MEET THE EXPERTS

Florence Busnello

Recycling Queen
City of Hamilton, Waste Management Division
Website: http://www.hamilton.ca/waste
Phone: 905-546-2489
Email: wastemanagement@hamilton.ca

VIDEOS

When Less is More - more...
Litterless Lunch - more...
Recycling at the Curb - more...
Recycling Room by Room - more...
End Products - more...

ARTICLES

When Less is More - more...
Coming soon to lunchboxes everywhere - more...
Curbside recycling - more...
What becomes of recyclables - more...
Blue box tips - more...

If you have a great program in place but nobody is participating, the program might as well end up in the garbage heap. Flo Busnello’s job is to make sure Hamiltonians take part in the city’s recycling programs, keeping the garbage heap to a minimum.

Officially a technical analyst with the City of Hamilton’s waste management department, Busnello has earned the title of recycling queen. With the department since 1995 she is one of the originals. Her goal is to send a clear message about what can and cannot be recycled and how to sort into separate streams of paper and containers. If she does her job well, the recyclables fetch a higher price since they won’t be contaminated with improper materials.

The recycling queen describes herself as basically a teacher and her students range in age from four all the way up to senior citizens. Whether the audience comprises Junior Kindergarten students or sorority sisters in their 80s, the goal is to convert them to the greener side.

An education room at the Central Composting Facility is geared to Grade 4 students. It’s a great way for them to see and learn about the waste management process from start to finish. Children of this age are really receptive to the message and that makes the experience of teaching them rewarding. The program is usually fully booked three weeks into the school year with the only promotion being word-of-mouth.

Busnello describes herself as a social person who enjoys talking and interacting with people. The job lets her put those skills to good use. She describes the team she works with as highly energetic and dynamic. Not only is the work fun, they are actually helping others.

The enthusiasm of this self-proclaimed garbage geek for living green is obviously contagious. Her son is the environmental rep at his elementary school and a member of the environment club. His is a certified “eco-school, his mom makes litterless lunches and he’s grown up with green cart composing program.

The fact that her job incorporates creativity and the challenge of developing new programs makes it rewarding. Busnello spearheaded a bike recycling program that takes discarded bicycles and refurbishes them for clients of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The seed for the program was planted when bikes were being placed outside of the scrap metal recycling bin because it was too full. McMaster University students involved in the “Mac-cycle” program and students at Ryerson Elementary school help make the discarded bikes street-worthy again.

Her job also involves organizing various functions including open houses at waste management facilities. It’s far from the accounting career that she went to school for although it was while working on the budget for the City of Hamilton’s waste management department that the opportunity to make the switch to a career more in keeping with her extroverted personality came up.

One needs to like working with kids fill to the role of recycling queen and Busnello admits that being a mom can help. She’s actually a hockey mom who also finds time to salsa dance and to get creative in the kitchen when not on the job. You can bet her kitchen waste is properly sorted.

VIEW ALL OFFERS

Special Offers

Electric Savings!

Use this coupon towards a Defender Electric service call.
More...
Why Rent When You Can Own?

Sign up now for the preview sale
More...
Ideas from the City - Idea #8

Useful tips and suggestions
More...
Moving Soon?

Find out what Paul has listed here.
More...
Are you a Billiards Owner?

Receive 10% off Spa Accessories!
More...
Follow Us on Twitter

Daily Web TV is now on Twitter.
More...
Be an Insider @ DailyWebTV

Fantastic information just waiting for you.
More...
Follow Us on Facebook

Daily Web TV has a Fan Page.
More...