From Silos to Solutions: How Miami is Building a Zero Waste Movement
This article is tied to the 2026 National Zero Waste Conference Day 2 session titled Plenary Grassroots Community Action and includes speakers Madeline Kaufman, M.Sc., Nazir Khan, Paul Ledoux. Join us on October 22nd to hear their presentations at the National Zero Waste Conference.
By Madeline Kaufman, M.Sc.
Miami has a waste problem. We produce about 11 pounds of waste per person per day, more than twice the national average. Our recycling system struggles with high contamination and low recovery rates. The waste-to-energy facility that handled roughly half of Miami-Dade County’s waste burned down in 2023, and our landfills are approaching capacity.
But when we started Zero Waste Miami, we also knew something else: Miami did not have a shortage of people trying to solve these problems. We had nonprofits and businesses running reuse programs, composters collecting food scraps, local governments testing new programs, public schools and events implementing food rescue, educators working with students, all working to advance zero waste across Miami.
What we did not have was a place for all of those people to work together. That became the idea behind Zero Waste Miami, a coalition led by Debris Free Oceans with support from Florida Sea Grant through NOAA’s Marine Debris Community Action Coalitions Challenge.
Over the course of the project, more than 75 people officially joined the coalition and our informal network grew to 165. Members represented nonprofits, government agencies, universities, schools, businesses and residents. Then we hosted meetings and workshops to co-create and catalyze zero waste programs, building Miami’s circular economy with the community and for the community.
We let the community build the strategy
We hosted a series of workshops where coalition members learned about Miami’s waste system, identified barriers to zero waste, brainstormed solutions and eventually developed project ideas. The process resulted in the Zero Waste Miami strategy, featuring five detailed project plans addressing food recovery, communal reuse on college campuses, a Zero Waste Ambassador program, water refill infrastructure, and tap-water outreach and education. We also documented additional project ideas and best practices that emerged from the planning process.
More importantly, people began finding each other. Coalition members who had never worked together started sharing resources, referring clients, collaborating on programs and developing new projects. In our final member survey, 55% of respondents said they experienced measurable growth or increased capacity because of Zero Waste Miami. Half reported making 5–15 new connections through the coalition, while 12% reported making more than 20. Those connections also produced tangible waste reduction. Members reported that more than nine tons of waste were diverted through new relationships established through Zero Waste Miami.
Ultimately, I believe the community we built is the most important outcome of Zero Waste Miami. Beyond the strategies, resources, and other tangible outputs, the coalition created a sense of connection and shared purpose that can sustain this work long after the project ends. As one coalition member reflected:
“I really feel like you’re some of the best people I’ve met, and with climate anxiety, if we were at this alone, it would be so difficult, but there’s so much enthusiasm and hope when we get to work together. It’s hard to put into words, but I’m just so thankful for all of you, I’m so grateful that we get to work together, and I just feel so inspired whenever we get together”
We built things that would outlive the grant
We also did not want the coalition’s work disappearing into a final report that nobody would open again, so we turned what we learned into tools people could keep using.
We designed a model for social media campaigns that harness our collective voice to call for action, putting it into practice through our #KickTheCup campaign advocating for reuse at World Cup events. We also built a resource hub connecting people with local zero-waste services and opportunities, educational resources, and a waste-diversion database designed to begin capturing the collective impact of zero-waste programs across Miami. Additionally, we created a Coalition Development SOP documenting how we recruited and managed members, facilitated workshops, prioritized projects and refined strategies so other communities could replicate and adapt our work.
We look forward to sharing all of these tools and resources with communities across the country at the National Zero Waste Conference!
Miami is changing at the same time
The timing feels especially important because Miami’s larger waste landscape is shifting. Miami-Dade County released its Zero Waste Master Plan in August 2026. The County and City of Miami have passed resolutions addressing single-use plastics in government operations. Schools and municipalities are piloting composting programs, and more and more zero-waste businesses are serving the region. Our work now is to help turn that momentum into lasting systems.
For Zero Waste Miami, that means finding funding to implement the projects our members developed, expanding our waste-diversion database, sharing our coalition model with other communities, supporting implementation of the County’s Zero Waste Master Plan and exploring infrastructure such as a local reusable foodware washing hub.
Eventually, we hope Miami can move from planning, to building the infrastructure and social capacity needed for zero waste, to policies that make those systems the norm. And we do not have to build these solutions alone. Zero Waste Miami is ultimately about creating a space where our community can connect, collaborate, and build what comes next together.