Juli Taylor Turns Trash Into Strategy

Juli Taylor has spent more than three decades walking into facilities where waste was not just waste. It was lost revenue, delayed production, safety risk, rising cost, and a daily operational headache. In those moments, she built a reputation by seeing what others missed. Today, as CEO of Sort Line Consulting and Design, that same instinct drives a bigger mission: helping companies turn complex waste and recycling challenges into smarter systems, stronger operations, and long-term value.

Known across the North American waste and recycling industry as “The Trash Lady,” Taylor has never treated the nickname as a gimmick. It reflects a career spent close to the work, close to customers, and close to the problems that decide whether a recycling program succeeds or stalls. Her longtime tagline, “let’s talk trash,” has followed her for more than 30 years because it captures her direct style. She listens first, studies the material stream, and then builds a practical path forward.

Taylor began her career with Browning-Ferris Industries and went on to hold senior leadership roles with some of the most recognized waste and recycling organizations in the country. Her background spans operations, equipment sales and rentals, contract negotiations, acquisitions, brokerage, business development, and national account management. That range matters. Waste systems fail when they are designed in fragments. Taylor has seen the whole chain, from the first customer conversation to final installation, service, commodity recovery, and recurring performance.

Her appointment as CEO of SLC in 2026 represents more than a leadership change. It signals the company’s next stage of expansion. Sort Line Consulting and Design is building a coordinated national platform for equipment, consulting, installation, service, refurbishment, brokerage, and turnkey recycling systems. For customers, that means fewer handoffs, less guesswork, and a clearer route from problem to performance.

Cris Wood, founder and president of Sort Line Consulting and Design, described the appointment as a defining moment for the company. “Her experience, credibility, and relationships throughout the waste and recycling industry are second to none,” Wood said. “She has spent more than three decades helping customers solve complex operational challenges while building organizations and lasting partnerships. Her vision aligns perfectly with our mission, and we are excited to welcome her as our Chief Executive Officer as we continue building one of the industry’s premier consulting and equipment companies.”

Juli Taylor Sort Line Consulting And Design Builds Systems That Work

SLC’s advantage begins with a simple belief: equipment should fit the operation, not the other way around. Too many businesses buy a baler, compactor, conveyor, crusher, or densifier before fully understanding the volume, material, labor flow, loading pattern, facility layout, maintenance need, or end-market value. The wrong choice can create daily friction. The right system can save time, improve rebates, reduce hauling needs, and make recycling programs easier to manage.

That is where Taylor’s experience aligns with SLC’s model. The company designs full equipment systems around each customer’s material stream and operational reality. Its team represents its own line of horizontal balers along with leading United States equipment manufacturers. With more than 60 years of combined industry knowledge and relationships with five leading domestic manufacturers, SLC can help customers compare options with context, not confusion.

The company’s Central Florida manufacturing and refurbishment facility in Lakeland is another key part of that value. Not every organization needs, or can justify, brand-new equipment. Many need reliable refurbished machinery, a rental program, a purchase option, or a lease-to-own structure that fits the budget and timeline. By offering both new and refurbished equipment programs, SLC expands access without lowering standards.

Taylor’s leadership also strengthens SLC’s national service model. Through AWARE, short for All Waste and Recycling Equipment, the company provides repairs, installations, preventive maintenance contracts, and field support through a nationwide network of factory-trained service technicians. For multi-site operators, that consistency is critical. A recycling system is only as strong as its uptime, and uptime depends on skilled service after the sale.

Recognized for Waste Management Consulting

Sort Line Consulting and Design has been recognized by Best of Best Review as “Best Waste Management Consulting Services in the United States of 2026.” The award recognizes the company’s work in waste management consulting, recycling systems, equipment solutions, and operational support.

Under CEO Juli Taylor, SLC continues to bring together consulting, equipment, installation, and maintenance services to help businesses improve waste and recycling operations.

A Four Division Platform With A National Reach

Under Taylor’s direction, Sort Line Consulting and Design is advancing a four-division structure built to solve the problems customers face before, during, and after implementation. SLC serves as the parent company and system design team, guiding consulting, facility planning, equipment selection, and project execution. AWARE supports service, installation, repair, and preventive maintenance. Waste Options handles equipment purchases, rentals, lease-to-own programs, in-house financing, and recyclable commodity brokerage. Zero Waste Partners manages medical and hazardous waste diversion and disposal streams.

Together, those divisions give customers a single coordinated source for waste equipment, service, commodity programs, and specialized waste stream support. That structure reflects a broader market need. Companies want sustainability progress, but they also need systems that make financial and operational sense. They want to reduce landfill reliance, but they cannot afford disruption. They want higher recycling performance, but they need reliable partners who understand equipment, service, commodities, and compliance-sensitive streams.

Taylor’s career has prepared her for that intersection. She has advised customers on processing technologies, operational efficiencies, and sustainable waste solutions for organic waste. She has founded and led consulting and brokerage work focused on equipment solutions and strategic project development. She has worked in mergers and acquisitions, negotiated contracts, built customer relationships, and developed business across the United States and the United Kingdom. Now, she brings that perspective to a platform designed for national scale.

What makes Juli Taylor Sort Line Consulting and Design especially timely is the company’s practical middle ground. It is not simply selling machines. It is not merely offering advice. It is connecting strategy, equipment, financing, installation, service, and commodity value into one plan. For a manufacturer, distribution center, recycler, retailer, municipality, or facility operator, that can mean fewer costly missteps and more confidence in every phase of a project.

Taylor’s public persona may be memorable, but her staying power comes from trust. In an industry built on logistics, timing, labor, safety, and margins, credibility is earned over years. Customers remember who answered the phone, who solved the installation issue, who found the right equipment, and who stayed involved after the invoice. That is the reputation Taylor brings to SLC.

There is also a human dimension to her new chapter. Women remain underrepresented in many industrial sectors, especially in senior operating roles. Taylor’s rise through sales, operations, executive leadership, ownership, and now the CEO chair at SLC reflects both resilience and results. She has built her career not by standing apart from the industry’s hardest problems, but by stepping directly into them and asking better questions.

For organizations trying to modernize waste handling, reduce inefficiency, upgrade aging equipment, or build a recycling system that actually performs, SLC offers a practical entry point. Taylor’s message is clear: the right waste program should do more than remove material from a facility. It should protect labor, recover value, reduce downtime, support sustainability goals, and create a system people can rely on every day.

If an operation is ready to rethink waste, recycling, equipment, or service support, consider connecting with Juli Taylor Sort Line Consulting and Design. From facility design and new or refurbished equipment to installation, maintenance, financing, rentals, and commodity brokerage, SLC can help turn a fragmented process into a coordinated system built around a customer's goals, materials, and budget.

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