Environmentalists. Every Day. America's Solid Waste Industry

EIA announced that it had received a record number of nominations for its Driver of the Year awards, recognizing and honoring waste industry drivers committed to safety and high quality service. Winners of the prestigious awards are announced at the annual EIA Inspirational Breakfast, held during the waste industry’s national trade show, WasteExpo (wasteexpo.com). Read full release here.

On October 4, the Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) released the application for its 2012 Driver of the Year Awards (DOY). The prestigious DOY Awards honor those drivers who have upheld the field of solid waste management as an honorable occupation and who have conducted themselves and operated their vehicles in a safe and responsible manner. The nomination deadline is Friday, December 2, 2011. See full press release here. Download application here.

In September 2011, NSWMA sold the 2000th in its “Be Safe, Be Proud” safety video series, marking a milestone in efforts to reduce workplace accidents and injuries for solid waste services industry employees. Read the full release here.

According to a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of fatalities for solid waste collection workers increased from 20 in 2009 to 26 in 2010. Read full release.

The mission of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® is to end all deaths and injuries caused by speeding and other unsafe driving behaviors on all roadways. Our target is zero deaths, zero injuries. Learn more about “Slow Down to Get Around” program here. Learn more about “Keep Kids Alive” effort here.

The city of Punta Gorda, Florida, included an item about EIA’s SDTGA program in its newsletter to residents. You can download a copy of this newsletter here.

More than two dozen men and women in the solid waste industry were honored for their service to the field at a special awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 10, sponsored by the Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) and its two sub-associations, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and the Waste Equipment Technology Association (WASTEC). The breakfast ceremony was held in Dallas, Texas, during WasteExpo 2011, North America’s largest solid waste and recycling tradeshow. Read full news release here.

NSWMA partnered  with the NIOSH, a component of the CDC and HHS, to develop a driver safety flyer and bill stuffer. The flyer can be shared with the customers of solid waste industry companies and others. It is intended to inform people about the inherent dangers that garbage collectors (drivers and helpers) face from other drivers when collecting trash and recyclables on American streets. The bill stuffer is designed to allow solid waste companies to personalize it with a picture of one of their company’s trucks. The flyer is a part of NSWMA’s Slow Down to Get Around (SDTGA) program.

SDTGA is a national safety campaign that reminds motorists to drive more carefully near solid waste collection vehicles. Motorists often are distracted while driving and frequently crash into collection employees or vehicles—sometimes with fatal consequences. In fact, dozens of solid waste employees were injured by careless drivers during the last year, and six of these workers were killed in such incidents. See a copy of the new SDTGA flyer here.  For more information about SDTGA, to request copies of SDTGA materials and to learn how all drivers can help keep garbage collectors safe on their routes, visit environmentalistseveryday.org/safety.

Check it out, “like” it, share it with your Facebook friends…We need to get the word out about the importance of driving safely around garbage trucks.

The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) Healthcare Waste Institute and Landfill Institute recently submitted comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding its draft guidance, “Best Management Practices for Unused Pharmaceuticals at Health Care Facilities,” published in the Federal Register in September 2010. Read full release here.