Generation gap: what steps can the recycling industry take to attract more young talent?

The values of the Millennial generation are at odds: recycling the idea versus recycling the industry; green living versus greenback. Municipal recycling coordinators and entrepreneurs have been trying to reconcile the two sometimes conflicting images for years.

Young people show overwhelming support for recycling as an idea. Surveys show that the Millennial generation--born between 1979 and 2001--is among the most social and environmentally conscious groups around today. The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study, released in October 2006 and commissioned by Cone Inc. in cooperation with fellow Boston-based marketing agency AMP Insights, says that nearly 61 percent of the Millennial generation feels personally responsible for making a difference in the world and that nearly eight out of 10 want to work for a company that cares about how it contributes to society. Some 69 percent are aware of their employers' commitments to environmental causes, according to the survey. What industry can boast a more obvious commitment to the environment than recycling?

In addition, RecycleMania, an annual recycling competition between colleges and universities, has some 200 schools participating this year. However, the enthusiasm these students have for participating in recycling as a means to help the environment is not translating into a desire to have a career in the recycling industry, according to Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute, Pittsburgh. "If you go on campus, you see people recycling, but they don't see it as their future," he says.

The generation--many of them baby boomers--at has led the recycling industry is either at retirement age or quickly approaching it. The increasing impact of economic globalization and growing importance of technology is changing the face of the business, and if the industry cannot attract a new generation of leaders, it faces an uncertain future.

IMAGE CONSCIOUS. Lisa White of SP Recycling Corp., Atlanta, says the impact of an aging workforce is already being seen. "My contemporaries, the people I came into the business with, those people are still here and starting to retire, or in the next 10 years, will be retiring," she says. "They've been the pulse of the industry, the expertise. Those are big shoes to fill."

Generational issues and the recycling industry's image to the general public contribute to the lack of interest some young people have in filling those shoes, according to Cam Marston of Marston Communications, Charlotte, N.C., a consultant who specializes in multigenerational relations and communication. "It is probably not considered a 'sexy' industry," Marston says. "The image is not one of glamour or prestige, and those types of things matter to the younger generations. Additionally, the younger generations are more interested in non-dirty jobs, thinking that the labor-oriented jobs are for other people, whoever they might be."

It's no surprise to the operators, salespeople and executives who have been helming the industry for years that underneath the piles of old cardboard boxes and rusted steel is a dynamic, profitable, global and technologically savvy business. But getting this message across to a crop of college graduates with dreams of dollar signs and corner offices is no easy task. "My experience is that young people coming out of schools are not educated about the recycling industry and would associate it with garbage collection and landfills. Who majors in scrap brokerage transactions in school?" says Ralph Simon, also of SP Recycling. Image can mean everything, he adds, recalling an incident where a young employee quit after just six months because his wife thought he was working in the "garbage" industry. "His job was actually a general manager of a recycling center with 15 employees," Simon says.

Young workers themselves can bring some generational baggage to the workplace, too. The recycling industry is relationship based and a business where one has to work his or her way up, something younger generation workers don't have a strong reputation for. "The scrap industry is very unique, says Joe Stover, owner of First Capital Fibers, a high-grade paper operation in York, Pa. "A lot of things are done with a handshake. Young people don't know what's expected of them, and a young person might not have the patience today to take a four- or six-year road [to a higher position]," he says.

When it comes to image, however, the recycling industry does have a factor working in its favor--the strong presence of family businesses.

FAMILY VALUES. Simon and White both have sons in the recycling industry, though not at SP. However, having a parent in the industry gives a young person a first-hand example of what the business is really like. Stover has also guided his son into the business. "My son and his high school best friend are both in middle management for our company," Stover says. He adds that both young men pursued other careers first, but worked their ways back into the scrap yard. "Now they're decision makers," he says.

Simon says family-owned businesses do have an advantage when it comes to attracting young people into the industry because of the built-in education factor that comes with growing up in the business. "Younger people probably have worked in the family shop since high school and know about the energy of the business and its financial rewards."

White agrees, "If you've grown up in it, the spark is there."

Children of the recycling industry can also serve as the business' best ambassadors, Marston adds. "Through that first-hand experience, they may be able to recruit peers," he says.

However, even family-owned shops are not immune to the generation gap problem, Heenan points out. He says two distinct things tend to happen with the next generation in a family-run recycling business.

On the positive side, the child is immersed in the business from an early age and understands its value. On the other side, the disadvantage appears if the next generation has no interest in carrying on the family business. "They'll say, 'the last thing I want to do is be like my father,'" Heenan says. "There are two sides of the story," he adds, young people reared in the family business either fall in love with it or become disillusioned.

However, the picture is not entirely bleak. Interest in the environment is stronger than ever, which the industry can turn to its advantage.

HIGHER EDUCATION. Andrew Ables, human resources manager for OmniSource Corp., says the company has had luck capitalizing on the younger generations' passion for the environment.

"Young folks today are more 'recycle conscientious' than previous generations, which helps to promote the recycling industry," he says.

Current market conditions can also help the scrap industry's image, according to Peter Nagusky, the fourth generation to enter his family's ingot making business, The Federal Metal Co. in Bedford, Ohio. "The profitability of the scrap industry in the last five years has helped it overcome some of the more negative connotations," he says.

The interest is there, says Ables, and the industry can take advantage of it by putting more emphasis on educating potential employees at the college level. Ables says OmniSource has developed relationships with colleges and universities that have been beneficial in recruiting young talent to the company.

SP also tries to reach young people at college by supporting those colleges and universities that offer courses in pulp and paper, says Simon.

Heenan says that the issue is larger than simply recruiting at the college level. Part of the problem is a basic decline in science-oriented majors at colleges, he says. "We've put less emphasis on science as a country, and as a result, we have fewer scientists coming out," Heenan says. "Science adds value--we need to have more people active in those arenas."

Heenan suggests the recycling industry follow the lead of the steel industry by actively seeking candidates who want to get into science fields and by offering scholarships and summer internships so that potential hires can see the value the industry provides.

Research shows the interest in recycling is there in younger generations. Through continued efforts to educate the upcoming workforce about the business end of recycling, the industry can look forward to a wealth of new talent to lead it.

The author is associate editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at [e-mail].