{"id":7716,"date":"2022-05-18T21:00:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T04:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/blog\/blog-curiosity-pragmatism-drive-its-all-about-the-trifecta-for-loveland-solid-waste-superintendent\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T14:43:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:43:55","slug":"blog-curiosity-pragmatism-drive-its-all-about-the-trifecta-for-loveland-solid-waste-superintendent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/blog\/blog-curiosity-pragmatism-drive-its-all-about-the-trifecta-for-loveland-solid-waste-superintendent\/","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity, Pragmatism, Drive: It\u2019s All About the Trifecta for Loveland Solid Waste Superintendent"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s American Public Works Week, and we’re celebrating public works leaders in solid waste on our blog. Check back for a new profile feature each day!<\/em><\/p>\n

Nearly 20 years ago, Tyler Bandemer began his career as a health inspector. Now, he\u2019s the Solid Waste Management Superintendent for the City of Loveland, CO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bandemer\u2019s natural curiosity, tenacity and desire to lead have guided him throughout his career, from Laramie, WY<\/a>, to Loveland. And while he hopped into health inspection after graduating from the University of Wyoming, he actually spent a semester or two riding on the back of a dumpster truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my guys think that I’m just a \u2018college boy\u2019 that just happened to get this job,\u201d Bandemer says. \u201cI was likely riding on a trash truck in college before any of them ever even considered being on a trash truck.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a health inspector years ago, his inquisitiveness led him to talk with the public works director in Laramie and ask questions about the city\u2019s landfill and solid waste programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we putting some of this stuff in the landfill? Why haven\u2019t we thought about a recycling program? Why aren’t we composting?\u201d Bandemer says.<\/p>\n

While being a good steward is important, Bandemer says he\u2019s pragmatic in his approach to solid waste. \u201cIf there’s outlets and resources to handle items properly, and if there\u2019s ways of diverting compostable materials from a landfill,\u201d Bandemer says, \u201cwe don’t need to landfill this stuff. Why would we?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing a landfill is \u201ceye-opening,\u201d Bandemer says. Because trucks pick up our solid waste, many people don\u2019t consider everything that is taken to the landfill, how many trucks make trips out there every day, or how many tons of waste are added. But when you see a landfill in person, Bandemer says, \u201cyou look at this vast, like, wasteland \u2014 like (a) literal wasteland,\u201d and you think, \u201coh, my gosh \u2014 look at all this stuff that we’re just burying!\u201d<\/p>\n

For many, Bandemer says this stems from landfills being out of sight and out of mind. \u201cIt’s not that they’re bad people or \u2026 they’re not conscientious about environmental issues,\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes people don’t even know what they don’t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

But once he had those realizations and made those connections, Bandemer jumped in with both feet.<\/p>\n

Well, \u201cI was thrown into it,\u201d he teases.<\/p>\n

Called to lead<\/b><\/h3>\n

When the solid waste manager in Laramie left the position, the public works director asked Bandemer if he had any interest in taking on the role. \u201cI did have a degree, but (it) wasn’t in environmental engineering or anything related,\u201d Bandemer says. It\u2019s in interdisciplinary health sciences.<\/p>\n

The director said, \u201c\u2018I think you could do this,\u2019\u201d Bandemer says, but \u201cI had no environmental engineering background, I had no landfill experience, no anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was because he was asking the right questions, or because he illustrated that he\u2019d have the right skill set for the job, he says. Either way, \u201cthey took a chance on me, and I got in there and I started learning as much as I could about the landfill and collections and everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

He earned his Manager of Landfill Operation (MOLO)<\/a> designation, and he analyzed what he could do for the city\u2019s solid waste programs. At that time, it was two people per truck, manually loaded. In about his third year on the job, \u201cI finally got our city council to incorporate an automated side-load (truck), and so we went down to one guy per truck instead of two,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The city ordered new trucks and carts for easier, fully automated collections, which worked to improve worker safety. Then, Bandemer says he began to institute a compost program for the city. The public works department put out special dumpsters throughout the city, \u201cin as many neighborhoods as we could,\u201d so residents had a free place to properly dispose of grass, leaves and other yard waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our first diversion material,\u201d Bandemer says. Around 2008, the city contracted with a Colorado company, which \u201chelped us start actually composting it at our landfill site,\u201d using nitrogen-rich biosolids from the wastewater treatment plant rather than water.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now we’ve got our first diversion program in Laramie, we’re now doing automated side-load, which is awesome, and then the last thing I did before I left was single-stream recycling collection,\u201d Bandemer says. \u201cI literally rolled that out in the last week or two that I was in Laramie before I came to Loveland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humbly, Bandemer says he never came up with any great ideas that hadn’t already been thought of back in Laramie: \u201cI just implemented them.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in all, \u201cmy five years in Laramie, it was a remarkable resume builder,\u201d Bandemer says, crediting the work to getting him \u201cin the door\u201d in 2011 at Loveland, which already had a premier solid waste program.<\/p>\n

From Laramie to Loveland<\/b><\/h3>\n

When he moved on , he says, he \u201cinherited an already great program.\u201d At that time, Loveland had already established one of the very first and nationally recognized pay-as-you-throw programs that work to cut down on solid waste, encourage recycling and divert recyclables and green waste from landfills in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n

The pay-as-you-throw program has evolved into a cart system where automated side-loading trucks can collect trash without employees risking their safety by hopping on and off the truck at every stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty nice, because that five years in Laramie was like running with my hair on fire,\u201d Bandemer says. \u201cBut we got so many cool programs in place, and to walk into a place where everything was already kind of done? I needed a little breather; I needed to just kind of walk in and just almost manage an already established program versus changing everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his life, Bandemer says he was called to lead. He had grown up in a blue-collar family, and wanted to take a different route.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis wasn\u2019t, like, an ego thing,\u201d he says. \u201cI just \u2014 I always wanted to be in a position where I could make some decisions and be at the table where decisions were being made.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he realized he could take on that role back in Laramie as a Solid Waste Manager, he says, \u201cmy brain just started going about everything that I could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

His work ethic, passion for problem solving, readiness and resilience are among the many qualities Bandemer brings to the industry as a public works leader \u2014 qualities that the American Public Works Association<\/a> celebrates this week, May 15-21, which is American Public Works Week.<\/p>\n

Now, in Loveland, \u201cI’m still in the same position here as I was in (back) in Wyoming, but I’ve got a larger crew\u201d and more resources. He spends much of his days analyzing the city\u2019s programs, brainstorming on how the city can add to its current systems and recycling center, and thinking about what sort of marketing and education can be created for the community to help combat contamination and address other issues.<\/p>\n

Then, of course, there\u2019s the nuts and bolts of the operation to consider, including budgeting, revenue and future planning.<\/p>\n

Making more progress in Loveland with technology<\/b><\/h3>\n

Most recently in Loveland, the city moved to closed-lid cart collections, which, without overflowing trash, improved safety for drivers and curb appeal for neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

To keep residents in check and give drivers the authority they needed to do their jobs well, \u201cwe use Routeware<\/a> extensively\u201d to photograph missing or overflowing carts to cut back on free go-backs and more.\u00a0 Bandemer said that without his professional and diligent team of supervisors, along with a field crew that prides itself on customer service and doing the job right, this task would have been impossible.\u00a0 \u201cNone of our success is achievable without a great team, and I simply have the best. Our average tenure is over 7 years, and that is considering a team of 28 employees.\u201d Bandemer also said that although they do experience some turnover, he does not feel it is at the same level as other companies he has seen in this industry.<\/p>\n

In June 2021, Bandemer says the city began collecting mattresses and box springs for recycling<\/a> through a materials processing company in Denver. \u201cWe took in 450 pieces in the first seven months of the program,\u201d Bandemer says. Then, \u201cwe eclipsed that 450 in the first three months of 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only has the program diverted nearly 1,000 mattresses and box springs from the landfill, but it has also saved equipment such as dozers and compactors which easily can be damaged by mattress springs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program has been wildly successful,\u201d Bandemer says.<\/p>\n

Throughout his tenure in the industry, Bandemer has seen numerous changes, namely related to technology and social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith apps like ReCollect<\/a>, with the social media, \u2026 the Waste Wizard<\/a> that’s in ReCollect, those have really helped us,\u201d Bandemer says.<\/p>\n

In the future, Bandemer says he hopes to bring more technology to the fleet trucks, including outward-facing cameras, as well as figuring out reliable methods and disposal of Styrofoam recycling.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019ll) just continue to make sure we’re staying close to the cutting edge,\u201d Bandemer says. Or, as he jokes, maybe just \u201ca little bit behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/b>.<\/h3>\n

Are you a solid waste leader looking to up your organization\u2019s game? Technology and tools from Routeware can help. Let\u2019s talk!<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s American Public Works Week, and we’re celebrating public works leaders in solid waste on our blog. Check back for a new profile feature each day! Nearly 20 years ago, Tyler Bandemer began his career as a health inspector. Now, he\u2019s the Solid Waste Management Superintendent for the City of Loveland, CO. Bandemer\u2019s natural curiosity, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resourcetype-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}