Materials Management and Climate Change

MassRecycle believes that aggressive action to mitigate the impacts of climate change through a wide range of materials prevention, reuse, and recycling strategies is critical. In March 2025, the organization issued a White Paper outlining a set of strategies that it proposes for Massachusetts to mitigate the growth in consumption-based greenhouse gases (GHG) and to improve climate resilience in the recycling and waste sector.

MassRecycle’s White Paper argues that for most products, the greatest contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions occur during production and transportation to the consumer. These emissions, often called “embodied carbon,” become part of a product’s lifecycle emissions as it is used and disposed of or recycled in Massachusetts. While many analyses of U.S. greenhouse gas sources focus only on the waste management component, a full life accounting of the emissions associated with the production and use of products and materials shows that that they represent roughly 42 to 48 percent of GHG emissions.

GHG emissions, no matter where they occur, are a driver of global climate change. Emissions associated with the goods produced outside the state, but consumed within Massachusetts are not quantified or targeted in the state’s traditional GHG inventories. As a result, Massachusetts is missing significant opportunities to reduce GHG emissions related to the goods that residents, businesses, institutions, and governments consume. A recent U.S. EPA inventory found that consumption-based GHG emissions from northeastern states are 40–60 percent greater than those identified in traditional emissions inventories. These are emissions upon which residents, institutions, and businesses in Massachusetts can have a direct impact.

MassRecycle’s Call to Action focuses on both programmatic and policy actions that can be taken at all levels of government and the private sector in the State. To support its call to action, MassRecycle released a podcast featuring David Allaway, a national expert from Oregon who has led many of that State’s climate and material management activities. MassRecycle’s 2025 Spring Conference featured presentations by Massachusetts’ Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer, a panel presentation on actions that local communities can take, and a related roundtable session. Also presented at the conference were panels on organics reduction and diversion and the state of plastics recycling and markets. Keep checking MassRecycle’s webpages for more resources and announcements about activities on this important topic.

Click here to read the full White Paper. 

Resources

• NEWMOA/NERC Handout for the Public on Climate and Materials Management – https://www.newmoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ClimateChange_brochure.pdf
• NEWMOA, Meal Planning Short Video – https://www.newmoa.org/meal-planning-other-tips/
• NEWMOA, Understanding Date Labeling Short Video – https://www.newmoa.org/understanding-date-labels/
• Oregon DEQ, Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for Oregon –https://www.oregon.gov/deq/mm/Pages/Consumption-based-GHG.aspx
• Oregon DEQ, “Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Caused by Oregon’s Consumption” – https://www.oregon.gov/deq/mm/Documents/HB3409Sec52CBEReport.pdf
• Project Drawdown – https://drawdown.org/
• ReFED – https://refed.org/
• U.S. EPA, Consumption-based Greenhouse Gases Emissions Inventory for the Northeast – https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?Lab=CESER&dirEntryId=363340
• U.S. EPA, “Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Materials and Land Management Practices” – https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ghg-land-materials-management.pdf
• U.S. EPA, Waste Reduction Model (WARM) – https://www.epa.gov/warm
• West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum – https://westcoastclimateforum.com/
• Related NEWMOA and NERC Webinars:
  • Ground Glass Pozzolans – A More Sustainable Solution for Recycled Glass and Concrete – https://www.newmoa.org/event/ground-glass-pozzolans-a-more-sustainable-solution-for-recycled-glass-concrete/ and https://www.nerc.org/webinar-library
  • Purchasing Standards for Low Carbon Concrete – https://www.newmoa.org/event/purchasing-standards-for-low-carbon-concrete/
  • Food Waste Reduction Strategies and Tools for Businesses and Institutions – https://www.nerc.org/webinar-library