Polyco’s EHS (Environmental Health and Safety) Manager, Kevin Bush, is a hard worker who cares about his community and doing things right. That’s why he became an Eagle Scout in his youth and why he’s spent over two decades of his professional career dedicated to increasing responsibility in industrial settings. We chatted with Kevin about his life in Texas, how his background in Scouting helps inspire his work, and his vision for the future of recycled materials.

What excites you most about working with Polyco?

Before I worked here, I was with a much larger company — several thousand people strong. It’s hard to change anything there, to make a real difference. Polyco is smaller and newer. You know everybody here, and you can really make an impact in the places that matter. It’s great to be able to help build a company up, to see where it is and help determine where it’s going. On top of that, sustainability is really important to me — to all of us at Polyco, really. I come from a Scouting background. I’m an Eagle Scout; my son’s an Eagle Scout, and we really try to live by the idea of “leave no trace.” Polyco does, too, and that means a lot to me.

What does a normal workday look like for you?

As the Environmental Health and Safety manager, I do a lot with, well, environmental health and safety. I put together training programs, do audits and inspections, and coach our employees, helping them understand the regulations we need to follow and why. On the safety side, the regulations and guidance often make sense as soon as you explain them, but the environmental bits can be a little harder to understand right off the bat.

These days, my team has been doing a lot of reviewing and refreshing Polyco’s policies regarding our environmental and safety programs. We need to ensure everything is in line with state environmental regulations as well as within OSHA standards. Right now, we’re doing a lot to review existing policies and bring them up to date. 

What do you think the future holds for Polyco?

The potential for growth we have is exciting, and not just in terms of market share or monetary value. We take things people don’t want — like used tires — and turn what might have just gone into a landfill into raw material for new, high quality roads and roofing materials. I think we’re going to keep doing that, keep growing and keep finding new ways to “leave no trace.”