The recycling and solid waste management industries are faced with balancing many issues—federal recycling initiatives, environmental justice, reducing waste and encouraging reuse, transportation bottlenecks and their effects on recycling markets, compostable packaging, and more. The Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) Fall Conference—On the Horizon: Reuse, Solar, Soil & Justice—offers attendees an opportunity to virtually meet and discuss these pertinent issues with committed professionals from many industry sectors. The three-day Conference will be held on October 12 – 14 (1 p.m. – 5 p.m. daily, eastern). The Conference Agenda provides details about the sessions and schedule.
Dr. Carlton Waterhouse of the Office of Land & Emergency Management, US EPA will deliver the keynote address on the first day about federal recycling policies and environmental justice initiatives, as well as EPA’s strategies for achieving its recycling goals. The following session about recycling policies discusses leveraging our existing recycling infrastructure to achieve EPR goals, creating inclusive EPR systems, and policies to reduce and reuse single-use products and packaging. The presenters are Abbie Webb of Casella Recycling, Sydney Harris of Product Stewardship Institute, and Miriam Gordon of UPSTREAM Solutions. The Conference continues with David Fridland of Eco-Products, Wendell Simonson of Biodegradable Products Institute, Toby Alves of Eco-Products, and Debra Darby of Tetra Tech discussing the issues with front of house food scraps and compostable packaging.
The second day begins with a session about the country’s strongest environmental justice law featuring Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq. of John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy at Thomas Edison State University and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Maria Lopez-Nunez of Ironbound Community Corporation, and Matthew Karmel of Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP. A session focusing on ocean transportation issues and impacts on recycling markets with Bill Rooney of Kuehne & Nagel, Inc.follows. A session about reusing and recycling solar panels will wrap up the day with Robin Ingenthron of Good Point Recycling, Emmanuel Nyaletey of Fair Trade Recycling, and Trevor de Young of Good Point Recycling.
The Conference continues on the third day with Adam Minter, journalist and author presenting about global reuse markets. A discussion about repair and refurbishment of consumer goods follows with Mitra Gruwell of Discard Upcycling and Peter Mui of Fixit Clinic. The Conference closes with Diane Cohen of Fingerlakes ReUse and Nancy Meyer of Community Forklift discussing reuse and environmental justice.