National SWANA is supporting legislation to improve recycling infrastructure and expand public education and outreach in the United States. One such piece of legislation is the Realizing the Economic Opportunities and Values of Expanding Recycling (RECOVER) Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 15, 2019 as H.R. 5115.

After introduction, the RECOVER Act was referred to the Energy & Commerce (E&C) Committee for consideration. Representative Jeff Duncan sits on that committee.  

The next step in the legislative process is for the E&C Committee to have hearings on the bill and vote on it. In order for that to happen, the members of the Committee need to understand why this bill is so important to their constituents. Without their support, the RECOVER Act can move no further.

More to come.

We are thrilled to announce we have been named 'Organization of the Year' by Waste Dive, one of the leading trade publications covering the solid waste and recycling industry. And it's all thanks to members like YOU!  None of this work would be possible without all those involved in SWANA including: the almost 11,000 SWANA members, Board of Directors, the Technical Divisions, SWANA’s 47 chapters in the United States and Canada, and SWANA staff. We are excited to share this award with all those who are a part of #TeamSWANA and are looking forward to a successful year in 2020!

Check out the statement we released about the award and be sure to share the news with your co-workers, family, and friends!

SWANA's Statement

Please respond by 5-pm December 4, 2019

with your vote of Yes (accept) or No (reject)

You can review the new Bylaws for the South Carolina SWANA Palmetto Chapter

by clicking the link below:

http://scswana.org/resources/Documents/2019%20Spring%20Conference/SC%20SWANA%202019%20Chapter%20Bylaws%20[for%20approval].pdf

The Bylaws were required to be updated to reflect changes to the structure of the National Organization.  Visit www.swana.orgto learn more about the new structure of the National Organization. 

The SWANA South Carolina Palmetto Chapter Board would like to sponsor three scholarships for three professionals in the solid waste industry to attend the 2020 SWANApalooza Conference to be held March 23-26, 2020 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia.  This event is the National Technical Conference held annually for the National SWANA organization.  The Palmetto Chapter is sponsoring these scholarships to help those interested in attending take advantage of this event being in our area this year.  

Preference will be given to applicants who are:

• SWANA Members
• New to the industry
• Young Professionals (Under 35)
• Collections Professionals
• Recycling Professionals

Each recipient will receive a voucher for one free full conference registration and each will receive reimbursement of up to $1,000 for lodging during the conference. This event is a great opportunity for anyone interested in attending the conference but cannot attend due to their junior status or organizational financial restraints.  To find out more about the 2020 SWANApalooza Conference, please go to the SWANApalooza website:  https://swanapalooza.org/

If you are a professional in the solid waste industry residing in South Carolina and you are interested in attending SWANApalooza, we want to hear from you.  Also, if you know someone interested in attending, please encourage them to respond.  For those interested in this great opportunity, please email a brief, one-page letter to info@scswana.org expressing your interest by December 3, 2019 January 7, 2020.  You do not need to be a SWANA Member to apply. The one-page letter should include the following information:

• Why you are interested.
• Why you feel you are a good candidate for a scholarship.
• Your current employer and contact information.
• Your current position and career path in the solid waste industry.
• How long you have been in the solid waste industry.
• What you hope to gain from attending SWANApalooza.
• Attach a letter from your direct supervisor approving your attendance to SWANApalooza.

The recipient will be notified by December 6, 2019 with a conference voucher.  Reimbursement for the lodging will be mailed to the recipient upon request, accompanied by a signed CEU form indicating attendance of at least 75% of the conference sessions.

We look forward to your responses and having you join us at SWANApalooza. If you have questions or need additional information please email us at info@scswana.org.

SWANA, the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have signed an Alliance agreement to provide SWANA members, NWRA members and the public with information, guidance, and access to resources to help protect the health and safety of workers in the solid waste industry.

OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt, SWANA CEO & Executive Director David Biderman, and NWRA President & CEO Darrell Smith signed the two-year agreement on September 27, 2019 at the U.S. Department of Labor's Frances Perkins Building. They were joined by SWANA Chapter Safety Ambassadors, county and municipal safety directors, and other representatives from the waste and recycling industry and OSHA to recognize this important partnership.

“SWANA will work closely with NWRA and OSHA to provide timely and useful safety information and resources to the entire industry,” said Biderman. “It doesn’t matter whether a solid waste employee is in the public or private sector; our goal is to protect all solid waste workers. Our network of 42 state chapters in the U.S. provides a nationwide platform for distributing safety information developed under this Alliance.”

The Alliance agreement commits the associations and OSHA to collaborate in safety training and education efforts with a focus on backovers and distracted driving; slips, trips, and falls; needlestick injuries; heat and cold stress; and musculoskeletal injuries. It also provides the opportunity to include OSHA National, Regional and Area Offices in events such as WASTECON® and SWANApalooza.

This Alliance adds an important new component to SWANA’s award winning safety program, which includes SWANA’s Chapter Safety Ambassadors, Hauler Safety Outreach, Slow Down to Get Around (SDTGA), and Safety Summits. The 7th Annual Safety Summit will occur this year at WASTECON® in Phoenix, Arizona, October 21-24, and will feature Biderman discussing the new partnership along with SWANA’s other safety efforts.

SWANA Records 30 Solid Waste Worker Fatalities in 2019

Pushes to raise awareness of worker safety with support of OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week

Silver Spring, MD – August 13, 2019 – The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has identified at least 30 solid waste worker fatalities in 2019 in the United States and Canada. These tragic deaths make it clear that more work remains to be done to improve industry safety and is why SWANA is supporting national Safe + Sound Week,August 12–18, 2019.

An average of more than four worker fatalities have occurred each month this year through July 31st. Collection remains the deadliest aspect of the job, with 19 people killed. Of those deaths, 31 percent were single vehicle crashes and 26 percent were the result of a worker being struck by their own vehicle.

Continue reading here

Silver Spring, MD – The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is excited to announce the 2019 SWANA Safety Award recipients chosen by the SWANA Safety Committee. These awards recognize those who have demonstrated a profound commitment to improving employee safety through communication, best practices, training, and policies. Two organizations are honored this year with the Biggest Safety Improvement Award and the Best Safety Innovation Award.

2019 Safety Award Winners

The Best Safety Innovation Award goes to the City of San Antonio, Solid Waste Management Department for fully implementing a Safety Management System (SMS) that challenged convention, created synergies, and engaged employees at all levels and functions. These efforts reduced accidents by 47 percent and injuries by 50 percent, with a lost work day rate reduction of 28 percent.

“The men and women of the City of San Antonio’s Solid Waste Management Department serve more than 358,000 households weekly and are routinely faced with high risk conditions,” says Walter Barrett, Solid Waste Manager at the City of San Antonio, Solid Waste Management Department. “Through the implementation of a Safety Management System, the department strives to mitigate and eliminate these risks and provide a safer work environment that ensures our employees go home to their families in the same condition as when they arrived at work. Their commitment to safety guided us on the journey to obtaining an ISO 45001 Safety Certification and making San Antonio the first municipality in the world to achieve this accomplishment. Our thanks to SWANA for its role in this challenge and to our entire team whose dedication and innovation propels the continual improvement in achieving a sustained reduction in accidents and injuries.”

The Biggest Safety Improvement Award goes to Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) for continued success in increasing transparency and two-way communication among employees and management, reducing incidents by over 50 percent from the previous year. LRS is headquartered in Morton Grove, Illinois and serves the Chicagoland area with more than 720 full time employees.

“Lakeshore is proud to be recognized by SWANA for our continued dedication to the Live Safety philosophy,” says John Sliwicki, Vice President of Risk Management at Lakeshore Recycling Systems and SWANA Illinois Chapter Safety Ambassador. “This belief is at the heart of our core values and guides our decision making at every level. Our efforts and commitment have finally started to be demonstrated in the overall reduction of incidents and claim spend. These metrics provide further support that our culture is blossoming, and we are headed in the right direction.”

SWANA is also recognizing another organization for their innovation and improvement by awarding an Honorable Mention to City of Casper Regional Landfill in Casper, Wyoming for its merit in both categories.

The winners of the SWANA Safety Awards will be recognized at WASTECON^® in Phoenix, Arizona.

SWANA would like to thank Autocar, New Way, Otto and PRECO for sponsoring this year’s SWANA Safety Awards.

For more information on SWANA’s safety programs, visit swana.org/safety

SWANA and NWRA today are jointly releasing documents recommending a major shift in the process states use to determine when closed municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are ready to end post-closure care (PCC).

“NWRA and SWANA worked hard to develop this document together. We believe that a one-size-fits-all approach to post-closure care is too prescriptive and does not account for the differences among landfills,” said Darrell Smith, NWRA President and CEO. “A performance-based standard offers wider applicability to achieve the same environmental protection goals.” 

Continuing reading here

If you received a Safety Awareness Day flyer on January 22, the following are the rules for entry into the drawing:

1. Must be a waste hauling driver or front line staff to enter.

2. Management and administration staff are not eligible.

3. Must submit an entry by February 5, 2019

4. Only 1 entry per person.

5. Send an email with your contact info or submit your entry here

Winner will be notified on February 11, 2019.

Contact us: info@scswana.org

On August 6, 2018 the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) and the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) reissued their Joint Advisory on Designing Contracts for Processing of Municipal Recyclables, which is now updated to include a preface about how China’s waste import restrictions have affected the market for recyclable materials.

Read more here.