This time every year, SWANA puts on its Senior Executives Seminar that brings together managers, consultants, and financial experts to discuss challenges and opportunities the waste field is experiencing today and/or likely to have to deal with in the future. Over the next several weeks, I will present some of the topics that arose in discussions during the three-day event, but I’d like to lead off with the one I found most provocative…the loss of waste and waste revenues.
Is the drop-off in waste receipts a short-term aberration spawned by the downturn, or are we long at a long-term phenomenon from which we may be experiencing permanent change?
While no consensus emerged during breakout section discussions, some very interesting—and in many cases, speculative—thoughts appeared, among which were the possible impacts of:
* C&D Recycling regulations
* Carbon-reduction regulations and offset programs
* New trends in consumer marketing, such as electronic distribution
of music, movies, books, and games
* Producer take-back programs
* Consumer behavior changes
* Industrial materials management practices
There were many more possibilities, but rather than burden you with a huge list here, I’d like to know your thoughts about what may lie ahead for waste management in the post-recession environment.
What does your crystal ball show as to what factors may have an impact of the amounts and types of waste we’re liable to see in the future?