffic control, dust control and painting.

3. Other Structures: Good appearance of support buildings not directly related to crushing operations, such as pump houses, welding shops, screen and other storage facilities.

4. Screening (appearance from nearest neighbors and/or public highways and roads): The proper use of berms and other landscaping techniques, such as tree planting and construction of walls.

5. Plant Appearance (including mobile equipment): Evidence of proper maintenance, such as painting, landscaping and traffic control.

6. Dust Control: Use of control systems at front entrance, on access roads and haul roads, at the stockpile, at the process plant and in blasting.

7. Trucks: Condition of company-owned fleet and its movement within the plant. Evidence of signs, posters and printed handouts reminding all truckers of their responsibilities to the general public.

"Proudly tell all who will listen that we are at the top of our game. We are at the highest point in our professional careers and we are anxious to show off at any chance we get."

But being understood, communicating with and being open to the surrounding community can yield tremendous results.

Vulcan Materials Co., Birmingham, Ala., is a long-time aggregates producer with a recycled aggregates division that is now a CMRA member. They mine the Earth, they run loud crushing machines and they send out fleets of trucks. All of this to overcome, and yet they have been named one of Fortune Magazine’s Top Ten Most Admired Companies for Social Responsibility.

They have led the aggregates industry charge into the About Face program and have gone well beyond just meeting the criteria.

According to a statement on its Web site, the company’s efforts are focused on education, environmental stewardship and employee involvement. Every year the company’s sites become open-air classrooms, offering thousands of students a hands-on experience in earth science and ecology. Approximately 25,000 students toured Vulcan locations in 2001.

Each plant selects relevant activities that fit the interests of tour participants. In addition, many facilities partner with school groups or science classes to erect nest boxes for wildlife, create butterfly gardens, develop habitat to attract native plants and animals and build nature trails on company land. Some work with local Scouting organizations, retirement communities or other groups to monitor wildlife at company sites. Employees are active participants in these and other community relations activities.

Doing this requires integrity and honesty, but a public that is naturally skeptical appreciates honesty. It means an acknowledgement that being "green" can also sometimes be a little loud and a little ugly.

But company owners I have met in the scrap metal industry and in the solid waste and recycling industries who have stressed community relations never seem to regret their decision.

What they get in return are kids, teachers, parents and nearby property owners who know what their company does. A percentage of these retain an enthusiasm for recycling that carries on even to the point of becoming potential future employees.

The noise and dust nuisances still may be there and still require attention. The stockpiles must still be kept to a minimum and hopefully kept behind attractive fences. But a surrounding community that understands the business can more readily accept and understand explanations when business hiccups occur.

Currently, there is a noteworthy example of a CMRA member that has been involved in some very visible recycling activity.

The seven square mile site of the former Stapleton Airport in Denver is about half-way through its recycling journey. Recycled Materials Co. of Arvada, Colorado, has played an upfront role in this high-profile project.

From its start, the company has played the part of standard-bearer for the C&D recycling industry, spreading the message that its products are sound and that its methods are environmentally responsible.

Both before and during the Stapleton project, company leaders have played a visible role in trade associations and taken other steps to be the type of standard bearers the industry needs.

Such visible examples can help provide other C&D recyclers with suitable models to follow as they attempt to alleviate concerns of neighbors and explain what their operations do and how they work.