PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Mark Mehall enjoys hands-on work

Mark Mehall has devoted his professional career to dealing with stuff that most people would prefer to toss in a trash can and forget about.

But he puts it much more diplomatically.

“I’ve had a long and varied career in recycling and solid waste management,” said Mehall, who recently became the new operations manager at the Southeast Kansas Recycling Center.

He succeeds Chuck Delp, who had been with the center since it opened and became known as an outspoken area advocate for recycling. Though he has retired, Delp will continue to work on special projects for the center.

Mehall comes to Pittsburg from Grand Haven,  Mich., where he was president of Mark Mehall and Associates, which provided professional consulting services in solid waste management and recycling.

“I really wanted to get back into solid waste management on a full-time basis, and I applied for the Southeast  Kansas Recycling position in late May,” he said. “I came here for an interview in mid-June, and was really intrigued by the potential here. The more I looked at this, the more I felt this would be a good opportunity for me.”

Mehall received a bachelor of science in 1983  and a master’s degree in public administration in 1985, both from from Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant. He also earned a certificate as a professional recycler from the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania in 2011 and a certificate in management in 1996 from the International City/County Management Association.

He said that most of his career in solid waste has been geared to recycling.

“Where I really got started in public works was in  Coon Rapids, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis with a population around 50,000,” Mehall said.

He served as administrative assistant to the Coon Rapids director of public works. As part of his duties, he created a city-wide curbside recycling program and a drop-off recycling center, and also served as city representative to county and metropolitan intergovernmental committees on solid waste management.

From 1990 to 1993 he was solid waste manager in Whiteside County, Ill.

“I  ran a landfill and facilitated placement of replacement to a much bigger regional landfill,” Mehall said. “This was converted from an open dump, a Super Fund site with a lot of industrial dumping, to a compliant site. There was also a drop-off recycling center  at the landfill and a modified curb-side program.”

He was solid waste coordinator in Rock Island, Ill., from 1993 to 1999. There he created a five-year solid waste management plan update for the county and coordinated implementation of two county-wide solid waste management collection and disposal programs.

Mehall was executive director for the Indiana Institute on Recycling from 1999 to 2001, serving as an advisor for the State of Indiana on waste management operations and policies.

As executive director of the Solid Waste Management District of St. Joseph County, South Bend, Ind., he managed a mandatory curb-side recycling program serving approximately 75,000 people, managed a comprehensive permanent household hazardous waste and electronics program and coordinated comprehensive public education programs for the district.

As executive director of the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2011,  his duties were more administrative.

Mehall found himself wanting to return to working more in the operations area.

“I enjoy physical, hands-on recycling,” he said.

He’s looking forward to more opportunities for this in his new position. Mehall is quite aware that this are challenging economic times. However, Southeast Kansas Recycling is still in better condition than many similar facilities.

“The worst came about four years ago in late 2008,” Mehall said. “The markets collapsed, prices stabilized, and then the recession hit. I give a lot of credit to my predecessor Chuck Delp because he had a lot of long-term contracts for the center, negotiated at fixed prices, so they did not experience a lot of severe ups and downs here. That’s what you get when you’re based on market prices for your recycled materials.”

Other pluses at Southeast Kansas Recycling include New to You, the reuse shop, and the comprehensive handling of household hazardous wastes.

“The center has also expanded heavily into electronics, and we have a specialized employee here who deals with that,” Mehall said. “This is a benefit and engenders a lot of good will. It encourages people to recycle, rather than think that it’s more convenient to throw something away than recycle it. Offering the comprehensive services that we do has done a lot to change the mind set in this area.”

He believes that Southeast Kansas Recycling was built on a great foundation.

“I think we need to grow from this foundation,” Mehall said. “My job now is to maintain the base of operations and see what else is out there.”

On a personal note, he enjoys sports and said he expects to have no problem in becoming an enthusiastic Pittsburg State University Gorillas fan.

“I actually knew about the Gorillas before I came here,” Mehall said. “There’s a university near Grand Haven, Grand Valley State University, that is a major football power in our area and has been an NCAA Division II champion. I’m looking forward to seeing the Gorillas.”