Plastics: Hero or Villain When We Manage Their Afterlife?

Webinar Summary

Plastics have always had a rocky reputation. Fifty years ago, the Kinks’ sang "Plastic Man" as a paean to their superficiality. Now they are blamed for a wide array of problems ranging from marine debris, environmental injustice, negative health impacts and fraudulent recycling. Yet their use has transformed the products we use in our daily life and what we do with those products when we are through with them. In 1960, plastics were less than half of a percent of America’s trash. Today, they are one-eighth of the garbage we generate. Their impact is significant.

This webinar will look at the rise of plastics in our waste. It will examine collection, disposal (whether energy recovery or landfill) and recycling along with the extent to which plastics have led to less waste to manage. Through this webinar you will learn more about plastics' pervasiveness in our society and how we can best manage their afterlife.

About the Presenters

Bob Gardner holds B.S. and M.E. degrees in civil engineering from the University of Virginia. He is a Senior Vice President of SCS Engineers and has been with the firm since 1980. He serves on the firm’s Board of Directors, and oversees SCS’s nation-wide solid waste management practice.

His expertise is in solid waste management and environmental engineering. He provides consulting and engineering services to municipal and private clients throughout the United States and abroad. Bob is involved with the Environmental Research and Education Foundation Research Council. He is a past Director of Solid Waste Association of North Americas Landfill Management. He is a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer with a specialty in Solid Waste Management.

Chaz Miller is a fifty-year veteran of the waste and recycling industry. He was part of EPA’s original Resource Recovery program, is a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Recycling Coalition, chaired the Aiming for Zero Waste Task Force in his home county in Maryland and writes an award-winning column for Waste360 magazine.

Webinar Format

This will be an interactive session with "live chat" capability. The session is open to environmental engineering and science professionals across all sectors and career stages. Our objective is to offer special insights on leading edge solutions for graduate and undergraduate students as well as early to mid-career environmental professionals who are considering specialty certification.

AAEES Board Certified Individuals: Attend this event and earn 1.5 PDHs towards your PDH requirements for maintaining your specialty certification.

Register Today

Would you like to sponsor an AAEES webinar? We are now offering two levels of webinar sponsorship. 

Silver Level Sponsorship 

Silver Level Sponsorship is available to individuals only. Companies/Organizations are encouraged to choose the Gold Level Sponsorship. This package includes your name and short message displayed at our webinar, on the AAEES website, and on AAEES Social media pages. (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) Your promotional message can also be included in one of our monthly newsletters. $300 

Gold Level Sponsorship 

Gold Level Sponsorship is open to individuals and organizations with 199 or less employees. This package includes all of the above plus the opportunity to display your organization’s promotional video during the webinar. This level also includes 8 complimentary webinar registrations. $1,000 

Larger organizations of 200 or more employees are encouraged to join our Patrons Program which includes numerous tailored sponsorship opportunities.

Click here for details.