HOUSTON-BASED WASTE MANAGEMENT Inc. (WM) has appointed Patrick DeRueda president of Recycle America Alliance (RAA), a majority owned subsidiary of WM. DeRueda previously was the general manager of WM's New Mexico Market Area. He succeeds Steve Ragiel, who left the company.

RAA operates 80 recycling plants in the United States and Canada, and provides marketing services for more than 140 recycling facilities. DeRueda's biggest goal is to increase the collaboration between WM and RAA.

“What we're going to look for in the future is to make sure that we have a greater alignment with Waste Management, particularly the hauling side of the picture,” he says. For example, many of WM's hauling operations do not use RAA's facilities when they could.

“We should make sure that RAA is engaged in Waste Management's strategies for its market areas and, wherever we can, collaborate. That's what we're going to move toward,” DeRueda adds. “There's been some of that between Waste Management and RAA, but we're going to make sure that it's the norm.”

DeRueda joined WM in 2001 after 14 years at Browning-Ferris Industries, where he held several titles, including corporate safety manager and regional risk manager. Since 2003, DeRueda has been the general manager for the New Mexico Market Area, which includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Utah. WM divides its organization into 57 market areas.

WM named the New Mexico Market Area its top-performing market area for 2004. The company also named the New Mexico Market Area the best performer in its Western Group in 2003 and 2004.