"Talking Trash in Northern New England" a Success

October 6, 2020
On Friday, October 2, 2020 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, over 70 people attended the 7th Annual virtual "Talking Trash in Northern New England" event co-chaired by NRRA in partnership with EBC, SWANA, NWRA, and ecomaine. 
 
The Commissioners from the environmental protection agencies in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont presented, along with staff from the Environmental Protection Agency Region One.  They updated attendees on the state of the solid waste industry and discussed their state and federal-level waste generation and recycling challenges and opportunities.   
 
PFAS was one common topic all speakers identified as a challenge and discussed in depth.  Did you know that according to testing in Vermont, textiles from bulky waste and carpet accounted for some of the highest levels of PFAS entering the waste stream?  The below slide is from the presentation given by Peter Walke, Commissioner of  the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.  
 
PFAS Table
 
Additional topics included product stewardship, anaerobic digestion and composting, waste to energy, landfill capacity and closed landfill management, and recycling and reuse.  
 
The final agenda and copies of the presentations given are available at https://ebcne.org/news/presentation-seventh-annual-talking-trash-conference-in-northern-new-england/.  
 

Program Chairs:

Speakers:

  • Christine Beling, Project Engineer, Brownfields and Sustainable Materials Management, Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division, U.S. EPA Region One
  • Robert Scott, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Services, State of New Hampshire
  • Peter Walke, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation, State of Vermont 
  • Melanie Loyzim, Acting Commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine
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