Grimmway manager earns recycling honor

Darren Williams received the 2018 Recycling Award for excellence in recycling at City of Shafter's Annual Awards Banquet last Thursday night.

Darren Williams, facilities manager for Grimmway Academy in Shafter, has done an outstanding job in bringing Grimmway Academy to a new standard in recycling. The school has reached a goal of "zero" waste. Zero waste means they are diverting 90 percent or more of their trash into recycling efforts. These recycling efforts include organics recycling and blue cart recycling. Williams, students and many of the staff members have worked very hard in achieving this goal. It's a team effort, but Darren has kept striving to reduce, reuse and recycle more and more each year.

American Refuse has had the opportunity to work closely with Darren since the beginning of Grimmway Academy Shafter. Williams, the staff, the students and the dedication this school combined to become a leader in our community for its recycling efforts. They are leaders in the community on reducing waste, recycling and reuse. Grimmway Academy opened its doors in the fall of 2017. They have an excellent program that educates students on full-circle recycling, whether it comes from the expertise of Executive Chef Anna, Garrett who runs the edible school garden, or Williams, who maintains the recycling around the school campus, everyone works together to make the program a success.

Williams explained how the kids get excited about turning something they were going to throw away into something else. This has resulted in using kitchen scraps and lunch food waste to make compost, feeding animals with leftover salad bar items and an after-school program where arts and crafts are made from recyclable items.

"It's what we do now that will really affect us all in 20 years," Williams says. He hopes that what the children are learning in school about reduce, reuse, recycle will be instilled for years to come. It becomes a way of life, a lifestyle where everyone benefits. A cleaner city and environment for everyone.