As a member of the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), ERM helped to develop a strategy for environmentally beneficial reuse of plastics. In the pilot project, plastic bottles from the New Orleans Jazz Festival were processed at US facilities to make a matrix, which is used in ecosystem restoration for plantings to preserve marshes in Louisiana.
ERM also served as a strategic advisor for development and implementation of Materials Marketplace (MM), a facilitated transaction platform that connects businesses to develop and scale new reuse and recycling market opportunities. The online platform helps divert waste from landfills while generating cost and energy savings and creating new jobs and business opportunities.
Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan are sponsoring the MM in partnership with US BCSD. Israel and Turkey are also running the MM, and Vietnam is developing the program in partnership with US BCSD.
ERM also contributed to passage of a water trading legislation as part of the Louisiana Water Synergy project, which is now in rule making mode. ERM is part of the US BCSD team that is replicating the Louisiana Water Synergy Project in Texas and the Great Lakes region.