Association of Oregon Recyclers Presents Annual Recycler of the Year Awards for 2008

 On June 7, 2008 he Association of Oregon Recyclers (AOR) honored eight Oregon businesses, non-profits, and individuals with a “Recycler of the Year” award at its annual conference, held this year at the Seaside Convention Center. The awards are bestowed annually to recognize innovation and commitment in the field of recycling. 

• Individual: Jennifer Stefanick, Catering at Its Best

• Collector or Processor: Gresham Sanitary Service

• Company or Organization: Burgerville

• Government: City of Beaverton

• Education/Promotion Program of the Year: PCC Rock Creek Campus Vermicomposting

• Alice Soderwall Reuse and Waste Prevention Award: Anne Donahue

• Ray Ford “Golden Torch” Award: Roderick & Karen Faber, Cloudburst Recycling

• Special Award: Community Environmental Services at Portland State University (Leadership Development)

Award recipients typically demonstrate the following:

• Enhancement of environmental welfare, through waste prevention, recycling, composting, innovation, or market development

• A long-term commitment to waste prevention, recycling, market development, or community involvement

• Innovation in proposing or implementing new, modified, or unique technologies, processes, or promotion

• Economic benefits, in terms of reduced costs to businesses, organizations, or the public

• Transferability of recycling or waste prevention programs, processes, or efforts

Award recipients were as follows:

Recycler of the Year — Individual

Jennifer Stefanick, Catering at Its Best

Jennifer Stefanick is the Pastry Chef at Catering at Its Best and has been a champion of internal sustainability for nearly 10 years. Catering at Its Best implemented food waste collection in 2007 due to her hard work. Jennifer is a problem solver, seeking alternative to foil- wrapped butter and other waste prevention efforts. With 16 full-time and 30 part-time employees, Catering at Its Best is a Recycle Works award winner in the City of Portland. As Jennifer’s nomination read: “Many of the skeptics on staff are now some of our most committed recyclers. A large part of that success is due to Jennifer Stefanick, a great employee and even better champion of the environment that we all share and depend on.”

Recycler of the Year — Collector or Processor

Gresham Sanitary Service

Founded 60 years ago as a family-owned and operated waste hauling company, Gresham Sanitary Service continues to expand its focus on recycling and committed customer service. GSS has demonstrated a strong interest on food waste collection programs, and is in fact collecting the food waste and paper from this year’s AOR conference in Seaside and back-hauling it to the Metro tipping floor. GSS has also pioneered sustainability in collection as one of the first haulers in the region using biodiesel since May 2006. As their nomination read: “GSS has a commitment to improvement in ways that benefit both the community it serves and its bottom line.”

Recycler of the Year — Company or Organization

Burgerville

With more than 1,500 employees and 39 quick-service restaurants throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, The Holland, Inc, parent company of Burgerville, highlights fresh, locally-grown ingredients in their menu offerings to bring guests flavorful, nutritious, quality food. The company started food waste collection in 2007 and now all stores have the program, helping to lead to a projected $100K savings in disposal/year if 85% of their waste can be diverted. This is their goal. A local start and national leader, Burgerville is committed to promoting a sustainable environment through all of its initiatives, primarily their expanded recycling and composting programs.

Recycler of the Year — Government

City of Beaverton

With its strong Recycle at Work, Multifamily bag program, and March 2005 implementation of residential roll carts, the City of Beaverton is being recognized as Recycler of the Year. Their staff has a strong collaboration with haulers and Beaverton staff Scott Keller, Cindy Tatham, Cassera Phipps, Thomas Ebert, Cyd Cannizzaro have always strived to deliver strong programs to City residents. As their nomination read: “Over the last five years, this program has been the most effective in its education and outreach activities within the Portland metropolitan area.”

Recycler of the Year — Education /Promotion Program of the Year

PCC Rock Creek Campus Vermicomposting

Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus had the first vermicomposting program in Washington County. It has gone on to influence the WA County Cooperative extension to use vermicomposting in Master Gardener and 4-H. This project won a $12K DEQ grant in late 2006, and a unique feature of their program design is that its integrated into the PCC curriculum so that the chemistry, industrial arts and others programs are all intimately involved. The closed-loop system takes pre-consumer cafeteria scrap, composts it, uses it in the garden to grow food to serve again in the cafeteria. By the numbers, presently, 650 pounds of food waste/month is being composted from the Rock Creek cafeteria by 40,000 worms residing in worm bin!

Alice Soderwall Reuse and Waste Prevention Award

Anne Donahue

As staff at the City of Eugene & Oregon Green Schools Coordinator and officer, Anne Donahue is very deserving of this award. Dubbed Oregon’s Compost Queen in her nomination, Anne is working to close the loop with composting, working with Price Chopper on an in-vessel systems & expanding that to others with development of a Best Practices manual. Anne co-authored  two versions of “One Rotten Curriculum” for K-3^rd/4-5^th and then middle schoolers. She is dedicated to waste prevention cares very much about this state and its reduction of waste.

Ray Ford “Golden Torch” Award

Roderick & Karen Faber, Cloudburst Recycling

Rod Faber will mark his 30th anniversary with Cloudburst Recycling this fall. For many years he ran Cloudburst recycling and garbage routes, and today does primarily drop box, crew co-ordination, maintenance supervision, but also backup on any assignment since he knows them all. Rod has been one of the foundations of Cloudburst, along with his wife Karen Faber, who has worked in the Cloudburst office for the past 22 years. Karen answers the phone and does some of the bookkeeping for the company. Back when recyclables were picked up from front porches, back porches, garages, and once in a while from the basement to today, Rod & Karen have seen the recycling business grow and mature. Both are experts at customer relations, always explaining the rationale and mechanics of recycling to customers.

Special Award: Leadership Development

Community Environmental Services at Portland State University

Approaching its 20^th year as a regional force, Community Environmental Services at Portland State University focuses on solid waste and recycling, program evaluation, and environmental resource management. CES currently has contracts with City of Portland, Port of Portland, and Troutdale and the organization has proven to be an unparallel training ground for regional SW&R program staff, the following being a partial list of individuals with CES roots: Alexis Allan, Angie Marzano, Dan Blue, Jesse Engum, Josie Wright, Karen Guillen-Chapman, Kim Holmes, Meredith Sorenson, Paul de Block, Paul Rosenbloom, Rene Bogin, Ronda Chapman-Duer, Robin Hawley, Sarah Fielding Moore, Shanna Eller, Sheryl Bunn.