Research Reports

Composting provides many environmental, economic, and social benefits. Community composting is designed to meet local needs, serve local interests, and engage the community. Unfortunately, municipal zoning codes can present unintended barriers for community composters—for example, by treating composting facilities the same way as large waste facilities. The NRDC/ELI Model Municipal Zoning Ordinance on Community Composting is intended to establish and govern community composting as a permissible land use across five basic zoning district categories.

This report surveys recent and past decisions of the United States Supreme Court, examines their impact on the fields of environmental law and regulatory law, and evaluates how they might affect various conservation strategies. Given the present period of rapid, highly impactful change in the Court’s jurisprudence, it outlines the 50-year arc of federal environmental protection, documenting the shift from a widely held societal consensus on strong national authority to the more constrained, piecemeal approach unveiled in recent decisions.

ELI created the Food Waste Prevention Resource Guide Series (funded by Urban Green Lab with support from the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh) to provide ready-to-use, vetted, and science-based resources for classrooms, households, and workplaces. The Guides provide a range of resources, such as lessons plans and research reports, on specific food waste prevention strategies, including: Date Labels; Packaging Design and Use; Meal Prepping and Kits; Plate and Portion Size; and Storage and Freezing. This PDF compiles all five resource guides into one document.

Municipalities and other local governments around the country are setting climate mitigation targets and adaptation goals. These municipalities typically develop a Climate Action Plan (CAP) that outlines the measures they plan to take to meet their targets and goals. Often missing from these CAPs are measures to increase the availability of plant-based proteins and engage the public on their benefits.

This brief summarizes Existing U.S. Federal Authorities to Address Plastic Pollution: A Synopsis for Decision Makers, a report which identifies federal authorities—spanning executive orders, legislation, regulations, and associated programs—that can be used to address plastic pollution through interventions identified across the plastic life cycle.