Risa WeinbergerRisa Weinberger & Associates, Inc.
Principal
Risa Weinberger is a licensed Professional Engineer and owns a consulting firm specializing in solid waste, particularly composting and organics diversion. She has practiced engineering as a consultant to the solid waste and composting industry nationwide for 45 years. Ms. Weinberger holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. She is a SWANA-certified Composting Systems Manager and a USCC-Certified Compost Operations Manager. She represents the composting industry on the solid waste advisory body to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Composting Council of USCC. She is a co-author and instructor of the Managing Composting Programs course offered by SWANA, and an instructor for SWANA’s Organics Collection course, various eLearning courses, and other training for various solid waste and environmental organizations.
Steven ChristmanNortheast Indiana SW Management District
Executive Director - IB Region 4
Steven Christman has been involved in solid and hazardous waste management since 1976. He began his career sampling and monitoring wells at local landfills two years before graduating from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science in 1978.
Serving 25 years in the field of Environmental Science as a degreed professional, Mr. Christman has worked for private consulting firms, regulatory agencies, and local units of government. Over the years, he has been involved in municipal and industrial waste water treatment; ground water monitoring; hazardous materials emergency response; municipal and industrial recycling and waste minimization programs; and has operated a landfill, a materials recovery facility, and yard waste composting facilities. Recycling programs have been a part of Mr. Christman's career since it began with many of these programs designed and implemented by him from the ground up. The first person certified in Indiana as a compost systems operator, he now teaches SWANA's Managing Composting Programs course at the national level.
Currently serving as the Executive Director of the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management District, Mr. Christman has watched very early recycling programs (prior to Solid Waste Districts) evolve into comprehensive, publicly popular materials management systems. A long-standing proponent of Integrated Solid Waste Management, he understands the valuable role of public and private partnerships in building an environmentally sound materials management system.
Matthew CottonIntegrated Waste Management Consulting
Owner
Over 30 years in the organics recycling industry
Permitted and helped develop some of the major composting facilities in California
Almost two decades on the Board of the US Composting Council, including three terms as President
Lead instructor for USCC’s 40-Hour Compost Operator Training Course
Author and instructor of the Managing Composting Programs course for the Solid Waste Association of North America
Has published research on compost odors, compost use, climate impacts, compostable plastics, and compost infrastructure
Has taught composting in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Guam, and Norway
Has worked on statewide policy, legislation, and regulation related to composting for decades
Recently completed a statewide study of organics processing infrastructure for CalRecycle