VRU Speaker Showcase – Day 1

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China’s National Sword’s Impact on the El Cerrito Recycling Center

Laurenteen Brazil
Waste Prevention Specialist, City of El Cerrito

Laurenteen has over 18 years of experience in the recycling industry. The Waste Prevention Specialist at the City of El Cerrito, she provides educational outreach to the community and works directly with businesses for legislative compliance. Over the course of her career she has served on both the NCRA and CRRA Boards. A certified ZWUSA Zero Waste Community Associate, she is an ardent proponent of Zero Waste goals and advocates for lifestyle behavior change. In her spare time, she volunteers to help green a K thru 8 school and her church. She enjoys outdoor activities and aspires continually to be impactful. […]

Are Compostable Products Being Composted?

Leslie Lukcas
Executive Director, Zero Waste Sonoma

Leslie has worked over 20 years in solid waste and resource management industry and, prior to this appointment, was the Director of Zero Waste at SCS Engineers a solid waste, recycling and organics management consulting firm for 13 years. She also had her own consulting company for 7 years.

She serves on the board of directors of the National Recycling Coalition and the Zero Waste International Alliance and is an advisor to Zero Waste USA and California Resource Recovery Association. She is the founder of numerous stakeholder groups including the (GIVE) Council, Compost Coalition of Sonoma County, Sonoma County Zero Waste Task Force and the Zero Waste North Bay Symposium. Leslie has spent her career designing and implementing comprehensive sustainability and Zero Waste programs for large institutions, public agencies, venues, and events throughout California and the nation. […]

Bringing Reuse Into Food Service Through Policy and Business Innovation

Miriam Gordon
Program Director, Upstream

As Policy Director with UPSTREAM, Miriam is a leading architect and incubator of local and state policies aimed at making the Throw Away culture a thing of the past. Previously, as the California Director of Clean Water Action, Miriam launched ReThink Disposable, a program that has demonstrated that reducing throw away products in food service saves food businesses money and improves customers’ dining experiences. Over the last 20 years, she has been a leading California advocate for policies aimed at reducing plastic pollution and has worked with local, state, and federal agencies implementing pollution prevention and water quality programs. […]

Fighting Plastic Pollution: California Legislative Efforts

Genevieve Abedon
Policy Associate, Clean Seas Lobbying Coalition / Ecoconsult

At Ecoconsult, Genevieve represents the Clean Seas Lobbying Coalition, a coalition of non-profit organizations dedicated to source reduction solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. She advocates on their behalf for statewide legislation in the California Legislature and Executive Branch, as well as various processes amongst regulatory agencies. Before joining Ecoconsult in 2017, Genevieve worked on statewide and local plastic pollution policies and campaigns for Californians Against Waste. In the past, she has worked as a Landfill Reduction Technician at various events and sailed across the North Atlantic Ocean studying microplastic pollution with The 5 Gyres Institute. […]

Debate: Collecting Low Value Plastics

Topic: California Communities Should No Longer Collect Plastic In Their Curbside Recycling Programs

Head Royce High School Debate Team and NCRA Mentors:

Pro: Patty Moore, Rebecca Jewell
Con: Martin Bourque, Peter Slote

Recycling Rewards: Recycling Incentive Contest

Derek Crutchfield
Recycling Coordinator, City of Vallejo and Board Member, SWANA Gold Rush Chapter

Derek has been in the Solid Waste and Recycling field for approximately 25 years. His career began with an internship with the City of Napa, which eventually led to a part-time position with the City of Fairfield. In 2000 Derek graduated from Sonoma State University with a BA in Environmental Studies. He eventually went to work for the City of Vallejo where he has been employed for the last 18 years. Derek is currently on the SWANA Gold Rush Chapter Board and the California Product Stewardship Council the Board. Derek is an outgoing and fun loving recycling enthusiast!! […]

Reducing and Rescuing Oakland’s Surplus Food

Wanda Redic
Senior Recycling Specialist, City of Oakland and Board Member, California Resource Recovery Association

Wanda began her career in solid waste and recycling in 1994 at the City of Berkeley developing and implementing an ISO 14000 Environmental Management System and commercial and residential food scraps collection service. In 2007 Wanda became a Recycling Specialist in Oakland. She has over 26 years of service in government recycling and organics programs. Wanda currently manages outreach programs, assists with managing franchise agreements, develops and implements programs for compliance with regional and state mandatory recycling and organics laws. Most recently Wanda has lead Oakland’s participation in SB 1383 rulemaking and its implementation including edible food recovery program development. […]

SB 1383 Model Tools Overview

Monaliza Noor
Associate Analyst, HF&H Consultants

Monaliza Noor is an Associate Analyst at HF&H Consultants. She recently assisted with the development of CalRecycle’s SB 1383 implementation tools and case studies. To help jurisdictions plan for SB 1383, Ms. Noor has also helped develop a number of SB 1383-specific tools that identify requirements; delineate which entity (City, hauler, or a third-party) will do what; and, allow for cost-benefit analysis. In addition to her SB 1383 focused work, Ms. Noor also assists in hauler performance reviews, solid waste and recycling contract analysis, and procurement evaluations. Before joining HF&H Consultants in 2018, Ms. Noor worked for the City of Oakland’s environmental services division. In 2016, she earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco.

VRU Speaker Showcase – Day 2

Update on Recycling, Circular Economy, and Embodied Carbon in LEED v4.1

Wes Sullens
LEED and Building Codes Technical Development Director, U.S. Green Building Council

Wes is responsible for the materials credits in LEED and directs organizational activities related to construction waste, product manufacturing, material transparency, circular economy, and embodied carbon. He has worked in the public, private and nonprofit sectors for 20 years on broad topics including energy efficiency, supply chain sustainability, and chemicals transparency. […]

What Stormwater and Zero Waste Have in Common

Peter Schultze-Allen
Senior Scientist, EOA, Inc.

Peter provides technical assistance to municipalities around the Bay Area, specializing in the development of policies and practices for: public and private green stormwater infrastructure, Zero Waste, zero litter, complete streets, sustainable landscaping, and urban forestry. His previous experience includes managing the environmental programs for the City of Emeryville and team member of Recology-San Francisco’s Fantastic Three program rollout. He is one of the four authors of the Ecology Center’s initial draft of Berkeley’s Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance adopted in March 2019. […]

How Franchising Impairs Recovery of C&D

Brock Hill
President and Director of Operations, Premier Recycle Company

Brock is President and Director of Operations for Premier Recycle Company. He started with the company in 2008 and has since led an 80% increase in facility material throughput. As well as serving on the board of Silicon Valley Construction Financial Management Association, Brock serves as the Legislative Committee Chairman and Board of Directors member for the Construction and Demolition Recycling Association. […]

John Moore
Law Office of John Douglas Moore

Although not a Zero Waste professional, John is a star in his own profession. He taught in law school when he was 23; won his first case while still in law school at age 24 and in the 39 following years achieved and has been recognized as much as anyone can as a lawyer, including service as a superior court judge. Last year he became one of a select few attorneys admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, which he will presently discuss. […]

Accelerating Trash Detection in the SF Bay Area using Advanced Technology

Dr. Anthony Hale
Program Director for Environment Informatics, San Francisco Estuary Institute Aquatic Science Center

Tony has advanced the Institute’s communications practices, overseen the development of new data visualization technologies, and partnered with state and federal agencies to address complex data management challenges such as those presented by trash-related pollution. He leads a solid team of innovators who share a common mission to advance our collective knowledge of California’s most pressing environmental concerns. […]

Debate: Mixed Waste Processing

Debate Team, Head Royce High School, details pending

Wastepickers: Key Agents for Zero Waste Cities

Magdalena Donoso
Coordinator, GAIA – Latin America and the Caribbean

Magdalena has worked in communications and networking with several Chilean NGOs and in Television Trust for the Environment (UK), supporting educational and activism programs in forestry and biodiversity for 15 years. For the last ten years she has worked on waste issues with cities in Latin America, particularly defending the rights of recyclers and promoting zero waste. She is based in Concepción, Chile. […]

I Clean the Streets, Because I’m from the Streets: How to Use Environmentalism as a Vehicle to End Homelessness

Julia Lang
East Bay Director, Downtown Streets Team

Julia is a community builder striving to end homelessness. As a Director at Downtown Streets Team, she is developing transformational communities of unhoused folks who are improving themselves while beautifying their surroundings. Her work is centered on making sure that everyone has a seat at the table, with a sense of belonging, purpose, and place. […]

Transforming Wasted Food Recovery In A Small Rural County

Michael Bisch
Executive Director, Yolo Food Bank

Michael has an accomplished background in business management and nonprofit leadership. Following his undergraduate education in Business Administration, he launched a career in international finance. An entrepreneur for the past 20 years, Michael has been the owner for 10 years of Davis Commercial Properties, a commercial real estate brokerage firm. As president of the nonprofit Davis Downtown for four years, Michael acquired a deep knowledge of nonprofit management best practices. At this time of transformation for YFB, Michael’s unique qualifications enable him to guide the organization with a balance of innovation and stability, blending business acumen with a passion to serve. […]

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Who is at the Table? 2020 DEI Webinar Recording

WHO IS AT THE TABLE?

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
in Waste and Recycling
August 27, 2020

Presented by: The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) and the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) in coordination with the NRC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council, the NCRA DEI Committee and the Ohio Recycling Coalition. Produced by Portia Sinnott, NCRA Vice President and Zero Waste USA Program Director.

Recording Speaker Bios

This webinar’s objectives are to motivate the waste and recycling industry to actively explore and discuss DEI issues and initiatives, and inspire individuals and organizations to create their own mandates. We will address the issues via succinct introductory presentations with commentary, hold a robust intra-panel discussion and follow that with a lively Q&A session!

What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mean in the Waste and Recycling Industry?

Are we leading the way or stumbling behind? Does anyone have a handle on the statistics? Has your business, agency or non-profit adopted DEI initiatives? Are they actively being implemented and tracked? Are the benefits clear to all involved? What factors are being addressed – age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, language and/or cultural background? Does your actual workforce reflect these commitments – in front of the house: management/decision makers, as well as the back of the house: workforce/membership? Are there efforts underway to stimulate workforce training and advancement?

PANEL

INITIAL SLIDES
Moderator and Commentator, Arley Owens, Executive Director, Ohio Recycling Coalition, former NRC Board Member, organizing member of the NRC DEI Council, and former Chair of the NRC Communications Committee and the Minorities Recycling Council
DEI Introduction and Industry Situational Report, Sophia Huda, Vice President, Ohio Recycling Coalition, member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and Adjunct Sustainability Professor, The New School, New York SLIDES
Developing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mandates, Faye Christoforo, Executive Director, Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN) SLIDES
Sustainable And Safe Recycling, Alina Bekkerman, NCRA Board Member and San Francisco Conservation Corps, Program Manager and
Felisia Castañeda, NCRA Member and Recology San Francisco
Environmental Learning Center Supervisor SLIDES
Moving Forward Together, Abrilla Robinson, Vice President, Ohio Recycling Coalition’s and Chair of the Ohio Recycling Coalition’s newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. Past President of the National Recycling Coalition Minorities Recycling Council and organizing member of the new NRC DEI Council.