Michael Snipes is the Solid Waste Director of Laurens County Solid Waste Management Authority, GA

Michael was born and raised in Dublin, GA and is a 1989 graduate of Southern Tech with a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology. He was hired by the Laurens County SWMA as their Director in 2005. He initiated the first county- wide recycling program in Laurens County, and operates their Old Macon Road Landfill which includes MSW, C&D and Inert landfills and a composting operation in addition to a Single-stream Sorting Facility. He is a Certified Landfill Operator (Georgia) and a SWANA Certified Manager of “Composting Programs” and “Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems”. In 2009, they received the SWANA Silver Excellence Award for Landfill Management and 1st place for Waste Reduction and Recycling from Keep Georgia Beautiful. In 2013, they were awarded the SWANA Gold Excellence Award for Composting.

Currently, Michael serves as Past President of SWANA – Georgia Chapter. He hosted the SWANA International Truck and Equipment Road-e-o in 2011 and 2016. He has served on numerous stakeholder committees with Ga. EPD including the Compost Rules Stakeholders Committee and most recently, the Solid Waste Trust Fund Stakeholders Committee.

Michael presented on Tuesday, October 13.

Kevin Perry is the President & CEO of the Georgia Beverage Association in Atlanta, Georgia. Kevin is responsible for maintaining the non-alcoholic, refreshing beverage industry’s internal and external communications programs, and works to promote good relations with GeorgiaBev’s members, governmental officials, business organizations, local and state news media, and community organizations. Kevin serves in three primary capacities: beverage industry lobbyist, public relations strategist, and association manager.

Kevin was previously Manager of State and Local Affairs for the National Soft Drink Association in Washington, D.C. where he executed the industry’s grassroots program, worked on forced deposit and special tax legislative proposals, and developed resources for state associations and government affairs representatives.

Kevin presented on Tuesday, October 13.

Matt James has worked in the recycling industry since 2013, and he has worked for the recycling office at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality since 2017. In his current role, he builds partnerships between local governments and recycling businesses, and he provides financial and technical support for recycling.

Matt lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Matt presented on Tuesday, October 13.

Laura Rowell is the Director, Global Sustainability, for Sonoco Products Company. She is recognized for her expertise packaging standards, regulations, government policy and scorecards. Laura serves as a Sonoco representative to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and is a member of the Board of Directors for AMERIPEN, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, both of which she helped establish. She was an active member of the Consumer Goods Forum’s Global Packaging Project designed to set global standards and metrics for sustainable packaging and served as a Project Lead for the ISO work to create Packaging and the Environment standards.

Laura presented on Wednesday October 14.

William “Billy” Johnson is the Chief Lobbyist at the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) in Washington, D.C. Billy works closely with ISRI members to formulate and advance proactive recycling policy strategies for a variety of issues, such as electronics recycling, trade promotion, rail transportation and recycling equipment tax policies.

Billy has been leading efforts in Washington, D.C. to establish a bi-partisan Congressional Recycling Caucus with the goal of creating a permanent and long-term approach to educating policymakers, promoting the recycling industry, and advancing recycling issues on Capitol Hill.

Accordingly, Billy actively activates ISRI’s members through a constituent-based advocacy program using Membership Fly-In Days and Congressional facility tours to communicate and advance the recycling industry’s priorities.

Billy  presented on Wednesday, October 1.

Ross Sloane received his undergraduate degree from The Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Immediately upon graduation he started service to his country as an officer in both the US Navy and US Coast Guard. He would continue to serve for a career that would span over twenty years. As a military pilot he was involved in numerous oversees deployments, search and rescue cases, helped stand up the nation’s first air to air intercept helicopter squadron over Washington, DC and retired with distinction as the Operations Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi. Post retirement he entered the aerospace industry and flourished in the role of Instructor Pilot prior to entering senior management positions. During this period, he also earned his MBA from The Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.

Over two years ago Ross left aerospace to accept the challenge of implementing the operational portion of a rapidly emerging company now known as Braven Environmental. He has since transitioned to his current role in development and overseeing all special projects. 

Ross presented on Wednesday, October 14.

Ksenija Janjic is an environmental protection specialist in the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Mrs. Janjic works in the Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG) program. She also works on projects related to sustainable management and measurement of waste materials being used and generated in the construction and demolition of the buildings and roads of our built environment. Mrs. Janjic holds a Master of Community Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and a Master of Architectural Engineering from the University of Belgrade in Serbia. Her experience prior to joining EPA in 2011 includes work in the architectural design and engineering field.

Ksenija presented on Thursday, October 15.

Jan Hardin is the Solid Waste Program Manager with Waste Reduction Partners (WRP). In this role, she coordinates the progress of WRP’s Solid Waste Team of retired engineers. Jan also directly serves a variety of clients in North Carolina’s commercial, industrial, agricultural, educational and government sectors, with no-cost technical assistance for waste reduction. Jan and her WRP team help clients divert thousands of tons from the landfill each year and avoid disposal costs by finding outlets for hard to recycle materials, improving recycling programs, and implementing green manufacturing strategies.

Jan presented on Thursday, October 15.

Dr. Kimberly Cochran is the Chief of the Sustainable Materials Branch in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, leading the team that works the National Recycling Strategy, the sustainable management of plastics and electronics, increasing international resource efficiency, and developing tools and information to understand the life cycle impacts of materials.

She previously worked at the U.S. Department of State on international chemicals and waste issues, including developing the new Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as working on issues under the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. Dr. Cochran also previously worked at EPA on concerns associated with construction and demolition debris.

Kimberly presented on Thursday, October 15.