Recent News

  • 07 Mar 2018 3:14 PM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Expanding the Discussion

    To manage effectively our resources, efforts, and outcomes; solid waste managers and industry leaders need to speak the same language about the same materials.  The Measurement Matters Summit convened in Downtown Chattanooga in the Marriott Event Center.  It brought the top leaders and professionals in solid waste management, trade organizations, and industry to break new ground in understanding and defining measurement in materials management.

    Visit the Measurement Matters website to view the daily recap videos, speaker presentations, sponsors and more.


  • 26 Jan 2018 11:05 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    While the hotel block is now full, we still hope you can make this terrific event!  Registration rates will increase 

    You can still use the hotel block link to search for any available rooms at the host hotel--Chattanooga Marriott.

    Educational tours on Monday, February 26 are $30 and limited seats are available.  Tours depart from the Marriott lobby at the times indicated and return to the hotel after the tour.

    Learn more...

  • 19 Jan 2018 9:07 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    The EPA is hosting a Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Web Academy Webinar: Quality Matters - Free Resources to Support Plastic Recycling Programs on January 25, from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm EST.

    As recycling programs grow and change, one key tenet stays the same: Quality Matters! With new parameters being set through market demand and new policies to reduce imported material contamination, this mantra is more important than ever. This webinar focuses on new and updated materials and tools that support overall plastic recycling and examples of implementation at the municipal level.

    More Recycling is a research and consulting company with nearly 20 years of experience in the recycling of postconsumer materials, specifically plastics. The company serves as a liaison between industry, public agencies, and nongovernmental organizations and oversees the Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP) and Plastic Recycling Terms and Tools resources for the American Chemistry Council.  

    Washington, D.C. Department of Public Works has created new outreach materials that both expands the materials collected in the city, while providing clear, concise descriptions of the plastic packages and containers that can be recycled in the program.  

    East Hartford, CT is a WRAP Partner city, which worked with a local retailer launch a campaign to provide improved signage and education for customers about film packaging that can be included in the bin along with grocery bags. 

    Learn more about the Webinar

    Register directly



  • 11 Jan 2018 10:40 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Now accepting nominations for the Mississippi Recycling Coalition’s Environmental Hero “Recycler of the Year” Awards.  

    These annual awards recognize the outstanding recycling efforts and programs of local governments, state and federal agencies, businesses/corporations, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and new programs (less than 2 years old) in one or more of these categories.  

    This awards program is one of the MRC’s many activities conducted to help educate our residents on the benefits of recycling and promote the growth of the recycling industry in Mississippi.  

    Please help us in our efforts to highlight our environmental heroes in the state by nominating a deserving organization.  The deadline to submit nominations is January 29, 2018, and you are welcome to nominate your own organization.  Award winners will be announced and presented with a plaque at our annual Recycling Awareness Day event at the State Capitol on Wednesday, February 7 (More information to come on this event).  

    For more details and to download the nomination form 

  • 11 Jan 2018 9:36 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    These classes are not limited to Tennessee solid waste and recycling professionals. 

    January 16-19, 2018 – The Tennessee Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of American (TN-SWANA) will be working along with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and other TTA Partners to offer the following training:  Managing Recycling Systems – See Description Below

    Class Location: Lane Agri-Park in Murfreesboro, TN, southeast of Nashville.

    TN SWANA Members or participants who become members can take this SWANA Course and Exam at half price due to the TTA Partnership.

    If you are interested in taking this course, please contact Mary Anderson at MCAnderson@montgomerycountytn.org to register. Class space may be limited.

    Course Description:  Managing Recycling Systems

    This course focuses on recycling materials found in municipal solid waste (MSW) generated from residential, commercial and institutional sources, not including hazardous wastes, household hazardous wastes or special wastes. The course provides information on successfully planning, developing, marketing, and managing recycling programs. Managing Recycling Systems also addresses collection, processing, application of end-use standards and protection of human health and the environment.

     Who Should Attend

    Facility owners, operators, manufacturers, managers, supervisors and employees, involved in the daily operation of a recycling facility or program.


  • 09 Jan 2018 11:10 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Reported on WasteDive.com today

    When Infinitus Renewable Energy Park (IREP) opened in 2014, it was seen as a promising sign that mixed waste processing could be making a comeback, but challenging commodity markets and other factors led the facility to close in Oct. 2015. This effectively canceled recycling in Montgomery and affected programs as far as Florida. IREP also left behind more than 18,000 tons of organic material, which caught fire multiple times and posed stormwater hazards, that the city paid to have removed.

    Mayor Todd Strange recently said he hopes to resume recycling service soon and is in talks with at least three companies that could take over operations at IREP. Two were described as "international," and another is said to be from the West Coast. At least one company has expressed possible interest in resuming mixed waste processing while others would operate a more traditional material recovery facility.

    Read more....

  • 14 Dec 2017 3:40 PM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Globally, we throw out about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or a third of all the food that we grow.

    This statistic and more were published by The New York Times this week in an article on Food Waste.  It has a lot of impressive stats, including "The United States as a whole wastes more than $160 billion in food a year."

    Give it a read.

  • 13 Dec 2017 12:39 PM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Do you want to help design a new data management, program assessment, and public outreach service that will be available free-of-charge to municipal solid waste and recycling program managers in 2018?

    One of our Sponsors, Re-TRAC has created a survey to discover which features will bring the most value to municipal waste & recycling programs. We encourage all municipalities to complete the Municipal Measurement Program Feedback Survey through December 15.  While the promotion of a free registration to RRC 2018 has expired, the survey is still open for two more days and seeks your data. The survey is extensive and the feedback you provide is being used to provide a real advancement in how data is tracked, itemized and reported.

    Fill out Survey


  • 08 Dec 2017 11:11 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    The Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, US EPA and SERDC have teamed up to plan the 2018 Measurement Matters Summit February 27- March 1 in Chattanooga, TN.

    We've had some great questions asked recently about who should attend and we wanted to share here:

    1)  Most of the discussion seems to be geared toward statewide measures and the use of the EPA’s State Data Measurement Sharing Program.  If a city has little control over the use of the state sharing program, could you describe the value you see for cities to participate in this discussion?

    Response: The first main value is understanding the big picture - How do we become more consistent between the cities in a state, how is this local data used at the state and national level and what impacts does poor data quality at the local level impact the state and national level such as implementation of bad policy based upon misinformation, duplicated data, or a poor understanding of what is being expected.  Many of the sessions will speak to these issues. 

    Secondly this is not a conference, but a summit designed to bring those with understanding of measurement and the ablility to change the industry standards and benchmarking together to identify future policy and practices to push and implement in the future.   

    Thirdly, we need municipal perspective to make sure the cities, towns, villages, and similar chartered government organizations have input in the discussion.  We have pushed this out to our state municipal government and are encouraging participation.

    Day 2 will include sessions and discussion on new methods of measuring curbside performance and also ways in which non-tonnage metrics can be applied to assessing recycling success. 


     2)  Could you address whether you think the conference will aid cities in measuring their waste diversion?

    Response: I believe that cities would benefit and learn techniques, strategies and most importantly knowledge in consistent measuring.  Sometimes just using consistent terms or identifying what to measure makes all the difference.


     3)   Do you think that Day 3 would be valuable for a city participant, given that the focus may be national?

    Day 3 will include a deeper discussion on improving local program performance measurement.  We need input as to the needs of municipal governments related to establishing outcomes from these discussions.  Example - should we push to include measurement and metrics into future certification programs in organizations like SWANA and their Managing Recycling Systems coursework, what do local material (waste and recycling) characterization studies look like?  What is the methodology?  While many of these discussions will lead to post-Summit action steps, this is an opportunity to be a part of this national effort and help define the framework to make it happen.

    Learn more at www.measurementmatters.net


  • 08 Nov 2017 10:24 AM | Jen Dabbs (Administrator)

    Representatives from all over the country are gathering today and tomorrow in Asheville, NC for the Fall Forum.  If you are attending, you can access your guide here.  Read more about the Forum.

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