News
MWMA Virtual Academy!
The MWMA Virtual Academy is a free resource for Mayors, municipal solid waste and recycling executives, and anyone else interested in learning more about sustainable waste management issues, principles, best practices, and trends, from experts in the field – on your schedule.
From the 2022 MWMA Fall Summit in Los Angeles
- PFAS PFOA: A Briefing
- The Complex Calculus of Fleet Electrification
- Innovations in Technology
- New Pathways for Food Waste: Moving Beyond Convenience to Sustainability
- Best Practices in Food Waste Prevention & Food Rescue
- Carrot and Stick: Managing Recycling through State & Local Leadership
- Best Practices, New Strategies for Addressing Worker Shortages
- Advanced Recycling: Miracle or Myth
Recent Webinars
- Engaging the Private Sector in Responding to the Food Waste Crisis
- Managing Food Waste at the Source: Engaging Residents in Sustainable Food Waste Management
- All Source Reduction Is Local: How Municipal Governments Can Change the Reuse/Repair Landscape
- How Glass Recycling Works in High-Performing MRFS
- Untapped Value in the Waste Stream: How Recovering & Recycling Polypropylene Can Improve Your Bottom Line
- Everything You Wanted to Know About Glass Recycling
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – Bringing Communities Together
About MWMA
As the environmental affiliate of The United States Conference of Mayors, MWMA is dedicated to and driven by the needs of municipal solid waste directors, environmental commissioners, and public works professionals. Formed in 1982, our mission is to impact policy, share best practices, promote operational efficiencies, and provide information on innovations in the delivery of integrated waste management services. MWMA, or the Municipal Waste Management Association, is a national membership association, representing solid waste directors, environmental commissioners, and other municipal solid waste decision makers from major cities, counties, and other local and regional public authorities and agencies across the country.
Membership FAQ
Who can join MWMA?
Membership is open to solid waste, recycling, and environmental professionals working for cities, counties, and other local and regional public authorities and agencies. Our members have such diverse job titles as: Solid Waste Services Administrator/Director/Bureau Chief, Director of Public Works, Recycling Manager/Coordinator, Environmental Services Director, or Sanitation Commissioner. (MWMA has a separate category and dues structure for private sector membership, through our Solid Waste Advisory Council.)
How much does it cost to join MWMA?
Public sector membership dues are calculated on a sliding scale, based on your municipality’s population. Ever mindful of the budget constraints of our members, we’ve kept MWMA dues constant for the past five years.Two people from my department want to join MWMA.
Can we get a discount on the second membership fee?
No need! For one low MWMA membership fee, there’s no limit to the number of staff who can participate in MWMA – from your administrative assistant to the Mayor him/herself. And everyone will receive the same member benefits, from our weekly news alerts to discounted registration rates for our annual Fall Summit.
Speaking of which…what are the benefits of MWMA Membership?
We’re glad you asked. For your annual MWMA membership, you’ll receive an array of benefits, including:
- deeply discounted registration to the MWMA Fall Summit, which brings together public sector leaders with private sector executives, to learn about trends and emerging technologies in operational efficiency, recycling, waste-to-energy, and other issues;
- free, interactive, members-only webinars. Each webinar features presentations and discussion by industry experts on some of the industry’s hottest topics. Check out some of our recent webinars.
- a complimentary subscription to “Municipal News Headlines,” a weekly e-bulletin featuring timely and relevant news from the solid waste industry;
- access to the members-only MWMA listserv, where you can share information and ideas with, and solicit feedback from, hundreds of other municipal solid waste professionals across the country; and
- the opportunity to network with and learn from your peers – public and private sector leaders and professionals throughout the industry.
For more information please contact Jubi Headley.
Leadership
2023 MWMA Executive Committee
President
David Herberholz
Director, Solid Waste and Recycling Division
City of Minneapolis, MN
1st Vice President
Shirlene Sitton
Environmental Services Division Director
City of Santa Fe, NM
2nd Vice President
Sarah Reeves
Executive Director
Chittenden Solid Waste District, VT
At-Large Members
Antonio J. Baldon, Sr.
Assistant Director, Solid Waste Management Services Division, Department of Public Works
City of Louisville, KY
Chris Conway
Director of Public Works
City of Montgomery, AL
Kanika Greenlee
Executive Director | Keep Atlanta Beautiful Commission
Environmental Programs Director | Department of Public Works
City of Atlanta, GA
Alexander E. Helou (Past President)
Assistant Director, Bureau of Sanitation
City of Los Angeles, CA
Jill Holbert
Associate Director, Solid Waste Management Department
City of Albuquerque, NM
Andrew Kays
Executive Director
Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority
Ashley Louisiana
Waste Prevention & Recycling Manager
RecycleSmart | Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority
Laurie Matta, CMFO
Chief Financial Officer
City of Clarksville, TN
Richard McHale (Past President)
Deputy Director, Resource Recovery
City of Austin, TX
Eugene McKinnie
Deputy Director, Solid Waste & Recycling Department
City of Denton, TX
Ann Saurman
Manager, Bureau of Recycling & Solid Waste
City of Allentown, PA
Tracey Turner Thurman
Director, Division of Waste Management
City of Lexington/Fayette County, KY
Mark Wilfalk
Director, Solid Waste Management Department
City of Houston, TX
Nicholas N. Ybarra, PE, CFM
Interim Assistant Director of Environmental Services
City of El Paso, TX
Solid Waste Advisory Council
About the Solid Waste Advisory Council
The Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC) is an integral component of the structure and activities of the Municipal Waste Management Association (MWMA). SWAC represents the corporate side of the solid waste industry – members include waste management, recycling, and waste-to-energy companies, as well as companies that manufacture and distribute the products and services that public sector solid waste officials rely on to carry out their work.
SWAC contributes to public policy discussions, provides programmatic support to and shares new technologies and innovations with MWMA’s public sector members. As the environmental affiliate of the United States Conference of Mayors, MWMA designs and delivers solutions to meet needs and challenges of municipal solid waste, recycling and environmental executives from cities and counties across the United States. Working together, MWMA and SWAC identify challenges facing cities and develop new and innovative approaches to environmental concerns.
Develop Relationships
Through SWAC corporations can:
- Explore public / private sector partnerships with key decision-makers – public works directors, environmental commissioners and recycling professionals – in America’s top 100 cities and beyond.
- Utilize the expertise of our public sector members to conduct focus groups and needs analyses of the challenges facing urban environmental professionals.
- Communicate new innovations and technologies, designed to meet municipal waste, air, energy and other environmental needs of America’s cities.
- Exchange best practices and ideas in person at the MWMA Fall Summit, and/or virtually through webinars and the MWMA list-serv.
The Benefits of Membership
SWAC membership benefits are many, and include the following:
MWMA Fall Summit: SWAC members receive one (1) complimentary registration (and steeply discounted registration rates for additional corporate representatives) to the MWMA Fall Summit, the most prominent annual MWMA event of the year. SWAC members also receive first preference to contract (again at significantly discounted rates) for the limited exhibit space available during the Summit.
MWMA List-serv: SWAC members are entitled to join the MWMA list-serv, where they can share information and ideas with, and solicit feedback from, hundreds of municipal solid waste professionals across the country.
Corporate Identity: the name and logo of SWAC corporate members, as well as links to their corporate websites, are featured on the MWMA website.
Best Practices in Public/Private Partnerships: Successful public/private partnerships involving SWAC members may be featured:
- on the MWMA website;
- in The Public Place, a periodical publication featuring in-depth articles on emerging solid waste and other environmental trends, technologies, and issues; and/or
- in US Mayor, the biweekly publication distributed to every Mayor, all members of Congress, and key Administration officials, among others.
(For editorial guidelines please contact the MWMA staff.)
SWAC members may also be invited from time to time to participate in the sponsorship and formation of new collaborative projects on priority issues.
Opportunity to Present Views: SWAC members may be invited to present their views through a dialogue with public sector MWMA members at various forums, as appropriate. SWAC members may also be invited to prepare guest commentary or articles on priority issues, for possible publication on the MWMA website or through other vehicles, including distribution through the MWMA list-serv.