SWANA's continued success and influence on regulatory and economic issues will depend on its ability to make use of the member's contact with elected officials.

By J. Donald Isaacs and N.C. Vasuki

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has emerged as the strongest professional organization in North America and continues to lead the world in most technical areas. Yet its continued success and, more importantly, its influence on regulatory and economic issues will depend on its ability to make use of the members' contact with elected officials.

In North America, there has been much progress in devising new models of governance, strengthening the regional approach to problem solving. Many states have allowed the formation of solid waste authorities (both at the state and county levels) or other multipurpose environmental service agencies. These types of organizations succeed in providing essential services through user fees and debt structures outside the general-obligation tax bases.

These new types of management agencies usually have the capability to attract well-qualified technocrats to plan and implement regional solid waste management programs. However, the real policymakers in such agencies are mostly appointed or elected officials. They serve as members of a board of directors and are generally involved part-time. They serve without direct compensation, except in unusual cases, and exemplify the American penchant for voluntary citizen involvement in governance. They bring realism, common sense, and pragmatism to the table. They act as checks to executive powers and protect public interest. They also receive, occasionally, considerable verbal abuse for making decisions in siting facilities, contracting for services, and setting rates for services to be rendered.

There are very few such policymakers involved in SWANA affairs, and that is perhaps a serious shortcoming of the organization. Those who are involved have created a Board Members Committee under the wings of the SWANA Planning and Management Division. A handful of active board members have guided SWANA's staff to include, as part of the program, sessions at every SWANA annual conference for discussions of policy issues. Otherwise a plethora of technical sessions will not attract policymakers.

Over the past three years, the sessions have included discussions ranging from interstate commerce, business ethics, strategic planning, recruitment and retaining competent staff, evaluation of management staff, and budgeting. These sessions have provided a means for sharing information on problems and solutions. The policymakers get an opportunity to meet peers and exchange views on a whole slew of issues. This type of exchange allows them to evaluate what their own staff is doing or stating, providing a confidence-building process.

SWANA's Executive Committee and officers must make an effort to attract more policymakers to SWANA's various conferences from a self-interest point of view. On many regulatory and political issues, these policymakers can have a significant positive influence on elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. Their intimate and personal contacts with political leaders open many doors to SWANA staff to expound on SWANA's viewpoint. SWANA does not have the capability of making significant political contributions toward election campaigns. Instead, it can make very good use of local political contacts to convey SWANA's position on various national issues. A US Congressman or Senator will listen carefully when constituent leaders voice their views, lending credibility to the axiom that "All politics is local."

What are some of the major policy issues facing the solid waste industry in the next decade?

Safety in the Workplace

Are we improving the safety record in all aspects of MSW collection, recycling, and disposal? Do we really need OSHA regulations, or can the industry (both private and public sectors) voluntarily take the lead? What are the real benefits of improving safety?

Recycling and Waste Diversion

What is a pragmatic and cost-efficient level of recycling? Are there regional differences? At what level will we spend a dollar to gain benefits worth a penny? Why are we ignoring energy recovery from combustion of nonrecyclable solid wastes? Is it really worth recycling some materials, such as glass containers?

Landfills

How safe are our new landfills? Are there real public health concerns, and how do we document such concerns? How are we accounting for funds for closure and postclosure care of landfills? Will local governments (counties, townships, or parishes) become owners by default of closed landfills at the end of the postclosure period? Are modern landfills of the bioreactor type really counterproductive to recycling?

Industry Consolidation

Is industry consolidation adversely affecting services and costs? Has industry consolidation reduced competition at the local level? How can public/private partnerships be fostered to improve service and reduce costs?

Extended Producer Responsibility

Are there real and material benefits to be derived from extended producer responsibility (EPR)? How can we quantify those benefits? Since consumers (we, the people) will pay more for EPR, how will the environment gain? Will we lose productive jobs if the EPR system results in just exporting the discarded wastes to the developing countries? Will the environmental advocacy groups support siting facilities in their backyards if a company decides to build a plant for recycling potentially dangerous materials?

SWANA has excellent opportunities to create rational policy dialogue between policymakers, technocrats, economists, and the industrial leaders through the Board Members Committee. SWANA members (and the organizations they work for) can benefit if they can convince the policymakers to participate in annual and specialty conferences. Free exchange of information (both good and bad) leads to progress in solving our society's problems.

J. Donald Isaacs is director and N.C. Vasuki, P.E., DEE, is CEO at the Delaware Solid Waste Authority.