ISRI2019 introduces Residential Recycling Summit

The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) 2019 Convention & Exposition (ISRI2019) will add a Residential Recycling Summit to its lineup of educational workshops, according to a news release from the Washington-based association. The summit, which is comprised of seven sessions, is designed to provide what ISRI describes as a “deep dive into the issues surround plastics, paper and residential recycling.

“Over the course of the last 18 months, a spotlight has been shined on issues in the residential recycling stream,” ISRI President Robin Wiener says. “As the Voice of the Recycling Industry, ISRI has been working aggressively to bring together stakeholders, including recyclers, brand owners, municipalities, and MRF (material recovery facility) operators to address the challenges and opportunities facing residential recycling today.”

She adds, “I am excited about the dialogue that is going to occur during ISRI2019, where experts, local government officials, manufacturers and operators from across the country will come together to improve residential recycling.”

ISRI says the summit brings together all segments of the value chain to discuss solutions to the challenges society is currently experiencing with curbside recycling. This programming track focuses on issues such as new markets for recovered fiber, innovations in consumer packaging, sustainability issues and municipal/MRF contracting best practices.

A variety of Residential Recycling Summit sessions are scheduled for April 10-11:

• Curbing Recycling Contamination with The Recycling Partnership;
• Contracting Challenges: Providing Best Practices for MRFs and Municipalities;
• Spotlight on Paper: The Impact of E-commerce on Residential Recycling Programs;
• Spotlight on Plastic: Tackling the Plastic Pollution Problem;
• A Call to Action: How Recycling can Reduce the Environmental Impact of Man-Made Materials;
• Increasing Recycling Through Packaging Innovation; and
• Breakouts: Continuing the Conversation.

ISRI encourages municipal officials to attend to explore why curbside collection programs across the country are seeing changes in the materials they are handling and why some materials are finding market outlets while others are being challenged. This conversation can help in the decision-making process in their communities and improve their collection programs.

Session descriptions and times can be found on the ISRI2019 website at www.isri2019.org. Municipal and other government employees should contact Jonathan Levy at ISRI for more information on the registration process.