SWANA’s David Biderman reappointed to US Commerce Department advisory committee

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has announced that David Biderman, the association’s CEO and executive director, has been appointed again to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee (ETTAC). The committee represents the waste management and resource management segments of the U.S. environmental technology industry.

Biderman initially was appointed to the committee for a two-year term in 2016. As part of ETTAC, he will provide advice to government officials and others on the development and administration of initiatives that expand U.S. exports of environmental technologies, goods and services. He chaired ETTAC’s Waste Management & Circular Economy subcommittee in 2021-2022, which produced important recommendations concerning closing dumpsites, a proposed international plastic pollution prevention treaty and other waste and recycling issues.

“I am honored to be reappointed to this important governmental advisory committee and represent SWANA and the U.S. solid waste sector,” Biderman says. “The growing global challenges associated with Climate Change, marine litter, plastic pollution and environmental protection demand action. U.S. companies have substantial expertise in these areas and can assist developing nations [to] achieve their sustainability goals.”

Biderman’s involvement in ETTAC has increased the interactions between government agencies, SWANA and other companies in the solid waste and recycling industry, according to the association. SWANA has expanded its international profile in recent years. In 2020, SWANA delivered a landfill training and capacity-building education program to nearly 100 landfill managers and governmental officials, primarily from Colombia.

SWANA also provided landfill and transfer station training in Belize in November 2022 and has written several reports for the Inter-American Development Bank. SWANA is currently having discussions with several solid waste stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean concerning future projects.