NERC’s October Virtual Conference About the Changing Face of Recycling

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The Pandemic and changes in international and domestic markets have created new challenges for recycling and solid waste management.  The Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) Fall Conference—The Changing Face of Recycling—will focus on the impact of some of the key challenges in which the industry, states, and communities are tackling. NERC’s Conference will be held virtually on October 20, 21 & 22 (1 p.m. – 5 p.m. eastern). The Conference Agenda features groundbreaking sessions and expert presenters that are paving the way for innovative thinking in working towards new solutions.

The first-day keynote panel will focus on perspectives about end markets from the big three material recycling facility owner/operators—Susan Robinson of Waste Management, Bob Cappadona of Casella Resource Solutions; and Peter Keller of Republic Services.   Following is a session about effective recycling messaging with Jessica Shrout of Circle Three Branding and Mel Gilles,  of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.   The Conference will continue with Rachel Kenyon of the Fibre Box Association and David Refkin, of Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) presenting about new strategies for collecting more corrugated containers and focusing on multi-family housing in urban areas.

The second day will begin with a keynote discussion about addressing racial justice with Cheryl Coleman of ISRI and Dan Leif of Resource Recycling Magazine. This will be followed by working with robotics for separating recyclables, organics, and construction and demotion debris with Nat Egosi of RRT Design & Construction, Matanya Horowitz of AMP Robotics, and Eric Camirand of Waste Robotics Inc. A session about achieving circularity through innovative business models will wrap up the day with Cherish Changala Miller of Revolution and Mark Bond of Sustana Fiber.

The third day will start with presentations about managing lithium battery safety & state EPR updates with Mia Roethlein of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and Sean Plasse of Call2Recycle. A session about state packaging EPR will follow with a lightning round of presentations from Tom Metzner of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Sarah Nichols of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Kirstie Pecci of Conservation Law Foundation, and Andrew Radin of the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA).   The NERC-APR Government Demand Recycling Champions Program will be presented next by Lynn Rubinstein of NERC.  The Conference will close with a lightning round discussion about bottle bills and minimum recycled content legislation with Chris Nelson of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Scott Wilson of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Jennifer Kruman of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, Cathy Jamieson of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Marie Kruzan of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers, and Lynn Rubinstein and Mary Ann Remolador of NERC.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com