Rhonda Oyer

Chief, Sustainable Materials Management Unit, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy | Chair, U.S. Scrap Tire Workgroup

Rhonda Oyer joined the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in 1991 and has been “talking trash” ever since!  Rhonda spent 10 years as an Enforcement Specialist specializing in administrative, civil and criminal enforcement cases involving solid waste issues and scrap tires.  She then served as Chief of the Sustainable Materials Management Unit for 15 years.  In that position, she managed the statewide solid waste planning program, the scrap tire regulatory program, the electronic waste takeback program, the beneficial reuse program as well as multiple residential recycling and yard waste composting programs.  She became the Solid Waste Section Manager in September 2016, where she continues to promote talking about “trash” in a different way and looking for other options on the materials management continuum.

Rhonda has been a tireless proponent of sustainability, strongly advocating for recycling and other sustainable materials management practices long before Michigan updated its solid waste policy in 2007 or released the Governor’s recycling plan in 2014.

Rhonda has been recognized nationally for leading a successful regulatory and oversight program that cleaned up over 30 million abandoned scrap tires in Michigan.  This program also funds grants for the smaller scrap tire cleanups needed today, as well as funding community collections, law enforcement grants, and market development research for new uses of scrap tires, such as rubber-modified asphalt in roads. She is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in biological science. 

Learn more about the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy here.