Dewayne "Jake" Jacobs

For as long as Dewayne Jacobs, aka “Jake,” can remember, he has always been interested in the environmental field. His first job related to protecting the environment was working for a plating company back in 1987. Jake was responsible for transforming waste water back to its original state. During the plating process, there are several stages related to cleaning the material so the coating process would adhere to the product; this process would cause the portable water to become contaminated with various metals such as copper, nickel, zinc and cyanide. Jake became fascinated with the idea that he could possess the knowledge to transform such contaminated water back to its original state. He was hooked.

Jake would continue his education in the wastewater field for the next ten years. He took several night courses and eventually receive a grade 3 municipal and industrial wastewater license from the state of Massachusetts. Jake says he can still remember the feeling of accomplishment, knowing he was making a positive impact not only on the environment, but to his community as well.

Jake would eventually move into the medical waste field and start working for Stericycle Inc. in 1998 as the Production Supervisor. Jake says he knew as much about medical waste as he did flying a plane, although he did jump from a plane once (but that’s a story for another time). The first time Jake became aware of medical waste was while watching a news story on television one night in which everyone was upset because a bunch of bags filled with contaminated needles and other medical waste had washed up on the shore of New Jersey. He remembers the negative impact it had on the local community and the public. When the opportunity came to be a part of protecting the environment in a totally different capacity,  Jake decided this could be an exciting new adventure.

In 2000, Jake was promoted to Plant Manager for the Woonsocket, Rhode Island Processing Facility. Being a goal oriented person, I would often challenge the staff to not only increase productivity, but to do so in the safest manner possible. They would go on to achieve what most people would find almost impossible, receiving several safety awards as well as increasing productivity from nine hundred thousand pounds per month to an excess of two million pounds per month on a consistent basis. During that time, Stericycle was involved in a community service program which donated its services by volunteering to process residential waste collected from the Eureka program, where Jake would meet his future business partners Cherie and Karen. When he was asked to join Chrysalis as the Director of Operations, Jake says he was once again excited over the tremendous opportunity before him. Jake looks forward to the challenges ahead and is extremely proud of being a part of Chrysalis Environmental Services. By working together, we can make a difference in educating each community in the safe collection and disposal of used needles and expired medications.

 

Contact Jake:

Phone: 401-486-7194

Jake@MyZeedle.com