SWANA Announces Award Recipients of the 2026 Student Design Competition

April 21, 2025 — Silver Spring, MD

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) congratulates the award recipients of the 2026 SWANA Student Design Competition.

The competition gives college and university students the opportunity to solve “real world” challenges faced by waste and resource management professionals. This year’s challenge, "AI-Driven Route Optimization and Hazardous Waste Sorting for Municipal Solid Waste Management,” focused on solving for inefficient routing for collections, contamination within Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), and budget strain. Teams developed design reports and infographics and presented their solutions to a panel of judges.

Awards were presented at a virtual ceremony on April 17, just in time for Earth Day. SWANA is proud to announce the award recipients: 

First Place: University of South Carolina (USC)
Second Place: Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
Third Place: Pandit Deendayal Energy University
Honorable Mention: Jackson State University (JSU)
Emerging Leader Award: Katherine Wardenburg (USC) 
Rising Star Award: Anika Mahzabin (JSU)

Participating students receive complimentary registration for SWANA’s RCon™. The competition provides professional experience for students pursuing an education in waste and resource management and related environmental fields.  

“Congratulations to all the students who participated in the SWANA Student Design Competition,” shared SWANA CEO Amy Lestition Burke, MA, FASAE, CAE. “This year’s topic on the applications of AI in routing and sorting was particularly relevant. Understanding the uses and implications of AI is important for our industry, especially for those entering the workforce soon. We admire the creativity the students showed in their proposed designs.”

SWANA thanks all the participants, sponsoring professors, team coaches, judges, and the committee members for their time and dedication to the Student Design Competition.

About SWANA

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is a member-based association of professionals from across the waste and resource management industry. SWANA serves industry professionals through technical education, publications and research, and a large offering of technical training courses and credentialing to create a highly skilled workforce.

Media Contact

Kristyn Oldendorf
Senior Director of Public Policy & Communications
(240) 494-2237
marketing@swana.org