Another year … another record.
The 2024 MRN/SWANA Mid-Atlantic Conference exceeded all expectations and set a new record --- 212 registrants!
(See who registered.) Indeed, it was a full day of learning, conversing and exploring.
The program was a packed lineup complete with 3 general and 8 breakout sessions. Throughout the day, there was also plenty of opportunity to visit and chat with our 25 sponsors and vendors
(see who was there), catch up with colleagues, and make few new friends along the way.
The day began with breakfast (and lots of coffee!) followed by a close look at
effective methods to keep batteries out of the waste stream and manage the consequences when they do get in.
Attendees then headed into two morning breakouts where they were able to choose between an
update on MD legislative issues or learning about
methane measurement & reduction strategies.
Following a quick break with a chance to visit our exhibitors, attendees gathered again to hear about either
behavior change programs that work or
PFAS compliance sampling.
After indulging in lunch which included celebrating two SWANA scholarship recipients and a quick MRN business meeting where members
elected the 2024/25 Board of Directors, we caught up on
What's New & What It Means for You.
The day wasn’t done yet! The afternoon included another 2 more breakout sessions where attendees chose between
hazardous and hard to recycle materials or
treatment technologies for PFAs for the first session, then
EPA grants or
maximizing throughput while emphasizing safety in our transfer stations for the second session.
Rounding out the day was a general panel discussion featuring three Maryland counties/municipalities regarding the design and implementation of their
food waste collection programs. The session offered attendees a unique opportunity to see a program at various stages of development and how jurisdictions of different sizes are able to manage the implementation.
You can view pdfs of the speaker slide decks here.
Finally, for those that like to stick around to take stock of the day, there was a happy hour event which included steamed crabs, BBQ, veggies and an open bar. A great time had by all.
As always, a special thanks to our sponsors, whom we couldn’t do this without, and all the exhibitors for spending the day with us.