Air & Waste Management Association’s 113th Annual Conference – “ACE 2020 Gateway to Innovation”, has been transformed into a virtual conference that will begin on June 30.
A&WMA’s ACE 2020 Virtual Conference will allow you to stay up to date on timely and critical topics – all within an online environment that can be accessed from anywhere. The same great information and knowledge in their technical program will be available, with enhanced online features that will allow you to connect with presenters, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.
The ACE 2020 Virtual Conference runs Tuesday, June 30 through Thursday, July 2 with an engaging lineup of scheduled live-streamed sessions each day and hundreds of on-demand presentations that will be available through June 2021.
The Virtual conference will include dozens of livestream events and presentations and numerous on-demand sessions, including the following by SCS professionals:
Click for more information and to register
Both associations are providing guidance, as many waste management activities must continue. SCS is following association advice, state protocols, and our clients’ recommendations in our own procedures as we continue to perform essential work. We share the SWANA resources and recommendations here and thank them for their dedication. SCS employees should use SCS resources available on the SCS intranet and through our Health & Safety protocol, which reflect the safety precautions advised here.
Reprinted Letter to SWANA Members dated March 23, 2020
As communities and companies throughout the United States and Canada respond to the Coronavirus pandemic, SWANA will continue to provide assistance to its members and the waste industry.
A growing number of states and localities are issuing orders identifying certain industries as “essential” during the pandemic, and these orders typically include the solid waste industry and other categories of employees who may be SWANA members. In those locations, employees and contractors may need to demonstrate proof to law enforcement personnel or others that they work in an essential industry. See this template letter that employers can customize to their needs and provide to employees and contractors. The letter should be on agency/company letterhead and include a contact person and a telephone number to call. The contact person should be familiar with the applicable emergency declarations.
Employees and contractors should carry the customized letter with them at all times, and particularly when they are going to or from work. Several waste industry employees in California in their personal vehicles were stopped on their way to work by law enforcement personnel late last week, but fortunately, their employer had created a letter similar to the attached and the employees were able to show that letter and proceed to their places of employment.
This letter is intended to allow workers to demonstrate that they work in a job category identified as an essential service, including solid waste and recycling operations. It should not be used for any other purpose or by employees that are not actively supporting these operations.
In addition, attached is a notification document for solid waste employers and others to place in their work vehicles to demonstrate they are covered by recent emergency order guidance. It cites the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, March 19, 2020 memo that identifies workers engaged in the removal, storage, and disposal of residential and commercial solid waste and hazardous waste as essential infrastructure workers.
Please do not hesitate to contact Jesse Maxwell at jmaxwell@swana.org or me at dbiderman@swana.org if you have any questions about this letter, or need assistance responding to the Coronavirus pandemic. Please stay safe and healthy.
NWRA resources are plentiful and include these:
COVID-19 WORK PRACTICES At this time CDC and OSHA are not issuing waste and recycling specific guidelines for the handling of waste and recycling materials related to COVID 19. If this changes, NWRA will alert its members. Use this industry guidance.
COVID-19 RESOURCES Resources and information provided by agencies and organizations.
Thank you!
Waste 360 will host its Global Waste Management Symposium 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, California, February 23-26, 2020.
The conference will feature world-class content, including innovative presentations by top industry experts; think technology, trends, critical issues, and scientific innovation; state-of-the-art breakthrough research; and showcases by leading suppliers of the latest solutions to the industry’s challenges. SCS Engineers professionals speaking this year include the following:
James Law will provide an Overview of ISWA’s Global Initiative on Closing Dumps, on Monday, February 24 at 2:00 pm (Track B: Waste Management Planning & Odor Control).
Alex Stege will evaluate the Local Effects of California’s Senate Bill 1383: Changes to Organic Waste Disposal & Impacts on Methane Generation, Recovery, and Emissions on Monday, February 24 at 2:00 pm (Track C: Organic Management Policy/Strategies).
Dr. Viraj DeSilva will deliver a presentation on PFAS Treatment – The Devil We Know and Need to Manage, on Tuesday, February 25 at 8:30 am (Track A: PFAS Management).
Dr. Gomathy Iyer will discuss the Suitability of Un-Composted Grass Clippings and Biosolids as Biocovers for Biological Methane Removal from Landfills on Tuesday, February 25 at 8:30 am (Track B: Landfill Covers).
Ray Huff will demonstrate The WAG: An Innovation in Landfill Gas Data Analysis on Tuesday, February 25 at 1:30 pm (Track B: Landfill Gas Management) and at the Fugitive Air Emissions Workshop on Wednesday, February 26 at 10:00 am.
Pat Sullivan will provide a Comparison of Organic Waste Management Options in Terms of Air Quality and GHG Impacts on Tuesday, February 25 at 3:30 pm (Track A: Life Cycle Assessment).
The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) is a strategic partner of this conference to deliver a program that is more technical, innovative and essential than ever before. The core education of GWMS is the submission of comprehensive abstracts in all areas related to solid waste engineering and management that have been vetted by GWMS’s committee of industry experts. The presentations will be given by researchers from top academic institutions and industry experts.
For the complete agenda, updates, and to register, visit the conference website.
This week the solid waste industry is celebrating 25 years of valuable research, inspiration, and support of solid waste professionals provided by the Environmental Research & Education Foundation. On Tuesday, industry leaders met to recognize EREF’s impact on the solid waste industry and acknowledge the role stakeholders play supporting the Foundation and sharing the resulting research.
EREF is a trusted source of data-driven, empirical science for the betterment of solid waste management and policy informing industry, federal and state agencies, academics, and the public. The foundation is also a resource for students and young professionals in the solid waste industry, by providing scholarships, internships, and MSW eTextbook programs. These programs inspire young professionals and ultimately add to EREF’s research and the industry as a whole.
EREF receives funding and participation from companies such as SCS Engineers to continue new research and scholarship programs such as the Robert P. Stearns Master’s Scholarship. The foundation is remarkably successful in producing unbiased reports, which translate ideas and data into action for sustainable waste management practices.
Thank you and congratulations from your colleagues at SCS Engineers for 25 years of scientific research and educational initiatives for the benefit of our industry and the communities we serve.
Download the free poster here.
NWRA, SWANA, NERC, and ISRA jointly developed the “Think Twice” poster to help communities and individuals recycle materials in safe and appropriate ways. The poster is free and allows users to add their own website URL to provide more useful information.
Ask SCS about waste characterization, education, and outreach programs.
The City of Olathe, Kansas is the fastest growing municipality in the Kansas City metro area, and the Solid Waste Division Manager recognized that increasing population; new, single and multi-family home developments; and growth in commercial establishments would require additional services, resources, and infrastructure to continue the same excellent level of service. The City determined that a long-term, solid waste management plan (Plan) was necessary to address future waste management needs of the City, as well as optimize the performance and efficiency of existing waste management services and facilities.
Olathe’s long-term solid waste plan was a first for the City and resulted in creating tangible pathways to environmental and financial sustainability for the next several decades despite the cost of recycling programs. Customers and elected officials support the City’s approach, surpassing another sometimes-prickly hurdle.
In their recent APWA Reporter article, Karen Luken and Anastasia Welch of SCS Engineers describe how the Olathe Solid Waste Division now has a strategic approach and schedule for adding collection routes, increasing recycling, purchasing equipment, and expanding facilities.
This informative article, Strategic planning for sustainable and stakeholder-supported waste systems is available online at APWA.
Solid Waste Management Planning
Many state and provincial governments have begun promulgating policies and regulations that target the recycling of organics prompting local solid waste agencies to develop advanced municipal curbside collection programs.
A key question for local solid waste agencies to answer is, what types of organic wastes will be targeted for collection and processing? SCS Engineers covers this and other facets to consider as part of your plan, such as:
Read the full article by clicking here.
SCS provides insight into technologies useful today and tomorrow for waste collection, material recovery facilities, environmental monitoring, and landfill operations.
Not only do these technologies support facilities with their day-to-day operations, they have a positive impact on the market and on safety.
Read and share the article by clicking here.
Waste360 and the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) plan to deliver a conference program that is more technical, more innovative and more essential to you than ever before. Get ready, look who’s also back!
See the SCS Engineers roundup of presentations at the Global Waste Management Symposium by clicking here.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bureau of Waste Management, has awarded SCS Engineers (SCS) a contract to provide recycling and organics management technical assistance to local governments throughout the state. Brent Dieleman, SCS’s Project Manager, has years of experience administering these types of programs for the Solid Waste Association of North America.
Pennsylvania ratified “Act 101” in 1988 to manage waste and promote recycling across the Commonwealth. The DEP developed the Recycling Technical Assistance Training Program to help local governments comply with Act 101 by improving and expanding their collection and diversion programs. SCS will help administer and provide technical assistance to this Program. The comprehensive support provides for curbside and drop-off recycling programs, solid waste planning, public education, materials processing, equipment, technical training, environmental protection programs, and organics management.
Additionally, local governments can apply for technical assistance, up to $7,500 per applicant, to help expand and improve their recycling and organics management systems. SCS will work with applicants to assess their needs and refine the scope of their project. Once DEP approves a technical assistance project, SCS will then provide specialized, tailored training to each recipient.
SCS will help each grant recipient address the unique issues and challenges facing their program including, composting, collections, incentive-based programs such as pay-as-you-throw, and siting of new facilities. SCS anticipates providing technical assistance for up to 30 local governments annually.
DEP is tasking SCS with helping them find ways to further promote the Program across the Commonwealth and enable local governments to benefit from it. SCS anticipates presenting the initiative to local landfill owners and operators at a seminar in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 9, 2017.
“In recent years Pennsylvanians have recycled nearly 17 million tons of waste, which removed almost 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the air. That is equivalent to saving the electricity used in 2.18 million American homes per year or taking 3.34 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year,” said Brent Dieleman. “We’re facilitating the DEP to help local governments efficiently expand their recycling programs.”
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