SWANA renames WasteCon for 2025 and beyond

The Silver Spring, Maryland-based Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has announced a new event called RCon it says will focus on “waste-as-a-resource” diversion and conversion methods and technologies.

The 2025 version of the event will be held in Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 12-15, 2025. SWANA says RCon will focus on its “principles of activating resource management and being climate champions.”

“This is a totally new conference that will replace SWANA’s legacy events, SOAR and Wastecon,” SWANA board President Tammy Hayes says. Wastecon has been a regional or national SWANA event for some 60 years, with its roots tracing to California in the 1960s. SOAR was introduced in 2022 as a technical conference.

“RCon will focus on advancing the understanding of waste as a resource, and it will be the go-to platform for cutting-edge discussions, technologies and practices,” Hayes says. “It’s really the evolution of what’s next, and it will provide a more effective and productive way to accomplish our mission and goals.”

SWANA says the renamed and reconfigured event will focus in part on “considering the best pathways forward for the future.”

Hayes says a young professionals focus group and other fractions of SWANA’s membership were instrumental in selecting the new name.

“The ‘R’ in RCon stands for resource, because we are focused on being the catalyst for a shift in how the world thinks about solid waste,” she says. “It also encompasses so many of the other ‘R’ words that our industry embraces including reuse, repair, recycle, renew, rethink, reconnect, refresh and reimagine.”

“Another ‘R’ word that is important to this new event is 'relevant,'” adds Amy Lestition Burke, executive director and CEO of SWANA. “As the emphasis and necessity of protecting public health and the environment continues to grow, SWANA is positioned to lead the narrative around sustainable resource management. We play such a vital role and will bring new thought leadership on these critical topics with RCon.”

More information on RCon will be announced in the coming weeks and months on the SWANA website.