The National Waste & Recycling Association announced that Michael E. Hoffman will be its next president and CEO, capping off an extended search process.
Hoffman, a financial analyst who currently covers the sector for Stifel, brings nearly 40 years of environmental industry experience to the role. He is well-acquainted with executives at the association’s top member companies and was inducted into NWRA’s Hall of Fame in 2020.
“I am excited to join NWRA as president and CEO at this pivotal time in the industry,” said Hoffman in a statement. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to bring heightened focus to advocacy and safety for the environmental services industry. Working in close cooperation with Chairman Don Ross and the Board of Trustees, NWRA can be the go-to membership organization to bring market-based solutions for the breadth of environmental topics facing our society.”
Darrell Smith exited this role last August for unspecified reasons. Ross said in a statement at the time that “it’s important that NWRA continues to evolve with our members by continuing to build the strategic vision of the organization.”
Jim Riley, NWRA’s chief counsel and senior vice president of government affairs, has been serving as interim president and CEO.
The leadership shakeup kicked off a process that drew interest from multiple industry figures. NWRA’s Board of Trustees said the decision to hire Hoffman came after a “comprehensive search and interview process that included a pool of highly qualified candidates from inside and outside of the waste and recycling industry.”
Tony Romano, a Board of Trustees member and director of business development for Environmental Solutions Group, led the search committee.
“I am pleased to welcome Michael as our association’s new leader,” said Ross, who is also chief sales officer for New Way Trucks, in a statement. “Hoffman’s background provides a well-rounded skill set ideally suited to lead our association. Coupled with his extensive working knowledge of the industry and his intimate understanding of the challenges facing NWRA members, our board agreed that Michael is the best choice to lead NWRA into the future.”
Ross and others have been especially focused on finding ways to better tell the story of an industry that has long preferred to operate in the background, which means finding more ways to highlight its role in environmental issues and public life. Hoffman has also talked at events about how he shares this goal.
In a note shared with colleagues this morning, Hoffman wrote that the industry “is facing some of the most significant regulatory and rulemaking changes since I started in 1987” and added that “I would like to be part of how to shape the outcome.”
His Wall Street career started at Salomon Brothers, before moving on to various leadership roles at firms such as Wunderlich Securities, Caris, FBR Capital Markets, Credit Suisse and others. He also previously worked in engineering at GE and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Hoffman started working at Stifel in 2014, where he is currently managing director and group head of diversified industrials research for sectors including environmental services and pest control. During that time he helped launch the Waste360/Stifel Investor Summit at WasteExpo, and partnered on initiatives with NWRA’s Future Industry Leaders Alliance and Women’s Council.
According to a 2020 profile, Hoffman worked to build his knowledge of the sector over many years and provided key financial insight to the industry during complex moments such as when China’s scrap import restrictions affected recycling markets and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the economy.
He was also credited with serving as a “guiding light” for major industry deals such as Republic Services’ acquisition of Allied Waste Industries and Waste Connections' acquisition of Progressive Waste Solutions, among others.
NWRA has approximately 700 members, including the sector’s largest publicly traded companies, and represents about 70% of the U.S. waste industry’s private waste and recycling market. The group has been focused on a range of regulatory issues relating to PFAS, landfill and fleet emissions, recycling and other topics in recent years.
Hoffman will begin leading the trade association on June 10.
