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 other key stakeholders to gather and analyze data that can inform the best path forward to scale food waste diversion and composting infrastructure in the United States. She received her MBA and MS from the University of Michigan and her BA from UC Berkeley.

Session Code: 5C

Track: Future of Compostable Products

Session Name: Can We Move The Needle on Compost Manufacturer Acceptance of Compostable Packaging? Field Testing Data and What’s Next

Session Time: Thursday, February 8, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Presentation Title: Breaking Down Compostable Packaging: what’s working, what’s not, where do we go from here?

Presentation Description: In 2023, the Composting Consortium partnered with 10 composters across the country who together tested over 23,000 units of compostable packaging. This presentation will share a summary of key learnings from this pilot, which include: Disintegration rates of 30+ types of food-contact compostable packaging; Our learnings from using two distinct test methods, and testing at different composting sites with various composting methods; Key insights on pile conditions that best support disintegration of compostable biopolymers and fiber.