Amy Rowland
Circular Economy Project Manager
Working in the service industry for nearly a decade showed me how much waste society throws away every day. Unfortunately, there is as no such thing 'away' and 'waste' is not just waste—it intersects with geopolitics, environmental justice, public health, climate, and much more. To create systemic change, we must find effective ways to channel our vision for circularity into developing and implementing practical evidence-based solutions.
Amy Rowland (she/her/hers) has supported U.S. domestic and international programs that reduce the climate, environmental, and health impacts of material production and waste management. She is passionate about helping clients and the public understand and reduce the lifecycle impacts from resource extraction, processing, and end-of-life management. For federal clients, Amy has conducted waste audits, led technical assistance and capacity-building efforts, developed greenhouse gas emissions inventories, and developed accessible user-friendly resources on waste management best practices. Her conference and event planning experience includes participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties in 2023 (COP28), where she coordinated four panels and presented on the intersection of waste, climate, and health at the International Solid Waste Association’s inaugural waste and resources pavilion.
As a circular economy project manager, Amy is thrilled to be supporting implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s historic solid waste infrastructure improvements and battery recycling efforts. Her work includes facilitating post-award assistance to help grantees access the technical resources needed for successful project development. She is well-versed in food waste reduction, waste methane policy and technical solutions, domestic and international plastic pollution reduction strategies, extended producer responsibility, and quantifying GHG impacts of material-specific waste management pathways. She helped develop the World Wildlife Fund’s ReSource Footprint tracker—the reporting mechanism used by ReSource Plastic and U.S. Plastics Pact members to understand their plastic footprint and track progress on commitments. She also helped EPA’s Region 10 office draft the Oregon School Food Share Guide, which outlines steps schools can take to reduce and divert cafeteria waste through share tables and food donation.
Amy holds an M.S. and an M.P.A with a focus on environmental management from Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs (go Hoosiers!) and a B.A. with a focus in environmental decision-making from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (go Heels!). Outside work, she enjoys playing volleyball, reading, and traveling whenever and wherever she can.