Portable Sanitation Association International

PSAI Association Insight, October 13, 2021 I 3 "I" is for International (continued from page 2) Lothar Vermillion became involved in the PSA in the mid to late 1980s. He soon was elected to the Board and eventually held the position of Treasurer for many years. When the Berlin Wall fell, Lothar brought small pieces of the Wall and presented them to all Board Members as a desire for international cooperation. At the 20th Anniversary of the PSA in Orlando in 1991, the Board and the membership voted to change the name of the association to "Portable Sanitation Association International (PSAI)" due in large part to the contributions of Lothar Vermillion. I have always said, "Lothar put the 'I' in the PSAI." ADCO In 1997, Harald Muller bought Lothar's Dixi in a massive business transaction. Lothar remained as President and Harald became CEO of the new company, ADCO Group. In 1999, the production of the company's own portable restrooms began. Two incredibly large special events were handled by ADCO in the coming years. According to their website, "in 1999, at the World Youth Day in Rome, the company provided 5,000 portable toilets." Some seven years later, in 2006, "the FIFA World Cup 2006 had 10,000 of our units for this 'mega event' in various venues." Two special anniversaries both occurred in 2013: Dixi's 40 year and Toi Toi's 30 years. In 2019, this longtime PSAI member company was sold to Apax Partners and continues today. (NOTE: A remembrance of the life of Lothar Vermillion written in November 2019 will also be made available when each history article is combined for publication of the 50th anniversary booklet. Lothar also kept meticulous records of all PSAI Presidents, shows, meetings, and Gump Award recipients from 1971 to 2014— at which time he presented the spreadsheet to me for the work on the 40th anniversary as well as to be the "recorder" for all future activities. This also will be included in the final publication.) BDE—German Waste, Water, and Raw Materials Management The BDE was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Berlin with around 750 member companies, according to their website. This organization has continued to expand into other areas throughout the years. Indications are that Lothar Vermillion was the first president of the BDE group dealing with portable sanitation, which was in the mid-1990s. PSAI in Germany In May 2015, the PSAI held an interna- tional board meeting in Germany; Terri and I were fortunate to attend. Of course, Lothar was our guide! Highlights of the trip included a visit to ADCO in Gerstungen and a meeting with both German portable sanitation industry representatives and the BDE. As will be discussed in the next section, both Martin Murdoch with Portable Sanitation Europe and Peter Lewis of Adeloo of England attended as well. Lothar and Harald standing together by their units (continued on page 4)

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