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From university sports facilities to the Super Bowl itself, stadium managers continue to pursue ambitious waste-diversion goals. The gold standard of a zero-waste-to-landfill system has emerged as the ultimate prize in stadium sustainability — but as with any materials-management strategy, zero waste is a mixed bag of benefits and challenges.

Since its inception, the modern global recycling industry has developed a worldwide infrastructure. In the U.S., recyclables are separated out at material recovery facilities (MRFs), packed into bales, and sent to other nations, which house the world’s processing capacity. More often than not, until recently, that meant China.

Compared to workers in all U.S. private industries, employees who process poultry face a significantly higher risk of injury. In 2016, for instance, the incidence rate for nonfatal injuries and illnesses at work was 2.9 per 100 workers in all industries. Among poultry processors, the rate was 4.2 injuries or illnesses per 100.

The best way to reduce waste is to create less of it in the first place. In the food processing industry, source reduction requires creative new material-handling techniques in addition to changes in the use of packaging.

In the United States, if you work in construction, or in the maritime industry, or on a farm, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) gives you an entire section of the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, complete with its own part number. (The maritime industry gets three of them.)

First, the good news. Fatalities for refuse and recycling collectors declined to a rate of 34.1 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2016. This halted a troubling rise that began in 2012 and peaked at a rate of 38.8 injuries per 100,000 workers in 2015.

Recycling metal scraps requires some serious material handling equipment. Huge, crane-like material handlers grasp, compress, and lift bales of scrap steel. Skid-steer loaders separate metals in the yard. Pick-and-carry vehicles stack layers of scrap into organized rows.

Too many sanitation workers end up injured — or worse — on the job. Refuse and recycling collectors have long been listed among the top five most dangerous occupations in the nation, but the problem extends along the entire waste stream.

Recycling scrap metal creates tremendous benefits for sustainability — at least on first glance. The situation gets more complex when you approach scrap recycling from a lifestyle perspective.

Solus Group, North America's exclusive dealer of Simpro Bin Dumpers, will attend the New York Strive for Sustainability Conference and Trade Show in Bolton Landing, New York, May 19-22.