New Mexico Recycling Coalition Recycling Professionals Annual Meeting - June 6th, 2024
Ventana Salon at the Albuquerque 

Thank you for a great meeting!

We had nearly 70 recyclers representing over 25 communities attend our Recycling Professionals Training. Thank you!

The meeting included interactive polling and surveys.  Attendees identified some of the most egregious materials that they deal with in their recycling/solid waste stream and linked them to potential solutions. The top four materials and solutions identified at the meeting were:

  • Li-batteries – Landfill Ban
  • Styrofoam food containers – sales ban
  • Mattresses – EPR program
  • Tires -EPR program and/or landfill ban

Please click on the blue hyperlinks below to see the information presented at the training.

Extended Producer Responsibility & Policy as Part of a Circular Economy
Sarah Pierpont, Executive Director NM Recycling Coalition

Circular Economy in Action: Pathways toward sustainability through circularity

Justin Stockdale (formerly with NM Recycling Coalition back in 2010 or so and a big part of setting up our state’s hub and spoke recycling system!) is now the Center for Hard to Recycle Material (CHaRM) and Zero Waste Hauling Director at Eco-Cycle, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado.

Laurie Johnson is the founder and CEO of Circular Colorado, a nonprofit working on waste diversion and end market creation in Colorado and the Director for the new Circular Economy Development Center in Colorado.  The goal of Laurie's presentation is to provide an overview of Colorado’s Circular Economy Development Center (CEDC), how it came into being, and how it designs and executes circular solutions for materials.  The presenter will engage participants by walking them through an overview of the process of designing a circular solution that involves the circular model components from inception to execution.   Participants will learn a step-by-step process to create a circular solution so that they can apply it to their own project, region, or sector.

Megan Kaplon is the Circular Economy Program Coordinator within the City of Austin’s Resource Recovery Department. The City of Austin’s has a goal to reach zero waste by 2040. Their Circular Economy program is part of this zero-waste goal and consists of numerous programs to promote sustainability and circularity. Megan will present highlights about the City’s MoveOutATX, which sets up donation stations and free furniture events during college move out times to promote reuse, Fix-It Austin repair events and the City’s Circular City initiatives.  Attendees will learn the steps it takes to set up community-based reuse and repair events and how the City of Austin aims to make their operations more circular.

Policy Efforts in NM: Santa Fe County Case Study Jacqueline Beam is the Sustainability Manager at Santa Fe County.  Jacqueline will discuss efforts leading up to the County's recent ordinance to ban single use plastic bags, expanded polystyrene takeout containers and other single use plastics in her presentation, "Policy Efforts in New Mexico: Santa Fe County Case Study."

 

Thank You Sponsors!

We couldn't put on events and trainings like this without the generous support of our sponsors.  Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to see your business listed above? Add your name to the list of 2024 Sponsor!

All sponsorship dollars support NMRC's mission to inspire New Mexicans to rethink reduce, reuse and recycle and include great benefits.  Click HERE to learn more.