A Busman’s Holiday

When Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) recently held a public, scheduled tour of the recycling and trash operations, ORS board members were joined by a last-second visitor.  Kaz Szymoniak is the Environmental Manager for Santa Rosa County, just east of Pensacola, FL.  Following  the tour, Szymoniak sent us a recap of how he got to the tour, and what he saw that really impressed him.  In fact, he took lots of ideas home with him to implement there.  Here are his comments, and why we’re referring to it as “a busman’s holiday”.

“I came to Orcas Island on vacation and certainly didn’t expect a transfer station tour to become one of the highlights of the trip,” says Szymoniak. “But it absolutely did.  I told my family afterward that, for me, getting that behind-the-scenes look at ORS/The Exchange ranked right alongside looking out from Mount Constitution and swimming in Mountain Lake.

As someone who works in solid waste management in Florida, I probably notice transfer stations more than the average tourist. In fact, the first time we drove past ORS/The Exchange, I nearly broke my neck looking over at the facility.  The clean appearance and unique facade of The Exchange immediately caught my attention.  Imagine my excitement when I was later looking online for local events during our vacation and discovered that you actually offered public tours of the operation.  What I expected to be an interesting recycling tour turned into what felt like a true VIP look at solid waste and recycling on Orcas Island.

That alone deserves recognition.  Simply opening a solid waste facility to the public and routinely inviting people behind the scenes goes well beyond what most facilities do. The kind of transparency builds community trust, engagement, and a sense of ownership in the local waste system. Those relationships become increasingly important as disposal costs rise and recycling markets demand both increased volume and extremely low contamination to help offset costs. From the moment we met at the Z-wall, I started taking ideas home with me.”

Szymoniak’s operation in FL is currently designing an upgraded residential drop-off area at their landfill that is not entirely different from the Z-wall concept. 

“Seeing your operation immediately gave me ideas for future-proofing our design and improving the customer experience, including your use of covered open-top containers, the layout of the recycling area, signage with photographs, and even the homemade tools your staff proudly demonstrated. 

What impressed me most was how clean, organized, and cared-for the entire area was. In my experience, a well-maintained facility commands respect from its users. When recycling areas are covered in windblown litter or materials are constantly placed in the wrong locations, that condition can invite even more abuse. Your Z-wall demonstrated the opposite. It was obvious that considerable labor and more importantly, pride goes into maintaining it.

 I also really enjoyed seeing ‘Big Blue,’ the Andela glass crusher; the vegetative debris area; the source separated recycling processing and storage areas; and the Household Hazardous Waste storage area, which was immaculate, well ventilated, properly segregated, and exceptionally well labeled. Even the active waste transfer area was orderly, with spotters actively assisting customers on the tipping floor.

Then there is The Exchange itself.  The ‘throw-nate’ concept is brilliant.  Taking usable items that otherwise would enter the waste stream and turning them into revenue that supports the nonprofit and the community is an outstanding example of reuse in practice. It was obvious from the number of people shopping that the community believes in it as well.

The Exchange also didn’t feel like an ordinary thrift store. The amount of thought put into its layout, displays, decorations, and overall character was immediately apparent. If felt uniquely Orcas. It is a place where useful and unusual things from the island get another opportunity to become part of the island, rather than simply becoming waste. 

That struck me as particularly interesting because our communities are almost opposites in one respect.  Back home on the mainland, so many towns have become dominated by national chains that landfills and transfer stations are sometimes among the last truly ‘locals only’ places.  The waste comes from that community and stays within a relatively local system. Orcas flips that concept around. The island retains an incredible concentration of local businesses and local character, while its garbage ultimately travels hundreds of miles away. Yet ORS/The Exchange has managed to preserve that local identity, even within the waste system. 

Professionally, one of my biggest takeaways was seeing how far you have pushed recycling while making it easy and practical for people to participate. Seeing single-stream and source-separated recycling offered at the same location was especially interesting. Rather than treating recycling as a one-size-fits-all system, you have created opportunities for residents to participate at different levels while still capturing cleaner material streams where possible. 

Everyone seemed genuinely excited to talk trash with another trash guy, show me what they had built, explain why things worked the way they did, and exchange ideas. Most of all, though, I appreciated the passion everyone showed. Duff did an outstanding job leading the tour, and Pete, Mark, and everyone who joined us along the way never made me feel as though I was taking up their time. Quite the opposite. 

Thanks again for your hospitality and for giving me such a memorable glimpse into how Orcas Island handles its waste and recycling. I came home to Florida with photographs, ideas, and quite a few things I want to think about incorporating into our own operations. More importantly, I came home impressed by what can happen when a solid waste facility becomes more than simply a place where people take their trash. ORS/The Exchange has clearly become part of the community it serves, and that is something worth being proud of.”