Pitkin County Landfill Manager Cathy Hall is the first woman in the State of Colorado to earn a prestigious Solid Waste Management Board Certification from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. She is only the second person in Colorado to receive the distinction.
“We are very proud of Hall’s most recent accomplishment,” said Public Works Director, Brian Pettet who supervises Landfill operations in Pitkin County. “She can add this certification to her impressive quiver of accomplishments at the landfill since she joined us less than two years ago,” Pettet said.
Since joining the Landfill as its manager in 2013, Hall has made some of the most significant positive changes in the history of the landfill. Among her accomplishments are introducing single-stream recycling which saved the landfill upwards of $250,000 a year, promoting and instituting a septic waste disposal system at the landfill that is in the process of being designed, expanding the life of the landfill by ten years by creatively using current landfill space, making significant environmental improvements to landfill operations and embracing the Living Lab Workshops in response to inquiry from the public to learn about recycling and organic gardening, among other things. This, according to Pettet, occurred in addition to rekindling relationships and with the City of Aspen, waste haulers, and other landfill partners.
“It wasn’t easy getting the certification,” Hall admitted. “My background is solid waste management. I had to study up on the scientific and environmental aspects. All in all, I think it will add credibility to our operation, the team who runs it, and our expertise,” Hall said.
Hall is also a member of the Solid Waste Association of America (SWANA).