APRC Moderators

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Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz, M.S., Water Quality Program Manager, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz is a Water Quality Program Manager at the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation on detail for the Water Quality Protection Program at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). There she implements innovative solutions to critical issues affecting the interface of land and marine resources, through stakeholder engagement and education. As part of her interdisciplinary approach, she participates in rangeland restoration efforts, through the Healthy Soils Program. Here she works to demonstrate that land-based practices can improve ocean health by reducing atmospheric carbon and diminishing the rate of ocean acidification and warming. 

In an effort to reduce land to sea marine debris sources, Jazmine leads collaborative efforts to find end-of-life solutions for agricultural field plastics. She works with agricultural stakeholders, including growers, the University of California Cooperative Extension, Washington State University, and California Polytechnic State University to conduct trials of Soil-Biodegradable-Mulch (BDM). Together, the team is researching BDMs as an alternative to non-degradable mulch used vastly in agriculture fields within the MBNMS watersheds. Additionally, with support from The Nature Conservancy and key stakeholders, Jazmine is also working on identifying and communicating ways to increase the recycling rate of drip irrigation tape used in agricultural fields across California’s Central Coast.

Eugene (Gene) Jones, Executive Director, Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc. (SWIX)

Gene Jones serves as Executive Director of the Southern Waste Information Exchange (SWIX), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has been operating since 1981 assisting businesses and municipalities with their waste management and remediation issues. 

With over 40 years of experience, Gene specializes in building strategic relationships with waste and remediation firms.  He brings a vast knowledge of various  environmental sectors from organizing and managing conferences such as;

•  the PFAS Forum,

•  the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Conference & Trade Show, 

•  the Waste Conversion Technology Conference & Trade Show, 

• the Southeast Recycling Conference & Trade Show, 

• the New Life for Closed Gas Stations Conference and Exhibition, 

•  the International Symposium on the Redevelopment of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites, 

•  the National Conference on Waste Exchange and Resource Reuse, and 

•  Florida Remediation Conference.

as well as in managing associations such as:

•  Florida Agricultural Plastics Recycling Cooperative

•  Florida BioFuels & BioEnergy Association, Inc., 

•  Recycle Florida Today, Inc.,

•  International Society of Technical & Environmental Professionals, Inc., 

•  Florida Brownfields Association, Inc., and

•  Keep Florida Beautiful, Inc.

Gene is a Martial Arts practitioner and has his 8th degree black belt in Shaolin GoJu and a 5th degree black belt in Nisei GoJu. Gene is also the Author of Instant Self-Esteem: Empowering Self-Confidence and The Mindful Sensei.

Gene is also the inventor of the Soap Bag Saver, which he designed for the reuse of leftover soap bars.  

Ted Kaiser, President, Dock 7 Materials Group, LLC

Ted Kaiser is the President and founder of Dock 7 Materials Group, LLC, a global plastics recycling business with over $7 million in annual sales. The company specializes in feedstock supply of scrap, resins, and recycled plastic, particularly from the agricultural sector. Dock 7 focuses on the agricultural plastics sector and deals in all types used for farming, irrigation, transport, and packing. Ted and his team have a wealth of experience in bringing these materials to market through solving complex logistical and collection challenges. In 2013, Ted was named a “Rising Star” under the age of 40 by Plastics News and has been published in multiple publications including Resource Recycling’s Plastics Recycling Update. He currently serves on the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Conference advisory board and Dock 7 is a Silver Sponsor for the annual Plastics Recycling Conference.

Sam Sugerman, Sustainability Manager, Toro Ag

Sam Sugerman is the first Sustainability Manager for Toro Ag (a division of the Toro Company) and leads Toro Ag's extended producer responsibility around agricultural plastics, specifically drip tape. Prior to joining Toro Ag, Sam completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Michigan and concurrent to his role at Toro, he is completing courses at Auburn University in pursuit of a graduate Agricultural degree. Leveraging expertise in corporate/environmental sustainability and agriculture, Sam hopes to help agricultural adapt to resource demands and changes in climate while maintaining economic viability.

Marty Metro, CEO, UCB Environmental

Marty Metro is an eco-entrepreneur and successful CEO with a “if at first you don’t succeed” attitude… and a track record to prove it! After earning an MBA and being known as an early-expert in SAP (mid 90s), Metro risked it all to be an eco-entrepreneur… and failed miserably.  He then tried a bigger and better approach, which succeeded! 
 

Metro educates and inspires audiences of all sizes that environmental initiatives don’t have to be expensive. Implemented properly, they can actually make money. Metro and his team call it “Sustainable Sustainability” and he shares his passion for both THINKING ABOUT and IMPLEMENTING, sustainable sustainability programs. 
 

In 2002, well before the environmental movement took off as we know it, Metro launched Boomerang Boxes, a chain of eco-friendly retail stores that bought/sold USED moving boxes.. He had dreams of a national franchise and scaled the idea to four retail locations.  But just 3 years in, it became clear his attempt was premature, undercapitalized and riddled with logistic flaws. In short, it was simply not “sustainable”.  After 3 long years of massive losses, no profit and no income, Metro was forced to cease all operations, leaving himself (and his supportive wife) with not just an empty bank account, but $300,000+ of personal debt! 

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Devastated but not discouraged, Metro took a “day job” as a technology consultant (leveraging his then-outdated knowledge of SAP) and spent nights and weekends rehashing his mistakes. His relentless entrepreneurial drive lead him to revise the business plan, raise capital and re-launch a scalable, tech-centric model to buy and sell MILLIONS of used boxes, just one year later.  

That revised plan was renamed UsedCardboardBoxes.com and grew to a national reuse logistics firm now working with some of the largest, most well known companies in the country (Califia Farms, Dole, Family Dollar/ Dollar Tree, General Mills, Kellogg, Keurig, McCain Foods, McCormick Spice, Menard’s, Rolex, Simplot, Taylor Farms, TJMaxx/Marshalls, Walgreens, Walmart and 100s more).  Metro’s rough journey to success has been covered by most major news outlets throughout the years. 
 

Entrepreneur Magazine featured Metro and in an article entitled: 

“From Business Failure to Multimillion-Dollar 'Green' Niche“ 

Metro’s knack for applying sophisticated technology to a traditionally low-tech industry was just the beginning.  Seeing first hand all of the other “waste” that UsedCardboardBoxes’ clients were PAYING to process drove Metro and his team mad!  They saw so many major US manufacturers mismanaging and undervaluing perfectly recyclable and/or reusable commodities by simply throwing them away!  This meant unnecessarily high waste bills and missed revenue opportunities from recycling and reuse.  So Metro and his team leveraged the knowledge, experience and technology they had created over the years, to tackle ALL solid waste, via UCBZeroWaste.  This new asset-light company is a waste reduction firm that helps clients manage ALL commodities, ALL vendors, ALL logistics, ALL monthly invoicing and ALL reporting, using its own proprietary software called WATER (Waste Analytics & Tracking for Environmental Reporting).  UCBZeroWaste’s program and software are now used by some of the largest, most recognizable brands in the country, including McCormick Spice (#1 Must Sustainable Food Company), Dole, Kellogg and even Rolex! 

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Over the past few years Metro and his team have leveraged their experience, technology and stellar reputation in the industry to create an umbrella brand, for all of these operations units, and more!  Metro launched UCBEnvironmental - a family of companies focused on “Sustainable Sustainability™”. Within this umbrella, there are multiple distinct operating units: UsedCardboardBoxes.com, UCBPalletSolutions, UCBOrganicWaste, UCBTrading and UCBZeroWaste. 

Metro is an inspirational example of how businesses CAN balance environmental responsibility with financial returns and is available to be booked for speaking engagements that inspire “Sustainable Sustainability”.  

Metro graduated Cum Laude from the University of Maryland and earned an MBA in Information Systems & Management from the University of Arizona, before beginning his career as a SAP consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). After almost a decade of helping large companies increase profits by utilizing enterprise technology, Metro is now a nationally recognized eco-entrepreneur helping companies reduce waste (cost) and increase recycling & reuse (revenue). 

Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Associate Professor, Small Fruit Horticulture, Washington State University

Lisa W. DeVetter is an Assistant Professor of Small Fruit Horticulture at Washington State University. Her research program has focused on improving production efficiencies using plastic mulch films in strawberry and raspberry productions systems. She and her collaborative team has also been investigating improved waste management systems for plastic mulch films.