SWANA Launches New Project for Canadian Landfill Managers

Canadian Adaptation of New 2021 MOLO Course and Exam Underway

Silver Spring, MD – The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has launched a project to develop a Canadian adaptation of its new Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO) course and exam. This effort ensures managers of Canadian landfills can take a MOLO course that reflect the standards and requirements for managing Canadian landfills today and are certified against those standards and requirements.

“The ‘Canadianized’ course and exam will retain the industry best management practices appropriate for landfills in the US and Canada—as found in the newly redeveloped MOLO course and exam—and will incorporate Canadian specifics appropriate for Canadian audiences,” said Arminda Valles-Hall, SWANA Director of Education.

Dillon Consulting, a well-respected and employee-owned professional consulting firm, was selected to lead this important effort. With more than 20 offices and 900 employees across Canada, Dillon handles projects in every province of Canada. “Dillon’s national reach was an important consideration in selecting a team to manage this project since the Canadian adaptation of the MOLO course and exam must reflect national standards, not those specific to a particular province or region,” noted Valles-Hall.

"Dillon is proud to support SWANA in preparing a Canadian version of their MOLO course. We're looking forward to utilizing our cross-Canada experience to adapt a unique Canadian perspective on landfill management," added Dave Lake, Dillon Associate and Landfill Design Engineer.

Working alongside Dillon are Canadian-based subject matter experts who will help identify and incorporate Canadian-specific references to add to or replace the US-specific MOLO material.

“I’m excited to be working with SWANA and other landfill professionals across Canada to develop and modernize the Canadian MOLO course,” said Linda Churchill, PE, Senior Environmental Engineer of Waste Management Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario. “It is such an important project. This Canadian-specific course will provide current and relevant information for Canadian landfill development and operations.”

“It is terrific that there will soon be a Canadian version of SWANA’s flagship MOLO course," added Art Mercer, SWANA Treasurer and Supervisor of Landfill Operations for the Region of Halton, Ontario. “This version will provide Canadian waste management professionals with the information they require to better perform their jobs within the Canadian context and strengthen SWANA’s reputation as the ‘go-to’ association for waste management training.”

This exciting project continues SWANA’s new approach to the development of training.

“With this project, SWANA continues its emphasis on developing more personalized and customized learning experiences,” said Valles-Hall. “Like the MOLO-US course, the MOLO-CA course will be available to students and SWANA’s chapters as a series of individual learning modules, each of which will provide a stand-alone educational experience about the primary topic covered within a module. Depending on their educational needs, students may choose to access one or multiple modules to fill knowledge gaps selectively or consume the modules as a set for a comprehensive education on the management of landfill operations.”

The Canadian adaptation of the MOLO course and exam are scheduled to be completed in Spring 2022. Learn more about SWANA Certification and Training at https://swana.org/training-certification.