Waste Management and the Agricultural Circular Economy

This project focuses on the changes in municipal waste management systems necessary to help local and regional governments increase the use of compost in agriculture and food production. Composting organic waste for agricultural fertilizer is key to optimizing environmental outcomes in landfill management while also improving soil productivity and promoting nationwide food security. This research analyzes both the spatial distribution of composting infrastructure and the socio-economic factors that influence regional waste management systems. Using a multi-scalar, mixed-methods approach, this research contributes to the emerging interdisciplinary field of political industrial ecology and promotes closer engagement of geographers with the Circular Economy (CE) concept. Additionally, the project provides graduate and undergraduate students with interdisciplinary research experience that will support their future transition into the scientific workforce. As an emerging production paradigm, CE aims to increase environmental and economic sustainability by “closing the loop” on linear production systems through recycling waste. The primary objective of this project is to empirically investigate these claims by examining production, circulation, and valuation in an emerging agricultural CE. Specifically, the project aims to (1) quantify the spatial scale of municipal organic waste management systems, (2) analyze the local factors that influence these systems, and (3) provide an understanding of the transformative potential of CE in the waste management and agriculture industries. These results generate new insights into the macro- and meso-level changes in governance mechanisms, economic arrangements, and institutional relations as part of the CE transition. This research informs local, regional, and state governments of actionable solutions that promote agricultural sustainability through organic waste recycling and develop a CE of food in the United States. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.