2021 Recycling Revisted Webinar Series

Our final webinar in this series looks at a material outside of the traditional residential collection stream--tires.  They remain a fiscal nightmare to manage for many states, have resulted in environmental disasters when piles of them ignite and are still a challenge to collect, store and transport. 

According to data from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), about 81 percent of "scrap tires" found a beneficial end use as of 2017 — although the biggest end use for almost half of what was collected was "tire-derived fuel," which includes incineration.  The two other big applications are ground rubber (used in new rubber products, landscaping mulch, rubber mats and rubber-modified asphalt) and tire shreds for road and landfill construction, septic systems and leach fields.

What new methods of reuse and recycling are in the works and how has the business of tire recycling changed?  

Jana White

Manager, Solid Waste Planning and Grants
SC DHEC

Jana has more than 28 years of experience with recycling and waste reduction issues. In her role at DHEC, she manages the non-regulatory side of the SC tire program, the recycling grants programs and the regulation development activities of the mining and solid waste programs.

Lena Chambless
Manager Recovered Materials Unit
Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Lena Chambless is the Manager of the Recovered Materials Unit at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The Recovered Materials Unit oversees the permitting of material recovery facilities, composting and anaerobic digesters, and tire processors and beneficial reuse projects and other recycling operations in Georgia. The unit also administers the Georgia Solid Waste Trust Fund and the Local Government Scrap Tire Abatement Reimbursement Program and state led tire abatement projects.

Bruce Bart

North American Sales Manager
Eco Green Equipment

2006 – 2017 General Manager of multiple tire processing facilities within the Midwest producing multiple materials from recycled tires including TDF, colored Rubber Mulch, Crumb Rubber for asphalt, synthetic turf, and plastics. 2017 to present working with Eco Green Equipment manufacturing both tire recycling equipment and related auxiliary equipment such as molding presses for the manufacture of molded parts from crumb rubber. Prior to 1996 to 2006 I built and managed plastics manufacturing facilities which produced very large plastics parts utilizing injection and blow molding technologies.

Amy Brackin
VP, Sustainability,
Liberty Tire Recycling

Amy Brackin is the Vice President of Market Development and Sustainability for Liberty Tire Recycling and a past Chair of the Synthetic Turf Council (STC). Ms. Brackin current sits on the COTCO Board for ASTM and is a member of several industry trade associations and coalitions. Amy has been in the synthetic turf industry since 2007 and in recycling with Liberty Tire since 2012. This experience has built the foundation of Ms. Brackin’s knowledge in business, marketing and the political and regulatory requirements related to the industry.

Recycled metals have generally been seen as the breadwinner for recycling.  Although they cover a larger categorization of materials, largely the residential sector produces used food and beverage containers.  Recent supply chain issues and changes to demand have spiked shortages and some swinging market conditions.  How have the lessons learned from the past year and a half changed the outlook on metals recycling?

Joe Pickard

Chief Economist and Director of Commodities, ISRI

Since 2010, Pickard has directed ISRI’s research and analysis on recycled commodity markets and the key economic role recycling plays in the United States and globally.

Previously, Pickard served as the economist for the International Copper Study Group in Lisbon, Portugal. As a member of ITAC No. 5, he serves as an advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Commerce Department on trade issues related to nonferrous metals and building materials.

Scott Breen
Vice President of Sustainability, Can Manufacturers Institute

CMI represents U.S. metal can manufacturers and their suppliers. His responsibilities include promoting the can as a sustainable/circular package, making sure federal and state legislation and regulation reflect the can’s sustainability advantages, and leading the industry’s efforts to build upon the can industry’s leading recycling rates.

Scott’s roles prior to CMI were associate manager of the Sustainability and Circular Economy Program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and attorney-adviser at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Anthony “Wes” Westbrooks 
Senior Waste Logistics Specialist, BMW Manufacturing Co. LLC

Wes has been in that position for 21 years, responsible for the waste management and recycling contract for the movement of the waste streams from the point of generation to final disposition.

He has helped drive Zero Landfill at the Plant since the end of 2009 and leads the "Green Team" at BMW. He works with all departments as well as onsite contractors to promote recycling and the proper disposal of all waste streams.

He is the Chair for Recycling Market Development and Advisory Council for the state of South Carolina and current Treasurer (former President) for the CRA.

The reports of glass recycling’s death are greatly exaggerated.  Little value. Limited markets. Programs dropping collection. Glass recycling appears broken. But is it?

This third webinar in the 2021 SERDC series addresses national market conditions and market forces of glass recycling. The discussions will include how MRF certification is improving material quality and a key role that the Glass Recycling Coalition is playing with grant funding to improve collection.

Scott DeFife (sdefife@gpi.org), President of Glass Packaging Institute is the moderator of this important discussion.

Kyra Levau

Education & Outreach Coordinator, Orange County Solid Waste Management, NC
(klevau@orangecountync.gov)

Kyra is an educator, community builder, and environmental activist, who values dedication, transparency, and inclusivity. She works as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Orange County Solid Waste Management.

Kyra grew up in Durham, NC and attended NC State University were she studied Environmental Science with a focus on communications and minor in statistics. She found her passion in waste reduction and sustainability while working on a farm in the mountains in Puerto Rico before starting college. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking about trash since then!

Ben Pedigo
Corporate Recycling Operations Coordinator, Rumpke Waste & Recycling
(ben.pedigo@rumpke.com)

Benjamin Pedigo joined Rumpke Waste & Recycling in 1993. Benjamin works with Rumpke sales, municipal contracts and operations teams in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia to secure new business for Rumpke material recovery facilities.

Benjamin has been the Ohio representative for the Ohio Valley Water Sanitation Commission’s (ORSANCO) Public Information Advisory Committee since 1990 and was instrumental in establishing the Ohio River Sweep project along with staff from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and ORSANCO. This interstate cleanup event covers the length of the Ohio River and has collected more than 20,000 tons of trash since the program started in 1989.

Amy Uong
Deputy General Manager, Sims Municipal Recycling

(Amy.Uong@simsmm.com)

Amy has been a sustainability and project manager for over 15 years working on various construction & sustainability efforts in NY, NJ and the District of Columbia. In 2014, she completed the opening of Sims’ $110M material recovery facility in Brooklyn, NY.

Since the material recovery facility reopening, Amy expanded her role at Sims to include managing capital and transition projects, business analytics, and guiding its Recycling Education Center.

Steve Alexander
President and CEO for The Association of Plastic Recyclers 

Steve is President and CEO of the Association of Plastic Recyclers, a Washington, DC based trade association whose members represent more than 95% of the processing capacity for postconsumer plastics in North America.

Alexander is also the president of Resource Recycling, Inc., a publishing and conference management firm. 

Previously, Mr. Alexander spent over 20 years representing corporate and association clients on Capitol Hill and in State Houses across the country, including 10 years with Eastman Kodak Company, where he specialized in environment, technology and appropriations issues.

Stephanie Baker
Director of Market Development for KW Plastics

Stephanie strives to live in a world where we don’t have to talk about what, where, or how to recycle plastic. In the meantime, she gets to talk a lot.

As the Director of Market Development for KW Plastics Recycling Division, Stephanie speaks to the economic advantages and opportunities for plastics recycling. A hometown girl from KW Plastics’ headquarter operations in Troy, Alabama,

Stephanie represents the world’s largest plastics recycler of HDPE and PP in projects surrounding sustainability, packaging design and increasing quality supply throughout North America.

Brent Heist
Director of the Global Packaging Sustainability team at Procter & Gamble

Brent is Director of the Global Packaging Sustainability team at Procter & Gamble. He is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Brent holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and an MBA from Xavier University. In his twenty-eight years at Procter & Gamble Brent has worked in Process Development, Products Research and most recently Packaging Development spanning several of P&G’s business units.

Webinar #1: Paper

May 26, 2021

Kicking off the 2021 SERDC Webinar Series, we explore how market conditions have changed the face of paper feedstocks, from industry advancements in processing to changes in the supply stream.  SERDC Board Member, Susan Robinson of Waste Management is moderating this engaging dive into the new normal for paper.  

Chaz Miller
CEO, Miller Recycling Associates
chazmiller9@gmail.com

Chaz Miller’s career in waste and recycling spanned four decades with stints at the US EPA Office of Solid Waste, the Glass Packaging Institute and the National Waste and Recycling Association. He testified at Congressional and state hearings and spoke at conferences throughout North America. He an ex officio member of the Board of the Northeast Recycling Council.

Retired from full time work, he consults, writes a blog for Waste360 and speaks at conferences. He chaired the Montgomery County Aiming for Zero Waste Task Force. Chaz is a recipient of the National Recycling Coalition’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Brian Hawkinson
Executive Director of Recovered Fiber, American Forest & Paper Association

Brian_Hawkinson@afandpa.org

Brian Hawkinson is AF&PA Executive Director, Recovered Fiber. In this role, he manages issues and programs that promote increased paper recycling and maintain member company access to recovered fiber for use in manufacturing new pulp, paper and paperboard.

Before joining AF&PA, he held leadership positions with: Hawkinson Group, LLC, where he assisted AF&PA in establishing the Paper+Packaging Board; DDC Advocacy; Public Affairs Council, and, United Way of America.

Brian is a member of the board of directors of The Recycling Partnership and a past member of the board of directors of the National Recycling Coalition.

Dave Cawein 
Divisional VP and General Manager, Green Bay Packaging
dcawein@gbp.com

David began with Green Bay Packaging Inc.(GBP), in 1976 as a forester. His woods experience includes 9 years as Vice President & Gen. Mgr. of GBP’s Fiber Resource Div.(Woodlands), 15 years as Vice President & Gen. Mgr. of GBP’s Pinecrest Lbr. Div.(sawmill).

David has 13 years of paper mill experience at GBP’s Arkansas Kraft Division including Asst. to The Pulp Mill Supt., Linerboard Sales Rep., Secondary Fiber Procurement Mgr. and Secondary Fiber Supt.

Since 2017 David has been the Vice President of Secondary Fiber Procurement, managing OCC procurement for GBP’s linerboard mills.