SWEEP, A New Environmental Performance Standard for Municipal Solid Waste, Begins Open Development on America Recycles Day

    NEW YORK, NY, November 15, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (SWEEP) is launching its open development process on November 15, America Recycles Day, a national initiative of Keep America Beautiful.

Despite the existence of standards and certifications for products and companies, there is no unified protocol governing the environmental performance and definition of sustainable materials management--including recycling and waste disposal--for municipalities and the solid waste and recycling industry. This is the niche that the SWEEP standard is designed to fill. The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) is supporting the SWEEP initiative with administrative services during the development process.

"As the first resource recovery industry association in the nation, NRRA believes that the time is right for a new approach to sustainable materials management," said Mike Durfor, Executive Director of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association.

SWEEP's mission is "To promote continuous improvement toward a zero waste society that is environmentally restorative, economically productive, socially just, and to recognize and reward municipal and industry leadership in sustainable materials management."

"It's important to centralize our knowledge on best practices in solid waste management and provide recognition to those that excel," said Adam Gendell, Associate Director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. "SWEEP will provide a boost that benefits everyone."

SWEEP will develop two standards: one for Municipal Programs and one that will apply to the rest of the industry. These standards will evaluate Sustainable Materials Management Policies, and activities in Waste Generation and Prevention, Waste Collection, and Post-Collection Processing and Disposal.

"The time is right for a standard that gets us away from strictly tonnage-based evaluation of recycling and waste management programs, and SWEEP is part of this new approach," said Susan Robinson, Public Affairs Director for Waste Management.

SWEEP is seeking municipal and industry waste professionals interested in helping develop this important standard. Interested parties should go to http://www.nrra.net/sweep to sign up to participate in the development of SWEEP.

"The industry is ripe for transformation," stated Rob Watson, Chief Science Officer of EcoHub LLC and Acting Chairman of the SWEEP Steering Committee. "We look forward to tapping industry expertise that will help develop a clearly-defined roadmap to Zero Waste."

About the SWEEP Steering Committee

The SWEEP Steering Committee is currently comprised of seven waste and sustainable materials management and market transformation experts:

Bob Gedert, Director, Austin Resource Recovery Department; Chairman, National Recycling Coalition
Adam Gendell: Associate Director, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, GreenBlue
Susan Robinson, Public Affairs Director, Waste Management, Inc.
James Thompson, Principal & Founder, Waste Business Journal
Duncan Watson, Assistant Director Public Works/Solid Waste Manager, City of Keene, NH; Chairman, NRRA
Rob Watson, Chief Science Officer, EcoHub LLC; Founder of LEED
Mike Williams, VP Strategic Development, BlueGreen Alliance

Full bios can be found at: http://nrra.net/sweep/about-us/steering-committee/

About NRRA:
The Northeast Resource Recovery Association is one of the oldest Resource Recovery organizations in the nation advocating for materials management solutions for over 35 years. Established in 1981, the NRRA is a non-profit 501(c) organization that provides cooperative purchasing programs, educational and networking opportunities, technical assistance, and cooperative marketing programs that have received national recognition for establishing innovative grassroots recyclables marketing cooperatives with competitive pricing which enable small, rural and large urban communities to manage their own recycling programs!

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