May 9-11
The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center
Roanoke, VA
Thanks to the sponsors, speakers, attendees, exhibitors, and volunteers who made VRA’s 24th Annual Conference and Trade Show a success! The conference program, attendee list, conference evaluation form and presentations can be accessed below.
2016 Conference Presentations
Keynote Speakers:
- “NRC – Together We Are Recycling” Bob Gedert, National Recycling Coalition
- “Drivers, Trends and Outlooks for the Scrap Recycling Industry” Joe Pickard, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.
Combatting Contamination Through Education
- “Combatting Contamination in Recycling” Mary McClellan, ReCommunity Recycling
- “Mobile Tools for Addressing Contamination” Alex Arnett, Waste Reduction Supervisor, Greensboro, NC
- “Making Recycling Less Trashy” Heather Cashwell, NC DEQ
- “Discarding Stale Outreach Programs” Teresa Sweeney, Montgomery County Solid Waste Authority
Lunchtime presentation
- “Out of Sight – Out of Mind, Central Business District Sealed Compactor Program” Skip Decker and Billy Basham, City of Roanoke Solid Waste Division
Universal Waste and E-Waste
- “Electronics Recycling: Overview of Public Electronics in NC and Tips for Making Public Programs Work in Tough Times” Rob Taylor, NC Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service
- “E-Scrap Best Practices” Megan Tabb, Synergy Recycling LLC
Next Steps
- “Next Steps to Increasing Diversion Effectively and Cost-Effectively” Lisa Skumatz, Ph.D., Skumatz Economic Research Associates (SERA)
Glass – Looking at All the Facets
- “Owens-Illinois and Glass Recycling” Mike Smaha, Owens-Illinois
- Tad Phillips, TFC Recycling
Recycling Policy and Legislation
- “Recycling Policy & Legislation in Virginia” Joel Andrus, Kemper Consulting, Inc.
Virginia DEQ Update
- “DEQ Update” Virginia Butler and Sanjay Thirunagari, VA DEQ
Heads Up for Litter Prevention
- “Innovative Ways to Use Technology and Social Media for Today’s Environmental Education” Nancy Drumheller, Central Virginia Waste Management Authority; Clara Mills, Spotsylvania County; Gloria Puffinburger, Frederick County
Markets Plenary
- “Metal Markets Review” Andy Cohn, Sims Metal Management
- “Compost, Soils and Water Management” Craig Coker, Coker Composting and Consulting
- “Plastics Recycling Update” Ray Hughes, BPR Plastics
- “Paper – Delivering on the Promise” Mark Worten, Sunoco Recycling
Recycling Difficult Packaging
- “Life Cycle Approach to Dealing with Difficult to Recycling Materials” Dr. Jacquelyn K. Nagel, James Madison University Department of Engineering
- “Next Generation of Curbside Materials” Matt Todd, Resource Recycling Systems
Organics
- “Expansion of Organics: Diversion for Waste Management and Energy Recovery” Jim Wollschalger, Organix Solutions
- “Organic Amendments Improve Tall Fescue Growth in Urban Soils” Michael Badzmierowski, Virginia Tech
- “Dipping a Toe in the Compost Collection Pool” Kristel Riddervold, City of Charlottesville