Marialyce Pedersen is a sustainable materials management professional with deep experience in Zero Waste, currently serving on the Advisory Council member for GBCI TRUE and as Secretary for the National Recycling Coalition Board of Directors. Pedersen served on the team that developed the TRUE Zero Waste Advisor exam in 2017. and was a founding member of the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.
From 2003 to 2019, Pedersen was a senior environmental policy analyst for The Walt Disney Company (Corporate Citizenship; Global Public Policy), developing and supporting implementation of companywide environmental goals, policies, standards and guidelines. Prior to that, Pedersen worked as a recycling specialist for local government for 11 years. Her special passions include waste prevention, reuse and composting, and environmentally preferred procurement, with a current focus directed at advancing the circular economy and solving for ocean plastics pollution by advancing producer responsibility.
In 2011 and 2012, Pedersen served as adjunct faculty at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif., creating curriculum and teaching a Zero Waste in Business course as part of a Recycling and Resource Management certificate and AA degree program. She is the co-author of the best-selling how-to book, Backyard Composting, and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in radio broadcasting from Humboldt State University.