SWANA's 2009 Officers Announced At WASTECON

The International Board of Directors of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) gathered today with the membership of the Association for the Annual Business Meeting, where the 2009 officers were announced.  Laurie Batchelder Adams of LBA Associates, who now holds the title of past president, officially handed over the gavel to Carl Newby of Arlington County Department of Environmental Services, SWANA's new International President.

"I am greatly honored to be able to serve with so many other solid waste professionals from all across North America," said Carl Newby.  "We plan to continue working to make livable and sustainable communities using environmentally and economically sound solid waste practices."

John Hadfield assumed the position of International Vice President, while Sara Bixby of South Central Iowa Solid Waste Agency became the International Treasurer and James Warner of Lancaster County Solid Waste Authority became the new International Secretary.
    
"The enthusiasm these newly elected officers have for our cause is exciting to see," said John H. Skinner, Ph.D., Executive Director and CEO of SWANA. "They are geared up and ready to carry out their plans for SWANA and I know all four of them are going to do a great job this upcoming year."

The Annual Business Meeting was followed by the WASTECON 2008 Lawrence Lecture and Keynote Presentations.  The Lawrence Lecturer, Dr. Jean Bogner, was the coordinating lead author of the waste management chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) report on "Mitigation of Climate Change."   The Keynote Speaker, Roberta Fernandez, president and founder of Planet Partnership, was one of the first people selected and trained by former vice president, Al Gore, to present his acclaimed climate change message, "An Inconvenient Truth." 

Both the IPCC and Al Gore were honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2007 "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."