Upcoming July Webinars

Groundbreaking: A Waste Conversion Project in Utah

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 | 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. EDT

• Nathan Rich, Executive Director, Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District
• Bradley Kelley, Senior Project Engineer, Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.

The Davis Material Recovery & Transfer Facility is one of the industry's newest mixed waste recovery facilities. Listen to the experts behind the scenes discuss the challenges of planning, building, commissioning & operating this state-of-the-art project. Learn how they overcame challenges posed by COVID-19, how they have optimized since, and what they love about it.

The story of this new facility is not only interesting from a technological perspective, but a financial and operational one, too. Learn what practices mattered most in the successful construction of this facility. This webinar will be be particularly applicable to municipal representatives who wish to learn about recent examples of technological advancements in the solid waste industry.

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California Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets

Thursday, July 22, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 2:00 p.m. EDT

Heidi Sanborn, SWANA Member and Chair of the California Commission, will share how the 17-member volunteer Commission was created in law in 2019, what is its structure and responsibility, and what recommendations it made to the State to reduce contamination and waste and increase markets and marketable materials while increasing the diversion rate. The Commission's first annual report is due July 1, so she will be sharing the latest recommendations and what they mean for policy discussions in California and beyond and will take questions from members.

The Commission in its first six months submitted a draft report to the State with 19 recommendations with unanimous votes 17-0. Of the first recommendations, already eight have been put in law or budget revision and all are still alive. Since California has 12% of the US Economy and Market, if some of the recommendations are made into law, it could change nationally. This Commission is getting national attention for being super effective and getting to the root issues.  You won't want to miss this webinar!

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FREE MentorMatch Small Group Webinars

Join us to learn from an industry professional in a one-time webinar session with a group of mentees (5 or 6) through  SWANA’s MentorMatch Program! Each 30-45 minute session is designed to offer a more supportive environment for back and forth conversation with experienced professionals on topics such as career development, work/life balance, leading, managing, and any other industry-related questions you might have.

Mentor: Gunther Wellenstein

Thursday, July 8, 2021 |1:30 p.m. EST

Areas of Expertise include:  Communication, Education & Marketing; Composting & Organics, Sustainable Materials (i.e. recycling, resource management, zero waste)

Gunther is an effective municipal material management professional of 15 years. He aggressively pursues budget savings and maximizes waste diversion. Thrives in using multimedia and social media to educate a multi-cultural city of 106,500 people. Gunther is also a proven project leader who has implemented automated MSW (3/2009) and automated SSR (1/2014) leading to savings of $2.5M in annual budget. He also reduced curbside 'trash' by 20,000 tons (annually), doubled recycling, from 3,000 to 6,000 tons (annually) thus improving the 'curbside' recycling rate from 6.5% to 28%!

Gunther is an entrepreneurial-minded professional who has mentored UMass-Lowell interns to implement Source Separated Organics (SSO) on their campus [10 tons/months] and Mattress/Box Spring  de-manufacturing [3,000 pcs. annually -by UTEC]. He has his sights set on SSR Contamination Mitigation and curbside "Food Scrap" projects and a long term aspiration to develop and teach an undergraduate class in "Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) in modern society".

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Mentor: Molly Schweers, MPA, APR

Thursday, July 15, 2021 | 1:30 p.m. EST

Areas of Expertise Include: Communications, Education & Marketing

Molly holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from New Mexico State University and a Master of Public Administration from Florida Gulf Coast University. She has worked in the public relations field for more than 30 years and with Lee County Solid Waste for eight years. A self-professed “trash nerd,” Molly’s mission is to raise community awareness of the importance of proper solid waste management for a community’s overall quality of life.

During her time with Lee County Solid Waste, Molly has:

• Revamped and simplified the county’s recycling message with the award-winning Recycle Smart campaign.
• Formed a successful partnership with the local school district to bring recycling education to the classroom and students to the MRF.
• Initiated a multi-agency collaboration that resulted in “We are Overflowing,” an annual exhibit that uses the power of art to raise resident awareness of waste generation
• Organized the award-winning Tackling Contamination campaign that resulted in a 63% reduction in recycling contamination in the targeted neighborhoods

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Mentor: David Adams, PE

Thursday, July 29, 2021 | 1:30 PM EST

Areas of Expertise Include: Landfill Gas & Biogas

Dave heads up Sanborn Head’s air permitting and consulting practice from our Denver, Colorado office. He has over 25 years of experience as a licensed engineer in 18 states.  He has served as Sanborn Head’s Solid Waste client service area leader and he has held numerous engineering and management roles related to solid waste and air quality.  As a specialist in landfill gas collection system evaluations, he is well versed in field services, air permitting, and data management.  

Dave is the principal designer of Landfill Gas Management Suite™, an interactive, web-based system that has been implemented at dozens of landfills in the United States and Canada.  In Colorado, Dave is the senior lead responsible for providing technical consulting services, implementing strategy, and mentoring staff.

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Interested in one-on-one mentorships?
Read more about SWANA’s MentorMatch Program