Why Zero Waste Programs Stall or Fail and How to Fix Them

Why Zero Waste Programs Stall After the Audit & Assessment Stage
Paolo Muir, Zero Waste Program Manager, HSR Zero Waste

This presentation will share first hand accounts of frequently encountered barriers to the longer term success of Zero Waste initiatives within organizations, following common first steps such as waste audits and facility assessments. Areas of opportunity to counter the risk of stalling and to maintain momentum in the direction of Zero Waste will also be shared.

Why Composting Programs Fail in the Kitchen (And How to Fix Them Upstream)
Michelle Horneff-Cohen, Founder, Clean Composting Company

Most organics programs are designed around collection, processing, and diversion targets but struggle to achieve consistent participation at the household level. The breakdown often occurs in the kitchen, where food scraps are generated, handled, and either correctly or incorrectly sorted.
Drawing on over 25 years of experience in multifamily housing, this session examines the gap between policy design and real-world behavior. It highlights how factors like odor, space constraints, inconvenience, and unclear systems impact resident participation and lead to contamination, even in well-funded programs.
Rather than focusing on downstream solutions, this session shifts attention upstream, where small, practical changes in how food scraps are collected and managed in the home can significantly improve outcomes. Attendees will gain insight into behavior-driven strategies, common implementation challenges in multifamily environments, and how to design programs that align with how people actually live, not just how systems are intended to function.