An Interview with Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann  President and CEO of IeRM ((Note: We asked Mr. Schmidt-Pathmann for his views on climate change, global efforts to mitigate the problem, and what he thought would be most effective. This is the first segment of his remarks, which have been edited for continuity.)) Over the past summer, we’ve seen ample evidence of climate change: excessive heat and drought, wildfires out of control, tropical storms more powerful and more damaging than ever before, flooding, loss of beach front – the list goes on. And while people seem to be waking up to the problem, there are very few if any proposals for action now. Some want to switch to renewable energy – 50% by 2050. Some look around for someone or something to blame – big coal, big oil. And some just throw up their hands and say, “what can we do, when China and India won’t cooperate.” The honest and sad truth is that we’ve dug ourselves a pretty deep hole, and we can’t wait for the world’s leaders to get together at their next summit and argue about reduction targets and revised timetables. We also have to recognize that we, as individuals, need to accept some responsibility for both the problem and the solutions. That means, to put it bluntly, changing our behavior. One area where we, as individuals, can have an impact pretty quickly is waste management. But wait, you say, that’s a government…

Continue Reading

Hey, folks, it’s Philipp, and we’re talkin’ trash. This week’s episode concerns an important but often overlooked element of solid waste management: the myths and realities of recycling.  Recycling is one of the central elements in the quest for a circular economy, and it has a significant impact today. According…

Continue Reading

Hey, its Philipp again, with the next installment of Talkin’ Trash. In the last episode, we saw that the landfill industry is becoming more privatized, and more consolidated. Today we’re going to look at why that’s happening, and what it means for you. As to why it’s happening, there are…

Continue Reading

to top