Dr. Bryan Staley of EREF on Managing Waste, Reducing Landfill Emissions, and The Science of Trash

Dr. Bryan Staley knows a thing or two about waste. In fact, the president and CEO of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) is one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable waste management and landfill emissions, and he’s on a lifelong mission to help scientists, corporations, and individuals alike better understand the impact of what we throw away.

For many of us, waste is one of the most immediate climate-adjacent issues, and one of the few that we can significantly influence as individuals. Installing solar panels or buying an EV may not be possible for everyone, but all of us have to take out the trash, and little contributions like knowing what can and can’t be recycled or thinking more carefully about what goes in our trash can add up to a big difference. And when individuals, companies, or even entire industries run into questions and concerns about how to best manage their waste, EREF is working hard to provide the answers.

The non-profit sits at the intersection of science, business, and scholarship, advancing the circular economy and sustainable resource management through unbiased scientific research and education. Having begun as an EREF scholar himself, for the past 13 years Dr. Bryan Staley has led the foundation as it shapes our understanding of the science behind crucial issues like PFAs (aka forever chemicals), landfill methane capture, and even AI-powered recycling robots to help better manage waste and build a more sustainable world.

Hear Bryan share how growing up on a farm taught him the importance of long-term planning, the complexities of how waste breaks down, and why EREF’s independent science is a critical tool for anyone committed to understanding and reducing their environmental impact.

Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 Bryan Staley on measuring landfill emissions
• 00:49 Conor Gaughan introduces Bryan and EREF
• 05:53 Farming roots, patient planning, and academic trajectory
• 11:06 Waste management, EREF, and eye-opening research programs
• 18:04 Landfill emissions, turning methane into energy, and microbiology
• 24:58 The origin of EREF, expanding the mission, and achieving circulatory
• 30:04 Core principles, balancing interests, and the science of waste disposal
• 38:41 Food waste, composting, and the challenge of circular textiles
• 44:07 Innovations to watch and best practices for individual waste management
• 51:37 Finding motivation, defeating defeatism, and remaining optimistic
• 55:21 Where to learn more
• 56:13 End credits

If you liked this episode, listen next to Matt Rogers of Mill Industries on Food Waste, Impactful Product Design, and Innovation.

More on Dr. Bryan Staley and EREF:

• erefdn.org
• linkedin.com/in/bryan-staley-b79b6738
• linkedin.com/company/environmental-research-and-education-foundation

As mentioned in the episode, here is Bryan’s thesis, “Environmental and Spatial Factors Affecting Microbial Ecology and Metabolic Activity During the Initiation of Methanogenesis in Solid Waste.”

Connect with Conor Gaughan on linkedin.com/in/ckgone and