Congress Cannot Ignore Nation’s Independent Waste Haulers in COVID-19 Relief Package
Rubicons work is powered by a network of more than 7,000 independent haulers that provide waste and recycling services for many of the nations largest and most important brands.
Atlanta, Georgia, March 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Legislation targeting relief for the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic should include a four-point plan targeting the nation’s independent waste haulers that are hard hit by the outbreak, and on the front lines of ensuring the nation’s ongoing health, said Nate Morris in a letter to the President, key Cabinet Secretaries, and Congressional leaders today.
Morris is the Founder and CEO of Rubicon, a technology company that provides waste, recycling, and smart city solutions to thousands of commercial and municipal customers across 50 U.S. states and in 20 countries. As a Certified B Corporation, Rubicon is committed to ending waste in all of its forms, and to adhering to rigorous third-party verified environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
“As the COVID-19 public health emergency unfolds across the United States and the world, life as we know it is changing in new and challenging ways,” Morris said in his letter. “The American economy is threatened, as is the health of every citizen. We are all being asked to find ways to contribute to the recovery while simultaneously adapting to a new way of engaging with our families, colleagues, and community.”
Rubicon’s work is powered by a network of more than 7,000 independent haulers that provide waste and recycling services for many of the nation’s largest and most important brands. It also provides those vital services to main street businesses within American communities across the country. Across Rubicon’s waste and recycling network, a majority of its partners are family-owned-and-operated small, regional fleets.
“While so many of us are self-isolating and retreating from this spreading virus, the women and men who own these independent waste and recycling companies, and the people they employ, are working in our communities,” Morris said. “As an ‘essential service,’ these haulers must continue to keep our cities and towns sanitary by driving their routes and providing daily pick-ups. It is a thankless task—especially in times like these—but it is vital to ensure the public’s health.”
As thousands of businesses that make up these independent hauling companies’ customer base are shuttered, haulers are experiencing an unprecedented strain on their bottom lines, Morris explained. “The risk to these small businesses going bankrupt is real, and they need immediate help to maintain operations and ensure that they will survive this crisis. Most importantly, our society needs these businesses to remain operational because our country and communities cannot afford an additional threat to public health caused by uncollected waste and recycling.”
To ensure this important public service remains uninterrupted, Morris called on Congress in developing its relief package to incorporate four critical points:
- Providing Small Business Administration grants that extend beyond the restaurant and retail sectors, for those that are directly impacted by the trickle-down effect of mandated closures.
- Expanding the Small Business Interruption Loan program to provide for twelve weeks of payroll loans, rather than the current six weeks for such loans.
- Lowering the percentage threshold from 10% unemployment to 5% unemployment for states to receive assistance in processing unemployment claims from the recently appropriated $1 billion emergency grants.
- Temporarily reducing or eliminating both the employer and employee portions of the payroll tax.
Congress will be debating this package over the weekend.
About Rubicon
Rubicon is a digital marketplace that provides a suite of SaaS products for waste, recycling, and smart city solutions, and collects and analyzes data for businesses and governments worldwide. Using technology to drive environmental innovation, the company helps turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work. Rubicon’s mission is to end waste, in all of its forms, by helping its partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals. Learn more at www.rubiconglobal.com.
Contact: Michael Allegretti Chief Strategy Officer, Rubicon [email protected]
