CRRA2021

Executive Director

Doug has been “talking trash” for over 28 years and is currently Executive Director for the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC).  Previously, he spent over 18 years with Sacramento County, 2+ years with Edgar & Associates, and 5+ years with Yolo County.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from California State University, Chico.

Doug is the Chair on the SWANA California Chapters Legislative Task Force.  Formerly, he was the Chair of CPSC, the Founding President of National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), Chair of the Mattress Advisory Committee, and a member of the California Carpet Stewardship Program Advisory Committee.

Batteries - EPR or Product Stewardship? Which one is best?

Used batteries continue to be prevalent in the HHW materials received at facilities across the nation.  Chemistries from Alkaline to Ni-Cadmium to Li-Ion are showing up in the marketplace in a variety of forms, from single-use to rechargeable.  They take the form of loose household batteries to plug-in to embedded in products.  The typical consumer is faced with uncertainty as to which batteries are which and where they should take each type for proper recycling or disposal.  Unfortunately, many are ending up in the solid waste stream, either in the trash or recycling, causing significant fire risk to the collection vehicles and receiving facilities.  While there are some laws on the books in various states to deal with used batteries, there is no real consistency and success of collection and disposal/recycling programs can vary widely.  Is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or Product Stewardship the answer?  This session will take a deep dive into the variety of chemistries, forms, and existing collection programs for used batteries and then look at how EPR or Product Stewardship is, or can, play a role in the management of this waste stream. The presentation will also update the audience on the current status of the EPR/Product Stewardship bill moving through the California Legislature.

Attendees will gain a better understanding of the consumer confusion over battery chemistries, how to properly manage the batteries in a collection program, and how EPR and/or Product Stewardship play a role.

Community Program Manager

Asami brings more than a decade of experience managing, analyzing, and solving environmental and sustainability problems. She has a broad background in air quality, water, energy, waste, remediation, and green buildings and infrastructure. As a consultant, she worked with a wide variety of clients including municipalities, federal and state agencies, businesses, institutions, and industrial facilities. In all her work, Asami combines her technical expertise as a chemical engineer with her deep experience in community engagement. Asami is especially passionate about connecting individuals and organizations so they can share and collaborate.

Preventing Battery Fires: Designing Effective Outreach for Hazardous Contaminants

Fires in recycling facilities caused by lithium and lithium-ion batteries have become all too prevalent in the waste management world, making batteries one of the most crucial contaminants to divert out of curbside recycling bins.

Through an innovative grant, The Recycling Partnership developed effective, battery-specific messaging for two separate California regions that had experienced a battery fire in the past year to educate residents on proper battery disposal.

A free toolkit for battery disposal education and outreach was created based on the learnings from the collective projects and is now available for use in communities across the US.

Building upon existing relationships formed during their 2019 West Coast Contamination Initiative, The Partnership partnered with Chula Vista, CA to do an education campaign on batteries and small personal electronics, and Los Angeles County to design digital messaging and signage based off of The Partnership’s research about battery disposal and behavior change.

In this session, Tanimoto will walk audience members through the process of designing effective outreach materials for a specific contaminant, including the unique messaging testing done with Southern California residents to pinpoint which phrases about keeping batteries out of recycling carts proved most effective. Participants will get an in-depth look at Chula Vista’s education campaign, which included a mailer to all 47,000 single-family households and amplified messaging, as well as LA County’s digital messaging and dissemination of the campaign. Finally, participants will be given access to the battery guide to implement this messaging in their own communities.

Vice President, Fire Protection Solutions

Ryan Fogelman, JD/MBA, is vice president of strategic partnerships for Fire Rover. He is focused on bringing innovative safety solutions to market, and two of his solutions have won the distinguished Edison Innovation Award for Industrial Safety and Consumer Products. He has been compiling and publishing the “Reported Waste & Recycling Facility Fires In The US/CAN” since February 2016 and the “Waste & Recycling Facility Fires Annual Report.” Fogelman speaks regularly on the topic of the scope of fire problems facing the waste and recycling industries, detection solutions, proper fire planning and early-stage fire risk mitigation. Additionally, Fogelman is on the National Fire Protection Association’s Technical Committee for Hazard Materials. (Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanjayfogelman or email at rfogelman@firerover.com) 

Scope, Consequences & Solutions of Fires Incidents at Waste & US/Canada Recycling Facilities

Ryan has been tracking and consolidating the reported fires at our waste and recycling facilities since 2016. During this session Ryan will be taking a deep dive into the fire incidents our industry faces, how it has changed historically and how we compare to other nations around the globe. Additionally, Ryan will discuss the consequences of these problems that include direct costs of incidents, injuries to employees and firefighters, operational downtime, and increased insurance rates with decreased options for our operators. Finally, Ryan will discuss the short and long terms solutions to these problems that include education, operational best practices and technology solutions.

Executive Vice President

Todd Coy is the executive vice president of KBI and vice president of Retriev Technologies battery recycling group. KBI is a Southern California battery management company and Todd is currently responsible for the build out and strategic mapping of a new KBI business unit called xEV Strategies. This unit specializes in logistics, warehousing, IT development, and assisting clients with end of life battery management

Recycling old batteries through the use of innovative technology

Proper end of life management of old batteries is important to protect our solid waste and recycling infrastructure and recycling these batteries will preserve our valuable natural resources. Through its partnership with Retriev Technologies, KBI recycles all types of small battery chemistries, as well as large format electric vehicle batteries, recovering the materials originally used to make the new batteries in the first place. Todd will review the process of how old household and embedded type batteries are recycled at it’s battery recycling facilities, as well as inform the audience about Retriev’s “Big Green Box” battery collection system.

Attendees will learn why it is important to choose to recycle batteries

Doug has been “talking trash” for over 28 years and is currently Executive Director for the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC).  Previously, he spent over 18 years with Sacramento County, 2+ years with Edgar & Associates, and 5+ years with Yolo County.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from California State University, Chico.

Doug is the Chair on the SWANA California Chapters Legislative Task Force.  Formerly, he was the Chair of CPSC, the Founding President of National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), Chair of the Mattress Advisory Committee, and a member of the California Carpet Stewardship Program Advisory Committee.