The Circular Matters Team

 

 

Circular Matters LLC is a consulting firm specializing in sustainability and work in the sustainable materials management and circular economy arena.  The principals of Circular Matters each have 20 to 35+ years of experience in sustainable materials management and recycling-related programs and policies, including extensive experience in recycling market development. Our associates are experienced, trusted partners with whom we have developed strong working relationships. They bring skills and expertise to our projects on an as-needed basis, enabling us to serve our clients effectively and efficiently. 

Having worked for a broad array of public and private sector clients, we understand the diversity of issues and perspectives, and can effectively address the interests and concerns of all stakeholders involved. 

Betsy Dorn

Betsy Dorn has over 35 years of professional experience managing, designing, and implementing recycling and solid waste management projects. For 30 years, Betsy has been a consultant assisting public and private sector clients develop plans, evaluate policies and operations, and launch new programs, including a variety of recycling market development projects.  In recent years, Betsy’s work has focused on the end-of-life management of packaging materials and packaging policy analysis. Prior to becoming a consultant, Betsy managed Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), N.C.’s Recycling Division for 6 years. Betsy has an undergraduate degree in Biology and a Master of Science in Public Health degree in Environmental Sciences and Engineering. 

Tim Buwalda

Tim Buwalda has over 25 years of comprehensive recycling and solid waste management consulting experience, working extensively with companies and trade associations throughout North America. Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering, with additional specialization in plastics.  He has a diverse range of hands-on experience and knowledge in a variety of areas including materials recovery facility design, financial analysis, policy analysis, recycling program evaluation and optimization, and development of recycling solutions for plastics, used tires, and recovered paper. Tim is a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps officer.

Susan Bush

Susan Bush has over 20 years of experience in environmental policy work, most in consulting with a focus on recycling and sustainable materials management.  Susan has worked for an array of public and private-sector clients throughout North America. She has excellent research and analytical skills, as well as extensive experience in evaluating recycling program performance, solid waste and materials management planning, recycling market development, and development and deployment of training programs. Susan has a bachelor of arts in economics and a master of science in resource economics. 

Ed Boisson

Ed Boisson is an independent consultant who is an associate with Circular Matters. Ed has over 30 years of experience focused on recycling market development, working with government, private and non-profit clients in several U.S. states. He has led numerous recycling market, infrastructure and policy studies and has administered a variety of state market development programs and initiatives.  In the early 1990s Ed managed the Policy Office and Recycling Loan Program for the California Integrated Waste Management Board (now CalRecycle) and in the late 1990s he was Executive Director of the Northeast Recycling Council for four years. His academic background includes a B.A. degree in Physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.S. degree in Environmental Systems from Humboldt State University. He currently lives with his wife Karen in his hometown of San Rafael, California.

 

Neil Menezes

Neil Menezes is an independent consultant based out of Ontario, Canada, and is an associate of Circular Matters. Neil has  over eight years of experience in the solid waste and recycling industry. He specializes in benchmarking and measuring the effectiveness of diversion and recycling initiatives, and provides clients with measurable strategies to increase diversion, optimize MRF operations, model financial impacts, and evaluate diversion initiatives. He has worked with a broad array of private businesses, governments, and associations and organizations.  Neil has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Mathematics, and certificates in Project Management: Environmental, and Applied Digital Geography and GIS.

Amy Perlmutter

Amy Perlmutter is an independent consultant based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her practice includes strategy, stakeholder engagement, project management, communication, and mentoring, with a focus on growing cleaner technologies, policies, and practices. Her two primary areas of focus are Zero Waste and Green Chemistry.  Throughout her over 35 year career, Amy has developed creative, leading edge programs, and has worked closely with businesses government, academia, and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to consulting, Amy was the founding Executive Director of the Chelsea Center for Recycling and Economic Development, a program that supported and developed markets for secondary materials in Massachusetts; the Director of Recycling for the City and County of San Francisco; and the Director of Solid Waste for Passaic County, New Jersey. She is an advisor to clean tech start-ups Magnomer and Onvector and is a business sustainability mentor for Clean Tech Open. She has her BA in International Studies and Environmental Policy from UNC Chapel Hill, and her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Isabelle Faucher

Isabelle Faucher is an independent consultant based in Canada. She has 13 years of direct experience in product stewardship and waste diversion, on both the policy analysis and operational levels.  Isabelle has a wide breath of international experience, in particular Latin America, in the areas of waste policy and inclusive recycling, garnered through her work for the AVINA Foundation and the Regional Initiative for Inclusive Recycling (IRR), among others.  She serves as a managing director of a packaging association in Canada. She is fluent in French and Spanish, in addition to English. Isabelle earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies, with a focus on Environmental Science and her Master’s degree, a Collaborative Program in Environmental Studies, from the University of Toronto.