CRRA 2023 Conference and Trade Show

Executive Director

Recycling Program Manager

Peter Slote began his career in recycling in 1991 as a supervisor at San Francisco’s first curbside recycling processing facility at Norcal Waste Systems (now Recology). From 1995-2001 he managed paper recycling facilities in the Bay Area at Weyerhaeuser Company. In 2001 he joined the City of Oakland's Recycling Program and has overseen the program since 2015. Peter served as a member of the California Resource Recovery Association board of directors from 2008-2020.

Oakland! Organics!

In 2012 the City of Oakland released an RFP for an exclusive franchise to collect and process mixed materials and organic materials from Oakland’s approximately 160,000 residential dwelling units and approximately 6,000 businesses. The City awarded the franchise to Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC), and required WMAC to construct and operate processing facilities to advance the City’s vision to virtually eliminate landfill disposal of compostable organic materials. Since 2015 WMAC constructed and operates three processing facilities: an aerated static pile composting facility located at WMAC’s Altamont Landfill and Resource Recovery Facility in eastern Alameda County to compost source separated organics collected from Oakland’s single family households; an organic material recovery facility (OMRF) to recover organics from mixed materials collected from residences and businesses prior to landfill placement, located at WMAC’s Davis Street Resource Recovery Complex and Transfer Station in San Leandro, CA; and an organic material composting facility (OMCF) to compost source separated organics collected from businesses and the organics recovered at the OMRF. These three facilities represent approximately [$400M - to be confirmed] in capital investments funded by Oakland rate payers through the City’s exclusive franchise. Mr. Slote will share quantitative and qualitative outcomes of Oakland's comprehensive efforts to collect, recover, and compost all organic materials managed under this franchise. He will deliver a detailed presentation of material flows and processes, and a comprehensive overview of Oakland's unique system of source separated collection and recovery from mixed material processing to virtually eliminate landfill placement of compostable organic materials.   

Zero Waste Program Manager

Jack Macy, Zero Waste Program Manager, for the City and County of San Francisco, Environment Department oversees and manages San Francisco’s Zero Waste Program. He has more than 35 years of experience in developing and managing innovative and model composting, recycling and other zero waste programs and policies at the local and state level. He led the development of the first large scale US urban food composting program and many zero waste policies and their implementation for San Francisco. These policies include adopting a zero waste policy, mandatory C&D recovery, mandatory composting and recycling separation, banning polystyrene foam, requiring compostable and recyclable products, and banning single use plastic bags and requiring bag charges among others. He has presented across the globe and helped a wide variety of jurisdictions and organizations in pursuing zero waste.

San Francisco’s Organics Strategies

San Francisco has been implementing strategies for organics recovery for many years including mandatory food, yard trimming and soiled fiber composting collection from all sectors and growing edible food recovery infrastructure. An overview of these strategies in the context of San Francisco’s zero waste policy and climate action plan, along with some key results and where the city is headed to achieve its goals will be presented.

VP of MRF Processing

Ricardo Lopez has been with GreenWaste for more than 25 years, working as a sorter, collection vehicle operator, and MRF Supervisor. Ricardo became MRF Operations Manager in 2008. Ricardo is responsible for the direct oversight and management of all aspects of the GreenWaste MRF operations, including the supervision of staff, commodity management, material hauling and transport, and safety reports. Ricardo also oversees all contract compliance aspects of the MRF, including transportation, allocation, and tracking of all recyclable materials and solid waste processed at the facility.

GreenWaste: Organics Recovery