PSI West Coast Roundtable

Attendees and speakers alike gained a better understanding of how legislation can affect the paper processing and recycling industry.

By Bob Maynard

Bob Maynard is a management consultant with the Allan Company, Baldwin Park, California.

Existing and pending California legislation were the thrust of ReMA's Paper Stock Institute (PSI) West Coast Roundtable March 16 at the Sheraton Plaza La Reina Hotel in Los Angeles. Twenty-five bills involving solid waste disposal issues are now pending before the California state legislature, and the experts were there to address them.

Attendees included PSI members, nonmember West Coast waste paper dealers, representatives from local paper mills, solid waste haulers, and California government officials.

Charles M. Calderon, a member of the California Assembly, exhibited his interest in the paper recycling industry during a discussion of the pending mandatory recycling bill. His candid manner and concern assured attendees that he left the roundtable with a clear understanding of the collection and recycling industries and the problems confronting them because of proposed mandatory recycling legislation.

Other state government speakers included Mary McDonald, assistant director of government and environmental relations, California Department of Conservation, Sherman Roodzant, chairman, California Waste Management Board, and Paul Relis, executive director, Community Environmental Council, Santa Barbara. These officials joined moderator Al Strickman, Garden State Paper, in Pomona, California, in a discussion covering mandatory recycling, curbside service, and solid waste disposal legislation, and their possible effects on the paper recycling industry.

Industry representatives Joe Massey, of Alpert & Alpert in Los Angeles, and Leonard Lang, of the Allan Company in Baldwin Park, California, spoke on the current beverage container bill in California.

ISRI Executive Director Herschel Cutler concluded the roundtable by encouraging ReMA nonmembers to become a part of the trade association.

Cutler mentioned several of the issues facing the paper recycling industry: truck size and weight laws and the so-called "bridge formula," potential Superfund-related problems, OSHA standards for pressing equipment, and the new tax law.

"Many of your fellow processors today are faced with multi-millions in Superfund liability. ... Do you have the ability to get the needed information so you don't have the same problem in the future?" Cutler asked.

He said that membership in ReMA is beneficial in learning how to meet the challenges posed by these issues. "ISRI is the best insurance policy you can obtain to provide for your continued existence in the recycling industry," Cutler said. Membership in the association provides the tools that are needed to handle the changes sweeping through the industry, he added, listing such member benefits as periodic publications, informative workshops and seminars, casualty and property insurance, annual conventions (both ReMA's and PSI's), a buying co-op, and chapter meetings.

He stated that the ReMA staff is an excellent source of assistance to members. "We answer hundreds of letters each week and we record over 1,100 inbound phone calls per week. ... With a response rate of that magnitude, we must be providing a valuable service.