Casella commits $1.5M to launch circular economy center at the University of Vermont

Casella Waste Systems, Rutland, Vermont, has partnered with the University of Vermont (UVM), Burlington, Vermont, to launch the Casella Center for Circular Economy and Sustainability at UVM.

Casella has committed $1.5 million to launch the center, which it says will bring together leading scientists, engineers and materials management experts to serve as an interdisciplinary hub for research, workshops and lectures on sustainable waste and materials management, resource solutions, climate leadership and community engagement. This is the first research center that Casella has launched.

“We are deeply grateful to Casella for their investment,” UVM Interim President Patricia Prelock says. “The Casella Center for Circular Economy and Sustainability at UVM will be an international leader in research solutions for sustainable waste and materials management. This exciting new partnership pairs our world-class researchers and environmental leadership with Casella’s industry expertise to create urgently needed practical solutions for people and planet.”

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Established in Rutland as a single-truck waste collection enterprise in 1975, Casella began operating Vermont's first recycling facility just two years later. Casella’s climate leadership has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Association of Climate Change Officers, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and the Climate Registry with a Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas management. Now, in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the company says investing in UVM is a critical step in helping shape the future of resource and materials management.

“Sustainable materials management has been the foundation of our business for 50 years,” Casella CEO and Chairman John W. Casella says. “We’ve made incredible progress toward a circular economy and recognize that there is always more we can accomplish as we continue along our sustainability journey while enabling our customers to achieve their own sustainability goals. Investing in research that results in economically and environmentally sustainable solutions to some of modern society’s most pressing issues is critical to our future. We’re thrilled to continue that journey with UVM and to combine our five decades of industry expertise with their academic excellence to help find those solutions.”

UVM professor Eric Roy, an environmental scientist and engineer who has collaborated with Casella since 2016, will serve as the inaugural director of the center, which will be housed in the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

“This type of collaboration between industry and academia opens up a lot of potential,” Roy says. “With this new center, we will be able to expand our circular economy research to find solutions that benefit the public and environment. We have an excellent working relationship with many partners at Casella, and I am excited to further our work with other industry partners, academic institutions and policymakers.”

Early UVM faculty affiliates include Matt Scarborough, Raju Badireddy and Mandar Dewoolkar in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and Meredith Niles, Hao Chen and Joshua Faulkner in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The Center also will host one Ph.D. student and two undergraduate or M.S. students each year, along with multiple research staff.