STRATEGIC RESEARCH PLAN

Approved by EREF Research Council on March 20, 2009 (rev. 10/2009)

It is the goal of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation to fund far reaching, impactful and high quality research that can be used to by solid waste industry to achieve sustainability, good environmental stewardship, higher process efficiency and increased knowledge.  The strategic research plan exists to further this goal by ensuring research initiatives contain a vision for future trends.  Thus, elements of the plan intend to accomplish goals over a minimum time span of 3-5 years with the understanding that some research initiatives may require longer term commitments due to their scope or fundamental nature.

The mission of the strategic research plan is to direct research funding initiatives that have broad reaching impacts on the solid waste industry and society as a whole. Specifically, this strategic plan aims to:
a. Generate sustainable, efficient and environmentally responsible technologies and solid waste management strategies
b. Ensure current and future industry research needs are being met
c. Solve complex technical, scientific or regulatory issues that cannot be easily addressed by a single or limited number of studies
d. Serve as a guide for unsolicited proposal review

Research Areas of Specialization
Long-term research initiatives are separated into nine areas of specialization and further into sub-areas which are intended to focus attention to specific issues or needs.  Research initiatives are not necessarily bound by this categorical classification and multi-disciplinary approaches may be desired or required to achieve the best possible endpoint for a particular research directive.  It should be noted the specialization areas and sub-areas, listed below in no particular order, have been developed primarily to meet the needs of current EREF stakeholders and may be expanded at any time to incorporate the needs of new stakeholders.

1)  Landfills
a. landfill gas generation/recovery (e.g. GHG emissions, CH4 recovery)
b. landfill processes (e.g. bioreactors)
c. leachate treatment
d. carbon sequestration
e. covers (permanent, temporary, daily)
f. environmental protection/remediation (e.g. odor, ground/surface waters, liners)
g. waste pre-treatment
h. construction/demolition debris (C&D)

2)  Transport/Collection
a. carbon emissions/reduction
b. improved fuel efficiency

3)  Policy/Economics
a. regionalization impacts
b. revised emission factors
c. carbon credits/trading
d. flow control

4)  Recycling/Waste Minimization
a. materials recycling
b. packaging reduction
c. materials recovery facilities (MRFs)

5)  Combustion/Waste-to-energy
a. alternative waste streams/special wastes
b. ash management
c. emissions

6)  Equipment/Safety
a. worker safety/ergonomics
b. equipment design
c. worker health and exposure risks
d. hybrid technology or use of alternative fuels
e. use of bio-friendly lubricants/hydraulic fluids

7)  Conversion Technologies
f. aerobic/anaerobic (biological) treatment
g. MBT
h. diversion
i. alternative energy/biofuels

8) Life cycle inventory/analysis

9) Education*
a. application of solid waste research
b. educational tools that utilize solid waste research
c. research conferences

*  Education focus area excludes scholarship program, continuing education activities and other education related proposals unrelated to the application of solid waste research.