Personnel notes

RRS adds to consulting staff

Sustainability and recycling consultancy RRS (Resource Recycling Systems), headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has announced the addition of three senior consultants: Resa Dimino, Bob Gedert and David Refkin.

Dimino has worked in the public, private and nonprofit sectors during her more-than-25-year career, including initiatives in waste reduction, recycling, product stewardship, solid waste management and environmental economic development. Most recently, she was the principal for RADimino & Associates, the director of public policy for the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) and the senior advisor for policy and programs for the Product Stewardship Institute. She is a founder and current board member of the New York Product Stewardship Council.

As senior consultant with RRS operating out of Albany, New York, Dimino will focus on corporate clients and collaborative initiatives to improve recovery, increase sustainability and facilitate product stewardship.

Gedert comes to RRS from Austin, Texas, where he served as department director of Austin Resource Recovery, leading the city toward zero-waste goals through services that include recycling, solid waste collection, household hazardous waste, yard waste, storm debris collection and litter abatement. In addition to his tenure at Austin, he has influenced resource recovery in many communities, including the Ohio counties of Auglaize and Highland and the city of Cincinnati; the city of Fresno, California, as chief of recycling operations; and communities across Indiana as chief of source reduction and recycling with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Gedert also was the executive director of the California Resource Recovery Association.

He is president of the National Recycling Coalition, an executive committee member of the Municipal Waste Management Association of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and on the board of directors for the National Stewardship Action Council.

Gedert brings his 35-year public sector experience to his role as affiliate senior consultant at RRS, operating out of the Cincinnati area.

Refkin joins RRS as an affiliate senior consultant and operates out of the New York City area. He brings 37 years of business and environmental experience to assist RRS clients with increasing recovery of valuable commodities, creating strategies to minimize business risks, implementing sustainable materials management strategies and building resilience from the impacts of climate change.

Prior to RRS, Refkin was president of GreenPath Sustainability Consultants, where he created corporate social responsibility (CSR) solutions with consumer packaged goods companies, water providers, recyclers, energy and paper companies, trade associations, environmental groups and publishers. During his 26-year career at Time Inc., he served as president of TI Paperco and as director of sustainable development, where he played a major role in the development of forest certification. Earlier in his career he was a senior accountant at Deloitte and BDO.

Refkin served as president of the National Recycling Coalition and on the Executive Committee of the Heinz Center. He is a member of the Forest Legality Alliance, Northeast Recycling Council and American Water Works Association.

“RRS’ client base is expanding, and the opportunity to bring on three powerhouse sustainability and recycling experts struck at the perfect time,” says Jim Frey, RRS principal and CEO. “We believe the industry know-how Resa, Bob and David bring to the table will allow RRS to bring even more innovative solutions for recovery and sustainability to the resource challenges our clients face.”

SSI adds director of engineering

Industrial shredder manufacturer SSI Shredding Systems Inc. has named Paul Breithaupt as its new director of engineering.

The Wilsonville, Oregon-based equipment maker says Breithaupt will oversee day-to-day engineering operations and work to optimize SSI’s internal processes and products.

“SSI has been on my radar since I originally started my career,” Breithaupt says. “I think I saw them on The Discovery Channel back in the day. The culture here is very genuine, and that’s hard to find.”

Breithaupt graduated with a degree in manufacturing engineering from California Polytechnic State University and has been working with an engineering consulting firm in Portland, Oregon, for the past seven years. At the consulting firm, he primarily worked on capital projects for major food manufacturers, such as Nabisco.

Regarding the work ahead of him at SSI, Breithaupt says, “They are shredders at face value, but if you think of all the different places they can be applied, it’s pretty fascinating. There are so many different applications; you never know what’s going to come through the door. The people here care about their customers, and that shows in their work and their work ethic.”

SSI Shredding Systems engineers, manufactures and services size and volume reduction systems for an array of applications, from scrap metals to solid waste and tires.

Schutte-Buffalo names new leaders

Schutte-Buffalo Hammermill LLC, a Buffalo, New York-based manufacturer of size reduction equipment and systems solutions, has named Chris Berardi its new president effective Jan. 2, 2017. Berardi also serves as general manager of Schutte-Buffalo.

“After thorough succession planning, the company is quite pleased to have internally found the best individual to assume the president’s mantle from Tom Warne,” says Martin Berardi, Schutte-Buffalo CEO. “Since joining us, Chris has demonstrated both vision and a business acumen that have resulted in improved operational effectiveness across the entire organization.”

Chris Berardi, who joined the company in early 2016, says, “I intend to ensure that Schutte-Buffalo continues to lead the way in the ongoing evolution of the size reduction equipment industry.”

Warne, former company owner and president, has shifted his focus to sales leadership and business development as Schutte-Buffalo’s director of sales.

In other company news, Mark Podgorny has been promoted to the role of director of engineering.

Podgorny began his career with Buffalo Hammermill Corp. in 1995 as a purchaser and size reduction test technician. He remained with the company through its merger with fellow Buffalo size reduction equipment manufacturer Schutte Pulverizer Co. in 2004. With the newly formed Schutte-Buffalo Hammermill, Podgorny’s role assumed a greater engineering focus, where his design and engineering expertise was pivotal in adapting the existing Schutte Pulverizer and Buffalo Hammermill product lines to a wide variety of growing industries, the company says in a news release. His involvement in new product development and focus on custom design have been significant factors in the growth of Schutte-Buffalo over the past 12 years, the company adds.

In his new role, Podgorny oversees the engineering and purchasing teams while continuing his principal engineering role of custom size reduction equipment design and turnkey system development.

Schutte-Buffalo’s product line features 250 different models of size reduction equipment ranging in size from 2 horsepower to 800 horsepower, with many custom configurations available.

Potential Industries names executive vice president

The board of directors for the recycling company Potential Industries, headquartered in Wilmington, California, has promoted Daniel Domonoske to the position of executive vice president, effective Feb. 1, 2017. The new title reflects Domonoske’s expanded responsibilities, which include business development.

Potential Industries says it is involved in several expansion projects that should increase the volume of material it handles. Some of the updates at the plant include increasing its transloading capability by 25 percent and its sorting capacity by 20 percent.

The company also is installing commercial recycling sorting capacity that will allow it to undertake single-stream processing of this material stream and is building a new processing transfer facility (PTF) at its Wilmington location.

When the PTF is complete, Potential Industries says it will have two processing lines: one for material collected from residents and a second line for commercial material. The company says it will be able to process a combined total of 50 tons of recyclables per hour with the two lines.

Potential Industries says that for more than 23 years, Domonoske has provided assistance as the company grew in size and in its scope of the services offered.

ASKO hires scrap and recycling sales manager

ASKO Inc., Homestead, Pennsylvania, has hired Dave Blount as a manager of sales and business development for its scrap and recycling department.

Blount comes to ASKO as he approaches 29 years in the scrap and recycling industry. He formerly spent more than six years manufacturing scrap and recycling shear blades before being promoted to a sales role in 1994. Since then, Blount was responsible for expanding the company’s customer base as well as for establishing multiple original equipment manufacturer (OEM) accounts.

Blount brings his product knowledge, field experience and diagnostic abilities to ASKO. The company says it is excited to have him join its team of product specialists and customer service personnel.

Blount is responsible for growing ASKO’s market share for replacement blades used in alligator, stationary and mobile shear attachments in North America. He works out of Bettendorf, Iowa.

US Conveyor Technologies announces leadership change

Mackinaw, Illinois-based U.S. Conveyor Technologies Inc. has named Troy Graves president of the privately held, family-owned business.

“This transition represents an exciting stage in the continued growth of U.S. Conveyor,” says Kent Graves, company founder and previous president. “Troy has been working in the business for many years. His career actually started as a welder in our fab shop to make extra money while studying to earn his undergrad and graduate degrees. His progression into this leadership role reflects the long-term strategic transition plan we have for the company.”

“This is an exciting time for our company,” says Troy Graves. “This transition allows my father to step back from operational responsibilities while remaining active in the company and with our customers.”

He adds, “We’ve made considerable investments in our capabilities over the last several years, and I’m excited about working with the great team we’ve assembled to grow the company to the next level.”

Founded in 1988, U.S. Conveyor operates out of a 40,000-square-foot facility that houses manufacturing operations, engineering and corporate offices, an R&D department and a process and equipment testing center. The company provides turnkey ferrous, nonferrous and waste solutions to the recycling industry.