Closed Loop Partners
At a Glance
Industry
Financial Services and Insurance
Project Type
Food and Agriculture
Year
2023
Location
New York, NY
Summary
Joey advanced two key projects at the Center for the Circular Economy in support of the NextGen and Composting Consortia.
Goals
The ecosystems for reuse and composting in the U.S. are complex. At NextGen, the goal was the identification of avenues to distinguish a food packaging reuse model from existing research. At the Composting Consortium, the goal was gathering and analyzing municipal contracts to help municipal leaders understand best practices to build and scale organics collection programs to divert food waste from landfills.
Solutions
Joey approached the reusable food packaging project by first analyzing the body of research related to single-use and reusable food packaging. Through a thorough literature review, he completed a gap analysis that identified the best approach for the NextGen team to create an environmental and financial model that is additive to the existing body of research. After identifying the point of differentiation, Joey then helped build the framework for data collection and sourcing for the launch of the life cycle assessment.
For the municipal toolkit, Joey used a three-pronged approach. First, Joey read and analyzed a diverse set of contracts to understand common contract terminology and important elements for various stakeholders in the organics recycling value chain. Second, Joey interviewed stakeholders across the organics recycling spectrum to understand key challenges and solutions around municipal contracts. Finally, Joey created an analytical process to identify common and best practices for organics programs.
Potential Impact
In the US, packaging waste made up more than 23% of landfill waste in 2010 and has grown around 2% each year. Joey’s research helps CLP’s brand partners make decisions on switching toward reusable food packaging that could reduce the amount of plastic waste entering landfills, seen on public streets, and entering waterways.
As composting programs expand under policies such as SB1383 and New York City’s Food Scraps Recycling Law, municipal managers are responsible for taking action within their jurisdictions to implement effective organics recycling programs. The municipal tool that Joey has worked on has the potential to help thousands of municipal managers build and scale their organics recycling programs and divert thousands of tons of organic waste from landfills.