Mike Fernandez joined Waste Pro as the Vice President of Post Collections in 2023. As Vice President of Post Collections, Mike manages the company’s development and operations, including 35 landfills, 22 transfer stations, and six recycling processing facilities throughout its 12-state footprint. He is a highly experienced senior executive with over 25 years of experience in the solid waste and recycling industry. A Florida native, Mike received both his undergraduate degree and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Florida International University. Mike has a proven career track record of improving business processes, increasing productivity, developing alternative revenue opportunities, and increasing profitability—experience with creating and implementing standard operating procedures, processes, and tools to drive success.
Mike joined the company after leading the solid waste division of the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management for the last 15 years. Miami-Dade County is one of the country’s largest municipal collection, recycling, transfer, and post-collection operations. Mike led operations, budget, and oversight for this large government-owned, vertically integrated solid waste system. This included managing over 1100 employees, facility management, and equipment maintenance.
He has been recognized consistently by the industry, including but not limited to being inducted into the US Department of Labor’s Hall of Honor for Essential Workers during COVID, awarded 5 National Achievement Awards by the National Association of Counties (NACo), was recognized in 2018 as a Waste360 40 Under 40, and is an MSW Management, 2023 Leadership Award Recipient. Mike is also very active in both industry and community organizations such as the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), as a Florida Sunshine Chapter, was most recently elected as a Florida Board Member, a leadership member of the United Way, and active representative for both the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, recently earning the Chambers annual award for outstanding service to the community.