Today’s featured member, Jenna Burchell, community relations specialist for DTG Recycle, said the company works with industrial, commercial, and construction companies of all types to help keep waste out of the landfill. The company does this by sorting thousands of tons of material generated by our customers per day and then repurposing or recycling that material.
To what do you attribute your business’ success?
Our success in becoming the largest recycler of industrial, commercial and construction waste in the Pacific Northwest is because of the incredibly hard-working, planet-obsessed DTG Recycle team members. Sideways rain in November – no problem. Weird 100-degree days in August – no problem. Our folks are there every day sorting thousands of tons of material generated by our modern-day lifestyle. Our best and most-innovative ideas come from throughout the organizational chart and these help DTG Recycle lead in safety, culture and recycling effectiveness.
What are you doing to attract and retain employees?
DTG Recycle embraces the concept of servant leadership meaning that our managers’ priority is to help their direct reports be as safe as possible, develop skills to advance their careers, and generally be as successful as possible at DTG. This authentic and purposeful culture gives our employees a sense of belonging and empowerment. Furthermore, our folks have a clear line of sight on how and where they can advance their career and consequently their financial security.
What’s something you wish you had known before you started, or before your chose your current career path?
I wish I had started a career in recycling long ago. I had no idea what I was missing in my life! The life cycle of recyclables, practices and innovative procedures we invest in here at DTG Recycle are fascinating to me. Every day I’m proud to come to work and learn new and inventive ways to divert waste from the landfill and encourage and educate our communities in supporting sustainability.
What’s one piece of advice you have for someone looking to start or grow their business, or join your field?
Come on over! The more people we have supporting this Net Zero mission, the better! It’s nothing but a benefit to our earth to have others join us in our efforts to starve the landfill.
How are you/is your business active in your community?
Whether it is a beach cleanup at Golden Gardens Park, sponsoring sustainability research at local universities, or participating in local Touch-a-Truck events, DTG Recycle is constantly looking to engage with our local communities. Other recent outreach efforts included supplying 800 handmade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to a Seattle homeless shelter, supplying over a hundred backpacks loaded with back-to-school supplies to local families and donating over 1,100 pounds of canned goods to a local food bank.
What does your Chamber membership mean to you/your company?
We love being a part of the communities we live and work in, in any way we can. Being a part of the Chamber affords us the opportunity to discover businesses and people that we wouldn’t normally come in contact with. We can also spread the word about DTG Recycle and what we do, and hope to inspire others to implement better sustainability practices or host recycling events in their communities.
What does an equitable and inclusive regional economy look like to you?
To me it would look like minority groups having power in decision making, policies that are put in place to ensure inclusion and diversity and equity in resource distributions.
Are there partnerships you are/your company is currently looking for?
If I have learned anything from being the community relations specialist, it is that we can partner with a wide variety of people in any capacity.
Thank you to DTG Recycle for being part of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce network. Here at the Chamber, we have 2,500 companies across the region and 13 different business sectors, from your favorite neighborhood restaurant to brands known around the world. Our member feature program is based on referrals. If you would like to learn more about how to be featured in our member features series, please contact Cori Lumens.