Hello and welcome back to Talkin' Trash, Waste Dive's look back at the stories from the week, big and small. Stories ranged from a corporate CEO appearing on Fox Business to talk about employee retention to a regional company partnering with a state agency to up recruitment and build an "army."

There's a lot to talk about, so let's get to it.

Stories that drove the week

Waste Management CEO Jim Fish appeared on Fox Business to talk up the $2,000 bonus his company is giving to an estimated 34,000 employees.

• The company is one of several that has awarded bonuses to employees following the Republican tax bill passing into law. In the interview, Fish said "We will continue to spend money on our people," hinting that further bonuses or raises could be coming.
• Fish also noted that employee retention was still a problem during the first two years of employment. The company sees these kinds of bonuses as a way to help with retention.

The company announced the bonuses this month, though they're being awarded in December, 2018. Waste Management's decisions often act as a leader for the industry as a whole, and although we haven't seen other companies in the sector follow suit with bonuses or salary increases, they may feel the competitive pressure to do so. Also key will be whether M&A activity picks up, as many have predicted could happen if the corporate tax rate decreases. 

According to data from the Institute of Scrap and Recycling Industries, since China started publicly making moves about its new import policies, countries around the world, largely in Southeast Asia, have been importing more scrap plastic than in years past. 

• Spain and Malaysia both imported significantly more mixed plastic in 2017 than they did in 2016, showing a 727% and 292% increase, respectively.
• Vietnam and Malaysia both increased more PET than the previous year, with Vietnam more than doubling its imports from years past.

Two years' worth of data only allows for limited conclusions, but there is a clear trend toward Southeast Asia. To keep from continuing stockpiling domestically, the industry will have to continue find alternative markets and continually work to improve bale quality. The increased imports by other nations don't come close to hitting how much material China has imported in years' past, so market development and quality control will continue to be critical.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his proposed FY19 executive budget, proposed a statewide mandate for commercial organics recycling.

• The rule would hit any commercial operation that generates, on average, two tons or more per week of excess food and food scraps. Arrangements for recovery and recycling would be required by Jan. 2021.
• Businesses could apply for exemptions if the cost of recycling or recovery would be too great, or if there were no facilities within 40 miles to process the scrap.

Cuomo introduced similar legislation last year, but by April it was out of the budget proposal and off the table for the remainder of the legislative session. Environmental groups in the state, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, are pushing for the mandate. If New York adopts, it would be the sixth state to have some sort of statewide food recycling law.

Waste Pro is starting a partnership with the Florida Department of Corrections as a recruitment strategy.

• The company will interview and hire offenders who are under state supervision, opening up an applicant pool for driver, helper and mechanic positions.
• Waste Pro's director of human resources told Waste Dive that the company has "to build our own army of drivers and mechanics," in order to deal with a shifting labor force that moves from company to company.

The company also gives out $10,000 bonuses to employees if they go three years without accidents, legitimate customer complaints or property damage — and has paid out around $4 million so far from that program. Waste Pro said it is ready to accept as many applicants from the new partnership as the department has available.

The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments concerning a local bag ban. The city of Laredo wants to keep its local bag ban ordinance; the Laredo Merchants' Association wants it repealed based on a state solid waste law.

• If the court sides with the merchants, it could effectively preempt other local bag bans in the state, including in Austin. There's no official timeline or deadline for the court to issue its ruling, but a decision is expected by early July.

Other interesting tidbits from the week...

• Portland, OR officials chose Waste Management to process food scrap in the region, though the contract still needs to be finalized.
• Kent County, IL, near Chicago, is working to convert a capped landfill into a cross-country course. It could be a regional center for high school and collegiate races and prove an enticing use for other closed landfills.
• Evian announced it would make all its bottles from recycled plastic by 2025. The company also said it is partnering with The Ocean Cleanup to remove waste from the ocean.
• Garbage collectors in Ankara, Turkey, have opened a public library filled entirely with books that were bound for disposal. At first, it was just found books — and then people started donating books to their sanitation workers. 
• Call2Recycle, a battery recycler, announced Susan Repo, the corporate treasurer and VP of Finance for Tesla, is joining its board of directors. This is a smart move for both groups — as electric vehicles age out of service, their batteries will need to be recycled or disposed of safely, so why not merge those two worlds a bit?