SWANA Land of Lincoln Newsletter - Spring 2025 
President's Report
Dear SWANA Illinois Chapter Members and Colleagues,
I am excited to be serving as the SWANA Illinois Chapter President this year (never let it be said that we are only about “waste” – we recycle too, as this is my 3rd non-consecutive trip through the President’s chair). The Chapter Board is planning for 2025 to be a year of growth and service to our contacts across the industry. We are unique as an organization – our members include representatives nearly equally distributed across local governments, waste and recycling companies, consultants, and suppliers / vendors. Because of this makeup, we strive to convene experts and interested parties to dive into industry topics in detail, with opportunity for all perspectives to be heard.
Speaking of being heard – we want to know your “why” for being part of SWANA, how we can be of best support to you, and what ideas you have for engaging with us and others across our industry? If you have something you want to share, contact any of our board members or send an email to [email protected]. This information will help us to shape events and information sharing that is most impactful to you and inform our Board’s strategic planning process, which will guide our service to you over the next few years.
Coming attractions for this year – we are taking our convening to a bigger platform, teaming up with the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association (ILCSWMA) and Illinois Recycling Foundation (IRF) to jointly organize the 2025 Illinois Circularity Conference. We are reinvigorating efforts to connect our Young Professionals. And for our certified landfill operators, IEPA-delegated inspectors, and others who can benefit from the knowledge it provides, we will also be hosting SWANA’s Manager of Landfill Operations (MOLO) training course. Information on all of these great opportunities is below, and look for more opportunities to engage with us coming soon!
Here’s to great things in 2025!
Christina Seibert
Chapter News
We're happy to announce our new website to help our members and other interested colleagues find our resources more easily. Please bookmark https://swanaillinois.com! Have suggestions for content or great photos to share? Please contact current Board Communications chair Clair Ryan at [email protected]
Training & Certification
This year's MOLO Course will be conducted in-person this September in Wheeling. Please save the date for this important opportunity to fulfill state Operator Certification requirements and to network with industry peers and experts. Registration details coming soon.
Conference Update
SWANA Land of Lincoln Board Members are excited to be working with colleagues from the Illinois Recycling Foundation and the Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management Association to jointly host the Illinois Circularity Conference. Please stay tuned for information about program and registration. Sponsorship and Exhibitor packages are available now, as are rooms in the hotel room block.
YP Corner
We are excited to share that our Young Professionals Group had a kick-off meeting on March 21st with 12 participants joining the call. Our first meeting focused on getting to know each other, discussing our YP group purpose, introducing SWANA to those who are new, and generating ideas for learning opportunities. We are all excited to keep up this momentum!
The goal of our group is to connect young professionals (a group in which we include people under 35 years old and/or with fewer than 5 years in our industry) to provide learning, networking, and leadership opportunities in our Land of Lincoln Chapter. We encourage you to pass future YP meeting invitations along to the YPs in your organization that may not be members of SWANA or are not receiving the invitation directly from our YP Liaison.
Our next YP meeting is on Tuesday, April 30th from 3:00-4:00pm CST. We will hear from our SWANA Illinois Chapter President, Christina Seibert, about SWANA, spend some time discussing legislative updates, and talk through our involvement in the 2025 Illinois Circularity Conference.
If you have any questions about our YP group, please contact Spencer LaBelle, our Chapter's YP Liaison, at [email protected] or 630-453-2839.
Industry News
On December 6, 2024, there was a waste collection vehicle explosion in the Village of Arlington Heights, IL (Suburban Cook County). The SWANA Land of Lincoln Chapter and its Safety Committee are providing this article to make our members aware of the incident and the results of an internal review conducted by Arlington Heights Fire Department (AHFD). The incident is still under investigation and the discussion below should be considered preliminary. Information released by the Village immediately following the incident can be found here, while the presentation by AHFD leadership to the Village Board, given on February 18, 2025, can be viewed here.
The explosion occurred at approximately 4:00pm while the truck was in a residential neighborhood collecting recycling. A few minutes prior to the explosion, a fire on the truck was detected in the main load container and first responders were called to the scene. The moment of the explosion, which originated from compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks on the vehicle, was caught on first responder body cameras, and footage can be watched here.
Some key points related to this incident:
- Evident on the video is that the potentially hot (burning) load was not ejected from the truck. The driver attempted to compact and eject the load according to proper procedures; however, failures in the hydraulic system due to the fire prevented successful execution.
- The body cam footage shows shrapnel flying past the officer. There were only three minor injuries to first responders, but substantial damage to emergency vehicles, nearby residences, and obviously to the collection truck.
- The CNG tanks exploded violently with shrapnel scatter exceeded the safe perimeter that the first responders were maintaining.
- AHFD personnel had received recent training on response to fires aboard CNG-fueled trucks. Pressure Release Devices on CNG tanks can fail if fire crews apply water directly to the tanks, but there is no evidence that happened in this case.
- The cause of the fire the precipitated the explosion will likely never be determined with certainty, but it is the professional opinion of AHFD leadership that an improperly disposed damaged lithium ion battery is the likely culprit due to the observed characteristics of the fire.
Incidents such as this are rare but illustrate how dangerous a situation can become. It is important to be aware of our surroundings and keep safety in mind at all times.