BANGKOK — Focused on stopping the flow of plastics into the world’s oceans, Susan Ruffo has long been fluent in marine protection and coastal community development.
But in 2018, she found herself at the International Solid Waste Association World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, mingling with waste disposal experts and learning about promising new recycling technologies. Already, she can rattle off the most common barriers to effective waste collection — an issue she predicts will be an integral part of her work moving forward as the managing director of international initiatives for Ocean Conservancy.
“I think all the attention that's being paid to the marine litter issue — people are starting to realize that there's lots of things you can be doing in terms of cleanups and skipping the straw — but that really to dive into the meat of the problem, it's going to be about waste management,” Ruffo told Devex.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.