Kirk Sander

Kirk Sander leads the National Waste & Recycling Association’s effort to make the industry safer through engagement with our members and federal agencies, specifically the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. He also serves as the Secretary for the Z245 Standards Committee. In 2022, Kirk was named one of the top 40 Under 40 in the waste industry by Waste360.

Kirk comes to NWRA from the National Safety Council, where he was a member of the government affairs team working on workplace safety, road safety and fighting the opioid crisis.

Before joining the National Safety Council, Kirk was chief of staff at OSHA. As chief of OSHA, he worked to promote and improve workers’ lives by advising the assistant secretary, engaging with companies and associations and building coalitions domestically and internationally. He brings a wealth of knowledge of not only OSHA but the safety industry as a whole.

Kirk was employed at the White House and other federal agencies. Prior to joining the White House, he was special assistant to the director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the Department of the Interior. In that position, he worked on a wide variety of issues regarding the oil and gas industry, emergency response and continuity of operations. Kirk also worked at NASA where he advised the chief of staff and other top leadership on communications strategy and managed the day-to-day operations of a high-level presidential task force.

Kirk has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Geoscience and a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Policy.