2024 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit
June 11-13, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
Paula Luu
Senior Project Director
Closed Loop Partners
Bio:
Paula Luu is a Senior Project Director at Closed Loop Partners, an impact investment firm and innovation center focused on development of the circular economy. She leads the firm’s Composting Consortium, which works closely with brands, composters and academic institutions, and NGOs to gather and analyze data that can inform the best path forward to scale food-waste composting infrastructure in the United States and create end-of-life options for compostable food-contact packaging. She received her MBA and MS from the University of Michigan and her BA from UC Berkeley.
Schedule
Wednesday, May 20
1:30pm - 2:30pm
"Depackaging at a Crossroads: Promise, Risk, and the Path Forward"
Breakout
Depackaging is a fast growing part of the organics recycling infrastructure, helping to quickly and conveniently divert food waste from landfill. But as the technology adoption scales, so do the questions. What do we actually know about how depackaging impacts compost quality, digestate, and microplastics contamination? Where is the data still lacking? And how should policymakers and practitioners respond in the absence of clear standards? This session creates space for a candid conversation across perspectives—from regulators to environmental advocates to organics recyclers on the ground. Together, panelists will explore what must be true for depackaging to play a responsible role in organics diversion, what guardrails may be needed, and how the industry can move forward without compromising long-term system integrity.