Turning trash into fuel and into jobs
A reported 135 million (Million!) tons of trash are dumped into U.S. landfills each year. Yes, that includes your old armchair, used mattress and discarded beer cans. But what if all that trash could be made into something productive? What if, instead of just sitting there, there was a way to harness some good out of what is otherwise an environmental nightmare?
The father and son team behind Enerkem, a Montreal-based company started in 2000, is giving it a go. And they’ve got our attention, as it was ranked one of Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies this year. The duo “has developed a proprietary thermo-chemical system that uses pressure, chemicals, and 800 degrees of heat to recycle 15 different kinds of trash into renewable electricity, chemicals for plastic, and ethanol that can run cars.”
The company has a commercial facility up and running in Quebec, Canada, another slated to start operations in January, 2012, located in Alberta, Canada, and a third plant under construction Pontotoc, Mississippi. And when you hear of companies expanding, that typically means… wait for it… they’re hiring!
And what do you know, Enerkem is looking for good people to join that team right now. They’ve got positions open in business development, engineering, finance, project management and more. It might be a smelly job, but it’s one that probably comes with a landfill’s worth of fulfillment.
When I graduated from school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. After many job-angst conversations with friends over a beer, or four, I realized no one had a clue. Part of the problem? Job titles are useless! How are you supposed to know what you want to do if you don't know a) what jobs are out there in the first place and b) what it's really like to work in the gig. Dig This Gig attempts to find answers by going straight to the source — you! 