Waste & Recycling Topics will be placed in main conference tracks:
- Technology & Innovation
- Operations, Fleet & Safety
- Recycling & Landfill
- Business Insights & Policy
Most Requested topics include:
Business: Financial, Leadership, Communications
- Mergers & Acquisitions – sourcing opportunities; preparing your company; negotiating valuation; reps & warranties; closing and integration
Succession Planning Best Practices
- Financial Tips for Independent Haulers - Access to Capital; Pricing Models; Cash Flow; Profitability; Potential Markets; Utilizing Drivers; Efficient Operations
- Privatization of public waste operations
- How to start and grow a small garbage business
- Regulations & issues for siting, permitting and operating waste facilities
- Enhancing customer service programs for independent haulers
- Negotiating contracts best practices - successfully bidding municipal contracts; navigating current landscape; new trends in public/private partnerships
- Initiatives to improve the bottom line: cost optimization, operating efficiency
- Operations Management - C&D MRFs; single stream/commingled MRFs; transfer stations
- Attracting employees to waste industry – millennials; women; drivers; mechanics; disadvantaged groups; diversity; benefit programs; immigration issues
- LEED's training initiatives
- Consumer education - litter control programs; contamination programs; curbside recycling programs; proven case studies from municipalities
- Enhancing customer service programs/customer communications
- Best Practices (driver training, safety programs, media management, consumer education; technology implementation, etc.)
Collection & Transfer
- Overcoming challenges of collection in unique environments
- New Cart & Collection Technologies – Carts; Dumpsters; Bins, etc.
- Residential & Commercial waste collection: methods, vehicles, containers, case studies
- Automation – Pros & Cons
- Hauling and transfer station operations - Transfer Stations sighting, floors, improved designs
C&D
- Material Beneficial Reuse
- Achieving zero waste through C&D material recover & reuse
- Managing & marketing C&D fines
- Certifying your C&D recycling facility
- Overcoming barriers to the acceptance of post-consumer products (such as asphalt, shingles, etc.)
Commercial Waste
- Commercial waste zoning systems – public vs. private
- Reducing contamination in commercial waste recycling – best practices, education, technology and infrastructure
- Public vs. Private commercial waste contract negotiation
- Commercial waste diversion and reduction through circularity
Conversion Technology
- Thermal technologies
- Chemical Processing
- Hydrolosis
Data & Technology
- Data Collection & implementation case studies – concrete examples of benchmarking; performance measures; standardization
- GPS route optimization software and work management systems resulting in real savings
- Using Technology and data to increase operational efficiency – case studies with real results from hauler
- New technology adoption/implementation case studies by city/municipality/private hauler/waste authority
- Automation: Trucks, carts, MRFs
- RFID Technology implementation and results
- Internet of Things (IoT) & Smart Cities: Pilot programs, case studies, real data & results
- Drone Technology – case studies, examples, innovative uses in industry
Fleet & Equipment
- Equipment financing best practices - Municipal Lease/Purchase, Commercial Lease/Purchase; buy vs. own
- Maintenance - New ideas to reduce downtime; Preventative maintenance; Predictive maintenance; tire maintenance; engine maintenance
- Garbage Trucks - Autonomous trucks; Electric; Battery-electric (what works, challenges, why they cost so much, mechanical issues, etc.)
- Natural Gas - Converting fleets to natural gas (pros & cons); CNG implementation process & costs
- Upcoming clean vehicle technology regulations
- Truck Weights
- Telematics and Electrification of chassis
Medical Waste & Special Waste
- Hazardous waste management
- Medical waste recycling - Expired medications; Sharps management Opioid Crisis
- Regulatory changes and the impacts that directly affect the healthcare waste industry
- Hard-to-manage materials – textiles, carpets, more
- Cannabis waste management – Collection; Disposal; Regulations; Transportation Concerns
Landfills
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
- Odor Control
- Elevated Temperatures
- Coal Ash
- Leachate Management – Collection; Policy; Transportation; Treatment (Thermal; Pre-treatment standards)
- Emerging Landfill Technologies
Recycling
- Recycling Market Updates & Trends (Plastics, Glass, Fiber, etc.)
- New recycling strategies, policies, & programs for current recycling market
- Electronic waste management and certification
- Emerging technologies and resources to process hard to recycle materials – new programs; innovative solutions; case studies
- Artificial Intelligence & Robotics – Associated costs; pros & cons of installing; real results from implementation; success stories; failures & challenges
- Future Regulation Concerns - China’s Blue Sky Plan; Basel Convention, etc.
- How to Retrofit your MRFs
- MRF Operation Best Practices
- New Solutions to Contamination Issues
- Success stories on waste reduction and zero waste
- Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) Systems
- Sustainable Materials Management
- Marine Plastic Pollution
- Lithium Ion Batteries
- Sustainability / EPR – new products, case studies, programs, solutions
- Corporate Sustainability / Responsibility
- Developing recycling programs – municipal, commercial, residential, public schools
- Waste management programs in developing countries
Recycling Market Alternatives / Sustainability
- Recycling Market Updates by Region Across U.S.
- Municipal recycling/zero waste goals in the current market
- Solar energy solutions for recycling facilities
- Global waste & recycling programs - case studies, trends, data
- Single Use Plastics – bans; legislation; solutions; upcoming trends; international programs
- Sustainable Materials Management (Life Cycle Analysis)
- Ramifications of Circular Economy
- Circular Economy, Sustainable Materials Management
Regulatory
- Current U.S. court case overview: solid waste & recycling bans & litigation
- Regulatory changes and the impacts that directly affect the waste industry
- Labor trends/laws
- Franchising
- Environmental Justice
- Extended Producer Responsibility
- Funding Options
Safety
- Workplace violence – active shooter, hostile customer, the art of termination
- Safety equipment & solutions – case studies of customers using tools and proven results
- Health & Wellness/Ergonomics specific to waste industry
- Safety culture & training programs
- Distracted Driving
- Fire Safety – Truck fire prevention/solutions; facility fire prevention/solutions; insuring facilities
- OSHA regulation Updates
- FMCSA Rule Updates
All Submissions are due August 15, 2022