ReMA Prioritizes Safety Training and Education at Recent Operations & Safety Forum

From Monday, November 10 to Wednesday, November 12, recycling operations managers, safety leaders, and executives traveled to Louisville, Kentucky for the ReMA Operations & Safety Forum. The immersive three-day event focused on best practices, compliance, and safety across the recycled materials industry.

Mike Marino, ReMA's Vice President of Safety, opened the 2025 forum with an important moment of silence recognizing the victims of the tragic UPS plane crash on Tuesday, November 4 in Louisville, Kentucky.

"The first day started with the OSHA grant fire training and we had great attendance," said Jerry Sjogren, ReMA's Senior Director of Safety. "We usually start our trainings by saying that we can stand in front of the room and talk but it would be better for the audience to be engaged and since we're going to be sharing stories, we also hope the audience shares stories with us."

Sessions on Tuesday included best practices for shredder operations, sorting innovations, baler and logger maintenance and operations, and material handler maintenance and operations.

"The session on shredder operations stood out to me," said first-time attendee Jason DeDario, Safety Director at Cohen Recycling. "There was information and helpful discussion about preventative maintenance and safety topics specific to shredder parts and pieces that I didn't previously have exposure to. I was able to go back and bring up some of what I learned with the shredder crew at Cohen."

Wednesday's session on Yard & Equipment Safety: It Starts With Culture was also a standout.

"Andre Ramsey, Division Environmental Health & Safety Director at Harris American Company, was a very engaging speaker," said Holly Brownell, ReMA's Advocacy and Safety Programs Administrator. "He had attendees standing up and doing exercises to wake up and I thought it was a great way to get people loosened up and engaged."

Attendees also had the opportunity to tour OmniSource's Jeffersonville location, where they received first-hand experience looking at various safe operations, torch cutting, and more.

"Going on the tour was great," DeDario said. "Whenever you have the opportunity to see how another recycled materials company runs its operations you should go; you can learn so much from your peers."

In addition to the engaging sessions and tour, the networking opportunities were also a very significant part of the event for DeDario. He noted that the event provided a valuable opportunity to talk with other ReMA members in the safety and operations space and to speak with the partnering vendors to learn about different technology offerings and how they could be applied to his company's operations.

"I absolutely recommend attending this event if you're a ReMA member who works in the operations and/or safety space," he said. "It's a chance to come together and collaborate with other individuals who are like you; they not only want to improve their operations, but also improve the perception of our industry and this is an event where you can take steps in that direction."