John Trotti

Those of you who have been to WASTECON know how valuable an industry resource the annual event is. More than just a trade expo and program of speakers and classes, WASTECON offers unparalleled opportunities for attendees to meet informally with peers, renew old acquaintances, and match ideas with solid waste professionals from all around the world.

WASTECON 2000 takes place October 23-26 in Cincinnati, OH. As usual, SWANA’s several technical divisions will meet to discuss issues of concern to their specific areas, but this year’s agenda achieves an added dimension in the inclusion of a track especially designed for solid waste board members. Think about this opportunity for you as either a board member or a waste manager. If you’re a board member, chances are you came to the task with little formal experience, yet you’re responsible for overseeing the budget and activities of a highly complex, costly, and politically sensitive activity. The situation is no less daunting to those of you who depend on the support and guidance of these elected or appointed representatives of the community, so here’s a golden opportunity for both groups to narrow the gap.

Having served several years as a member of our local transit district board - a post I took up with high regard for my qualifications only to find I didn’t know diddly squat - I can promise you that the most valuable several days of my tenure were spent at board member sessions put on by SWANA’s counterpart in the transit industry, the American Public Transit Association. There I became acquainted with not only other transit board members from around the nation, but also how they approached their responsibilities.

I recommend that waste boards require their members to go to at least one WASTECON, attend Board Members 101, rub elbows with their counterparts, and get a wonderful overview of the entire field.

Peer Review Program

For several years we’ve talked about the prospect of presenting a limited number of peer-reviewed articles, but for a variety of reasons we haven’t managed to pull the trigger on the idea. That’s about to change, and we hope to present our first peer-reviewed article in spring 2001. However, we need your help in getting potential articles into the pipeline.

Former SWANA Executive Director Lanny Hickman has offered to serve as peer review editor. He will be responsible for all facets of the program: development of program specifics, selection of the manuscripts, appointment of peer-review panels, and preparation of manuscripts for publication. While we don’t expect or intend these articles to make up more than a small fraction of our regular fare, it will allow us to provide a service to authors to whom peer review is important. It will give us access to authors who, for lack of such a program, have not considered us as an outlet for their work. Program specifics are available at www.mswmanagement.com, so we invite you to surf through and pick up the details.

Bioreactor Landfill Info

The Department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering at Ohio State University’s Bioreactor Landfill Lab has developed a questionnaire in an effort to compile information on bioreactor landfill technology and the management of landfill leachate. The long-term goal is to determine if this technology can be applied to old landfills.

Collection of this information can play a vital role in filling in the blanks and overcoming barriers to the development of technologies, techniques, and practices necessary to the success of bioreactor initiatives. If you have information to share and want to receive a questionnaire, please contact me by e-mail at editor@forester.net.

MSW
September/October, 2000