Friday November 13th, 2026 | 10:30am PDT
The Future of “Clean Tech” is Circular: Opportunities for the Next Generation
Heidi Sanborn has spent a 35-year career being a thought-leader in waste management utility policy, and for the last 8 years has additionally served as an elected member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Board (SMUD) applying her skills in advancing the circular economy to energy policy. She will share her background in waste management which includes internationally recognized expertise in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policy development and implementation which includes passing over 20 pieces of legislation in California including EPR for battery recycling and to declassify solar panels from hazardous waste to universal waste to make recycling less costly. She will apply her extensive knowledge of waste management policy to energy policy, discuss the importance of circularity and national security for critical earth minerals and making all products, especially “clean tech”, with end of life (EOL) management in mind. Her goal is to create a ReMade In America movement keeping materials and jobs in America while increasing national security and supply chain resiliency. Heidi will share her vision for the future of clean energy technology and the opportunities that will come for the next generation of leaders in Energy.
Speaker Bio:
Heidi Sanborn has been a leader in the solid waste industry for 35 years, working with industry, government, and the public to reduce waste, improve product design and recyclability, and implement cost-effective projects and policies which protect public health and the environment and support a circular economy.
Heidi began her career as a consultant working on mandated recycling goals, then became Policy Advisor to the Chair of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, now known as the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).
Heidi was one of the original co-directors of the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC), a non-profit formed in 2007 to change the way waste management is funded in California. CPSC gained international recognition as a thought leader and driver for producer responsibility programs.
After eight years of success in California, Heidi formed the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) as an affiliate of CPSC. Both organizations are nonprofits, although NSAC is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that will engage primarily in lobbying and advocacy work for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship, anywhere in the U.S. and at any level of government.
In 2017, NSAC sponsored its first legislation, Assembly Bill 1158 to improve California’s existing carpet stewardship program which became law. One year later, NSAC worked with CPSC to drive Senate Bill 212 to passage, a first-in-the-nation bill that requires the producers of mediations and sharps to fund and operate a statewide take-back program in CA. In 2019, NSAC sponsored and passed two more bills, SB 726 (Caballero) to make Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) reuse easy to implement in California and AB 729 (Chu) on carpet recycling which included the first eco-modulated fee requirement in the U.S.. in 2026, she successfully sponsored SB 936 (Blakespear) to ban the sale of laughing gas cylinders and flavored laughing gas in California and SB 501 (Allen) to add medium format batteries to the EPR program for loose batteries. Heidi’s ability to educate and advocate legislators, as well as her innate skill at collaboration, negotiating, and strategy was integral in passing these bills.
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 gas cylinders. Heidi speaks throughout the world and won awards and commendations, such as the 2018 California Board of Pharmacy’s “Friend of Pharmacy” award. She has been frequently published on the topic, done interviews on KCET -LA (PBS Station) National Public Radio, ABC 7 San Francisco, NBC Nightly News, and been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine.
Heidi teaches courses to professionals in the waste industry, including Sustainable Resource Management Professionals courses. She is an active member of industry associations and serves as an elected official on the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors on her personal time.