RecycleBank Co-Founder Joins New York City Sanitation Department Staff

In the new position, Gonen will be responsible for managing the department’s Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling. He also will be in charge of advancing Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC goal of dramatically increasing the city’s urban recycling program.

In a news release, Doherty states, “I am pleased that Ron Gonen, a nationally known recycling industry leader, has agreed to join the Department of Sanitation as we move forward with our plans to increase the city’s diversion rate from 15 percent to 30 percent by the year 2017. Ron’s years of work in the recycling and sustainability field perfectly matches the needs that we have at the DSNY (New York Department of Sanitation) so that we can meet the mayor’s specific goals.”

In accepting the position, Gonen says, “I am honored to join the team at DSNY and the Bloomberg administration and I look forward to doing my part with the people of NYC to make our city a model of urban environmental management. There will be a number of continual challenges, but if we remain focused on the value and opportunities that can be created by managing our resources in a more sustainable way, then we will create enormous value together."

Most recently, Gonen has been an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. He also is the co-founder and managing director of Healthy Planet, an environmental services firm that is helping to green the sports industry by deploying renewable energy in stadiums. Gonen also is known as the co-founder of RecycleBank.

During his tenure asRecycleBank CEO from 2004 to 2010, the company grew to service more than 100 cities and earned a number of business and environmental awards. He remains a member of RecycleBank's board of directors.