This informative session discusses the challenges young professionals face entering the waste conversion industry through personal experience and open discussions with SWANA young professionals. Waste incineration, anaerobic digestion, and other thermal conversion technologies are not typical subjects in the education system. Young professionals enter the industry facing a steep learning curve. Topics such as the generational gap, innovation, and available opportunities for young professionals will be discussed to bring up the elephant in the room: why you rarely see a young professional in or around facilities.

Questions for young professionals and senior-level engineers include:

1. How can we  improve the transfer of knowledge?
2. What happens to this information if more young professionals aren’t brought into the industry?
3. Why aren’t young professionals interested in waste conversion?
4. How can we help stop waste conversion from dying — not because of politics or regulations — but because of professional resources?

Attendees will hear and discussed the results from SWANA member surveys and meetings with members of SWANA’s Waste Conversion & Energy Recovery (WCER) Technical Division young professionals. The goal is to gain a general understanding of the roadblocks young professionals face, why the road blocks exist, and how to move forward. The future of waste conversion isn’t just in the hands of industry veterans; it’s in the minds of the next generation.