CEO Column

Isn’t It Great That We’re Essential?

By: David Biderman, SWANA CEO & Executive Director

Most SWANA members work in the public or private sector solid waste industry, or for companies that support solid waste and recycling operations, and therefore are considered “critical essential” infrastructure under the federal guidance issued last month and the numerous (41 and counting) state emergency orders issued in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s an overdue recognition of the critical and important work that the industry’s hard-working solid waste and recycling employees perform every single day.

This work is particularly challenging during a pandemic, when the trash or recyclables could contain the COVID-19 virus that has killed more than 14,000 Americans and 400 Canadians. Due to widespread media coverage of a New England Journal of Medicine article that found the virus could live for up to 24 hours on cardboard and 2-3 days on hard plastic or stainless steel, every cart or empty Amazon box has become a perceived potential hazard. Although hundreds of solid waste collection workers have tested positive for the Coronavirus (the majority of them at the New York City Department of Sanitation), it is unclear whether any of them contracted it through exposure to waste or recyclables. SWANA and others have repeatedly reminded front-line workers and others to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), and in particular gloves, to protect against exposure.

SWANA will continue to provide important and timely guidance to workers and the general public. For example, this is not the year to be doing “Spring Cleaning,” even though the majority of Americans and Canadians are living under “stay-at-home” orders and many are using it as an opportunity to clean out their basement, attic, or garage. Residential waste volumes have surged in many parts of the United States and Canada, and sanitation workers simply don’t need the added burden of collecting old clothing, broken furniture, and other items from millions of households. Local governments and haulers should be urging their citizens to delay this seasonal ritual. If we can delay Opening Day, we can delay Spring Cleaning.

Those of us who are not technically “essential” (sadly, this includes the SWANA staff) continue adjusting to working from home. We’ve all learned how to use Zoom. We sometimes work in clothing that we likely would not wear in the office. We continue to try to balance conference calls, video conferencing, webinars, and all the wonderful family-life distractions that working from home entails. On more than one occasion last week, my lovely wife, my college age son, and I were in three different rooms on three separate conference calls.

On the other hand, I certainly do not miss the 90 minutes (on a good day!) I was spending each day commuting to and from Silver Spring. And I do appreciate being able to walk a few steps out of my home office into my backyard, filled with blooming flowers and trees.

I recently thought about my last business trip before the Coronavirus shut down most air travel. As I mentioned in a recent column, it was to the SWANA Utah chapter conference. On the way to Utah, I changed planes in Denver one Tuesday evening, and had to quickly gobble down a pretty lousy airport sandwich after walking a half mile from one end of the terminal to the other to change planes. I look forward to the next time I get to change planes or eat lousy airport food. It means that the pandemic is waning, and we will once again be able to attend SWANA conferences and events and engage with you, our members. I look forward to this more than you can imagine. I hope you are doing well, both physically and mentally, amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Stay safe, healthy, and hopeful.