During November 17-19, the Municipal Waste Management Association (MWMA), an affiliate of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, held its Fall Summit. The Summit, entitled "Tomorrow's Issues Today: What Every Solid Waste Executive Needs to Know," was hosted by President Ellen Ryan in San Jose, California. During the Fall Summit, members of the MWMA, including solid waste directors, environmental commissioners, and other waste management decision makers meet to discuss cross-cutting issues, legislative concerns, and current trends in solid waste management.

On the first day, each of four MWMA committees convened to discuss specific issues impacting them. These committees included recycling, operations, environmental, and waste-to-energy. During each of these sessions, the topics addressed included the impact of mergers, public health and the environment, watershed management and land use, operation of separate collection systems, and the use of methane gas as alternative fuel. Committees met separately and then convened to share information discussed in each of their sessions with all attendees.

Alternative Fuels For Clean Air Fleets

During Thursday's morning plenary session, MWMA discussed the development of fleets outfitted to be run on natural gas, which would contribute to cleaner air and meet standards being proposed in the state of California. Attendees heard from Waste Management, Inc. representatives and the City of Palm Desert, California, which conducted a successful pilot program to transition some of its trucks to natural gas. Next, representatives from the California Air Resources Board and U.S. EPA Office of Mobile Resources explained where regulatory policy is headed in the state of California and at the federal level, in terms of requiring fleets to convert to alternative natural gas fuels. Speakers from the NGV Ecotrans Group and the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition discussed how cities can develop infrastructure for natural gas powered fleets and how to acquire funding to transition fleets.

Extended Producer Responsibility

During Thursday's afternoon plenary session, MWMA members and representatives from the private sector that are members of the Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC) for MWMA participated in discussions to develop recommendations for shared product stewardship, also known as "extended producer responsibility." MWMA was tasked by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to explore extended producer responsibility and consider strategies for sharing the costs of local solid waste management and recycling programs. These strategies will help to keep these programs sustainable and successful. MWMA and SWAC developed a variety of recommendations that will be considered by the Executive Committee of MWMA during its meeting in February 2000.

OSHA's Ergonomics Proposal

During Friday's joint session, attendees heard presentations about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) Ergonomics Proposal, which could potentially impact both cities and private sector companies with manual collection systems for solid waste. OSHA officially released the proposal last week. Chaz Miller of the National Solid Waste Management Association briefed attendees on the contents of the proposal. MWMA and the U.S. Conference of Mayors are considering submitting comments and participating in public hearings before the proposal is finalized next year.

Industry Consolidation

Jerry Powell, Editor-in-Chief of the popular recycling trade publication entitled Resource Recycling, moderated a lively discussion on the impacts of industry consolidation among solid waste management companies. Panelists who expressed their perspectives on the issue included Louie Pellegrini, President of Mission Trail Waste Systems and a local hauler, Evan Edgar, a consultant who has researched impacts of the industry's mergers, Mark Arsenault, a representative from Browning-Ferris Industries and a large hauler, and John Skinner, Executive Director of the Solid Waste Association of America. Some attendees expressed concerns over lessened competition with the recent mergers. However, others argued that merged companies can provide better and more efficient services than smaller hauling companies. All agreed that this issue will continue to demand the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice and all those impacted by these mergers in local government.

The meeting concluded with the Urban Summit, a public sector only discussion for MWMA members to share their program successes, struggles, local legislation, and other issues impacting their local solid waste management and recycling programs. The Urban Summit provides a unique opportunity for peer exchange of information and shared solutions for solid waste management issues pertinent within local government.

MWMA will host its Annual Meeting on March 13-15, 2000, in Washington, DC. All mayors are encouraged to send their solid waste director, environmental commissioner, or other solid waste decision maker to the meeting to learn about the latest trends, legislation, and other issues affecting your city. For more information about the Annual Meeting, please contact Jennifer DeLong at (202) 861-6776. For more information about joining MWMA, please contact Gail Oliver at (202) 861-6783.