These great forums connect industry peers facing similar challenges through a series of virtual meetings and tours throughout the year. We organize these domain-specific gatherings to help both members and non-members share their current initiatives, ideas, and progress in solid waste management and reduction. Each group has a facilitator, and participants help shape the agendas based on their current interests and needs. Most meetings include presentations and a roundtable where individuals can share updates.
Meetings are held online and tours are in-person. Each meeting follows a basic similar format that includes information-sharing and awareness-building roundtables along with presentations that are meaningful for learning about new technologies, processes, or best practices.
Past meeting summaries serve as learning resources, and new resources and news articles are sent out over a year to keep everyone in tune.
To share meaningfully within group topics, participants should be working on solutions in that specific area.
A note to sales gurus: these groups are rich resources for information and you are welcome to bring valuable information and expertise. We discourage hard selling. Build rapport, share expertise, and be part of the solutions.
Co-led by Kaolin Mallette (Berry & Smith Trucking) and Joseph Pitre (Western Rubber Products). This inaugural year will allow us to determine the ideal goals of the group as the interests in this area are vast and include discussions on hazardous waste, recruitment and retention, logistics in rural areas, regulations, cost drivers, and more!
Thursday, March 13, 2025 | Hauler & Fleet Manager Roundtable | 2:00 – 3:30 PM |
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | Hauler & Fleet Manager Roundtable | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | Hauler & Fleet Manager Roundtable | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Co-led by Mike Nestor (Denman Island) and Abby McLennan (Let’s Talk Trash) and includes ongoing updates, presentations, problem-solving discussions, successes and challenges for managing waste from BC Islands, rural, and remote areas. Meetings are quarterly.
Thursday, February 13, 2025 | Island, Rural & Remote Communities #1 | 10:00 – 11:15 AM |
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 | Island, Rural & Remote Communities #2 | 10:00 – 11:15 AM |
Thursday, September 11, 2025 | Island, Rural & Remote Communities #3 | 10:00 – 11:15 AM |
Thursday, November 6, 2025 | Island, Rural & Remote Communities #4 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
This is a small but mighty working group of LFG collection field and flare operators in BC who come together to discuss LFG topics and problem-solve together. Meetings are held every two months. *By invitation.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | LFG Field & Flare Operators #1 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 | LFG Field & Flare Operators #2 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 | LFG Field & Flare Operators #3 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | LFG Field & Flare Operators #4 | 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
This group comes together for roundtable updates, problem-solving discussions, sharing information, successes, and challenges to keep each other informed and learn from one another. Co-led by Christian Dietrich (Ecowaste Industries), this group meets 4 times a year and provides additional support to each other between meetings. *By Invitation
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 | Landfill Operators Working Group #1 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | Landfill Operators Working Group #2 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 | Landfill Operators Working Group #3 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | Landfill Operators Working Group #4 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
This discussion group is co-led by the Let’s Talk Trash team, this groups brings together educators and communicators from corporate organizations, non-profits, and local governments to discuss best practices, challenges and opportunities to communicate with the public. This group meets 3 times a year plus ad hoc discussions as needed.
Thursday, March 20, 2025 | Educators & Communicators Roundtable #1 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 | Educators & Communicators Roundtable #2 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 | Educators & Communicators Roundtable #3 | TBD / Hybrid |
Co-led by Todd Johnston (Regional District of Central Kootenay) this group meets on specific topics related to building, construction and demolition waste diversion, from policy to new innovations. Topics are determined by attendees and range depending on the group interest and needs. NEW! Extra roundtable for RURAL/REMOTE C&D waste will be set in 2025!
Friday, February 21, 2025 | C&D Waste Working Group #1 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | C&D Waste Working Group #2 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Thursday, July 3, 2025 | C&D Waste Working Group #3 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Friday, November 7, 2025 | C&D Waste Working Group #4 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
Crosses all areas of the topic from producers of reusables to policy analysts. This group aims to better-understand the challenges and potential solutions for plastic waste and bring relevant information back to the local industry via an annual workshop or panel discussion.
Thursday, March 6, 2025 | Plastic Waste Reduction Working Group #1 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Thursday, June 19, 2025 | Plastic Waste Reduction Working Group #2 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
Thursday, September 18, 2025 | Plastic Waste Reduction Working Group #3 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
This group meets to stay on top of what is happening with organics management and food recovery across BC. Topics are determined by attendees and range depending on the group interest and needs. This group has three planned meetings/roundtables and one major event per year. Ad hoc meetings for specific challenges are added as needed.
| Thursday, February 20, 2025 | Organics & Food Recovery Working Group #1 | 9:30 – 11:00 AM |
| Thursday, June 5, 2025 | Organics & Food Recovery Working Group #2 | 9:30 – 11:00 AM |
| Thursday, November 20, 2025 | Organics & Food Recovery Working Group #3 | 9:30 – 11:00 AM |
Co-led by Renée Macdonald (Galiano Island Recycling) and just starting to grow and determine the ideal goals of the group as the interests in this area are vast and include discussions on recycling, repair, re-use, and reduction. This group meets twice a year and have added a tour in 2025!
| Thursday, April 3, 2025 | Textile Waste Reduction Roundtable #1 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
| Friday, November 21, 2025 | Textile Waste Reduction Roundtable #2 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
| Tuesday, May 6, 2025 | Northern BC Solid Waste Roundtable #1 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM |
| Tuesday, July 8, 2025 | Northern BC Solid Waste Roundtable #2 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM |
CWMA has annual and ad-hoc roundtables that can bring an important discussion or exploration of a specific topic that also includes summary updates from everyone around the table to bring each other to a heightened understanding of the work of colleagues across the industry. Our roundtables hold all participants on equal footing, and ideas are equally exchanged by participants on a given topic.
Hosted by Regional District of Nanaimo, Capital Regional District, City of Victoria and including an update by the Ministry of Environment and Parks. Local Governments come together to share updates on solid waste management initiatives and challenges in a roundtable facilitated format. This event is specifically for Local Government and First Nations Solid Waste Managers only. Date this year: October 8, 2025