Waste World

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards chats with Kevin Kelly, CEO of Emerald Packaging, about the rollout of California's SB 54 and the challenges businesses are encountering as the state's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program moves from legislation to implementation.  Kelly discussed the law's intent to reduce packaging waste while shifting responsibili...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards sits down with Todd Ellis, Vice President of Services and Solutions at The Battery Network, to discuss one of the fastest-growing challenges facing the waste and recycling industry: battery collection and recycling. Ellis explains why consumers often struggle to understand where batteries should be disposed of and how that confusion contribu...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards recaps his experience attending the Waste Leadership Summit and highlights some of the biggest conversations shaping the waste and recycling industry. From interviews, panel discussions, and other events at the show, he explores recurring themes that surfaced throughout the summit, including artificial intelligence, safety culture, PFAS mana...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards sits down with Dave Riordan, chief customer officer at Lytx, and Ryan Brandos, senior director of strategic accounts, to discuss how AI, video analytics and connected technologies are reshaping fleet operations in the waste industry. Riordan and Brandos discuss emerging uses for AI-powered video systems, including service verification, conta...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards chats with J.T. Marburger, CEO of Circular Solutions, about the importance of recycling verification and how better data can help improve transparency across the industry.  The podcast centers on the company's deployment of its Circular OS™ platform at the Indianapolis 500, where Circular Solutions tracked beverage containers from colle...

On this episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards is joined by Liz Bothwell, Head of Content at Waste360 and founder of the 40 Under 40 program, for a conversation reflecting on a decade of recognizing the waste and recycling industry’s rising stars. Together, they discuss how the awards program has evolved over the years, the changing face of leadership across the industry, and the impact...

This episode of the Waste World Podcast features a session from WasteExpo 2025, moderated by Gage Edwards. The session “Cleaner Streets, Smarter Routes: How AI is Shaping Waste Collection” explored how municipalities, fleet operators, and technology providers are applying AI to route optimization, maintenance, contamination detection, and curbside collection.  Panelists included Craig Vanderhyde o...

On this week’s episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards breaks down key takeaways from the 2026 ReMA conference. This year’s discussions highlighted how industry is navigating increasing complexity, from operational safety risks to evolving regulatory frameworks and the growing role of advanced technologies. But one question remained: how can the industry scale effectively while managing n...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards spoke with Alexis Wells Carpenter, Chief Innovation Officer at AxNano, about how PFAS are impacting the industry and what it will take to address them. Carpenter highlights how AxNano is focused on moving beyond traditional containment methods by developing technologies that can fully destroy PFAS, particularly through on-site, point-source...

Bank mergers are usually covered in terms of size, speed and regulatory approval. Yet sometimes the most important part is what they mean for the industries those banks serve. That’s what makes this conversation with Joe Ursuy, Executive Vice President, National Businesses for Energy, Renewables, and Waste, so valuable. Following Fifth Third’s acquisition of Comerica, Ursuy finds himself leading a...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards spoke with Valerie Bedrock, Senior Specialist, Material Profiling, Reworld, about how lithium-ion battery fires start and why they are becoming more frequent. Bedrock explained that once batteries are damaged, crushed, or exposed to heat, they can ignite quickly, often in collection trucks or processing facilities where they are difficult to...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards spoke with Stacy Grace, co-founder and CEO of KENT, about how the apparel industry contributes to plastic pollution and what it takes to create truly circular, compostable products. Grace shared that at least two-thirds of clothing today is made from synthetic materials, many of which contain hidden plastics that consumers may not even reali...

In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards spoke with Joseph Blackman, founder of Vitendo Training Solutions, about how video-based training can help utilities capture knowledge and pass it on to the next generation of workers. Blackman’s approach focuses on turning real-world expertise from veteran operators into short, practical training videos that can be accessed in the field whe...

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly critical issue for utilities and infrastructure sectors as digital tools and artificial intelligence reshape operations. In this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards spoke with Brian Westnedge, who leads tech alliances and strategic partnerships for Red Sift, about the growing cybersecurity challenges facing water and wastewater utilities. With...

This week’s episode of the Waste World podcast features a session from WasteExpo 2025 titled “Culture at the Core: Driving Success in the Waste Industry.” The discussion centered on one of the most influential forces behind organizational performance: company culture. From safety and accountability to employee engagement and growth, panelists shared how culture shapes not only internal operations...

In this episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards sits down with Todd Mathes, CEO of Denali, to explore the fast-evolving world of organics recycling and food waste diversion. The conversation dives into how companies are rethinking waste as a resource and why landfill diversion is gaining urgency across the U.S. Mathes brings more than three decades of operational experience across food ma...

In this episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards sits down with Jim Cocita and Sam Keenan to unpack the forces shaping mergers and acquisitions across the environmental services sector. The podcast covers what defined 2025, how investor priorities are evolving, and why consolidation continues to reshape the industry.  Jim Cocita, managing director at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, bring...

On this episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards recaps his time at Compost 2026 in Sacramento and two Waste360 features that captured the industry’s biggest conversations. Gage breaks down how California’s SB 279 is designed to work alongside SB 1383 to expand composting capacity, ease permitting challenges, and address the state’s growing “homeless biomass” problem.  The episode also hig...

On the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards chats with Sara Burnett, executive director of ReFED, about why momentum is finally building and how bipartisan policy, private-sector engagement and consumer behavior shifts are starting to move the needle on a system-wide challenge that still sees a large share of food go uneaten. Burnett spent nearly two decades at Panera Bread, where she led clean food,...

In this episode of the Waste World podcast, Gage Edwards is joined by Todd Thomas to examine how AI-driven growth is reshaping waste measurement, material recovery, and private-sector climate leadership. The conversation focuses on why 2026 is shaping up to be a turning point for construction sustainability. Todd Thomas is the founder and CEO of Woodchuck, a climate-tech company using artificial i...

Construction and demolition debris continues to be one of the most significant contributors to global waste generation, presenting both environmental challenges and opportunities for innovation. This episode of the Waste World Podcast features the WasteExpo 2025 panel session titled “C&D Recycling Landscape: The What’s Now & What’s Next,” which brought together industry leaders to examine...

The importance of safety in the waste and recycling industry can’t be more obvious, but some of the most impactful risks are also the easiest to overlook. This episode of the Waste World Podcast features the WasteExpo 2025 session titled “Safety Within Your Walls & Beyond – Shop, Fleet/Equipment & On the Street,” which brought together industry leaders to explore how safety must be address...

As 2025 comes to a close, the Waste World podcast takes a look back on a year of interesting and consequential news from the waste and recycling industry. In this special year-end episode, Gage Edwards counts down the Top 10 most impactful stories published on Waste360.com in 2025, highlighting the top stories from across the industry.  From fire safety and recycling economics to policy shifts, co...

On this episode of the Waste World Podcast, Gage Edwards is joined by Adam Peer, senior director of plastics sustainability at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), for a wide-ranging discussion on how policy, data, and technology are shaping the future of plastics recycling in the U.S. Peer leads ACC’s Plastics Sustainability Team, where he works across the value chain to advance policies and par...

AI is booming and the waste and recycling industry is beginning to see where AI can deliver real, measurable value. From improving fleet safety and operational efficiency to enhancing material sorting and consumer engagement, AI-powered technologies are reshaping how waste is collected, processed, and managed. This week’s episode of the Waste World podcast features a WasteExpo 2025 session titled,...