Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd.

Ross & Associates supported all aspects of a state/EPA collaboration to develop a new vision for the future of the national waste prevention and management program administered under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The first phase of work culminated in 2002 with issuance of a new 20-year vision that calls for EPA and the states to move beyond traditional end-of-life management approaches to reinvent waste programs using a lifecycle thinking and a sustainable materials-management approach. Ross & Associates supported EPA and the states in all aspects of the Vision project, including workgroup facilitation and documentation; issue analysis; convening and facilitating a formal meeting of science, technical, economic and societal experts about anticipated future trends and preparation of a summary of the proceedings; drafting the vision document; and coordinating and facilitating public comment on the draft vision document. The vision was endorsed by executive leadership at EPA and in the states and has served to guide national waste programs ever since.

After the initial 2020 vision effort, Ross & Associates provided analytic, convening, facilitation, and writing support to a number of follow up efforts, including convening, facilitating, and providing analytic support for a state/EPA workgroup tasked with developing an implementation plan for the 2020 vision. This effort culminated in publication of Sustainable Materials Management: the Road Ahead. Like the original vision document, the implementation plan was endorsed by leadership at EPA and in the states.

For more information see EPA’s website.