Even during a heat wave, outdoor work continues as normal for many people. This also applies to the employees of the recycling center in Acht. They try to keep a cool head on the increasingly hot asphalt. That is why Cure Waste Management in Eindhoven has been working with a heat protocol since last Thursday.
Have a pallet of water delivered
“We use this when it is thirty degrees or warmer for more than three days,” says Niek Cloin of Cure Waste Management. “If you look around here, you mainly see concrete and asphalt. That gets really hot during the day. Hot enough to take extra care of the well-being of our colleagues. That’s why we stop earlier.”
The recycling center is temporarily closed three hours earlier and opens one hour earlier. Visitors can now go there from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon. The summer schedule will also start earlier for waste collection at home. “Our colleagues arrive earlier a week earlier. That is why we ask people to put their rubbish bin out on the street before seven in the morning.”
Extra measures have been taken for the staff. “We had a pallet of water delivered, so that colleagues can take as much as they want. And in the warm months we always have ice creams available,” says Cloin. “The work is hard anyway, so I really have a lot of respect for our colleagues in this heat.”
One of the hottest summers
Monday morning at eleven o’clock it is still 25 degrees in Eindhoven, but later in the day the temperature will rise towards 34 degrees. “For now, it still seems possible to continue doing our work with mitigation measures,” says Cloin. “But we’ll see what that’s like when we may soon exceed 40 degrees.”
Employee Stella also notices the heat. She has been working at the recycling center for twelve years. “This looks like it will be one of the hottest summers here. During the day it gets really tough. Applying good sunscreen, drinking regularly and taking a break every now and then helps. Fortunately, we have air conditioning in the canteen.” Around two o’clock she notices that it is really starting to get too hot. “Then you feel it’s time to stop.”
“Suffering, but cleaning up is part of it!”
In the meantime, cars full of landfill waste continue to drive back and forth. Lambertus (77) is taking away a trailer full of scouting waste. “It’s doable until two o’clock, but after that it really isn’t anymore. I understand that they close earlier.” Karen from Best, with a trailer full of rubble, also understands. “They stand outside all day. That’s actually impossible. But hey, work remains work.”
According to Stella, the heat sometimes also shortens the fuse of visitors. “If people have to wait longer in the heat, they get irritated more quickly. But hey, they also choose to come here in these temperatures.” But Stella keeps a cool head.
Hans decided to do a major clean-up at home during a heat wave: “It’s a bit of a struggle, but cleaning up is part of it!” He also fully understands the waste processing company’s heat protocol: “It’s tough work, so full of sunshine. Then it’s really necessary to stop earlier.”
The heat protocol at Cure’s recycling centers has been extended today until Saturday, June 27.
