James Law is the Vice President at SCS Engineers, USA. He has over 35 years of experience in civil/geotechnical engineering and the solid waste management industry on both national and international projects.  He serves as the President of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), an Honorary Member, and the Chair of the ISWA Working Group on Landfill and the Task Force on Closing Dumpsites Global Initiative. He holds ISWA certification as an International Waste Manager (IWM) with international status.

Mr. Law is a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He is a member of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), a national member of ISWA. He holds the prestige SWANA certification as a Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO).

He is currently licensed as a Professional Engineer in multiple states in the USA. He is certified as a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) in sustainability by the American Association of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and accredited as LEED AP BD&C by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Arne is managing partner at ecoconsultants an Austrian consultancy focussing on environmental engineering consulting in general and waste related consulting and expert`s services in particular.

He has been active within ISWA for the last 20 years, lately he has been responsible for the relocation of the ISWA General Secretariat from Vienna to Rotterdam as Interim Managing Director from 2018 – 2019. In his role as associate editor of ISWA`s journal Waste Management & Research he was an active part of the editorial group for 15 years and has been promoted to Editor-in-Chief in 2019.

Björn Appelqvist has worked in the waste management sector for more than 20 years and has worked in consultancy, municipalities, intermunicipal companies and with private contractors. Since 2016, he works as Department Manager for Waste & Resource Management at Ramboll, a global engineering, architecture and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945. Björn is also a member of the Technical Committee of DAKOFA – Waste and Resource Network Denmark.

Mr. Appelqvist has been an active member of ISWA since 2006. In 2013 he was elected Chair of the Working Group on Recycling and Waste Minimisation and part of the Scientific and Technical Committee of ISWA. Since 2018, Björn is the Chair of the Scientific and Technical Committee of ISWA and member of the ISWA Board of Executives.

Mr Ho De Leong is a Civil Engineer by profession and currently holds the following key positions:
• Chief Executive Officer of SWM Environment Sdn Bhd – waste management company with 8000 employees since 1997.
• Founding Member and Chairman of the Waste Management Association of Malaysia since 2005.
• Director of Waste Management companies in Malaysia, Singapore and China.
• Board Member of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) for Regional Development Network for Asia Pacific from 2014 -2020
• Founding Member of Asia Pacific Waste and Environmental Alliance (APWEA) since 2016.
• Appointed KESATRIA by Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia since 2015.

From managing several mega water supply projects after graduating from UK in Civil Engineering in 1980, he found himself getting involved in the waste management industry since 1994 when the tender for the National Privatization of Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Services was called. Since then, he has been actively involved in promoting Waste Management in Malaysia through WMAM, the association which he co-founded in 2005 and as a Board Member of ISWA and Representative for Regional Development Network for Asia Pacific. He also organized the ISWA World Congress in 2018 in Malaysia attracting more than 200 speakers and 1600 participants from over 70 countries.

He currently manages the largest waste management company in Malaysia with 8000 employees providing solid waste management and public cleansing services in 27 local authorities to more than 1,500,000 premises.

Ms. Gunilla Carlsson has been actively working with Waste Management for the last 15 years and with strategic communication for almost 25 years. She has been the Communications Director for South Scania Waste Company since 2006. and, since May 2021 she is the Director of Public Affairs & International Relations. Ms. Carlsson has also been on the Board of Executives of the Swedish Association for Waste Management since 2013 and part of the Board of Directors of South Scania Waste Company since 2006.

In the year 2010 she became the chair of the ISWA Communication Working group, and a part of the Scientific and Technical Committee of ISWA. She has been coordinating the communication activities within the Task Force on Marine Litter and lately moderating and driving the Cities Network in the CALC-project.

Axel Hanenkamp is Senior Vice President Technology of MARTIN GmbH for Umwelt- und Energietechnik, one of the worldwide suppliers of Waste to Energy technologies. He is in charge of pioneering innovations within the MARTIN Group that drive the transition to a sustainable circular economy. He has been actively working in the energy and environmental business over the last 20 years and having held a range of managerial positions at companies including GE Power and MAN Diesel & Turbo SE before joining MARTIN GmbH für Umwelt – und Energietechnik.

He was elected to the ISWA Board in 2023, representing Organisational Members.

For the past 20 years Ms. Melissa Tan has been the general manager for Wah & Hua, a general waste collection and processing company in Singapore. She has been actively developing and driving growth strategies for the company, and in 2019 she has successfully grown the company to have a stake in Singapore’s public waste collection in partnership with ALBA. Melissa has been on the Board of Executives of the Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore since 2006, and was elected Chairperson since 2013.

In 2020 Ms. Tan wa elected as ISWA RDN Representative for Asia Pacific.

Mr. Sapir has been the first Deputy Mayor of the City of Tel-Aviv since January 1996. In December 1998 he was elected chairman and acting CEO of the Dan Region Association of Towns Sanitation and Solid Waste Disposal. In this role he served 20 years. He has worked on the environmental rehabilitation of the huge 16 million tons dump and headed a team that promoted and managed the development of the Hiriya recycling park. He also established the very successful environmental educational center near Hiriya dump site. In 2003, Sapir signed an agreement with Arrow Ecology to establish a facility for sorting mixed municipal waste and generating electricity from biogas, quality water for irrigation for agriculture and fertilizer from about 400 tons of household waste. In 2017, Sapir established the largest recycling plant in Israel at Hiriya, treating 1,500 tons per day of MSW producing RDF for a cement plant. Mr. Sapir currently serves on the ISWA Board, representing National Members since 2017.

Rafael Sanjurjo Lopez is an Environmental Engineer with over 25 years of experience in waste management and recycling across Europe and the Middle East. Specializing in sustainable waste solutions, Rafael has led diverse projects ranging from municipal to hazardous waste, incorporating innovative technologies and strategies.

As CEO of Waste Collection and City Cleaning at BEEAH, the UAE-based pioneer for sustainability and digitalisation in the Middle East, he has solidified the company’s leadership in the region by managing large-scale projects for government entities alongside high-profile commercial clients. His strategic direction has driven operational excellence and expanded partnerships, ensuring continued growth in sustainable waste management, lead efforts to shape cleaner societies and cities, deliver industry-leading waste management solutions and foster strategic partnerships for a sustainable future.

Before joining BEEAH, he held several leadership positions in the UAE, including as the Regional General Manager at Blue, and as a General Manager at Star International Waste Management. He also held several leadership roles at Urbaser, where he oversaw waste management projects in Spain, the UAE, the wider Gulf region and South Asia.

Rafael holds a Master’s degree in Forestry, Environmental & Natural Resources Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, as well as additional qualifications in Renewable Energies and Marketing & Business Management. He is a member of the Policy Committee of the UAE Circular Economy Council and a Full Member (MREI) of the Renewable Energy Institute.

Nicolle de Bruyn is a dedicated and dynamic professional who has served as the Executive Officer of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) since 2021. In addition to her leadership role, she is an active member of the IWMSA council. Nicolle is driven by a genuine passion for her work, which fuels her motivation and commitment to excellence. She is recognized for her flexibility, reliability, and exceptional time management skills, consistently delivering high-quality results in all aspects of her role.