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 Internal Regulations
Organisational Structure

General Secretariat

Marc Tijhuis
Managing Director
Bio

Aditi Ramola
Technical DiRector
Bio

Jose Uribe-Echevarria
Operations Director
Bio

Mariana Tzaribacheva
Finance Manager
Bio

Saaiqa Merali
Communications Manager
Bio

Rachele 'Rae' Chwee
Membership Engagement Manager
Bio

Abhimanyu Chakravorty
Technical Communications Coordinator
Bio

Mostafa Ahmed
Technical Coordinator
Bio

Daphne de Leeuw
Events Manager
Bio

Ceren Baran
Engagement Officer
Bio

Mafalda Lemos
Office Manager
Bio

Léa Zamuner
Technical Communications Coordinator
Bio
Board

James Law
President
Bio
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 Ragossnig
Vice-President
Bio
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
STC Chair
Bio
Björn Appelqvist has nearly 25 years of experience in the waste management sector, spanning consultancy, municipalities, utilities, and private contractors. His expertise includes waste strategy and planning as well as development, implementation, and operation of waste collection schemes. Björn possesses comprehensive knowledge of procurement and contract management for waste collection and treatment services.
A dedicated member of ISWA since 2006, Björn has held several prominent roles, including Chair of the Working Group on Recycling and Waste Minimisation and Chair of the Task Force on Circular Economy and Resource Management. Since 2018, he has served as Chair of ISWA’s Scientific and Technical Committee and as a member of the ISWA Board. Björn has also contributed to landmark publications, including ISWA’s Sustainable Waste Management – Principles and Guidance for Lasting Change.

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 the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia since 2015.
From managing several mega water supply projects after graduating from the UK in Civil Engineering in 1980, he found himself getting involved in the waste management industry in 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 the 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
Treasurer
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 served as chair of the ISWA Communication Working Group and member 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
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.

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.

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 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 in 2013.
In 2020, Ms. Tan was elected as ISWA RDN Representative for Asia Pacific.

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 the 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 agricultural irrigation, 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
Organisational Member Representative