IN THE NEWS
Resource Recycling | December 5, 2022
Shared database vital for better recycling
Building on and complementing Re-TRAC Connect, this detailed database centralizes material management information and supports existing data collection activities. Re-TRAC Sightline bridges the gaps in data availability that would otherwise hinder decision-making and program improvement. The service is based on one simple fact: You need good data to understand what's going on, to make changes, to divert more, and to improve how the system operates.
Read MoreCBC | June 28, 2022
Signing ceremony welcomes 31 more partners to Winnipeg's Indigenous Accord
The number of signatories to Winnipeg's Indigenous Accord jumped well past the 200-mark on Tuesday with 31 additional local organizations and businesses adding their names. The accord, a document intended to further the cause of reconciliation between the city's Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, was first signed by more than 80 groups in June 2017. Signing on means committing to a continuing responsibility to reconciliation, the city says. Partners commit to setting goals, implementing action plans, and are required to report yearly on the success of their efforts.
Read MoreCity of Chicago | July 14, 2021
City of Chicago Releases Anticipated Waste Strategy
The report details more than 63 strategic recommendations to help address waste management, 12 of which are being prioritized by the City in 2021 and 2022. The City of Chicago partnered with Delta Institute, a nonprofit specializing in municipal solid waste management planning to evaluate, assess, document, and update the many interrelated aspects of waste in Chicago. Management strategies addressed key priorities, including municipal management and data tracking.
Read MoreSWANA | July 13, 2020
SWANA renews Affinity Program relationship with Re-TRAC Connect
With the renewed and expanded relationship, more services, such as the Municipal Measurement Program™, are also being made available to SWANA Members.
Read MoreThe Exchange District Biz | Oct 9, 2019
Biz Profile: Emerge Knowledge Design Inc.
Emerge Knowledge Design Inc. is an innovative green tech company in The Exchange District, like many businesses in The Exchange, it's located above street level.
Read MoreResource Recycling | Aug 27, 2019
Industry leaders tackle challenges in Big Easy
Measurement and markets - two keys to strengthening recycling - were highlighted on the first day of the Resource Recycling Conference in New Orleans.
Read MoreWaste Dive | Apr 2, 2019
New regional campaign looks to boost recycling in 10 Texas cities
A multi-phase project by the North Central Texas Council of Governments in Texas (NCTCOG) recently completed a waste characterization study and survey involving 10 cities and seven MRF operators.
Read MoreRecycling Product News | Jan 25, 2019
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership launch Municipal Measurement Program
New program assessment and planning tool designed to aid communities in tracking and analyzing performance data from their recycling systems.
Read MoreWaste Dive | Sep 12, 2018
Recycling Partnership, Re‑TRAC Connect launch program to standardize recycling data
Waste diversion software company Re-TRAC Connect has announced a collaboration with The Recycling Partnership for the beta launch of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP).
Read MoreAssociation of Oregon Recyclers | Sep 12, 2018
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership launch Municipal Measurement Program
Re-TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, have launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP).
Read MoreRecycling Today | Sep 10, 2018
Municipal Measurement Program will standardize community recycling performance data
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, have launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP).
Read MoreRecycling Product News | Sep 10, 2018
Re‑TRAC Connect and Recycling Partnership announce BETA launch of Municipal Measurement Program
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership have launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP) to provide municipalities with a robust and accessible materials management program analysis and planning tool.
Read MoreWaste Advantage Magazine | Sep 10, 2018
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership Announce the BETA Launch of the Municipal Measurement Program to Standardize Community Recycling Performance Data Nationally
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP) to provide municipalities with a robust and accessible materials management program analysis and planning tool.
Read MoreWaste Dive | Feb 28, 2018
Everyone wants better data; who pays for it, and what's the best way to get it?
The inaugural Measurement Matters Summit in Chattanooga, TN brought together a long list of behind-the-scenes officials and professionals at a previously unprecedented scale this week.
Read MoreWaste Dive | Feb 28, 2018
From analysis to action
In 2015, a bill that passed in the Texas Legislature required the state's environmental agency to conduct a comprehensive study on the Lone Star State's recycling industry.
Read MoreSWACO | Jul 18, 2017
Long-standing SWACO Partnership Honored
SWACO was recently recognized for their long-standing partnership with Re‑TRAC Connect which makes capturing and reporting waste diversion activities in Franklin County easy and more accurate.
Read MoreResource Recycling | May 9, 2017
Keys to rolling out an effective mandatory recycling ordinance
Any time a government forces residents to change their behaviors, there's the possibility of a strong pushback. But a recent webinar explored ways municipal officials can draft and implement mandatory recycling ordinances without drawing substantial resistance.
Read MoreRecycling Today | Apr 13, 2017
SWANA adds software company to Affinity Program
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Springs, Maryland, has announced that Re‑TRAC Connect, Winnipeg, Canada, has joined its growing Affinity Program.
Read MoreConstruction & Demolition Recycling | Apr 13, 2017
SWANA adds software company to Affinity Program
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Springs, Maryland, has announced that Re‑TRAC Connect, Winnipeg, Canada, has joined its growing Affinity Program.
Read MoreSWANA | Apr 10, 2017
SWANA Welcomes Environmental Software Company to Affinity Program
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is excited to announce that Re‑TRAC Connect has joined its growing Affinity Program.
Read MoreRecycling Product News | Apr 10, 2017
SWANA Welcomes Environmental Software Company to Affinity Program
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is excited to announce that Re‑TRAC Connect has joined its growing Affinity Program.
Read More
Press Releases
The latest press releases about Re‑TRAC™,
Re‑TRAC Connect™, Re-TRAC Sightline™,
RecycleSearch™, and Emerge Knowledge Design Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2022
Re-TRAC™ launches new data analytics service to accelerate circularity
The leading waste and recycling data collection company in North America unveils its newest innovation set to revolutionize industry access to standardized materials management data.
(Winnipeg, MB) Building on the success of Re-TRAC Connect™, the Re-TRAC team at Emerge Knowledge Design Inc. (Emerge Knowledge) is expanding the suite of data management tools available with the release of a major new service - Re-TRAC Sightline™. Providing instant access to an ever-growing library of pre-assembled materials management analytics, Re-TRAC Sightline is eliminating the painstaking waste and recycling data wrangling process for sustainability professionals. The database currently boasts over 5 million data points across all 50 states, providing local insights for over 3,000 counties and 14,000 disposal and recovery facilities.
Rick Penner, President of Emerge Knowledge, is very excited about the way Re-TRAC Sightline will streamline access to a range of key material management metrics. “The Re-TRAC team has been helping organizations improve their data collection and analysis capabilities through our Re-TRAC Connect software for almost 20 years so we really understand how important good data is for sound planning and program management. As a centralized source of standardized data, Re-TRAC Sightline is going to provide the industry with a powerful new way to quickly and affordably access the waste and recycling data they need.”
Launching within the proven Re-TRAC™ platform, and complementing the Re-TRAC Connect service, Re-TRAC Sightline will supplement existing data collection activities, serving as the central source of material management information. To start, government agencies will be able to access Re-TRAC Sightline subscriptions, with the service being opened up to all interested organizations in 2023.
This new service addresses the challenge most agencies face with limited time and resources available for collecting data. Even with the most sophisticated data collection efforts, government agencies are rarely able to assemble an optimal amount of information. Re-TRAC Sightline bridges these gaps in the data available to waste management planners and program managers that would otherwise hinder decision-making and program improvement.
Initial data providers for Re-TRAC Sightline reports include The Recycling Partnership (TRP) and Waste Business Journal (WBJ) with data being updated on a monthly basis. More information on the data providers can be found here.
"My department provides programs and services to a large area. We are always interested in comparing ourselves to other counties to make sure our operations are as efficient and cost-effective as possible. Re-TRAC Sightline enables us to look at real-time data from a variety of communities throughout the state to evaluate what we're doing and how to do it better."
- Tom Fox, Director, Allen County Department of Environmental Management, Indiana
A key aspect of the Re-TRAC Sightline database is the localized analytics. Each subscription provides access to pre-assembled industry data by state, county, and municipality, ensuring that local comparisons are relevant. Reports currently span local government recycling program information as well as a range of data about local recovery and disposal facilities. The Re-TRAC team is working with potential new data providers and plans to regularly add new data categories and analytical reports to the Sightline database over time.
As an added incentive for early adopters of the new service, Emerge Knowledge is offering limited-time introductory pricing. To subscribe to Re-TRAC Sightline, government agencies can visit www.re-trac.com/sightline to request a report sample or log in with their existing Re-TRAC account to learn more.
About Emerge Knowledge & Re‑TRAC
Emerge Knowledge Design Inc., the mission-driven company that delivers Re‑TRAC Connect™ and Re-TRAC Sightline™ services, was founded in 2001 with the goal of developing innovative solutions that help organizations achieve their sustainability goals. The first version of our industry-leading data management software, Re-TRAC, was launched in 2004, with the next generation, Re-TRAC Connect, in 2011. Re-TRAC Sightline is the latest addition to the Re-TRAC suite of data solutions.
Re-TRAC is used by city, county, state/provincial, and national government agencies as well as a wide range of other organizations to efficiently collect, manage, and analyze recycling and solid waste data. Government agencies also use Re-TRAC to instantly access pre-assembled materials management analytics for their jurisdiction. The user community is rapidly expanding as more organizations learn how Re-TRAC can streamline their information management activities, saving them time and money. For more information, visit www.re-trac.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2019
It's Official: Municipal Measurement Program Launched
(Falls Church, VA) On January 7, 2019, Re-TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership officially launched Municipal Measurement Program (MMP) to harmonize the measurement of material management programs and to provide municipalities with decision-making tools that can improve recycling program performance.
"Municipalities are faced with all kinds of challenges when it comes to reducing waste in their communities," says Rick Penner, President of Emerge Knowledge. "Their program managers rarely have enough staff time or budget to effectively measure their community's waste diversion progress. The truth is that measurement takes time; you need to collect data, monitor program performance metrics, and then also find time to research strategies to improve waste and recycling programs. Municipalities need a better way to measure performance and make decisions that will improve recycling in their communities. And that's where the MMP comes in."
By completing the program assessment surveys, municipalities can generate reports to measure program performance and discover opportunities to improve waste and recycling programs. The MMP uses standardized terminology ensuring that municipalities can benchmark performance metrics against national averages. The program also simplifies data management by centralizing all municipal waste and recycling program information.
One of the most exciting features included in the MMP is the program recommendations report. The report analyzes the data submitted via the program assessment surveys and based on those responses, presents a set of program recommendations tailored specifically to the municipality. The recommendations report will introduce municipalities to a suite of effective tools and resources developed by The Recycling Partnership.
The MMP is a free Program Assessment and Planning Tool that delivers insights and actionable recommendations to municipal waste management agencies in the United States and Canada.
"The Municipal Measurement Program will revolutionize the way we collect performance data, including capture rates and contamination, and transform our recycling systems for the better," says Scott Mouw, Senior Director of Strategy and Research, The Recycling Partnership. "Having all of this data in one place will not only help communities, but also the entire recycling industry. Currently every municipality has its own way of measuring and assessing their community's performance. An industry-wide need for a long time, The MMP will standardize and streamline that data and connect municipalities to The Recycling Partnership's free online best practice toolkits to help communities transform their recycling programs."
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership will host a free webinar on February 12th, 2019 to demonstrate how the MMP will help municipalities to overcome common challenges and improve their waste and recycling programs. Visit https://www.re-trac.com/why-your-municipality-should-join-the-mmp-webinar/ for more details.
Municipalities interested in participating in the MMP are encouraged to visit www.recyclesearch.com/profile/mmp/.
States, counties, and regional governments interested in accessing MMP data within their jurisdiction are encouraged to contact the MMP team by emailing mmp@re-trac.com.
About Emerge Knowledge & Re‑TRAC Connect
Emerge Knowledge, the company that develops Re‑TRAC Connect (www.re-trac.com), was founded in 2001 with the goal of developing innovative solutions that help organizations achieve their sustainability goals. The first version of our industry-leading data management software, Re-TRAC™, was launched in 2004 and the next generation, Re-TRAC Connect™, was released in 2011. Re‑TRAC Connect is used by city, county, state/provincial, and national government agencies as well as a wide range of other organizations to efficiently collect, manage, and analyze recycling and solid waste data. The user community is rapidly expanding as more organizations learn how Re-TRAC can streamline their information management activities saving them time and money. For more information, please visit www.re-trac.com.
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership (recyclingpartnership.org) is a national nonprofit organization that leverages corporate partner funding to transform recycling for good in communities all across America. As the only organization in the country that engages the full recycling supply chain from the corporations that manufacture products and packaging to local governments charged with recycling to industry end markets, haulers, material recovery facilities, and converters; The Recycling Partnership positively impacts recycling at every step in the process. The Recycling Partnership has served more than 1,000 communities and counting with tools, resources and technical support, supported placement of over 590,000 recycling carts, reached 50 million households, and helped companies and communities invest more than $37 million in recycling infrastructure.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2018
Re‑TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership Announce the BETA Launch of the Municipal Measurement Program to Standardize Community Recycling Performance Data Nationally
(Falls Church, VA) Today, Re-TRAC Connect and The Recycling Partnership launched the first phase of the Municipal Measurement Program (MMP) to provide municipalities with a robust and accessible materials management program analysis and planning tool. It was designed, with industry assistance, to standardize terminology and harmonize methodologies in support of consistent measurement across the U.S. and Canada. This innovative program will empower municipalities to benchmark performance and then identify and replicate bright spots, leading to better investment decisions and a stronger U.S. recycling system.
The new measurement program's goal is to reach the majority of municipalities in the U.S. and Canada to advance the standardization and harmonization of material measurement of curbside recycling across the countries and facilitate decision-making to improve recycling program performance. Without adequate performance data, municipal program managers can struggle to identify the best course of action to improve recycling.
"The Re-TRAC Connect team is extremely excited about launching the Municipal Measurement Program in collaboration with The Recycling Partnership," says Rick Penner, President of Emerge Knowledge. "The MMP is designed to help municipalities measure the success of their programs while creating a national database of standardized information that will benefit the entire industry. Working with The Recycling Partnership to promote, manage, and enhance the MMP over time will ensure that the many benefits of this exciting new program are fully realized."
Based on data submitted to the MMP, municipalities will be introduced to effective tools and resources developed by The Recycling Partnership to transform recycling across the United States. Participation in the program is free to communities and the goal is to create a standardized system for reporting contamination data.
"The Municipal Measurement Program will revolutionize the way we collect performance data, including capture rates and contamination, and transform our recycling systems for the better," states Scott Mouw, Senior Director of Strategy and Research, The Recycling Partnership. "Currently every municipality has its own way of measuring and assessing their community's performance. The MMP will streamline that data and connect municipalities to The Recycling Partnership's free online toolkits of best practices to help communities improve recycling by operating more efficiently."
Municipalities interested in participating in the beta testing phase of the MMP should visit: www.recyclesearch.com/profile/mmp/. The official launch is scheduled for January 2019.
About Emerge Knowledge & Re‑TRAC Connect
Emerge Knowledge, the company that develops Re‑TRAC Connect, was founded in 2001 with the goal of developing innovative solutions that help organizations achieve their sustainability goals. The first version of our industry-leading data management software, Re-TRAC™, was launched in 2004 and the next generation, Re-TRAC Connect™, was released in 2011. Re-TRAC Connect is used by city, county, state/provincial, and national government agencies as well as a wide range of other organizations to efficiently collect, manage, and analyze recycling and solid waste data. The user community is rapidly expanding as more organizations learn how Re-TRAC can streamline their information management activities saving them time and money. For more information, please visit www.re-trac.com.
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership (www.recyclingpartnership.org) is a national nonprofit organization that leverages corporate partner funding to transform recycling for good in cities and towns all across America. As the only organization in the country that engages the full recycling supply chain from the corporations that manufacture products and packaging to local governments charged with recycling to industry end markets, haulers, material recovery facilities, and converters; The Recycling Partnership positively impacts recycling at every step in the process. By the end of 2018, The Recycling Partnership expects to have served more than 900 communities with tools, resources and technical support, helped place over 494,000 recycling carts, reached 45 million households, and helped companies and communities invest more than $32 million in recycling infrastructure.
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Media Contact:
Stacy Wilbur
Teak Media + Communication
617-269-7171
stacy@teakmedia.com