Yale Office of Sustainability

Sophie Leone • June 19, 2023

We are proud to welcome the Yale Office of Sustainability as a supporting advisory member of NERC

The vision of Yale Office of Sustainability is “of a Yale where sustainability is seamlessly integrated into the scholarship and operations of the university, contributing to its social, environmental, and financial excellence and positioning Yale as a local and global leader.” The Office focuses its sustainability priorities in three primary areas:

  • Climate Action: take urgent action to mitigate climate change and proactively adapt to its effects;
  • Stewardship: plan and preserve resilient and sustainable infrastructure and landscapes; and
  • Materials: ensure sustainable consumption and disposal patterns.


Unsurprisingly for an office in one of the nation’s elite universities, the Office of Sustainability offers a wealth of information and research on its website. Focusing on the third priority—materials—we find that Yale was the first American institution of higher education to explore a Pay As You Throw program; has encouraged reuse of products via its annual Spring Salvage donation program for the past 18 years; and has included healthy furniture purchasing guidelines as part of its design standards, to eliminate the presence of flame retardants and other toxic chemicals in furniture. The Office’s website details how Yale advances its sustainability priorities through single stream recycling and numerous other initiatives. Among the nine ambitions of the University’s Sustainability Plan 2025 is the Procurement Department’s commitment to ensuring sustainable consumption and disposal patterns.


In a recent interview, Amber Garrard—who in January became director of the Office—described some of the challenges she encounters in her daily work.


“I spend a lot of my time thinking about big systems like energy, food, water, the built environment, and how they connect with issues of health, equity, and justice,” she said. “I consider where Yale can be an institutional leader with our policies and practices, how we can leverage our role as a major research institution through our purchasing power, and how we can test and set behavioral trends.”


During the recent Earth Week—April 16 – 22—Yale offered at least twenty events. “Yale community members can join a native plant walk led by Peabody naturalists; examine what a just energy transition looks like; sustainably unload old electronics at an e-waste collection; celebrate indigenous culture at a Powwow; hack down invasive vines in East Rock Park; explore the benefits of meditation; participate in bicycle safety training, and so much more,” the Office stated.


NERC is excited to have such a proven source of expertise on materials management join its Advisory Membership. Welcome, Yale Office of Sustainability.


For more information about the Yale Office of Sustainability click
here

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By Megan Fontes May 29, 2025
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) published its Chemical Recycling Policy Position on May 30, 2025. The purpose of the policy statement is to articulate guiding principles for environmentally responsible chemical recycling of plastics. NERC supports the conservation of natural resources, waste minimization, and recognizes the role of recycling in reaching these goals. Plastic is a prevalent material for packaging and other products due to its material properties. Producing virgin plastic from fossil fuels is an extractive process with negative environmental and social impacts. Therefore, NERC supports reduction, reuse, and recycling processes that displace virgin production in plastics where environmentally preferable. You can view the policy statement here: https://www.nerc.org/chemical-recycling . The Policy Position was developed by the Subcommittee of the NERC Chemical Recycling Committee. Participants on the Subcommittee included Committee Chair Tom Metzner, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP); Claudine Ellyin, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP); John Fay, Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA); Anthony Fontana, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Retired ; Michael Fowler, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP); Timothy Kerr, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Left MDE ; Shannon McDonald, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE); Chaz Miller, Ex-Officio, NERC Board; Elizabeth Moore, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP); Marc Moran, Pennsylvania Department Of Environmental Protection; Michael Nork, New Hampshire Department Of Environmental Services; Megan Schulz-Fontes, Northeast Recycling Council (NERC); and Richard Watson, Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA). NERC created the Chemical Recycling Committee in 2022 with the goal of sharing information on new technologies called “chemical recycling.” The Committee shares information on the efficacy, cost, and impacts of these new technologies. Our Policy is the result of those efforts. The Committee is open to NERC state members and several advisory member organizations whose participation has been approved by the state members serving on the committee. NERC has published several other policy positions including the Post-Consumer Recycled Content Policy (2019) and Product Stewardship and Producer Responsibility Policy (2018), which can be found among others on NERC’s website: https://www.nerc.org/policy-positions-and-statements . For more information, contact Megan Schulz-Fontes, Executive Director, at megan@nerc.org .
May 28, 2025
Waste Advantage NERC’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Commodity Values Survey Report for the period January – March 2025 showed a slight jump in the average commodity prices for Q1. The average value of all commodities increased by 9% without residuals to $102.34 and 8% with residuals to $89.62, as compared to last quarter. Single stream increased by 12% without residuals and 11% with residuals, while dual stream/source separated increased by 10% without residuals and 9% with residuals compared to last quarter. The average percentage for outbound tons marketed per commodity in calendar year 2024 showed decreases for all commodities as compared to 2022, except for polypropylene and bulky rigids, which increased by 40% and 29%, respectively. We also see an increase in mixed glass and residue, as compared to 2022, by 31% and 8%, respectively, further offsetting the decreases in marketed commodity percentages across the board. Notably, green, brown, and clear glass had the largest fall with clear glass decreasing by 77%. Changes in calculation methodology may affect these trends. Percentages are derived from tonnages reported for calendar year 2024 as opposed to percentage breakdowns in previous years. This is the 24th quarterly report in NERC’s series of reports on the market value of commodities from MRFs in the Northeast. This report includes information from 19 MRFs representing twelve (12) states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. These survey results reflect the differing laws and collection options in the participating states. Five of the states included in this report have beverage container deposit laws. As a result, fewer glass bottles, PET bottles and aluminum cans are processed in MRFs in those states. Those MRFs are also likely to have less revenue from those recyclables. In addition, the report reflects a mix of single stream, dual stream, and source separation to collect recyclables with single stream being the most common approach. The type of collection used will have an impact on MRF design and operation. Thus, the data from this report reflects the unique blend of facilities and statewide laws in the reporting states. Residual refers to the incoming material that cannot be marketed and goes to disposal. The value without residuals reflects the value of a perfect ton of marketed material, while the value with residuals reflects the value of each ton processed with the costs associated of disposing unmarketable material. Note: In many cases, recovered glass goes to market but at a negative value. This data is not intended to be used as a price guide for MRF contracts. NERC’s database represents single and dual stream MRFs, states with and without beverage container deposits, a wide variety in markets and geographic access to markets, and variety of materials collected for processing at the participating facilities. As a result, it represents the diversity of operating conditions in these locations and should not be used as a price guideline for a specific program. For more information, contact Megan Schulz-Fontes, Executive Director, at megan@nerc.org or visit www.nerc.org .
By Megan Fontes May 22, 2025
2024 Average Percentage of Outbound Tons Marketed per Commodity Published; New Format: Report Includes Q1 2025 Individual Commodity Average Prices
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