Center for Sustainable Materials Management

We are proud to announce that CSMM was awarded the 2024 Rheaply Innovator Award, recognizing CSMM’s creative use of the Rheaply platform to advance sustainability through campus reuse! ✨ Rheaply is a free-to-use marketplace that identifies available resources for reuse across different departments on campus. In just six months, the Rheaply project on ESF’s campus led by Sue Fassler, facilitated 280 exchanges, saved over $55,000, and diverted nearly 9,000 pounds of material from landfills.    “This award is a testament to our team’s dedication and ingenuity,” said Kathryn Walker, executive director of CSMM. “By reimagining waste as a resource, we’re helping build a more sustainable future. We’re honored to receive this recognition from Rheaply.” 

Discover how the Institute for Sustainability Engagement | EFC Region 2 (ISE), previously known as the Center for Sustainable Community Solutions (CSCS) and CSMM are partnering to enhance recycling and education across New York State. This video showcases their collaborative efforts, including the Recycle Right New York campaign, with insights from Melissa Young, Kathryn Walker, Mark M. Lichtenstein, Lisa Ruggero, and Jesse Kerns.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday, from the CSMM team! ✨

Check out this insightful article by Angelina Ruiz in Waste Advantage Magazine, where she highlights key takeaways from our recent conference hosted in partnership with Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Rethinking Resource Use: Regional Perspectives conference.

Discover how SUNY Stony Brook’s Department of Technology and Society, in collaboration with CSMM, is advancing recycling efficiency and marketability in New York State. This video spotlights their waste characterization studies, recycling program evaluations, and the development of an economic analysis tool, featuring key insights from David Tonjes and Elizabeth Hewitt. 

And that's a wrap on our 2024 fall conference, "Rethinking Resource Use: Regional Perspectives"!  We are immensely thankful for the partnership with the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and the collaboration with the Institute for Sustainability Engagement & Environmental Finance Center (ISE) at Syracuse University, formerly the Center for Sustainable Community Solutions (CSCS), which were instrumental in making this event a success. We kicked off with an inspiring keynote from Dr. Garry Cooper Jr., CEO and Co-founder of Rheaply. Dr. Cooper shared how their company is employing technology to reduce costs and carbon emissions by keeping reusable materials out of landfills. In a few short months of modernizing the surplus exchange at SUNY-ESF, the college has saved 40,000 dollars and diverted over 6k lbs. of materials.  Our day 1 sessions featured industry leaders discussing methods for managing difficult-to-recycle fibers, recycling markets for materials like glass and flow maps to track material movement, green procurement guidelines for sustainable purchasing, effective outreach strategies, and so much more! Want to learn more? You are welcome to access the presentation slides from all three days of the conference here: https://lnkd.in/gGup8bcK! #CSMM #Sustainablematerials #Plasticfree #SUNYInnovation #Zerowaste #Bioplastics #Nonrecyclablepaper #EnvironmentalLeadership #WasteManagement #EnvironmentalImpact #NewYork #NERC #Composting #SustainabilityScience 

Wrapping up our 3-day conference hosted with Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry with the dynamic panel "A Dive into Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging"! CSMM and our partners look forward to taking these lessons learned from these national leaders in our research and efforts to support EPR for paper and packaging legislation moving forward here in New York State! Thank you so much to the panelists for traveling to Central NY to join us for this critical conversation! Alejandro Perez, Erica N. , Lucy Mullany, Megan Daum, Rachel Setzke.

Discover how the Center for Sustainable Materials Management at SUNY-ESF is leading the way in recycling and waste management. This film highlights Professor Douglas Daley’s innovative approach to converting non-recyclable papers into compost.

Our 2024 fall conference is quickly approaching. "Rethinking Resource Use: Regional Perspectives," will be held in partnership with the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) and in collaboration with Syracuse University Center for Sustainable Community Solutions from October 28th to October 30th, 2024, in Syracuse, NY at SUNY ESF! To learn more about the speakers and agenda visit NERC’s website: https://lnkd.in/gG6JD-Um   Join us for three days of networking, learning, and rethinking how we manage materials.  There is still time to register! Register here: https://lnkd.in/d9Zma_it  

Explore how Alfred University’s Center for Glass Innovation, in collaboration with CSMM, is addressing New York State’s glass recycling challenges. Watch this short film featuring Dean Gabrielle Gaustad and her team’s work in increasing the use of recycled glass cullets.