Teresa Clark oversees Sustainability at the Environmental Research and Education Foundation. As part of that position she interfaces/collaborates with the waste management industry, legislators, laboratories, academia and NGO’s to bridge the information and communication gap between industries. One key focus is understanding the EOL challenges with packaging and integrating data into EOL planning strategies that include all end points of an integrated waste management system. This includes composting, recycling and the recovery of energy from discarded materials.
Teresa is passionate about improving the knowledge base within the industry as well as for consumers. It was for this purpose that she created and instructed a continuing education course for the PR College of Engineers on biodegradation and plastics. She has also worked with several private schools to create programs for middle school children to educate them on plastics, biodegradation and the environment.
Teresa has been a featured educational speaker at many international conferences in the plastics, waste management and rubber industries, including The International Latex Conference; GPEC; Adina Pack and LAPET. Her published papers and books cover the subject of biodegradation, Waste Management and plastic sustainability.
She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board for Arizona Businesses Advancing Sustainability (AZBAS) where she oversees the development and implementation of sustainable strategies, education and outreach.
Teresa also is an active member of ASTM, she is the Chair of D34 Waste Management, Chair of D34.03 Remediation, Reuse and Recovery, oversees the ASTM Sustainability Database, Chair of D20.95.01 Recycle Codes, Vice-Chair of D20.96 Biobased and Environmentally Degradable Plastics. She also sits on several technical sub-committees including; Rubber, Bio-technology, Waste Management, Bio-Technology, Packaging and Sustainability.
Teresa is an avid environmentalist with experience in microbiology, chemistry, biodegradation and related environmental fields and holds a passion for sharing knowledge with the industry.