March 2021: Solid Waste
March 9, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. CT
Registration is $50 for members and $75 for non-members. Registration discounts are available when registering groups and for the entire annual series.
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Concurrent Jam Sessions
Food – Don’t Waste a Good Resource
Speaker: Joe Giudice
Brought to you by the APWA Solid Waste Management Committee, this interactive session will allow
attendees to learn how their colleagues around the US are diverting food waste from disposal. Food waste is a
critical problem in the US with over 30% food loss at the retail and consumer levels. As landfilling or
incinerating this waste is the least preferred outcome, discover what other methods have been proven
successful.
Learning Objectives:
1. Discover how other agencies are diverting food waste from disposal.
2. Assess how strategies could transfer to your organization.
3. Gain insight on best management practices.
Zero Waste – Can it really be done? Practical applications as told by former public sector leaders who have been in your shoes.
Speakers: John Carlton, Jim McKay
This presentation will provide perspectives from several current and former public sector leaders as they navigate their paths to zero waste. Discussions will include mandatory versus voluntary programs, materials bans and their effectiveness, public acceptance, and challenges to changing behavior of both residents and businesses. We will discuss what we have found to work, and what we found not to work. Lastly we will discuss what Zero Waste really means to each of us and invite a broader discussion on what is truly possible within our communities.
Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize how different communities define Zero Waste.
2. Navigate challenges to changing waste disposal behavior.
3. Implement effective waste diversion strategies.
Sustainability on Steroids
Speaker: Mark Spafford
Brought to you by the APWA Solid Waste Management Committee, this interactive session will show attendees how their colleagues around the U.S. are diverting food waste from disposal. Food waste is a critical problem in the U.S., with over 30% food loss at the retail and consumer levels. As landfilling or incinerating this waste is the least preferred outcome, discover what other methods have been proven successful.
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how other agencies are diverting food waste from disposal.
2. Assess how strategies could transfer to their organization.
3. Explain best management practices.
Developing Financially Sustainable Organic Recovery Systems
Speaker: Karen Luken
Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year—approximately 1.3 billion tons—gets lost or wasted. Food loss and waste also amount to a major squandering of resources, including water, land, energy, labor, and capital and needlessly produce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming and climate change. Finally, a U.S. city with a population of 100,000 spends an average of over a million dollars a year landfilling food waste. Thus, public works departments have been receiving an increasing number of requests from citizens, government officials, and community activists to begin or expand programs to recover food waste. In addition, the Chinese Sword has reduced and even eliminated the value of many recyclables that municipalities collect. Because of this market downturn, cities are increasingly interested in diverting material that can be sold domestically. Organics, such as food waste, can be converted into compost and renewable energy that have a local market value for both the solid waste and wastewater treatment divisions of public works departments. These conditions make food waste an attractive material for public works directors to target for recovery. While there is definitely an abundance of food being landfill disposed, building a food waste recovery infrastructure that is technically and financially sustainable requires careful analysis of costs and revenue potential, the most appropriate technologies, and desire of food waste generators to convert food waste into a resource.
Proficiency Level: Advanced
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the various technologies used to compost food waste and convert food waste to biogas at waste water treatment , and how these technologies interface with operating logistics such as acreage available and waste water treatment facility permits
2. Realize the capital and O&M costs associated with designing, developing, and operating a food waste recovery system
3. Describe how to assess market conditions for securing organic feedstock, selling a marketable product, and evaluation of the relationship between local and international markets since the Chinese Sword
Disaster Debris - Cleaning Up After an Event
Speaker: Christopher Torres
Hosted by the APWA Solid Waste Management Committee, this discussion focuses on lessons learned in disaster debris. Whether it is cleaning up after a hurricane, tornado, or wild fire, solid waste agencies are key to getting communities back to normal after a disaster event. Come explore what others have done and share your experiences on this critical topic.Hosted by the APWA Solid Waste Management Committee, this discussion focuses on lessons learned in disaster debris. Whether it is cleaning up after a hurricane, tornado, or wild fire, solid waste agencies are key to getting communities back to normal after a disaster event. Come explore what others have done and share your experiences on this critical topic.
Proficiency Level: Applied
Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize and plan for circumstances that interrupt solid waste service during a natural disaster
2. Examine how other agencies have successfully managed disaster debris
3. Integrate best management practices into your agency