Volume 3 | January 13, 2020
SWANA Old Dominion News
President's Message
2020 is officially here and we find another decade gone. Today we share the world with 7.7 billion of our neighbors; the next 10 years we are expected to see another 1 billion move in! Those of you who started your careers 30 plus years ago have already seen the neighborhood grow by nearly 3 billion. As the world’s population has grown, so has the importance of our roles as solid waste professionals in leading the development of sound environmental science and policy. Over the next ten years we should fully expect for there to be an increased concentration on emerging contaminates, climate change, sustainability, and the challenges of recycling. As the world addresses these issues we will find ourselves at a fork in the road with one sign saying “Not My Problem” and the other being “Challenged Accepted”. Since 1965, the solid waste professional has chosen “Challenge Accepted”. With this mantra in mind we are excited to have selected “Navigating Changes On The Horizon” as this year’s annual conference theme. The conference, to be held in Virginia Beach April 29 to May 1, will be a joint conference with Virginia Recycling Association and is promised to once again attract a record breaking crowd. At the conference we are going to be collecting your thoughts on what solid waste will be like in 2030 so that in ten years we can revisit our expectations of the future! In closing I would like to wish a very safe and happy New Year for yourselves and your employees. What we do really does make a difference in the world; don’t be afraid to acknowledge that!

Kind Regards,
 
Ben Loveday, SWANA President
Upcoming Events
Virginia Participates in the Free Chapter Webinar Program. Click here for instructions on how to register for this webinar.


Joint VRA/SWANA Conference
April 29 - May 1, 2020 (Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront)


Attendee Registration will be available in January
Chapter Scholarships and Awards Programs
Scholarships for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

The Chapter offers college scholarships to eligible students working toward undergraduate or graduate college degrees. In addition, the Chapter will submit the application of the most-qualified, eligible candidate for the  Grant H. Flint Scholarship Awards Program administered by SWANA International.

Deadline to apply for scholarships is May 1
Application will be available February 1.
Individual and Organization Awards

Recognize an outstanding individual or program in solid waste and recycling with a $500 award and certificate. The three categories are:

  • Annual Professional Achievement Award. This award will be given to a single individual who has shown exemplary achievement over time in a solid waste related field 

  • Annual Program Achievement Award. This award will go to a program or consulting firm that has either maintained an extremely high quality performance over time or shown a sustained improvement. 
 
  • Annual Student Paper Award.   This award will be given to an undergraduate college student who submits the best paper on a solid waste related topic

Deadline to apply for awards is July 1
Board Election Results

The following members were elected or reelected to serve on the SWANA Old Dominion Board of Directors for 2020-2021:

Ryan Duckett , SCS Engineers

Clarke Gibson , Region 2000 Service Authority

Henry Strickland , Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA)

Tim Torrez , Republic Services


See the full list of board members here .

Get involved with SWANA Old Dominion by joining a committee. List of our committees .
Regulatory News

Click here for the full updates on DEQ's:
Annual Report on Solid Waste Management
NOIRA to open the Solid Waste Regulations for revisions
RAP process for amending the Regulated Medical Waste Regulations
Guidance Documents

Legislative News

The General Assembly begins their even year “long” session which is scheduled to be a 60-day legislative session beginning on January 8 th and ending on March 7 th . The long session is set-up to allow time beyond legislating; to also adopt a new biennial budget; along with any amendments to the existing budget. On December 17 th , the Governor released his proposed budget which will be considered during the Session.   See more
Welcome New Members

Chris Branscome, (Blacksburg, VA)

Joe Buchanan, Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board (Stafford, VA)

James Canty, R-Board (Stafford, VA)

Diego Espinoza, New Way Trucks (Reston, VA)

Chip Hall, Natural Organic Process Enterprises, LLC (Henrico, VA)

Marshall Hall, Natural Organic Process Enterprises, LLC (Henrico, VA)

Letitia Jackson-Frey, SPARGO (Fairfax, VA)

Lina Kennedy, Southeastern Public Service Authority (Portsmouth, VA)

Michael Neese, City of Winchester, (Winchester, VA)

Brian Orrock, Spotsylvania County (Fredericksburg, VA)

Brenton Payne, Gloucester County Engineering Services (Gloucester, VA)

Dave Small, TopLine Revenue Solutions (Fairfax Station, VA)

Thomas Williams, SCS Engineers (Midlothian, VA)
Significant Increase in Fatal Work Injuries for Solid Waste Collection Workers

By Dennis Batts, Program Manager, Emergency Operations and Safety

On December 17, 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released its 2018 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and the data, though expected, were disappointing. SWANA released a statement noting that, by industry category (NAICS 562111), solid waste collection workers suffered 57 on-the-job fatalities, compared to 32 the year before—a 78 percent increase in deaths in just one year . In addition to those 57—that include collection route worker and transfer stations—there were three landfill employee and three material recovery facility (MRF)