White Named Interim Director of Waste Reduction and Management Institute

Stony Brook University has named Michael E. White the interim director of the Waste Reduction and Management Institute (WRMI), which resides in the university's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and is overseen by Dean Paul Shepson.

White is presently a SoMAS adjunct faculty lecturer and works as a consultant on special projects with Winters Bros. Waste Systems of Long Island, LLC, which was recently acquired by Waste Management of New York. He is an attorney and has concentrated his law practice in the areas of environmental law, solid waste, municipal law, land use, natural resources and freight rail transportation. White is also the president and owner of LI Strategies, Inc., an environmental planning consulting firm.

As interim director, White will oversee the WRMI and its faculty and staff to address the increasingly complex waste issues on Long Island. The region faces challenges such as some of the highest per capita waste generation in the United States, insufficient on-Island waste disposal capacity, and the need to improve recycling rates.

WRMl's goal is to reduce the impact of waste generation and management practices on society through research, assessment, education, and policy analysis and recommendations. Efforts look to reduce the amount of waste generated through the promotion of waste prevention strategies, educational programs, increased recycling, the development of creative beneficial uses for waste materials, along with environmentally sound transportation and disposal of waste.

"Stony Brook greatly values its role in the Long Island communities it serves, and WRMI is a critical resource to help address the serious challenges posed by waste generation across our region. We are thrilled to welcome Michael White in his new role and look forward to his expert leadership to advance WRMI's goals through innovative research, actionable recommendations and effective advocacy," said Stony Brook University Interim President Richard L. McCormick.

"I am delighted that WRMI and Stony Brook will have the expert leadership of Michael White, as we do our best to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders to better tackle our considerable waste management challenges on Long Island. We hope that rather than lead in per capita waste generation, we will soon lead in development of creative solutions to our environmental challenges," said Shepson.

"I am excited to take on this role. The WRMI is creating an action plan to address challenges related to Long Island waste to energy facilities, management of ash from those facilities, construction and demolition debris management and transportation of waste off Long Island," said White. "Key drivers of our crisis are ever-increasing amounts of waste generated, not enough recycling, and lack of waste disposal capacity. Importantly, we are collaborating our efforts through the institute with County Executive Romaine and the Long Island Supervisors' Association led by Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer. Technical working groups have been created and are composed of people from the University, government, the waste industry, consultants in the industry and the environmental community,"

Recent activities happening at WRMI include the institute being awarded a Regional Solid Waste Management Planning Grant, in the amount $250,000, which runs to August 2025. The goal of the grant is to assess solid waste management practices on Long Island and formulate a comprehensive plan that prescribes immediate, short term and long-term achievable goals and optimal and practical strategies and action items to achieve these goals. White serves as the Principal Investigator. This grant was provided by New York State (NYS) through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The Waste Reduction and Management Institute (WRMI) was created by the New York State Legislature in 1985, made up of a number of engaged faculty and staff across the Stony Brook campus, and hopes to grow to enable greater impact. An Advisory Board, comprised of experts from government, environmental organizations, and private industry, will be reestablished so that the Institute will benefit from the expertise of others in the fields of waste management and public policy.