NM Recycling & Solid Waste Conference: Circularity in Action
Jointly Hosted by the NM Recycling Coalition and the NM Roadrunner Chapter of SWANA
Thank you to everyone that helped to make the 2025 New Mexico Recycling and Solid Waste Conference a success. On September 30-October 1 over 180 attendees from around the state and region and representing 94 different organizations/communities gathered to learn from a team of experienced and knowledgeable speakers! The exhibit hall included 20 exhibitors and robust discussions and products and services that improve efficiency and operations within recycling, compost, sustainable materials management and solid waste fields.
Below please find a summary of the presentations and links to the presentations if available for your reference and reflection.
Thank you to Our Generous 2025 Sponsors
New Mexico Recycling & Solid Waste Conference Presentations
Keynote Speaker – Susan Collins, president of the Container Recycling Institute
"Modernizing/Expanding Beverage Container Recycling: Insights and Opportunities"
Breakout Session A - September 30, 2025
Statewide Policy - How to Turn Baby Steps into Giant Leaps
- Battery Stewardship: Success in Collaboration, Barrett Jensen Waste Connections of NM
- What to Expect as New Mexico Implements the PFAS in Consumer Products Ban, Shirlene Sitton, NM Environment Dept, Resource Recovery Division
Landfill Operations
- Revolutionizing Landfill Operations: Harnessing GPS Technology to Maximize Efficiency, Safety, and Cost Savings, Hunter Moser, RDO Equipment
- NewFalconry-Based Nuisance Bird Abatement, Mike Taylor, JT Falconry
- Eye in the Sky: Leveraging Drones for Smarter Landfill Management in the Southwest, Tyler Zack & Austin Franklin, Parkhill
Breakout Session B - September 30, 2025
Solid Waste In-Depth!
- Aquifer Storage, Transfer and Recovery - Challenges and Potential Benefits for Groundwater Quality Protection, Andrew Yuhas, Parkhill
- New Mexico's First Study of PFAS in Landfill Leachate and On-Site Groundwater, Chad Spreadbury, ERG
- Reimagining and Repurposing Closed Landfills: Transforming Liabilities into Beneficial Use, Sonia Samir, Parkhill
Recycling In-Depth!
- Building Public Confidence in Recycling, Alec Cooley, Busch Systems
- What's in a bin: Mechanisms to reduce curbside contamination, Nikhil Balachandran, Zabble Inc
- What Are You Wasting-Using Waste Characterizatoin Data for Program Planning and Design, Michelle Leonard, SCS Engineers
Keynote Speaker – Amy Lestition Burke, CEO of the SWANA
"Leading the Way: SWANA Advocacy, Innovation, and the Future of Waste and Resource Management"
Breakout Session C - October 1, 2025
Disaster Debris Management
- After the Storm - Disaster Debris Planning & Management in a Changing Climate, Sheri Praski, Northern Lights SWANA Chapter
- Disaster Preapredness in New Mexico , Shirlene Sitton, NM Environment Dept Resource Recovery Division
- Coordinated Approach to Disaster Debris Response Tim Heidrick, Dona Ana County, Rafael Leos, South Central SWA
System-Scale Opportunities for Organics Diversion
- Compost Generation and Use in New Mexico, Erik Martig, SCS Engineers
- Manuresheds: Advancing Nutrient Recycling in U.S. Agriculture, Frannie Miller, NMSU
- Community Scale Organics Circularity: The City of Albuquerque's Multi-Faceted Approach, Sandra West, City of Albuquerque
Breakout Session D - October 1, 2025
Hard to Manage Materials
- Understanding PFAFs within the MSW Management Industry, Jeffrey McDonough, CDM Smith, Inc
- Lithium Batteries: Impacts on Waste Management and Recycling, Frank Pugsley, Parkhill
- Beyond the Bin: Community-Driven Solutions for Hard-to-Recycle and Reuseable Materials, Stephanie Levy , Eldorado/285 Recycles
Innovative Solutions Towards Circularity
- Advancing Material Recovery: Innovations and Challenges in Mixed Waste Processing Facilities, Tom Parker, SCS Engineers
- Building One Plan For Plastic, Jo Stodgel, Plan for Plastic
- Reunity Resources_ Closed Loop Food System, Charles Wolf, Reunity Resources
Afternoon Plenary Session - Source Reduction and Food Waste - October 1, 2025
- Reuse in Your Own Refrigerator: Food Waste Reduction, Jill Holbert, NMRC Board Member, retired City of Albuquerque Solid Waste Management Department
- Healthy Universal School Meals and School Food Waste Reduction Efforts, Lydia Montoya, NM Public Ed Dept - Student Success and Wellness Bureau
- Advancing Sustainability in Santa Fe Public School Cafeterias, Lucy Stanus, Santa Fe Public Schools & Diana Tarasiewicz