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2014 Spring | Business & Sustainability, Policy & Regulation, Sustainability

Embracing a Lifecycle Approach

Student(s):

Megan Reeves

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Melissa Winters

Partner(s):

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10

Faculty advisor(s):

Timothy Hargrave Professor of Business, University of Washington

I worked with the EPA Region 10’s Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) team, a group which helps facilitate better waste and materials management practices with a goal of keeping materials in a closed-loop. The main focus of my internship and research was state government-led solid waste programs. I found solid waste disposal and recycling data for Region 10 states and evaluated the effectiveness of an online database for US states’ material use and disposal data developed by the EPA based on the feedback provided by state participants and my own experience using the questionnaire template. I also researched the role of state governments in managing state materials as mediators between federal and local governments.