Meet a SWANA Young Professional: Diana Reighart

The Young Professionals in the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Technical Division of SWANA want to connect with you! In this special feature, we interview a Young Professional (YP) to highlight their work and interests.

Name: Diana Reighart

Job Title/Company: Project Manager with the Northeast MD Waste Disposal Authority (a.k.a NMWDA or “the Authority”). NMWDA assists eight Member Jurisdictions (seven Counties and Baltimore City) with their mandated efforts to manage solid waste and increase overall material diversion. We strive to incorporate the most efficient technology available, while keeping costs as low as possible. A team of expert consultants works under the direction of Authority project managers to execute specific tasks.

Location: Baltimore, MD

How many years in the industry? I have a little over three continuous years in the industry. However, I did some work adjacent to the industry as well that would bring me to 4.5 years of experience. I completed two summer internships in college that involved monitoring trash levels in waterways. I also completed a year of service with Americorps VISTA that involved food waste reduction via food donation.

If you were to travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I would go to Australia and New Zealand – my nephew is Australian and my best friend lives in New Zealand. Plus, I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and need to see where it was filmed. No reason not to visit both in one trip given it’s such a long flight!!

What does Sustainable Materials Management mean to you? Sustainable materials management means using each material to its highest use and minimizing waste/environmental impact all along the lifecycle of a product. I really appreciate this reframing of “solid waste management” because there is so much material that ends up in landfills that could be diverted for better use – textiles, food, paper, metals, the list goes on. There’s absolutely no need for many materials to be permanently trapped in a pile of plastic bags, which creates a need for new materials to get used in the next product rather than recycling or reusing materials that already exist.

How did your education contribute to you joining the solid waste industry?

My bachelor’s degree in biology and double major in Environmental Studies were key pre-requisites for my position as an Environmental Project Manager, though none of my classes were specific to the solid waste industry. I also was a part of the Food Recovery Network on my campus which allowed me to be involved in recovering surplus food and donating it to local emergency food locations and homeless shelters.

As a YP working in SMM, what about this industry have you found to be most interesting?

As a very curious and outgoing person, I appreciate that there is never a dull day. I am constantly learning new information, liaising with different organizations, and there will never be a shortage of projects – talk about job security! There are so many materials streams that there is no way one person could be an expert in every area of this industry. I love that there’s folks with great passion for starving incinerators and landfills, while there are also people still managing them as our society makes the shift to a greener economy. One day I could be working on 10 completely different projects – helping a County inform residents about grasscycling through radio ads, getting a pilot plastic film recycling program off the ground, remediation of a municipal solid waste landfill, the list goes on and on. There’s just no end to this industry, and we all need each other to make change in sustainable materials management. Let’s collaborate and learn from each other. Feel free to email me at dreighart@nmwda.org!

What are the topics you see keeping you busy over the next 5-10 years?

Handling food waste continues to be one of my favorite “hot topics” within the industry that I expect to continue keeping me busy over the next five to 10 years. In the past I’ve overseen waste sorts that continue to uncover the vast quantities of wasted food. I currently assist with contract management and deliverables review for the construction and design of a composting facility. An upcoming project relates to educating and encouraging residents to donate non-perishable foods. I expect to keep seeing these types of projects come up with our members, especially since a Food Residuals Law passed in Maryland and now requires entities that generate one ton or more of food residuals per week to divert to other methods of disposal other than landfills. Anaerobic digestion, backyard composting, apps to assist with connecting those in need of food with excess food, curbside organics collection, all these and more are topics of discussion at every conference I attend.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on in regards to SMM? Any lessons learned you’d like to share (successes or ‘what not to do’)?

My favorite project so far has been assisting the launch of a regional plastic film recycling pilot at the behest of the Member Jurisdictions. I issued a Request for Expressions of Interest and let our Member Jurisdictions know about the organization that responded. One of the Member Jurisdictions was interested in contracting with the plastic film recycler, so I assisted in setting up a Master Service Agreement. Some of the lessons I learned is being intentional about finding the right folks to reach out to at different organizations to make sure they hear about any procurements. I also learned that some organizations may get intimidated from responding to formal requests for information and procurement documents, so now I try to summarize the main points at the beginning of the document. I also ensure that I provide sufficient opportunity for a written question-and-answer period, all of which is made publicly available, as to allow all interested parties the opportunity to benefit from any additional information about the request or procurement.

In getting a pilot off the ground we also learned that there needs to be very clear discussion of acceptable materials – even though we had a list there were still specific points that needed to be addressed between the Member and the recycler to make sure the Member Jurisdiction kept contamination to a low enough level. We also had tons of details come up about balers, container types and sizes – it really all is in the details, so good communication between the parties is key.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

I enjoy cooking, playing with my dog, going to Renaissance Faire, playing trivia, going to arcades, and attending Shabbat services at my synagogue.