About ISWA

The International Solid Waste Association is an international network of waste professionals and experts from around the world whose mission is “To Promote and Develop Sustainable and Professional Waste Management Worldwide and the transition to a circular economy.”

We hope to achieve this by bringing together waste experts from around the world to network, create best practices, produce industry reports, as well publishing our own scientific journal Waste Management and Research. We are the platform that allows our members to share and curate knowledge among their peers.

 

Statutes

The relations between the different bodies of ISWA and their establishment, competences and responsibilities are laid down in the Statutes and the Internal Regulations of the association. Changes to the Statutes and Internal Regulations require approval by the General Assembly, two third majority and simple majority respectively.

Download the ISWA Statutes

Download the ISWA Internal Regulations

 

Organisational Structure

General Secretariat

Marc Tijhuis
Marc Tijhuis

Managing Director

Bio

Marc Tijhuis joined ISWA in August 2019. He has Masters in Chemistry from Leiden Univeristy and has over 20 years management experience in both the commercial and non-for-profit sectors.

Aditi Ramola
Aditi Ramola

Technical DiRector

Bio

Aditi Ramola joined ISWA in February 2016 where she leads the technical team and has been responsible for developing international partnerships and cooperation projects with the CCAC, UNEP, UH Habitat etc. She has an MSc in Environmental Technology and International Affairs from the Vienna University of Technology and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna where she focused on the energy analysis of plastic waste management in her thesis. She has many years of experience in both intergovernmental orgnisations as well as within the private sector.

Jose Uribe-Echevarria
Jose Uribe-Echevarria

Operations Director

Bio

Jose Uribe has a Masters in Industrial Design Engineering, specialising in Innovation Management. He has many years experience leading change in international environments. He joined ISWA in 2016 and is proud to be part of the General Secretariat team.

Mariana Tzaribacheva
Mariana Tzaribacheva

Finance Manager

Bio

Mariana Tzaribacheva joined ISWA in January 2019. She graduated from the University of Economics ‘’Finance & Controlling’’ and Management training at IMD Business School , with 20+ years of experience and leading finance positions in international and regional structures in the area of payments & financial services, as well as global non-profit organisations & JV.

Alan Encinas
Alan Encinas

Technical Program Manager

Bio

Alan joined ISWA in March 2020. He has a Masters in Environmental Science from Wageningen University & Research and has several years of experience of Environmental Engineering in wastewater treatment, sustainable tropical agriculture, and the automotive industry.

Chantal Mambu
Chantal Mambu

Office Manager

Bio

Chantal Mambu joined ISWA in April 2020. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management and has over 6 years experience working in Sales and Marketing, Banqueting, and Front Office Departments.

Saaiqa Merali
Saaiqa Merali

Communications Manager

Bio

Saaiqa Merali joined ISWA in June 2021. Originally from Tanzania, Saaiqa has a Bachelor of Science in Media and Communication from Erasmus University Rotterdam. She has previous experience in Events, Tourism, Ethical Fashion and Public Relations, and is passionate about impact-driven initiatives.

Rachele 'Rae' Chwee
Rachele 'Rae' Chwee

Membership Engagement Manager

Bio

Rae Chwee joined ISWA in May 2022. She holds a Hons. Degree in Chemical Engineering from UCSI University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was previously the Manager in the Waste Management Association of Malaysia (WMAM). With over 9 years of experience, she had been involved with government and member liaison, member recruitment as well as executing training programs, workshops, forums and conferences for industry players in the waste industry in Malaysia. With her background she is passionate in developing the waste and environmental sector locally and internationally.

Zhiren Ye
Zhiren Ye

Event Manager

Abhimanyu Chakravorty
Abhimanyu Chakravorty

Technical Communications Coordinator

Bio

Board

Carlos Silva Filho
Carlos Silva Filho

President

Bio

Carlos Silva Filho is a Brazilian lawyer specialising in Administrative & Economic Law, who started working in the waste industry in 1999 as legal advisor at ABRELPE – Brazilian Association of Waste Management Companies, ISWA National Member in Brazil. In 2008 he became ABRELPE’s Executive Director and in 2012 its President. Mr. Silva Filho has been dedicated to developing waste related Regulations, Waste Plans, Communication Strategies and Data research and analysis.

Mr. Silva Filho has been a member of ISWA since 2005. In 2011 he became a member of the ISWA board, was elected Vice-President in 2014 and in 2015 he cofounded and chaired the ISWA Young Professionals Group. In 2020 Mr. Silva Filho has been nominated and elected as ISWA President.

Arne Ragossnig
Arne Ragossnig

Vice-President

Bio

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.

Nancy Strand
Nancy Strand

Treasurer

Bio

Nancy Strand works as senior advisor in the Norwegian national member, Avfall Norge, the Norwegian waste management and recycling association. She recently stepped down after seven years as CEO, and before that she worked as general manager for LOOP, a foundation that fosters better recycling habits. In 1990 she founded one of Norway’s first environmental consultancies, and has worked to coordinate business concerns with environmental efforts throughout her career. She holds a degree in Business Administration from the Norwegian Business School, and Environmental Resource Management from the University of Southeast Norway.

In 2020 she was elected as ISWA’s Treasurer.

Björn Appelqvist
Björn Appelqvist

STC Chair

Bio

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.

Ana Loureiro
Ana Loureiro

National Member Representative

Bio

Ana Loureiro is the Communication Director of EGF, the leader company for waste management in Portugal and in 2012 she won the Communicator of the Year Award, given by the Portuguese Association for Business Communication. Ms. Loureiro is also a member of the Portuguese Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering and Advisory Board Member of the Portuguese Association for Business Communication.

Ms. Loureiro has been an ISWA member since 2002. She was both the Vice-Chair and Chair of the ISWA Working Group on Communications, where she is still an active member. Currently, within ISWA, she is helping with the Global Waste Management Outlook II and working for the ISWA Scholarship Project. However, the newest challenge came in 2020, when she was allected as member of the Board, representing National Members.

Ho De Leong
Ho De Leong

National Member Representative

Bio

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.

 

 

Gunilla Carlsson
Gunilla Carlsson

Organisation Member Representative

Bio

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
Axel Hanenkamp

Organisation Member Representative

Bio

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.

Melissa Tan
Melissa Tan

Regional CHAPTER Representative - Asia & Pacific Region

Bio

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.

Marcelo Rosso
Marcelo Rosso

Regional chapter representative- Latin America & Caribbean

Bio

Marcelo Rosso is an industrial engineer, specialized in integral management of urban solid waste, industrial and hazardous waste. With over 30 years of engineering experience, Marcelo has a vast knowledge of project management and implentation in the field of waste management.

Doron Sapir
Doron Sapir

Regional CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVE- Southeast Europe

Bio

 

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.

 

ISWA Regional Chapters

Latin America and the Caribbean

Southeast Europe

Asia Pacific

Africa

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