Rachel Hering is the Vice President of Chapter Relations at the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA). In this role, she is responsible for chapters in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Additionally, Rachel will work with the NWRA’s Recycling Committee and assist with the planning of WasteExpo’s education program.
Prior to NWRA, Rachel worked with Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) following a merger with Cooperative Teamwork & Recycling Assistance (CTRA), an organization she led for 12 years. Through both KTB and CTRA, Rachel was responsible for advancing recycling access in Texas, and during her tenure, she established 25-plus community recycling programs and secured more than $1.1 million in implementation and educational funding for member communities. Under Rachel’s leadership, the organizations were awarded the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Environmental Excellence Award in 2020 and the National Recycling Coalition’s Outstanding Non-Profit Award in 2017.
Her experience with materials management in rural and underserved areas has led her all over the country (and even Canada!) to provide technical assistance on rural recycling development and programs. She served on the city of Austin’s Zero Waste Advisory Commission, was chairman of the TCEQ’s Pollution Prevention Advisory Committee and currently serves on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee for the Capital Area Council of Governments.
Rachel holds a BA from the University of Oklahoma, and she currently resides in her hometown of Austin, Texas.