Ron Gonen

Ron is currently the Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation for the City of New York where he is responsible for managing New York City's recycling and waste reduction programs that include curbside recycling, organics/composting, hazardous waste, ewaste, textiles, and EPR. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School. Ron is the Co-Founder of RecycleBank. During his tenure as CEO from 2004-2010, RecycleBank grew from an idea to a company with contracts with over 100 cities and a service that diverted over a billion pounds from landfills. RecycleBank was recognized by a number of leading business and environmental organizations including The World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer, the Conference of Mayors – Outstanding Excellence in Public/Private Partnerships, and the Wall Street Journal as
the #1 Venture Backed Clean Tech Company of 2010. Ron holds a Patent for the development of technology and financial incentives in the recycling industry. Prior to RecycleBank, Ron was in management consulting at Accenture and Deloitte Consulting. Ron was recognized in 2009 by the United Nations Environment Program as a Champion of the Earth, a designation provided to seven people around the world each year for their commitment to the environment. He was the recipient of the 2010 University Medal of Excellence from Columbia University, which is awarded annually to an alumni under the age of 45 for outstanding achievement in scholarship, public service, and professional life. Ron is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a Director at E2, a group within NRDC focused on entrepreneurship and the environment; and on the Board of Trustees of RARE Conversation, an organization that applies community-based solutions to global conservation challenges. He was a Henry Catto Fellow at the Aspen Institute from 2010-2012.