Board members
Caroline Mitchell, voting member, City of Fort Collins
Representing: Municipality (3-year term)
Caroline is the Waste Reduction and Recycling Program Manager at the City of Fort Collins. During her 11 years at the City, she has developed waste reduction and recycling policy for the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, engaged in regional policy and infrastructure development partnerships, managed the Timberline Recycling Center, coordinated education campaigns, managed the hauler licensing program and developed Fort Collins’ community diversion rate calculations, as well as supported recycling in the business and multi-family sectors. Caroline has worked in the recycling industry for 19 years, working with non-profit recyclers Eco-Cycle and Recycle Ann Arbor prior to joining the City of Fort Collins. She served as a member of the board of Recycle Colorado.
Jake Niece, voting member, Ouray County
Representing: County seat (2-year term)
Jake is an Ouray County Commissioner who lives in Ridgway among the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. Originally raised in Greeley, he attended the University of Colorado where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and has worked in a broad range of fields including as an engineer, wildland firefighter, snowmaker, energy auditor, and project manager for regional sustainability initiatives. Niece ran for Commissioner, in part to further sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction goals, and was seated in January of 2021.
Gail Garey, voting member, City of Steamboat Springs
Representing: Non-Front Range local government seat (3-year term)
Gail is serving her first term on the Steamboat Springs City Council. In that role, she is the representative for Steamboat Springs on the Climate Action Collaborative which is comprised of elected officials from Routt County and municipalities in the County, along with representatives from the private sector and the community-at-large. As Chair of the Organics Recycling Task Force, Gail worked collaboratively with a group of passionate individuals whose efforts were instrumental in the creation of a community-wide compost program. She also serves on the Board of the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council. She is the Founder and Creator of Impact 360 Strategies, whose mission is to guide and empower businesses to accelerate environmentally friendly and socially responsible, sustainable business practices that benefit the bottom line and create positive social change by becoming certified B Corporations.
Richard Kattar, voting member, Swordfish Consulting
Representing: Materials recovery facility seat (2-year term)
Rick Kattar began operating MRFs in 1991 as a plant manager with NE CRINC. He soon became a regional manager with oversight of 4 MRFs through 1995. In 1995 CRINC was acquired by Waste Management, Inc. (WM) and Rick became Division President. In 1999 Rick was charged with standardizing all WM MRF operations and became the Director of Field Services. In 2008 Rick left WM and joined Greenstar Recycling to become VP of Safety, Maintenance, and Operational Excellence. In 2012, after successfully integrating 16 private MRFs into the Greenstar portfolio, the company was acquired by WM. After two years helping to integrate the Greenstar MRFs into the WM network, Rick founded Swordfish Consulting Services in 2014 located in Erie, Colorado. Swordfish is a consulting company focused on helping private and public clients improve their MRF processing operational effectiveness, and financial strength.
Mark Petrovich, voting member, Republic Services
Representing: Recyclable materials hauler seat (3-year term)
Mark Petrovich has over 14 years of experience in the Environmental Services Industry with Republic Services, which has fostered a deep understanding of the intricacies of recycling infrastructure in Colorado. Mark possesses comprehensive knowledge of waste transportation routing methodology, understanding the necessity for productive and efficient routes across the state to bolster the success of the EPR program. He brings comprehensive knowledge of recycling processes, education strategies, legislative engagement, transportation challenges, and the intricacies of waste management in both urban and rural areas.
Clinton Sanders, voting member, A1 Organics
Representing: Compost facility seat (2-year term)
Clinton joined A1 Organics in July 2018. He worked in the retail natural foods industry creating marketing initiatives, brand campaigns, and innovative merchandising techniques. He is very passionate about regenerative practices, sustainability, family, and giving back to your community. Clinton has seen first-hand the importance and value of diverting organics out of landfills within a commercial retail food environment and the contamination challenges this environment creates. As the marketing manager for A1 Organics, Clinton actively works on marketing initiatives and communication strategies focused on the amazing environmental benefits of compost application and organics recycling.
Elizabeth (Liz) Chapman, voting member, Recycle Colorado
Representing: Non-profit seat (3-year term)
Elizabeth Chapman has made science and the environment her educational and professional focus for over 30 years. Her dissertation work incorporated waste reduction and behavior change in rural Colorado. Dr. Chapman brings the experience of serving on multiple volunteer boards over the last decades, including six years on the Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission. Her current work with the only statewide recycling organization in Colorado allows her to represent a broad spectrum of stakeholders who are interested in waste reduction and diversion.
Scott Saunders, voting member, KW Plastics
Representing: Packaging supplier seat (3-year term)
Scott has almost 40 years of experience in the recycling industry and over 28 years’ experience in Plastics recycling. He is General Manager of KW Plastics, Recycling Division headquartered in Troy, Alabama. KW is the largest recycler of HDPE and PP in North America and processes in excess of 500 million pounds annually of HDPE (#2) and PP (#5) scrap material streams into Post Consumer Resin. Scott has been active in The Association of Post-Consumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) since 2000 serving on the Supply Committee, Market Development Committee, APR Board of Directors, Chairman of the APR board in 2010-2011 & 2014-2018, Vice Chairman of the APR Board in 2012-2013 and is a current APR board member. Scott joined ISRI in 2018 and became Chair of the Plastics Division in 2022.
David Seelig, voting member, Federal Recycling
Representing: Manufacturer of Recycled Paper Products (2-year term)
David brings over 13 years of experience in recycling and waste management, and has devoted the majority of his professional career to helping customers and suppliers alike reach their sustainability goals. His experience includes overseeing Business Development and Analysis, National Accounts and Brokerage for Federal's Corporate Office as well as all aspects of their Denver recycling plant's operations as General Manager for the past six years. During that time, the Denver plant has grown by 40% (year-over-year volume) while diversifying into plastics, foam, and other materials. David looks forward to helping to perpetuate new ways to further our client's sustainability goals and zero waste initiatives while helping to drive the circular economy that is recycling.
Scott DeFife, voting member, Glass Packaging Institute (GPI)
Representing: Trade association seat (3-year term)
Scott has served as President of the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), the trade association for the North American glass container manufacturing industry and its supply chain partners, since the Summer of 2019. He also serves as the President of the Glass Recycling Foundation and on the leadership committee of the Glass Recycling Coalition, and has served on the Board for The Recycling Partnership (TRP). Prior to becoming a leading voice for the glass container and recycling industry within the packaging and waste management arenas, Scott served as Vice-President of Government Affairs for the Plastics Industry Association and as EVP for Government Affairs and Communications for the National Restaurant Association. Scott started his policy career in state legislatures, and also served as staff to the Governor of Texas, and in the U.S. House of Representatives with a focus on energy, environment, commerce and financial policy.
Christopher (Chris) Howes, voting member, Colorado Retail Council
Representing: Retailers association seat (2-year term)
Chris Howes is President of the Colorado Retail Council and has been representing Colorado retailers before the Colorado General Assembly on various legislative issues since 1998. As President of the Retail Council, he has been very involved in legislation concerning packaging, plastics, and recycling for the last 25 legislative sessions. He is also very familiar with the various Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bills that have passed in other states.
Junior Ortega, voting member, City of Glenwood Springs
Representing: Environmental justice seat (2-year term)
Junior Ortega has been in the solid waste industry for over eight years. He is employed with the City of Glenwood Springs as a supervisor at their South Canyon Landfill facility. He is a Latino who is deeply involved with his community to better listen and represent the needs of our rural communities and an advocate for language justice.
Barrett Jensen, voting member, Waste Connections
Representing: Landfill with recycling seat (2-year term)
Barrett Jensen is the Government Affairs Manager at Waste Connections of Colorado. Over the last ten years, Barrett has operated and managed composting facilities, recycling programs, household hazardous waste collection facilities, and aggregate operations. He has also participated in and led numerous education and outreach efforts all over the state as it relates to landfills, recycling and waste diversion. His work spans throughout Colorado, including the Western Slope, in the mountains, and on the Front Range. He understands both the successes and challenges as they related to each geographic area of Colorado.
Peter Hargreave, Regulatory Compliance
Peter has over 18 years’ experience in providing strategic advice on the development, implementation, and oversight of public policy within government, as part of a major waste and recycling trade association, and as an independent consultant. Over his professional career, he has developed a strong network of relationships with regulators, public and private organizations, and other key stakeholders involved in environmental issues across Canada, the United States, and abroad. He has extensive experience in assessing waste management policies and played a key role in leading major research efforts in the waste management sector including data capture / analysis and understanding markets.
Wolf Kray, non-voting member, Materials Management Unit Leader, Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment (CDPHE)
Representing: Department seat
Wolf is the Materials Management Unit Leader at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Wolf has worked in the materials management field for fourteen years and has led projects such as the Colorado Integrated Solid Waste and Materials Management Plan, proposing the 20-year waste diversion goals for Colorado, overseeing the Colorado paint stewardship program plan implementation and developing the waste electronic device landfill ban regulations.
Prior to becoming a unit leader, he was responsible for analyzing statewide recycling data for Colorado, conducting solid waste inspections at recycling facilities and providing technical assistance on waste diversion operations. Wolf has a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Hawai’i. Wolf has served as a member of the Sustainable Materials Management taskforce for the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials and on the Colorado Pollution Prevention Advisory Board Assistance Committee.