Resource Recycling Systems is taking the year of 2012 to highlight all of our service sectors and showcase relevant projects, clients, and trends in each area. In correlation with our conference schedule, we focused January on organics management and biomass energy, but as the month comes to a close, we are shifting February’s focus to our business roots in residential recycling. Read the whole story…
It is time to learn about RRS co-founder, Kerry Sandford. Kerry has over 25 years of experience in equipment design, specification, integration, installation and maintenance in both the solid waste and energy fields. He has been designing and specifying recycling facilities since 1981 and has contributed to the design and construction of more than 20 MRFs from Michigan to South Korea. Kerry incorporates his passion for natural resource conservation into his work and lifestyle.
While I didn’t get a chance to speak directly to Kerry, he supplied the following answers. I hope you find them as interesting and insightful as I did.
1. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I did not have a clear vision, but leaned toward engineering type activities.
2. What made you decide to pursue a career in resource management/sustainability? (Why do you work at Resource Recycling Systems?) Read the whole story…
On January 18th, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Anna Collinson to discuss her passion for recycling and where the field of resource management is heading. Anna is a project consultant and leader of RRS’s Communications and Planning team. She is key to our daily municipal consulting service activities, serving as a principal liaison with essential communities determining client needs and specific project direction. Anna’s has extensive knowledge of environmental policies, education and outreach 
initiatives and she specializes in long-term client projects involving community interface and multiple agency interaction. Anna also leads the communications campaign for the Carton Council’s carton recycling initiative. Read the whole story…
Today let’s meet RRS Project Engineer Aaron Burman. Aaron is a Professional Engineer and head of the technical team at RRS. Aaron brings a bachelors degree from the Colorado School of Mines and a strong passion for renewable energy to his current position. Aaron works with a wide variety of clients including communities, universities and companies to 
develop successful programs to increase diversion and ensure long-term supply of recycled materials. He has expertise ranging from program implementation to large-scale green supply chain studies.
Below are snippets from a conversation Aaron and I had on January 17th. Please enjoy! Read the whole story…
To wrap up our final ‘Principal’ profiles , I want to introduce you to Marty Seaman. Marty has over 20 years of experience developing and implementing sustainable recovery programs. In addition to overseeing our communications, business development and planning efforts, Marty is an expert in resource contracting, cooperative problem solving and achieving economic benefits with environmental challenges and opportunities for many of our municipal, university and green supply chain clients.
Emmet County and Elisa Seltzer have long been clients of RRS. The work that our Senior Engineer Kerry Sandford has conducted with them in the last couple years is showcased under our Project Showcase. Congrats Elisa, we are proud of you and all your efforts to expand recycling in Michigan.
Article reprinted from Bridge Magazine. January 17, 2012 article “County Official “Recycles” Emmet County Culture” written by Jo Mathis/ Bridge Magazine contibutor
Elisa Seltzer figured she’d serve five years as Emmet County’s director of public works – just long enough t
o get a recycling program up and running. 
That was 21 years ago.
Seltzer has created a self-supporting recycling program that includes 13 drop sites, curbside collection for 60 percent of Emmet Countyand more than 250 businesses, and a processing center serving Emmet, Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties. And she decided to stick around and oversee it all, too. Read the whole story…
Job Opening – Resource Recycling Systems
Job Title –Intern
Timeframe – Temporary, up to one year
FLSA – Non-Exempt
Posting Date – January 11, 2012
Closing Date – Open until filled
RRS will hire a part-time Intern to assist staff consultants and engineers on a variety of projects including data entry, solid waste planning, collection system management, and program best practices. Read the whole story…
Article copied from MLive.com – Article source – The Flint Journal, written by Kristin Longley
The city of Flint is hoping for a second chance at the $1.1 million energy grant that was terminated by federal officials in October.
After the U.S. Department of Energy yanked the grant because of what it called “serious mismanagement and misuse,” Flint officials have submitted a revised proposal for spending the money on projects that promote energy efficiency.
Federal officials are expected to decide by Jan. 13 whether to reinstate the grant award, officials said.
Details of the proposal weren’t immediately available on Wednesday, but City Attorney Peter Bade said the city is partnering with Ann Arbor-based Resource Recycling Systems to develop the plan for using the grant funds.
Next up on our staff profile journey is Principal Nicole Chardoul. Having been with RRS since 1998, Nicole oversees RRS’ project operations and as a Professional Engineer, has an extensive knowledge of recycling and composting facility equipment and operations; organics management; and healthcare waste reduction and sustainability. She is the leading project manager at RRS and is a sought after national conference speaker for her experience and expertise with organics diversion projects and her healthcare resource management implementation capabilities. Read the whole story…
The Business Development team here at RRS is working hard to prepare for a bigger and better 2012. Just before Thanksgiving, our team got away from the office for a day of thinking “outside of the box”. We worked to gain a common understanding of the marketplace in which we work. We identified our strengths and weaknesses as a team and toasted to our progress in 2011. It was a day for looking back at our accomplishments with pride and looking
ahead for a year that achieves goals that may have previously been beyond our reach.
As we sat around a large table at Pizza House in downtown Ann Arbor, we took a good look at our point of views for the different service sectors we work within. We evaluated our services, developed a strategy for maximizing our resource capacity, and noted the improvements we want to see within our team 
and company as a whole. As the afternoon progressed, we fell into some creative brainstorming regarding our presence at conferences including our themes, booth design, and handouts.
In the time that has passed since the retreat, we have developed action steps and implementation plans to bring us closer to our goals. We have met several times to flush out our creative ideas and share our discussions with our larger Communications and Planning Team.
The excitement is spreading! We look forward to a great 2012 full of sustainable projects, satisfied clients and new opportunities for our company.
