Philly Talks Trash Quarterly Spring/Summer 2026

Circulating Futures

Dear Reader,

Welcome to our 11th Philly Talks Trash Quarterly Newsletter. We are pleased to share with you our effort to grow knowledge and enthusiasm for reducing waste and the burgeoning circular economy in Philadelphia. A shout out to Chris Rabb, winner of the Democratic Primary for US Representative and champion for a strong climate agenda in Congress. You can take action now by asking for the support of officials currently in office, see Politics and Legislation below. In this issue we are featuring two guest essayists. Anthony James is doing excellent work in both saving good food from the landfill, and then taking the next step of composting that which cannot be used, a double effort at combating food waste while helping those in need. Suzanne Willever brings her skills in sustainability and international education as a welcome new addition to the Philly businesses centered on reuse and refill options. Her essay looks at the exhilaration and challenges of starting a business in Philly centered on waste reduction. We thank both authors for giving us hope in our city’s expanding options for reuse and growing focus on circularity. This issue introduces our new, streamlined format. We hope you will find it both easier to read and navigate.

Politics and Legislation

The REUSE Act: The Reuse Act of 2025/ 2026 (Packaging and Refill Systems):
For feasibility and best practices, this legislation passed the Senate in November of 2025, but is being “Held at the desk,” in the House. You can learn more about the bill here from Sen. Markley, sponsor. To encourage our current representatives, you can email them using this form.

Lessons of an Educator Turned Social Entrepreneur
by Suzanne Willever, founder of Repleo

This time last year, I had an idea rolling around in my mind, a vision for a low-waste boutique and educational venture that would allow me to bring together my varied experiences across marketing communications and higher education to serve my local community. What exactly would it look like, and could I do it successfully?

I had developed a sustainability initiative in my previous role in international education, but I was feeling called to shift my attention to Philadelphia to enact the “Think Globally, Act Locally” mantra that I had repeated again and again for students. I wanted to call it something that would evoke wisdom from the past, reminding us that caring for the Earth is rooted in ancient philosophy and mythology and that living more sustainably can feel like a beautiful ritual. I named it Repleo (pronounced Re-PLAY-oh), which is Latin meaning “I replenish,” “I refill,” or “I restore” – the first person conjugation gives it this personal connection, emphasizing that our actions really can make a difference.

I formed the LLC for Repleo in June of 2025 and took a leap of faith that would lead me to tremendous growth. I’m still learning every day, but here are a few of my takeaways so far:

Reasons for Optimism

• Transferable skills will serve you well when starting a small business. Wearing many hats as you do in higher education (or any non-profit) prepares you well to build a small business from scratch and do all the jobs at first–that doesn’t mean there isn’t a learning curve, just that you have the transferable skills to handle it. For example, I used my marketing and branding skills to build my own branding and website, and to design my market setup; my research skills to source suppliers and learn about ingredients; and my educational background to develop experiential workshops.
• Philly has a supportive business community with shared goals. It has been incredibly rewarding to connect with local business owners and sustainability champions in the city. Many have offered advice, connections and opportunities for collaboration, including other refill shop owners. I now regularly do pop-ups and have product placements with local businesses on Fairmount Avenue, participate in farmers markets in Point Breeze, East Falls, and beginning in June, Conshohocken. Echo Systems, The Sustainable Business Network and Circular Philadelphia have also been great resources.
• Philly consumers are amazing, and they’re here for sustainable products! One of the most rewarding aspects of running Repleo is getting to meet and talk with local customers in Philadelphia. They want more sustainable options, reusable containers and products made with ingredients they can actually trust.

Challenges and the Work Ahead

• Navigating unfamiliar terrain. Despite many transferable skills, retail is still a new space for me, so there has been a learning curve in figuring out how to align retail profitability with my ethical and educational goals and manage retail inventory.
• Finding my focus. I’m learning which roles within my business I’m really best at and which ones I’d like to hire someone else to do as soon as possible–bookkeepers and operations managers, I see you. I’m also pivoting the business as I grow it because I want to build a business I love working in, and one that provides a sustainable lifestyle with good work-life balance.
• Addressing convenience culture. For many people, convenience is a huge barrier to adopting sustainable practices like refilling containers because our lives are just so busy. But there are tremendous hidden costs of convenience, including the impacts of waste management on lower-income communities, animals, and the planet itself. I’m looking for ways to address this convenience barrier while advocating for slowing down and community building.
• Confronting systemic challenges. There are systemic challenges that need to be addressed to increase access to low-waste products that are made safely and affordably, with less plastic and toxins. Some types of products are not produced locally or in the U.S., or are much more expensive; detailed labels are required for certain products to ensure customer safety and avoid lawsuits, resulting in increased waste; it can be more costly to offer reclaimed containers than new ones because of the labor involved; glass is also heavier than plastic to carry and ship, and it’s fragile, while cardboard containers are vulnerable to moisture.

I hope to contribute to solving the larger systemic challenges as I learn more, and this journey is an important reminder that climate work belongs to all of us. One of the most powerful things we can do is build and support the local ecosystems that make sustainable living more accessible. That’s what I’m trying to do with Repleo, and I’m grateful to be doing it alongside this community.

Salvage Compost Joins Philly Unwrapped
by Anthony James, founder of Salvage Compost

Growing up in Germantown and Mt. Airy, I witnessed unreliable trash services, food discarded while neighbors went without and polluting infrastructure. These conditions were concentrated in Black and brown communities and it wasn’t by accident. They were the result of decisions on where harm is allowed to accumulate. That recognition is what drove me toward this work.

My entry point was food recovery. As program coordinator for Northwest Mutual Aid Collective, I was pulling surplus food out of the waste stream and redistributing it across Philadelphia. But there was always a gap: what happens to the food that can’t be redistributed? Paying a composting company wasn’t financially realistic for a mutual aid organization and it didn’t feel like a real solution. So in 2023, I founded Salvage Compost to work within the operation of NWMAC. Food waste that once had nowhere to go now becomes compost, kept in the community and turned into something regenerative.

As an urban environmentalist, I see my work connecting directly to what Philly Unwrapped is trying to do. My focus has always been on making patterns of environmental neglect visible — who bears the cost of waste, who gets left out of the decisions, and where the burden lands. Philly Unwrapped is asking those same questions through the lens of single-use packaging, and doing it in a way that centers the businesses and communities most affected.

📅 Events

📅 June 17, 3–4 PM ET (Online) • Scaling Regenerative Materials to Replace Plastics • Plastic Pollution Coalition hosts experts from Xampla and RENW to discuss hemp, agricultural byproducts, and other alternatives to plastic.

📅 June 25, 28 & 30 (Online) • Summer Grassroots Organizing Training • Beyond Plastics offers a free virtual training series on plastic pollution, advocacy, and practical strategies for driving local change.

📅 July 7, 9, 13 & 14 (Online) • Reuse Changemakers Bootcamp • Story of Stuff’s free virtual training explores reuse solutions, organizing skills, and community-led action to move beyond throwaway culture

🌐 Plastic-reduction Resources 🤝🏽

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Thank you to our Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsor, ECHO Systems

Want to stay in the loop on local waste reduction?
Subscribe to ECHO’s monthly newsletter here.

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