Katelyn Heflin is committed to using the power of policy to address a broken waste management industry.

Katelyn Heflin is committed to using the power of policy to address a broken waste management industry. She has long been committed to sustainability: directly after earning her bachelor’s degree in international studies with an environmental track, she moved to Washington, D.C., to do energy and geopolitics research with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Later, she took a position as an AmeriCorps / Climate Corps volunteer and worked to develop curricula for K-12 students on the science of energy and the environmental challenges of today.

Katelyn’s specific interest in sustainable waste management and circularity grew during these years when she worked in the service industry to support her career in climate change mitigation. Each night, she sent recyclables and nearly half of the organics she served straight to the landfill, observing the waste implications of limited to nonexistent recycling and compost programs. Now, as a master’s student in environmental policy at U-M’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), Katelyn is advancing her mission to “close the tap” on the plastics production and the pollution crisis by incentivizing reduction and reuse and advocating for shifting fiscal responsibilities to plastic manufacturers.

At U-M, Katelyn is co-founder of Tr@$h C1ub, a student-led forum for circular economy conversations and learning. Recently, she was selected as the first-ever SEAS student to be a delegate at the 11th annual University Scholars Leadership Symposium at the United Nations. This summer, she was also selected as a Catalyst Leadership Fellow through U-M’s Graham Sustainability Institute in partnership with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, where she worked with the City of Holland to create both English and Spanish educational materials for residents on the climate and local economic benefits associated with recycling. Following her graduation, Katelyn intends to pursue intersectional policy work that addresses the plastics crisis.

CEW+ commends Katelyn’s commitment to making a difference through policy and names her a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar.