In the Spotlight
American Waste Control: No Signs of Slowing Down
Reacting proactively to a struggling economy by improving efficiencies in their operations and looking for new opportunities, American Waste Control has ensured strong company growth and a positive path.
Ranked as one of the top 50 companies in the U.S.1, Kenneth Burkett started American Waste Control (Tulsa, OK), a solid waste commercial collection company, after selling his residential hauling company in 1980, starting his commercial collection with only a single truck and one route. In 1987 he opened Tulsa Recycle and Transfer鈥攖he first permitted transfer station and recycling center in Tulsa. In 2000 he opened American Environmental Landfill, specializing in solid, liquid and special waste, to complete an integrated waste solution for his customer base.
As a locally owned company with 190 employees, 80 trucks, 10,000 plus customers and revenue of over 40 million, American Waste Control has been able to gain market share even when competing with the big national waste companies by tailoring their services to each customer鈥檚 individual needs and responding to them quickly and efficiently. Says Tom Hill, CEO, 鈥淥ur ranking as one of the top 50 Companies in the United States is a result of our dedicated employees, our complete commitment to customer service, and our efforts to provide the best in clean and environmentally friendly operations.鈥� Although they cover areas in Arkansas, Texas and Kansas, 80 percent of American Waste Control鈥檚 business comes from Northeast Oklahoma.
Weathering the Recession Storm
Although American Waste Control had a definite slowdown in growth after 2008, Oklahoma was lucky enough to not experience the large bubble burst that many states encountered due to the nationwide stagnant economy. 鈥淎s a company, we鈥檝e made a concerted choice to react proactively to the downturn by improving efficiencies in our operations and looking for new opportunities to capture more market share. The resulting investments we鈥檝e made have ensured a strong economic foothold and put us on a positive path toward solid company growth,鈥� says Hill.
In the last few years, American Waste Control has been able to successfully weather the economic downturn and even position themselves for new growth as they await a surging nationwide recovery. The time has been used to design and implement a new $6 million Materials Recovery Facility (Mr. Murph) that has helped position American Waste Control as an undisputed leader in the Tulsa recycling market. 鈥淥ur Mr. Murph is a complete branding program that includes a Web site and an innovative school curriculum,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淚t helps us educate businesses and families about waste recycling and how the MRF technology works to positively impact the environment.鈥� Hill believes this success has effectively positioned the company to compete and gain the 10-year recycling contract recently awarded for the entire residential community for the City of Tulsa.
In addition, Hill points out that the recent recession also meant American Waste Control was able to secure superior contractors often not available during robust economic times. 鈥淲e took advantage of this by building new cells, a scale house, roads and solidification processes at our sub-title D landfill. We even developed new innovations, such as our process for capturing methane gas from drilled wells in our landfill, converting it into electricity to power over 4,000 homes.鈥�
Equipment also came at a more reasonable price for the company due to the economic downturn. They were able to purchase used equipment (pre-crusher, compactors, containers, trucks) at prices far below market value and upgrade customer sites or stockpile the equipment until demand rose. 鈥淭hese upgrades have helped us solidify current customer contracts and provide further incentives for contract extensions,鈥� explains Hill.
He also points out, 鈥淚 am thankful that our company鈥檚 owner, Kenneth Burkett, understands that the majority of revenue must be re-invested into a company in order to strengthen its base and give it a competitive edge. Now that the economy is recovering, we are in a position to capture additional market share with increased capacity, new processing facilities and pricing below the competition based on prudent purchasing.鈥�
Giving Back to the Community
With increased profitability, American Waste Control has found new opportunities to give back to the community they serve. Over the last five years the company has donated more than $3 million dollars to the American Therapeutic Riding Center () located outside of Tulsa by Sand Springs. It is a non-profit organization, founded by the company鈥檚 owner and his wife in 2007, that provides help for the physically and emotionally challenged in Oklahoma through licensed riding therapy and other learning opportunities. Accepting people of all ages, the riding center has touched and changed lives of numerous children and adults. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen people go from wheelchair bound to assisted walking by strengthening their core through therapy. Hundreds have gone through this therapeutic program with successful results,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淢any of our employees have also invested thousands of hours into this incredible organization to help touch those struggling with the difficulties of life.鈥�
In addition, American Waste Control participates in almost every one of their community events, from sponsoring golf tournaments and participating in walk/runs to donating funds to organizations like the Tulsa Food Pantry, or events like the Rooster Days Festival, etc. Not only have they provided uniforms for little league softball, baseball, and football, as well as equipment and uniforms for the grade schools, they have also built entire walking trails for schools and put in playground equipment. American Waste Control is also one of the main sponsors to provide a donation for the 4th of July fireworks that are set off every year as well as tenting and waste disposal. 鈥淚n the last year, we鈥檝e developed a program called 鈥楾rash to Cash鈥� where non-profit organizations can place a free container called a Mr. Murph at their location. Every time we empty it for them we pay $5 into their organization. Through this program, we have given $400 to $500 a month to numerous organizations, whether it be schools, churches, Boy Scout events or Tulsa Teacher鈥檚 Credit Union,鈥� says Hill.
American Waste Control also does a lot of public education and tours as well. When the company started the Mr. Murph program, they put up 15 billboards that said all of the public schools could have free tours to their facilities. The company would pay for the buses, the drivers, the teachers and the volunteers. The first steps to arranging a tour is for the school to download the appropriate lessons plans from which introduce the children to recycling, its benefits, etc. Then, the kids are brought to the recycling center where they get a tour of the facility, see an MRF in progress, meet Mr. Murph and bring recyclables from home that will go through the MRF. Afterwards, they go back to school and discuss in small groups what they saw and develop and implement some type of recycling program for that particular school or district. 鈥淭his is our way of bringing up new recyclers from the ground up and it has been very successful,鈥� says Hill. He goes on to say that the company also bring in clients, potential and current customers to show them how a recycling program can reduce trash costs, help the environment and the participating company can get recognition by being a certified Mr. Murph recycler.
Training and Safety
Realizing they didn鈥檛 do safety well in-house, since people tend to get busy and it gets neglected, American Waste Control has been contracting its safety training to an outside organization since 2009. 鈥淲hen you get into all the safety resources that are out there, the training tools, all the things that can be done, we don鈥檛 do it in-house well,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淲e find that we get busy and it gets put off. It is not our area of expertise. On the other hand, the safety trainer that we work with is a risk auditor, an insurance writer, a safety coordinator鈥攈e does this for a living so he鈥檚 got more resources available. He comes in four times a month and not only does he writes lesson plans, but we also get powerpoint presentations, videos and toolbox meetings, taking safety training to a whole new level. The best part is he only gets paid when he is actively involved. He鈥檚 better than anyone that I could have internally.鈥�
When it comes to new employee training, American Waste takes it very seriously by using a buddy system where your trainer is your lifeline. By putting new hires with a skilled experienced, safety minded individual that will teach them the techniques, the company guarantees that they are trained in the proper way of doing things. 鈥淭hey get reviews from their supervisor, manager, get their sign off sheets from their buddy and that gives us a better feel when that person is cut loose to go off to operate equipment on their own. Every person is different and we rate them by their showing proficiency within the category not time within the grade,鈥� stresses Hill.
He continues, 鈥淚f you treat your people right, your people will be right by you. This company was built through quality people. Until you understand the value of your employees, you will never understand how valuable that person is to you in building your company. If you compensate them according to their value and treat them with respect, your company will grow beyond you and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happened here.鈥�
A Changing Industry
Some challenges that American Waste Control has faced are weights and, of course, the tighter regulation from government agencies. Hill also stresses that they are finding the fact that companies are touting 鈥渮ero landfill鈥� a little concerning because while they are reducing MSW by incinerating it and you are collecting energy, a third by volume of what goes in the front door still goes out the back door.
Hill does point out that because the waste industry is an ever-changing market, American Waste Control is seeing more recycling. However, in Oklahoma, which is one of the last places in the U.S. to stress recycling, Hill explains that it was a big challenge to meet their goals. Not only does the State have plenty of land for landfills, the landfill tipping fees are far less than the normal of $60 to $80 per ton on the coasts. 鈥淲hat pushes recycling to being profitable is when you can save 60 dollars on a ton of trash. When you are on the coasts and you can collect the recyclables and drive them a mile down the street to a manufacturer that will use the material, there are no transportation costs. However, when you are in Oklahoma and you have to ship the recyclables to the coasts, there went all your profit in transportation,鈥� says Hill. 鈥淪o, first we need to teach the people to recycle; Second, we are fighting the transportation costs to a facility that will reuse the recycling materials, and, finally, we are fighting the implementation costs of the recycling center. We have positioned our self at the leading edge of a developing market 鈥� but today it is still a struggle.
For now, American Waste Control is finishing up their expansion of the MRF and is in the process of opening another recycling and transfer station across the metropolitan area.Says Hill, 鈥淲hile it鈥檚 true no one wants an economic slowdown, companies can use the time to position themselves effectively with proper planning and attitude. American Waste Control is in an excellent position financially because of this and is stronger today due to our willingness to take advantage of opportunities and pursue innovation even when others we鈥檙e scaling back and retreating.鈥�
For more information about American Waste Control, contact Tom Hill, CEO, at(918) 446-0023.
Note
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The 2011 Waste Age 100.