Joanne Shafer Retiring After 3 Decades as Centre County Recycling Coordinator

Joanne Shafer is retiring this week after 33 years of leading Centre County’s recycling efforts.

The Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority’s recycling coordinator and deputy executive director steps down as Pennsylvania’s longest serving recycling coordinator, having been with the county program effectively since its inception.

“Joanne’s been the face of recycling in Centre County for over three decades,” CCRRA Board Chair and Harris Township Supervisor Dennis Hameister said in a statement. “She will certainly be missed and we wish her well in retirement.”

Originally hired as part of the recycling staff and named coordinator in December 1990, Shafer has managed a countywide recycling program that includes curbside collection from 27,000 households, more than 125 drop-off sites, commercial recycling from 850 establishments and a source separated materials recovery facility with a yearly capacity of 15,000 tons.  

She was also responsible for grant writing, marketing recyclables from the materials recovery facility and public education about recycling.

CCRRA’s recycling public education has had a long-lasting impact. At Tuesday’s county Board of Commissioners meeting, where she was honored for her years of service, Shafer told a story of a recent medical appointment when a technician mentioned her daughter’s fifth grade class had recently been on a tour of the recycling facility with education coordinator Amy Schirf.

“She said ‘Oh my, I do believe that you took me on a tour when I was in the fifth grade,’” Shafer said. “So we’re now well into a second generation of recycling here in Centre County.”

Shafer’s tenure also has included the conversion of recycling collection vehicles to renewable natural gas. One of Pennsylvania’s first 12 Senior Certified Recycling Professionals, she has served on numerous recycling, environmental and municipal authority boards and associations across Pennsylvania and nationally, including terms as president of the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania, chair of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center and Council chair of the National Recycling Coalition.

CCRRA has the longest standing county delegation recycling agreement in Pennsylvania, and efforts led by Shafer to grow the program over the years have been recognized nationally. In 2009, CCRRA was named Best Local Government Program by the National Recycling Coalition.

“Her commitment to environmental stewardship and responsible recycling have made CCRRA and Centre County a statewide model for best practices and unmatched success,” state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, who presented Shafer with a Pennsylvania House citation during a retirement party on Monday, said in a statement.

Shafer will retire on Thursday, and current assistant recycling coordinator Mimi Cooper will step into the coordinator role on Friday. Commissioners unanimously confirmed her appointment at Tuesday’s meeting.

Cooper called Shafer “a tremendous mentor,” during her nine years with the CCRRA and her previous work with the Centre Region Council of Governments refuse and recycling program.

“She’s been nothing short of amazing,” Cooper said.

She added that Shafer’s dedication to public education about recycling will continue at CCRRA.

“I can vow to you that I will continue educating all of the residents of the county, from the five-year-olds in the preschools that come through to the [Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State] groups, and the importance of that moving forward with a lot of the municipalities considering their climate action goals and where we go from here,” Cooper said.

In retirement, Shafer, a Lemont resident, said she will remain in Centre County.

“Since she’s retiring in Lemont, at least we’ll be able to ‘tag her bin’ if we need her expertise in future Authority endeavors,” CCRRA Executive Director Ted Onufrak said in a statement.