SCDHEC: Land & Waste Management

The Recycle Guys

Landfill and Transfer Station Operator Certification l Recycling Professionals Certification
Recycling Center Attendant Training l Teacher and environmental educator Training

Training and Certification Courses

NEW! Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfill Managers Training will be held December 15-18 in Columbia. Click here for more information.

Landfill and Transfer Station Operator Training

The primary goal of these courses is to provide individuals with training designed to improve operational practices at their landfills or transfer stations. These trainings will increase awareness of the impact that the operational practices have on human health, safety and the environment.

Participants will gain insight on:

operating a facility that is safe for employees and customers;
maintaining regulatory compliance and environmental integrity at the facility;
operating profitably and/or cost effectively; and
improving industry standards though better operation by well-trained solid waste management professionals.

Currently, there are several training courses available to solid waste facility operators.

The two courses listed below are required under the Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Operator’s Certification
(R.61-107.14). Participants successfully completing the courses and examinations will fulfill this regulatory requirement.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill managers
MSW Landfill Supervisors

In addition, two other courses are offered for operators of other types of solid waste facilities including;

MSW Transfer Stations; and
Class 2 Landfills.

All of these courses are held annually.

Certification training for MSW Landfill Managers will be held December 15-18, 2008. Click here to register. In addition, training dates have been scheduled for the MSW Landfill Supervisors certification. Mark your calendars for February 16 - 19, 2009. Check back in January to register for the Landfill Supervisors training. For additional information, click here.

Recycling Professionals Certification

The S.C. Recycling Professionals Certification Program is a comprehensive professional development program targeting local government recycling coordinators and solid waste directors.

The goal of the program is to provide these professionals with the background, information and tools to make recycling programs grow and improve as well as become more cost competitive and sustainable. A variety of recycling topics are covered. Click here to read the forward of the training manual that includes the table of contents. The training manual will be updated annually to include new topics.

In order to be designated a Certified S.C. Recycling Professional, one must:

complete the certification course (75% attendance required) offered by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling (Office) and
pass course exam with a score of 75 or better.

The designation of Certified S.C. Recycling Professional lasts three years from passing the exam.

In order to maintain designation as a Certified S.C. Recycling Professional, one must provide proof of receiving a minimum of 45 contact hours (i.e., actual time spent in trainings, workshops, seminars, etc.) of recycling-related professional development every three years. A form to document contact hours is available by clicking here.

Acceptable contact hours will be determined by the Office.
A maximum of 10 contact hours will be allowed for any one event (e.g., a conference).

If certification lapses, one must complete the certification course and pass course exam as detailed above. There will be no challenging of the exam. Participants must attend the certification course to attempt the exam.

The program is offered at no cost to local government recycling professionals. The certification was offered for the first time in September 2007 and will be offered again in early 2009. To request information about the next certification course or if you have additional questions, click here.

Already certified? Click here to download the form to document additional contact hours.

Recycling Center Attendant Training

Recycling Center Attendant Trainings are available to local governments to ensure that best management practices are used and attendants have the latest information and customer service skills. The training, which is offered at NO COST, can be customized to each county or city's recycling program. Each attendant is given a certificate of completion and eligible to be a Recycling Attendant of the Year for the county. To schedule a complimentary training, click here.

Teacher and environmental educator training

"Action for a cleaner tomorrow" ("Action") is an activity-based, interdisciplinary curriculum supplement that can serve as a starting place for introducing basic environmental education in the classroom. Training for this national, award-winning curriculum supplement is available at no cost for teachers, schools and school districts across South Carolina.

In a three-hour session, you'll see how the curriculum supplement works. Each teacher completing the workshop will receive a copy of the curriculum supplement for use in the classroom. Additional material also is available to support "Action" including posters, activity books and videos.

The current edition, featuring 31 lessons, is the best of the best - the most frequently used lessons by teachers in the past 14 years. Each lesson provides the learning objective and background as well as teacher preparation time. Click here to view "Recycling 101 -- a sample lesson from "Action."

To schedule a training or learn more about the "Action" training and workshops, click here or call
1-800-768-7348..

Presentations from the S.C. Recycling and Solid Waste Professionals Conference are now available!

Below are PDF files of presentations from the S.C. Recycling and Solid Waste Professionals Conference that was held October 7-9, 2008 in Columbia. Click on the presenter's name below the session title to view each presentation.

Success Stories Blitz

Don't be Fuelish