WERNER BIDLINGMAIER

Werner Bidlingmaier is professor of Waste Management at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany since 1997 and full-professor of Waste Management at the University of Essen. Nominated as external lecturer at the University of Stuttgart, Germany in 1991, he was leader of the transfer centre for biological waste treatment Weimar from 1998 to 2001. Additionally, he is Vice-Rector of International development at the Bauhaus-University Weimar. He won the Scientific Award University of Brussels in 1984.
Werner Bidlingmaier received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2015.

BERND BILITEWSKI

Bernd Bilitewski was full-professor of waste management and holder of the Chair for Waste Management Education and Research at Dresden University of Technology from 1994 to 2011. In 1995 he founded the Institute of Waste Management and Contaminated Sites Treatment Dresden University of Technology and he is managing director of the institute since 2004. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Since 2008 he is also president and scientific member at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Technical University of Girona (Spain). In addition, he participated in numerous committees and boards. He is founder and managing partner of the INTECUS GmbH and a highly distinguished expert for waste management at the national and international level. Further, he is author of 50 books and over 400 articles and chapters in books and magazines since 1975.
Bernd Bilitewski received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2015.

JEAN E. BOGNER

Jean Bogner is a research professor with the Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).  Previously she worked more than 20 years at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) where she was involved with the first commercial landfill gas (LFG) utilization projects for the U.S. Dept. of Energy in the 1970’s. Subsequent domestic and international projects at ANL, her consultancy Landfills +, Inc. (1997-2013), and UIC (2007-2014) have included applied work on improved LFG recovery, basic laboratory investigations of CH₄ generation and oxidation, and field-scale studies quantifying CH₄ mass balance, landfill carbon cycling & storage, emissions of CH₄ and VOCs, oxidation of atmospheric CH₄ by landfill cover soils, biocover emissions, and lateral CH₄ migration. Recent research has focused on the development and field validation of a new process-based GHG inventory model (CALMIM) for landfill CH₄ emissions inclusive of seasonal soil gas transport & CH₄ oxidation in cover materials at any site worldwide.  Her publications include several dozen journal articles, book contributions, and refereed reports.
Jean E. Bogner received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2013.

THOMAS H. CHRISTENSEN

Thomas H. Christensen is director of 3R (Residual Resources Research)and full professor since 1990 at the Institute of Environment & Resources, Technical University of Denmark in Kongens Lyngby, a suburb of Copenhagen. His research interests are solid waste management, incineration residues, organic waste technologies, landfilling and environmental effects of waste disposal on soil and groundwater. He received M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering (solid waste) from Technical University of Denmark, a PhD in water chemistry from University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and a Dr.agro. in soil chemistry from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark. He is member of the program committee on Energy and Environment under the Danish Strategic Research Council, Denmark and member of the Danish Waste Management Association. He has published /edited four international and two Danish books on solid waste more than 140 international scientific journal articles since 1982. He was co-founder and Managing Editor of the international scientific journal Waste Management & Research from 1983 to 1991 and scientific advisor for the international scientific journal Waste Management since 2003.
Thomas H. Christensen is a founding member of the IWWG and was member of the Managing Board from 2002 until 2009.

RAFFAELLO COSSU

Raffaello Cossu is full Professor of Solid Waste Management at the University of Padova. He was Dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Land Planning Engineering at the same University from 2000 to 2013. He is currently the Editor in chief of Waste Management, International Scientific Journal on waste management edited by Elsevier, Amsterdam. Past President and currently a member of the Managing Board of IWWG (International Waste Working Group), the main international scientific association in the field of waste management. He has delivered presentations in over 50 seminars and 100 congresses on waste management and controlled landfills worldwide. He is author of over 150 scientific papers and five international books on waste management, printed by leading publishing houses (Academic Press, Elsevier, EF and Spon).
Raffaello Cossu received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2017.

LUIS DIAZ

Dr. Diaz has been involved in the field of waste management for over 30 years. He has conducted waste management studies, technical and economic assessments of solid waste systems, environmental analyses of resource recovery systems, and marketing studies for recovered materials and energy. He has participated in a large variety of projects involving waste processing for material and energy recovery. His experience in waste processing technologies includes recycling, composting, co-composting, combustion, mechanical processing, and anaerobic digestion. He was a pioneer in the integration of solid waste systems, recognizing the potential of the concept for minimizing residue generation. Dr. Diaz has approximately 400 publications in the fields of energy and waste management. He has co-authored 13 books in the field of waste management. He has also conducted training courses throughout the world, and is a visiting professor in universities in Europe, North America, and Latin America. He is Editor-in-Chief of Waste Management (published by Elsevier) and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Environmental Business Journal and of the Editorial Board of several journals in the field of waste management (Waste Management & the Environment, Resources Conservation & Recycling (Elsevier), Utilities Policy, Compost Science & Utilization, Nuclear Engineering and Technology (International Journal of the Korean Nuclear Society), Journal of Material Cycles & Waste Management (Official Journal of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts).
Luis Diaz is a founding member of the IWWG and was member of the Managing Board from 2002 until 2019.

GRAHAME FARQUHAR

Grahame Farquhar’s research on landfills began in 1969 with the study of gas and leachate at four Ontario landfills. He subsequently published more than one hundred papers, reports, books and book chapters, of which many dealt with landfills and waste disposal; a 1973 paper with F. Rovers entitled “Gas production during refuse decomposition” has been often cited. More than sixty students successfully pursued post-graduate degrees under Dr. Farquhar’s supervision. At various times, he served as Chair of Civil Engineering and Special Assistant to the VP, Research at the University of Waterloo and as Associate Director of Canadian Water Network. His major awards include Distinguished Teacher (1982, Waterloo) Distinguished Professor Emeritus (2002, Waterloo) and Distinguished Service Citation (1990, Wisconsin).
Grahame Farquhar received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2007.

EUGENIO DE FRAJA FRANGIPANE

Eugenio de Fraja Frangipane was professor at the Milan Technical University which he entered in 1958. He was also lecturere at postgraduate refresher courses in foreign universities. He has promoted and directed numerous reserach programs on atmospheric pollution, on various bodies (the Ticino and Olona rivers, the lakes of Orta and Varese and the Venice and Orbetello lagoons) and on solid waste treatment and disposal. He is author of over 100 articles published in Italian and foreign scientific nd technical journals. He founded and still directs two scientific Italian journals on environment and solid waste. He has chaired Italian and international associations in the field (ANDIS, ISWA) and has been one of the founders of the European Waste Club. As expert on Environmental Health of the WHO he was called upon to participate international study groups and study missions in Syria, India and Greece.
Eugenio de Fraja Frangipane received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2001.

ROBERT K. HAM †

Robert Ham received BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Universities of Minnesota and Washington, and a PhD in civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering) from the University of Washington. He worked for three years at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota as process engineer, and began his academic carrier as Assistant Professor in 1967 at the University of Wisconsin. His teaching interests have emphasized solid and hazardous waste management. Research, consulting and professional activities include most aspects of waste characterization, reduction, recycling, treatment and disposal. He has authored or co-authored over 150 publications dealing with some aspects of solid or hazardous waste management.
Robert Ham received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2003.

MASATAKA HANASHIMA

Masataka Hanashima was full Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the Fukuoka University, Japan, since 1975. Known as one of the leading Japanese scientists in the field of solid waste management, he developed the “Semiaerobic Landfill Type”, which is not only adopted by about 75% of landfill sites in Japan, but also in the region of Asia. Semiareobic Landfill Type is commonly known as Fukuoka Method in the developing countries. For his outstanding fundamental and practical reserach in sanitary Landfill, he was awarded the 7th Japan Environmental Prize in 1980, the grand prize of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts in 1997. His main reserach fields are final disposal waste and landfill design.
Masataka Hanashima received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 1999.

PETER LECHNER

Peter Lechner received Master of Science (MSc) in Civil Engineering and Water Management from BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, and a PhD from Vienna University of Technology. From 1970 to 1972 he worked for Siemens AG, Austria, and from 1972 to 1974 at Civil Engineering Office Lengyel in Vienna. From 1993 until 2011 he was Head of the Institute of Waste Management at BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna. He is Founder member and Chairman of the Austrian Compost Quality Society (Kompostgüteverband Österreich), Member of several standards committees, Consultant for the City of Vienna and waste management companies, Member of the editorial strategy group of the journal Waste Management and Member of the editorial board of the German journal “Müll und Abfall”.
Peter Lechner is a founding member of the IWWG and was member of the Managing Board from 2002 until 2012. He received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2019.

ANDERS LAGERKVIST

Anders Lagerkvist (AL) started the Landfill Research Group at Luleå University of Technology in 1988, the research initially focused much on landfill process technology and especially landfill gas issues. Waste management and treatment, soil remediation and environmental informatics are additional areas of research for the group which is now known as the division for Waste Science and Technology, (WST) at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
AL’s own research primarily deals with landfill processes, biological waste treatment and waste characterisation. As a research leader and supervisor of 30+ PhD and MSc-theses, AL has been working with the full range of the WST research program. AL has also served various committees for LTU and created and taught courses in the area of waste management for LTU.
Anders Lagerkvist is a founding member of the IWWG and was member of the Managing Board from 2002 until 2022. From 2019 to 2020 he was President of the IWWG.

YASUSHI MATSUFUJI

Yasushi Matsufuji is Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of Fukuoka University, Japan. He is also Invited Professor at National Research Center for Environmental Analysis and Measurements, People’s Republic of China. Since 1999 he is Honorable Advisor of Environmental Bureau, Guanzhou, People’s Republic of China, and Advisor of UN-HABITAT Fukuoka Office. He carries out research activities in the field of Final Disposal Design and Operation of Solid Waste Landfills, Landfill Microbiology, and Recycle of MSW.
His special fields of research include (beside others) Landfill Design and Operation, Landfill Microbiology, and Solid Waste Management.
Yasushi Matsufuji is a founding member of the IWWG and was member of the Managing Board from 2002 until 2022.

TOSHIHIKO MATSUTO

Toshihiko Matsuto received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2023.

JOHN PACEY †

John Pacey is graduated from University of Washington with B.S. Degree in Civil Engineering, followed by M.S. Degree in geotechnical engineering from M.I.T. He started 2 geotechnical companies in the 1960s and in 1970 co-started one of first engineering companies oriented solely to the solid waste industry, most notably landfills. He published over 70 papers relative to landfill sitings, investigations, designs, operations, hazards, benefits, landfill gas (issues, benefits and hazards). Served as expert witness in numerous landfill design, performance and legal issues. He has authored the first book on generation and recovery of landfill gas from landfills. He was always in forefront of engineering technology as related to all aspects of landfill geotechnical work with specific focus on landfill gas and lining evolutions.
John Pacey received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2005.

HÉCTOR PENALOZA †

Héctor Collazos studied in Colombia and graduated as a topographer in the Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia) in 1960. He was a lecturer of topography courses in the Universidad del Valle from 1961 to 1967. After graduating in Sanitary Engineering at the Universidad del Valle in 1967 he worked as General Manager of Sanitation of the Ministry of Health of Colombia from 1969 until 1979. In this duty he was in charge of providing the general guidelines for environmental sanitation for all the country. In this period of time he supervised the elaboration of the Sanitary National Code (Law 09 of 1979) as representative of the Ministry of Health. He was a member of several national institutes that have relation with the design, construction and system operation for the protection of the environment.
He was the director of the first diagnosis study on the services of urban solid waste of the country from which the National Program of Urban Solid Waste (PRONASU) was formed. He attended and approved the Basic International Course of Health Planning, in the Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia in 1972. He was a professor of the National University of Colombia from 1976 up to 1990, 14 years lecturing courses such as Solid Waste for Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering Programs, as well as for the Master of Science in Environmental Engineering. He also lectured the courses of biostatistics and epidemiology for engineers in the graduate courses of Environmental Engineering and of biostatistics in the master degree courses of Public Health in Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Héctor Collazos received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2011.

HOWARD ROBINSON

Howard Robinson is Process Director of Phoenix Engineering and has nearly 30 years of specialised experience in landfill science, especially in the fields of landfill leachate characterisation and treatment. He has been responsible for many hundreds of leachate management projects, including the design of more than 70 full-scale leachate treatment plants, using a wide range of technologies. He has worked in the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, throughout Europe, and in the USA.
His work is founded on extensive research, including fundamental studies into leachate composition, most recently the presence and treatment of trace organics in leachate. Howard has published more than 200 professional papers in the field of leachate management.

RAINER STEGMANN

Prof. Dr.-Ing Rainer Stegmann is a retired Professor from the Hamburg University of Technology in Hamburg, Germany and currently an Advisor and Senior Visiting Scientist at the Residues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University in Braunschweig, Germany, where he also obtained his doctorate (Dr.- Ing.) degree. In 1982 he became Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science at the Hamburg University of Technology, Germany and since 1991 he was Head of the newly founded Institute of Waste Management (later Institute for WasteResourceManagement). Together with colleagues he holds two patents. Under Prof Stegmann`s guidance 16 Promotions to Dr.-Ing. (similar to a PhD) and 1 Habilitation were granted. He conducted for several years a solid waste course at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. He was honored as Visiting Professor from the Institute of Technologies and Applied Science in Havanna, Kuba in 2006.
Prof. Stegmann is one of the founding members and chairman of the international solid waste organization “IWWG, International Waste Working Group”. He is member of the managing board of ORBIT and is/was also member of several other national and international organizations. Prof Stegmann was scientific advisor for national and international research institutions and companies, i.e. Shanks, UK, and was expert witness in several national and international lawsuits.
Rainer Stegmann received the Sardinia Symposium Award “A Life for Waste” in 2009.