In case you missed it: Thoughtful, newsworthy comments from industry professionals, consumers, and legislators.

"Everyone is acutely aware of the homelessness situation, and our drivers are faced with this on a daily basis. It is massive. No organization wants to be responsible for the injury or death of another person. Every time it happens, it sends a shock wave through the whole industry."

— Tim Standring, Biffa's health and safety spokesman, on the issue of garbage truck drivers dumping people who are sleeping in waste bins into their trucks. Biffa reported that 175 people were found sleeping in bins in the current fiscal year, up from 31 in 2014.

"It's an enormous challenge. But one we're going to keep fighting for."

— Schupan & Sons Recycling Division President Thomas Emmerich to Plastics News on helping Flint, MI recycle plastic bottles amid the town's water crisis. Schupan partnered with Petoskey Plastics to set up drop-off locations in the area, using Petoskey's recycling bags to collect bottles.

"Most of our scholars ... are just skimming the base in school rather than learning the dynamics and complexity of the industry. Our programs allow them to go deeper, and they see a lot more to this than they imagine."

—  EREF President and CEO Bryan Staley on the organization's efforts to tie student academics to the waste industry. EREF offers scholarships and an internal research program to ensure young people are becoming interested in solid waste management.

"These companies' leadership recognizes the bottom-line benefit of getting large volumes of material in the supply chain."

— Closed Loop Fund Co-Founder Ron Gonen on the role investors play in the Fund. He explains that by investing in recycling infrastructure, the corporate investors — which are all large buyers of the materials — see a reward in an increase of supply. 

"There was a great concern that West Virginia was going to become the garbage dump of the nation."

—  Delegate Barbara Fleischauer to the West Virginia Gazette on state legislation, passed by both the House and Senate, to relinquish MRFs from needing to get Public Service Commission approval to manage waste. Opponents like Fleischauer worry that such legislation will reverse strict waste management rules that some find necessary. 

"Among the key values that drive the work of Keep America Beautiful is the idea that people and places are profoundly interconnected, and that thriving communities are rooted in individual responsibility and collective action."

— Jennifer M. Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, on the organization launching its 18th annual Great American Cleanup, a project run by over 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates and other partner organizations.