Heidi Sanborn
Heidi has been a leader in the solid waste industry in California for 22 years; working with industry, government and the public to reduce waste, improve product design and recyclability, and implement cost-effective policies which protect the health of our communities. Collaborating with local government leaders, Heidi founded CPSC in 2007 to change the way product waste is funded and managed in California; she has since become a nationally recognized thought leader and driver for innovative product stewardship programs across the country. Heidi’s collaborative, tenacious problem-solving approach has delivered unprecedented success in developing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) public policy at national, state and local levels. She has engaged diverse stakeholder groups to create and promote best-in-class product stewardship programs for pharmaceuticals, mercury thermostats, carpets, paint, fluorescent lights, batteries, and “Sharps” (needles and syringes). Nationally, Heidi was instrumental in adoption of EPR policies by the National League of Cities (NLC) and the US Conference of Mayors. She served in state government as the technical advisor to the Chair of the California Integrated Waste Management Board (now CalRecycle). To date, she has assisted most of the 129 California cities and counties in adopting resolutions aimed at reducing environmental pollutants and hazardous and problematic waste by eliminating them at their source. Through CPSC, she successfully co-sponsored AB 2347 with the Sierra Club, creating a comprehensive statewide take-back program for mercury thermostats to reduce mercury pollution in the environment. She worked to implement the country’s first full EPR paint plan, piloting the Be Paint Wise program at 17 retailers in three counties. She partnered with California Stormwater Quality Association and Sanitation Districts on Brake Pad Partnership Legislation to minimize copper in urban watersheds by phasing it out of brake pads sold in California. Heidi has also influenced the formation of product stewardship councils in three key states, which respectively passed EPR legislation: for e-waste in Texas, mercury lamps in Vermont, and rechargeable batteries in New York.
