Biographies

Mark Lichtenstein, President and CEO, National Recycling Coalition:Mr. Lichtenstein has more than 30 years of experience with sustainability and environmental stewardship. He is Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Sustainability in the President’s Office of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). He is also serving an eighth term as president and CEO of the National Recycling Coalition, Inc.; previously he was president during the 1990s. Recently, he was Executive Director of the Syracuse University Center for Sustainable Community Solutions and Environmental Finance Center. Lichtenstein has been facilitating the Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands Recycling Partnerships, and is an active member and co-facilitator of the Vieques Sustainability Task Force (a strategy of the Presidential Task Force on Puerto Rico). He is a faculty associate in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration at Syracuse’s Maxwell School, and is an instructor at ESF. He is engaged with efforts throughout the US, and in Belize, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Mexico focused on sustainability issues. Lichtenstein served as an expert witness to the Federal Environmental Finance Advisory Board. He has a Master of Arts in Public Administration, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Studies in Conflict Resolution, both from the Maxwell School, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from ESF. He has certified mediator training, is an experienced interest-based negotiator and process facilitator, and is a certified public participation specialist.
Judith Enck, Region 2 Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Judith Enck is Regional Administrator of Region 2 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Regional Administrator, she works with state and regional authorities in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and eight federally recognized Indian Nations, administers federal programs governing air and water pollution, industrial discharges, toxic substances, pesticides, protection of streams, lakes and the ocean, solid and hazardous wastes, the cleanup of chemical spills and abandoned hazardous waste sites, and much more. Previously, she was Deputy Secretary for the Environment in the New York State Governor’s Office, where she was responsible for policies and operations of New York State’s environmental protection agencies including the Department of Environmental Conservation, Office of Parks, Adirondack Park Agency, Agriculture and Markets, and Department of State. Judith’s Full Bio

Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Mathy Stanislaus is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response. He leads the EPA’s effort to transition from waste management to life-cycle based materials management through the Sustainable Materials Management Initiative. Mr. Stanislaus has focused on opening government, and empowering local communities to participate in all of OSWER’s decisions through the Community Engagement Initiative. He has expanded the brownfields program to provide tools to local communities to revitalize economically distressed communities in America’s downtown including through the innovative Area Wide Brownfields Pilot program. He leads the Agency’s efforts to support community based actions to address environmental justice under Plan EJ 2014. He led EPA’s response efforts during the BP Spill- serving weeks in Unified Area Command. He serves on the White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Mathy’s Full Bio

Ryan McMullan, Manager of Environmental & Safety, Toyota: Ryan McMullan leads several EHS and Sustainability programs in the Environmental, HazMat, and Safety division of the Corporate Responsibility department at Toyota Motor Sales. He leads waste reduction efforts for Toyota in North America, including the development of strategic metrics. In addition to developing and delivering EHS training, he is also in charge of environmental sustainability for the sales and distribution operations in the US, including recycling, energy conservation, greenhouse gas inventories, and corporate planning. He earned his Master’s degree in Corporate Environmental Management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara and his Bachelor’s degree from Rice University.

Nina Goodrich, Executive Director, GreenBlue: Nina Goodrich is the Director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and the Executive Director of GreenBlue. GreenBlue is dedicated to researching and promoting the principles of sustainable materials management that seek to help industry: use materials wisely, promote material health and recover more. She believes in the power of the circular economy to provide growth without waste. Nina came to GreenBlue with an industry and consultancy background in R & D management, innovation and sustainability strategy. Nina believes that innovation and sustainability are linked as key drivers for our future. Nina has held leadership positions in R & D with Alcan Packaging, Amcor, The Guelph Food Technology Center and Magic Pantry Foods. While in industry, as a lifetime student of the innovation process, she worked to develop a value innovation process for re-invention. This process has provided a key framework to link innovation and sustainability. At Alcan Packaging she held the position of Director, Sustainnovation in the Growth and Innovation Organization. It was this role that she came to understand the opportunity side of sustainability and the role it can play in re-inventing competitive corporate strategy. Nina has worked to develop a value proposition for sustainability and to share it with all who will listen. She has done graduate work in technology management and holds a BA in Molecular Biology from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Regarded as a thought leader in the field, Nina speaks and writes frequently on the convergence of sustainability, innovation and technology.

Joe Pickard, Chief Economist, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.: Joe Pickard serves as the Chief Economist and Director of Commodities at The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. where he conducts research and analysis on commodity and scrap market developments and the key economic role that recycling plays both in the U.S. and abroad. Pickard regularly provides information and insights on the primary and recycled iron and steel, nonferrous metal, paper, plastics and electronics market to the 1,600 ISRI member companies as well as to industry associations, policymakers, the press and the general public. He is also a frequent contributor to Scrap magazine. Pickard previously served as the economist for The International Copper Study Group in Lisbon, Portugal and as a research analyst at Slayton & Associates, a consulting firm in Alexandria, VA. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from Virginia Tech and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from Loyola University Maryland.

Scott Mouw, State Recycling Program Director, NC DENR: Scott Mouw directs the state of North Carolina’s recycling program, which works to improve material collection, expand material markets, increase public recycling participation, and improve the state’s overall recycling infrastructure. He oversees the program’s community and recycling business grant programs, as well as provision of technical assistance services to local governments, recycling businesses, and waste generators, and implementation of the state’s recycling policies. Scott sits on the board of the Southeast Recycling Development Council and has participated in a wide range of regional and national initiatives to advance recycling and materials management, including the Product Stewardship Institute, AMERIPEN’s Technical Advisory Group, APR’s Rigid Plastics Committee, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition Labeling project, the EPA Sustainable Recycling Financing dialogue, the SERDC 120 Advisory Council, and the Curbside Value Partnership Technical Council.

English Bird, Executive Director, New Mexico Recycling Coalition: English Bird is the Executive Director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition (NMRC), a statewide nonprofit education and advocacy organization with a mission to lead New Mexico to value waste as a resource. For the past 13 years at NMRC, English has worked on or is working on projects ranging from providing technical assistance to communities around NM, food waste and organic material diversion resources, expanding access to recycling using the hub and spoke model, construction industry recycling, developing strategies with partners to reach a 50% recycling rate, hosting and serving as a speaker at a variety of professional development trainings, and developing small scale niche recycling business models as economic development opportunities. NMRC launched a National Sustainable Resource Manager accredited program in 2013, which leveraged the existing NM Recycling Facility Operators Certification Course with the addition of a newly developed Recycling Professionals Training.

Al Rattie, Director of Market Development, US Composting Council: Al Rattie is currently serving as the Interim Executive Director and Director of Market Development for the US Composting Council. He manages the Seal of Testing Assurance Program (STA) as part of his duties. This is a national compost testing and labeling program which has been specified by 15 state agencies (DOTs and state EPAs). The STA program now includes the Consumer Compost Use program, the first national compost standards program.

Bob Gedert, Director, Austin Resource Recovery: Bob is the Director of the Austin Resource Recovery Department for the City of Austin (formerly named the Solid Waste Services Department). He is responsible for a 400 employee operation that provides direct services to Austin citizens, including trash, recycling, and yard trimmings collection, street sweeping, litter and dead animal pickup, household hazardous waste, and the implementation of the Austin Zero Waste Plan. He has been involved in recycling and waste reduction programs since 1975, and is considered a leading national expert in Zero Waste program implementation. Bob is nationally recognized amongst his peers as pioneering cost efficiencies in trash collection systems through the implementation of zero waste programming. Bob has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He has taught environmental ethics in several universities as a visiting guest lecturer, including most recently Yale University. He co-authored the Austin Resource Recovery Master Plan, outlining the implementation roadmap of Austin’s approach toward Zero Waste.

Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner, New York City Department of Sanitation: Kathryn Garcia was appointed as New York City’s 43^rd Sanitation Commissioner in March 2014 by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The largest municipal sanitation agency in the country, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) protects public health and safety by collecting, recycling, and disposing waste, cleaning streets and vacant lots, and clearing snow and ice. As Commissioner, Kathryn set an ambitious long-term goal of Zero Waste in New York City. A lifelong New Yorker, Garcia was previously the Chief Operating Officer at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the city’s water and wastewater utility. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ruth Abbe, Principal, Abbe & Associates LLC: Ruth Abbe is a senior management consultant with 25 years of experience in program planning and implementation, facility and collection procurement, contract negotiation, financial analysis, and stakeholder engagement. As the principal of Abbe & Associates LLC, she is working with municipalities across the U.S. to develop the social and physical infrastructure to achieve Zero Waste. Ruth has worked with more than 50 communities and private sector clients to plan and implement their recycling, organics, construction and demolition debris programs and Zero Waste strategies. She has provided high diversion planning and program implementation services to the cities of Austin and Dallas, Texas, Fort Collins, Colorado, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and the cities of Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Pasadena, San Francisco, and San Jose, California.