Author: Bonnie Betts

31st Annual RU: Call for Speakers! Apply Today!

Call for Speakers: 2027 Northern California Recycling Update

The Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) is seeking dynamic speakers for its annual Recycling Update (RU), our fast-paced, high-energy event that showcases what’s new and innovative in the world of waste reduction and Zero Waste. We welcome proposals from those who haven’t yet presented at RU, as well as from experienced speakers eager to share their cutting-edge ideas and insights.

With over 500 attendees, including local government recycling staff, policy makers, consultants, haulers, and processors from across Northern California, RU is an ideal platform to showcase your work in front of a highly engaged audience. This is your chance to highlight the latest programs, policies, and projects shaping the future of our industry.

Presentation Format:

  • Each speaker is allotted 10 minutes for their presentation, followed by a 2-minute Q&A session.
  • The event features a single-track format, ensuring that all attendees hear your presentation—no breakouts, no missed opportunities.
  • Timeliness is crucial. Speakers must be well-prepared and adhere to their time limits.

Key Focus Areas: We encourage proposals that reflect NCRA’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), incorporating these values in both the content and design of presentations. Additionally, the selection committee is especially interested in presentations that explore reusables and refillables, extended producer responsibility,  public outreach and marketing strategies, recycling technologies and markets, hazardous waste, organics recycling and compost procurement, plastics reduction policies, repair, , mixed waste and trash processing, DEI, and edible food recovery. 

How to Apply: Submit your proposal by COBD – Thursday, November 5, 2026.

Event Details:

The 31st Annual Recycling Update will take place on Tuesday, March 23, 2027 at San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

We are excited about an in-person event and are optimistic that we can accomplish this safely while sharing your important work with a wider audience. Although there is an option for attendees to attend virtually, speakers will be required to attend in person.

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Keeping It Cool: Best Practices for Developing Community Fridges, 10/26

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Featuring:
-Robin Martin, with Joint Venture Silicon Valley, will describe their Environmental Health-approved community fridge program developed and operating in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

-Monica Ravizza with Extra Food, a Food Recovery Service, will talk about their program and how it interacts with community fridges.

-Ernst Bertone Oehninger with Freedge, an organization that began in Davis, will share their resources on how to start and maintain community fridges.

Sponsored by
NCRA Zero Food Waste Committee Solid Waste Association of North America Gold Rush Chapter
California Resource Recovery Association Edible Food Recovery Technical Council
Zero Waste USA

Dying to Compost: A Conversation on Sustainable Deathcare, 10/26

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Dying to Compost: A Conversation on Sustainable Deathcare: Terramation, Natural Burial & More

What if our final act could give back to the earth?

Join the ZWAC Show for a timely conversation with Braeden Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of LifeSource, exploring sustainable alternatives to conventional deathcare. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in composting, organics recycling, and healthy soils, Braeden will introduce us to Terramation (Natural Organic Reduction, or human composting), natural burial, and other lower-impact deathcare options that rethink how we can return to the earth.

We’ll explore how Terramation works, what makes natural burial different from conventional burial, and the environmental considerations behind these emerging and traditional practices. Braeden will also discuss the evolving landscape of Natural Organic Reduction in California, including AB 351, the state’s developing regulations, and how California’s approach compares with states such as Washington, where Terramation is already practiced.  

Just in time for Halloween, we’re digging into a topic that touches compost, climate, culture, and the ultimate return to the soil. 

Introduction to Recycling Happening This Fall 2026!

Register here.

The rapid growth of the recycling industry – 550% since 1989 (CalRecycle estimate), means that experienced recyclers need to continually stay up-to-date and also share knowledge with employees, job seekers, municipal staff, elected officials and community advocates.

Since 1995, NCRA has offered Introduction to Recycling (ITR) approximately 37 times. A quintessential exploration of the history of the recycling and Zero Waste movement, ITR offers both newcomers and seasoned professionals a critical overview of current concepts, practices and terminology.

All are welcome – $75 per person – managers, employees, municipal staff, elected officials, community advocates and students. Invite the whole team! Group discounts and Arthur Robinson Boone scholarships available. To apply, please send a note to staff via the contact page.

Gain a critical overview of current concepts, practices and terminology with guest speakers, thought-provoking lectures, exercises and group discussions.

Day 1: MONDAY, October 5, 9pm – 4PM @ Recology SF, San Francisco

The tour will begin with a presentation in
 the Environmental Learning Center about trash, recycling and composting in San Francisco, followed by a walk through the Transfer Station site, and a visit of the Artist in Residence Studio.
 The final stop, at Pier 96, is a tour of Recycle Central where all of the blue bin materials are sorted. To visit Pier 96, you must drive or carpool from Tunnel Road – no Uber or bicycles.

DAY 2: TUESDAY, October 6, 9pm – 4PM via Zoom, with Class lectures and guest speaker presentations.