Raleigh, NC (February 12, 2014) – The field of solid waste management continues to change and such changes continually bring new aspects to the sustainable management of the wastes that we, as a society, throw away. Coupled with the initiative to ensure research funded reflects the long-term strategic direction of the solid waste industry, it has also been recognized that there are specific research topics that are more urgent than others, having potential impacts that are both long and short term. To this end, this request for proposals (RFP) is intended to address high need topics, as identified by the solid waste industry via the Environmental Research & Education (EREF) Board of Directors and Research Council.