Circular Economy Strategic Plan
To help Ulster County and the Hudson Valley get off the treadmill of managing waste, a new project has been launched to create a Circular Economy Strategic Plan for Ulster County to drive meaningful growth in diversion of reusable and recyclable materials before they enter the waste stream by creating valuable, scalable businesses. With seed funding from the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency, the project is being implemented by Sustainable Hudson Valley and Circularly, a Public Benefit Corporation that helps businesses and communities build the infrastructure required to make a just and circular economy a reality.
Roundtable discussions are scheduled on the following - click to sign up!
Architects, Builders, Contractors, Designers and Engineers - Monday, November 17, 10 am to 12 pm
Makers, Fabricators and Repair Organizations - Monday, November 17, 2 pm to 4 pm
Waste Handlers and Haulers - Tuesday, November 18, 10 am to 12 pm
Retailers, Resellers and Reuse Stores - Tuesday, November 18, 2 pm to 4 pm
“Circular economy” is an exciting new approach to managing materials that goes beyond reducing waste to maximize the capture of value in a local system – not shipping material overseas for recycling, but finding ways to reuse or remanufacture close to home. Circularity re-localizes the flow of materials to capture more value and build economic opportunities. This is already happening! The New York City Economic Development Corporation has developed a Circular City Initiative built on ten leverage points, including: creating new markets, procuring reused and recycled materials, holding companies responsible for making their products recyclable, training the work force and supporting entrepreneurial businesses.
To guide our efforts, the project will bring together interested parties from business, technology, policy and resource management to share the latest knowledge about materials flows through a survey and in-person roundtables.
To create an actionable, economically viable plan, we will:
Delve especially into markets for hard-to-recycle materials and opportunities in the ecosystem of private & public stakeholders;
Prioritize dealing with types of materials that have known environmental impacts and also reuse value;
Focus on opportunities in and around Ulster County, including opportunities for economies of scale through regional collaboration;
Take about 6 months to complete, with a culminating Circular Economy Summit in early 2026.
Our Kickoff on October 23 at RBW in Kingston was well attended by enthusiastic folks ready to help grow our Circular Economy! Click the image below to view the presentation:
