2016 WRED Events

What Happened in 2016:

March 24, 2016 | The Big Stuff-Carpet & Mattress Recycling
Murrey’s Disposal, Fife, WA

On Thursday March 24, we kicked off the 2016 WRED season with a fascinating look at “The Big Stuff” and dove into the worlds of carpet and mattress recycling. Over 70 people joined us at Murrey’s Disposal in Fife, WA to hear from experts and innovators in the carpet and mattress realm of recycling. Attendees received behind the scenes tours of both Carpet Processing and Recycling, LLC and NW Furniture Bank to see the hard work and innovation happening first hand.

Presentations

A Brief History of Carpet Recycling – Alli Kingfisher, WA Dept of Ecology
Mohawk’s Innovations in Sustainability – Brent Erickson, Mohawk
Mattress Recycling in King County and Nationally – Alex Erzen, King County Solid Waste
The Story of the NW Furniture Bank and Springback Recycling – Jeremy Simler, NW Furniture Bank

August 11, 2016 | Ready for Primetime: Sustainability in Shipping
Town Hall, Steilacoom, WA

On Thursday, August 11 over 60 attendees joined us at the idyllic Town Hall of Steilacoom in historic Steilacoom, WA for, ” Ready for Primetime: Sustainability in Shipping”. Attendees began the day enjoying the beautiful weather and views in downtown Steilacoom. We explored all aspects of the shipping process, sustainable innovations and how to deal with the new and abundant types of materials from a recycling perspective. Before wrapping up the presentation portion, WSRA board member, Lisa Sepanski and Executive Director, Anne Baunach presented Amazon’s Sustainability Team with their 2014 Recycler of the Year Award for Innovation. Attendees then took a short ride via school bus for a behind-the-scenes tour of Amazon’s Dupont Fulfillment Center. They were guided by knowledgeable and energetic staff who answered questions and helped explain the inner workings of the facility. One attendee said that the tour was “One of my favorite all time WRED Tours”.

Presentations

Packaging Waste Trends & Case Studies – Amity Lumper and Christine Duffy, Cascadia Consulting
Materials Management and e-Packaging – Minal Mistry, OR DEQ
Sorting of Cardboard from Residential Co-Mingled Recyclables – Dave Claugus, Pioneer Recycling
Sustainable Paper Solutions – James Moody, WestRock
Sustainability at UPS – Wendy Ramsey, UPS
Find out more about Amazon’s Sustainability

September 19, 2016 | Greening the Game
King Street Center, Seattle, WA

Around forty attendees gathered at King Street Center for our Greening the Game WRED event on Monday, September 19, 2016. WSRA and The Green Sports Alliance partnered to explore food’s lifecycle in some of Seattle’s biggest sports venues. Diving into all aspects of stadium food production and its environmental impacts, food waste prevention, sustainable packaging, and food waste composting. The day concluded with behind the scenes tours of both CenturyLink Field and Safeco Field. Greening the Game has never been so fascinating, informative and fun!

Presentations

Sustainable Food Management at Sports Venues – Domenic Calabro, US EPA Region 10
Seattle Mariners Sustainability Efforts – Ryan van Maarth, Seattle Mariners
NatureWorks LLC – Grant Braasch, NatureWorks LLC
CenturyLink Field Sustainability – Dawn Wheeler, Delaware North
Partnering With Sports Venues to Divert Food Scraps – Casey Funke, Cedar Grove

December 1, 2016 | Paint Recycling: More Fun Than Watching It Dry
Water Resources Education Center (WREC), Vancouver, WA

At the beautiful Water Resource Education Center in the City of Vancouver, over 50 attendees jumped into a full day of everything paint recycling. Starting with an overview of the Clark County program, currently the only latex paint recycling program in the state, then diving into the legislation around paint stewardship in WA as well as other states around the country. Then we had an in-depth look at the workings of the Oregon PaintCare program from all aspects, PaintCare, local government, vendor, retailer and processor. Attendees continued to network over lunch before going on a behind-the-scenes tour of MetroPaint to see paint recycling in action!

Presentations