Welcome to our Heroes on the Frontline page! No matter what happens in this world, our men and women in the waste and recycling industry are essential workers to keep things going.
This section recognizes some of our waste and recycling frontline heroes from across the U.S. who risk their lives every day in this great industry to provide these important services.
Kurtis Jones-Tolliver
Leadpoint
Kurtis Jones-Tolliver is Leadpoint鈥檚 Shift Lead/Associate Trainer at a MRF in Spokane, Washington. His manager Jeff Bailey singled out Kurtis for his hard work, dedication, and compassion.聽鈥淜urtis is always the first to arrive on site, gets his team ready, and supports them throughout the day,鈥� Jeff said.聽鈥淗e strives to enhance the experience of our staff and his efforts are continuously brought to my attention by the team and the plant manager.鈥�
For Kurtis, his job with Leadpoint has given him a personal and professional sense of accomplishment. 鈥淚 spent many years bouncing from job to job, never finding satisfaction or stability until coming to Leadpoint,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 genuinely enjoy working with the sorters, leads, and management, solving problems, boosting production, and operating a complex system. 鈥淲orking here has also restored my belief in myself,鈥� Kurtis continued. 鈥淚 know that with hard work and a positive attitude I can accomplish any goals set before me.鈥�
Sonia Cornejo
Leadpoint
With more than five years on the job, Sorter Sonia Cornejo is the kind of employee any MRF would value. Over the years, she has worked as a sorter at two Leadpoint sites in Washington state, and has been a top performer at both. Her manager Matt Short says, 鈥淲e can put Sonia anywhere, in any position, and she鈥檒l do an outstanding job.鈥�
Sonia, a single mother, is driven by a desire to create a better life for her daughter. She likes the opportunities to improve herself that working for Leadpoint provides. 鈥�My greatest satisfaction is being responsible by respecting the work schedule and respecting the supervisors, secretaries and bosses,鈥� Sonia said. 鈥淎nd the best thing is that we have work 365 days a year. Thank God. I love my work.”
Brad Diesing
Leadpoint
Brad Diesing鈥檚 solid work ethic, zeal for development, timeliness, attendance, and overall positive attitude got the attention of Leadpoint鈥檚 Onsite Manager Nicky Henry and our customer, Pellitteri Waste Systems (PWS) of Madison, Wisconsin. 鈥淔rom his first day, Brad has wanted to learn new things. When we started a new project to raise cardboard numbers on our long-mixed paper line, we turned to Brad to help us hit our goal. And we made it!鈥�
Recently, PWS hired Brad as a member of their staff. They plan to train him for further advancement in his career. A representative from PWS said, 鈥淏rad is one of those employees you wonder if he鈥檚 a robot. Just keeps picking and picking. An employer鈥檚 dream.鈥�
Brad had this to say about his success and new opportunity. 鈥淲hat motivates me is striving to do better for myself and for my family and my future. Me getting hired on with Pellitteri in such a short time in my new career gives me a sense of accomplishment and a sense of pride.鈥�
While we hate to lose such a great employee, it is rare for PWS to hire one of Leadpoint鈥檚 people. We congratulate Brad and look forward to working with him in his new role.
Kenneth Foy
Leadpoint
When he needed a second chance, Kenneth Foy found one in the recycling industry. Leadpoint Business Services hired him as a sorter in a Seattle MRF and in a short time, became a back-up Line Lead. According to his manager, Kenneth always excelled, never complained, just put his head down and went to work. 鈥淗e has always shown great leadership skills,鈥� his manager says.
What drives Kenneth to work so hard in this difficult job?聽鈥淚鈥檝e always been a hard worker since I started my first job when I was 16,鈥� Kenneth said. 鈥淭he thing that drives me the most is that I don鈥檛 like to fail! I believe that every man and woman should work hard and do the best they can.
鈥淲orking hard allows me to achieve all my goals. It doesn鈥檛 matter what your job is or how much you get paid. If you work hard and do your best, you can do anything and overcome any challenges life has to offer.鈥�
Clarence Hampton
Leadpoint
Clarence Hampton got a second chance when he joined Leadpoint as a sorter in 2014. Since then, he鈥檚 worked in nearly every role, moving his way up to supervisor at a MRF in upstate New York. 鈥淗e understands what needs to be done and what can happen if you don鈥檛 do what鈥檚 needed,鈥� Ricky Brewster, Leadpoint onsite manager said.
As a leader, Clarence focuses on setting clear expectations and finding ways to make the work safer for everyone. 鈥淭he dedication and knowledge from this individual will astonish many,鈥� Ricky said. 鈥淗e thinks outside the box. He never guesses; he verifies. He exercises good judgment.鈥�
鈥淭he drive to be a better leader comes from growth. I have had the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally throughout my years with Leadpoint,鈥� Clarence said. 鈥淲hat makes me different than any employee is that I have had the opportunity to build a skill set through daily functions, present self-awareness, self-accountability and narrow down what works for not only myself but for others, always as a team player.鈥�
When businesses started to close, it was quick. The island of Manhattan was empty, the volume of trash disappeared, and it was eerie at night. It was like a light switch went off. In New York City, we only service commercial customers, while in New Jersey we collect 1/3 industrial, 1/3 residential and 1/3 commercial. We service more than 70 hospitals and many supermarkets and bodegas. At the peak of the virus, hospitals required more frequent service (several times per day). In the five boroughs of New York, we estimate a 60% of commercial volume disappear. We quickly moved to consolidate routes and take trucks off the road. In New Jersey, we saw a spike in residential volume because everyone started working from home, so we re-allocated some of our New York workers to our New Jersey hauling company.
We tried to keep as many of our people on the payroll for as long as possible by eliminating overtime. We focused on isolating our employees from each other to reduce the likelihood of illness. I think our guys out there did a great job, including supervisors, managers, district managers, operations managers, site guys, etc. in managing what was happening on a day to day basis as things were changing daily. We also had to make sure that our people working in the transfer station and the MRF were protected and socially distant as they were sorting through material. This was particularly challenging early on. One of our MRF managers in Airmont, NY got the virus and he was out for 15 days causing us to process far less material than usual.
We had a handful of employees that tested positive for the virus and we had a lot who were quarantined. Throughout the last several weeks we have probably had close to 100 people out to quarantine because they had it, were being tested for it, waiting to be cleared, or a family member had it. We worry about our guys and want to make sure they are protected. If anyone of them don鈥檛 feel safe and want some extra protection, we have gotten it for them. I worry that when the restrictions are lifted and things open up, the numbers will go up, so we need to be diligent in protecting our frontliners. The things we are doing now, we will continue to do well into the future, like the hand sanitizing, sanitizing the trucks and social distancing.
In some of the municipalities we pick up in, kids will come out and clap for our guys, they will cheer them as they come to pick up the garbage. I hear stories about some of the residential workers getting some recognition from the families that are home when they come by to pick the garbage up with notes and signs. We have had local church members make us cloth masks, and some of our employees鈥� families make cloth masks. My sister in law鈥檚 mother鈥檚 church group made 150 cloth masks for us. We have done packaged lunches for our guys to say thank you. It is a small gesture, but it goes a long way. These guys have embraced what is going on and coming in to do their job. I am proud to say that I work with these guys. They are determined to be part of the solution.
鈥擳om Farinaro
Executive VP of Operations, Action Carting
Jimmy Winters
Owner
Maintenance and Transfer Operations
40 years industry experience
Every day, I鈥檓 inspired by the work and the strength of the team. I see a bunch of professionals who step up to serve others. Our people put their own concerns and fears aside and get the job done. They rise to the occasion, because that鈥檚 what we do.
Miguel Perez
Welder
16 years experience
We have to think of new ways of doing things. Fortunately, working together we can figure it out. We bounce ideas off each other to make sure we can get the job done safely.
Kenny Pizarro
Driver
32 years of driving experience
People are counting on us. Our families, our customers, and our communities 鈥� they are all counting on us. Sure, this is an unprecedented challenge. However, here on Long Island, we get up every morning to meet the challenge. You want to see tough, take a look at the guys I work with. A challenge like this just means we have to be smarter, safer and tougher. I got no problems with that.
Artie Mims
Roll-Off Driver
30 years of experience as a professional driver
My advice to fellow drivers is to remain professional and be careful. While there may be less traffic on the road, non-commercial drivers may be anxious and reckless Take your time, stay alert and stay safe. Your defensive driving skills are important these days.
Jose Marichal
Mechanic
32 years of industry experience
In times like these, I am inspired by my fellow mechanics to get the job done and keep the wheels turning safely. I am very thankful for the people I work with. We are all in this together.
Eddie Colatosti
Manager 鈥� Container Shop
35 years of industry experience
Unlike the enemies that our parents fought, this enemy is invisible. But it is just as deadly. New York has been the epicenter of this pandemic, but we are tough people and we鈥檒l adapt. No doubt this has been a challenge, but our parents taught us to be smart, to be careful, and to never give up.
Jason Craft, Eastern Region
Vice President
For us, it鈥檚 had a material impact on our business, there鈥檚 no doubt about that. More importantly, I am incredibly thankful and proud of the resiliency, commitment and dedication of our entire NYC team in how they have continued to provide our essential service throughout this pandemic. Their execution has been heroic.
Mike Alverez
Driver
We run the day route in Manhattan and every day we ran our route making sure our customers were serviced.
Moises Acevedo, Operations Manager Bronx
Stan Sroka,Maintenance Manager
Everything we do is to protect our employees so they can go home to their families safely. It was a total team effort between maintaining our trucks and keeping them sanitized during COVID-19.
Anthony Gibaldi, Operations Supervisor and
Joe Marsiello, Operations Manager, Brooklyn
Getting our men home safe every night is our focus. Keeping them safe during COVID -19 meant a total company effort. We secured supplies from PA, upstate NY and across the entire Waste Connections company.
Eric Lee
Driver
I never knew I was essential until it was essential that we showed up and serviced our customers to keep NYC clean.
