EPA Advancing a Circular Economy and Sustainable Materials Management

Multiple research opportunities are available at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA), Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) located in Washington, DC.

eginning in the Fall of 2021, EPA will be releasing a series of strategies focused on building a circular economy for all. The Strategies will aim to reduce the environmental impacts of materials, address climate change and environmental justice, support innovation and research, and help create new jobs. Implementation of the Strategies also will support the U.S. in meeting two ambitious national goals related to materials – reducing food waste by 50% by 2030 and increasing the recycling rate to 50% by 2030. To support successful development of implementation of the Strategies, EPA is seeking several ORISE scholars to conduct research in the following areas:

• National measurement, data collection, and analysis of municipal solid waste, food waste, and construction and demolition materials;
• Effective strategies for reducing food waste through consumer behavior change and other consumer-focused interventions;
• Best practices and strategies to advance a circular economy for materials in the built environment, with a focus on the enhancing community resilience to natural disasters;
• Research on recycled content products, materials and markets to support EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines program, which provides recommended recycled content levels for products purchased by the federal procurement;
• Methodologies for tracking the life cycle of materials through the U.S. economy at a detailed level and compatible with EPA's models; and
• Methodologies for determining the amount of plastic waste that is escaping into the environment.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: January 2022.

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 5/31/2022

To apply visit: https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/EPA-OLEM-ORCR-2022-01

 if you have additional questions about the application process please email ORISE.EPA.REG@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.