PRODUCT & ZERO WASTE SPECIALISTS

Product & Zero Waste Specialist for Alaska, Arizona, Southern Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico

Meghan Ibach has spent her career helping people rethink what happens to food and packaging after they discard it. With a background in restaurants, community gardens, and university dining services, she has long been drawn to projects that connect people to the impact of their choices.

Today, as a Product and Zero Waste Specialist (PZW) at Eco-Products, she helps businesses and institutions design composting programs that work. Her role involves building partnerships with composters, haulers and foodservice operators to ensure waste diversion succeeds on the ground.

“The most rewarding part is when it finally comes together,” she says. “These projects can take years, but when you see food waste going to the right place and compostable packaging breaking down, it’s incredibly satisfying.”

Two recent projects stand out for her. At the Eldora Mountain Resort in Colorado, staff had been hauling food scraps by hand in buckets after losing their hauling service. Meghan connected them with a Denver-based hauler who restored full composting service and saved the team hours of labor. At the Four Seasons in Vail, she helped the hotel staff design a system to capture thousands of orange peels from daily juice service, turning what had been trash into compost.

Her earlier work included leading sustainability programs at UNC Asheville, where she promoted local food procurement and developed waste-reduction initiatives, as well as directing a community garden program in Colorado. Those experiences taught her how to balance education, operations, and communication, all skills she now uses daily at Eco-Products.

While she acknowledges the challenges of composting, from contamination to inconsistent infrastructure, Meghan is encouraged by the growing number of new composters and the momentum behind zero waste.

“It’s about taking steady steps forward,” she says. “When the system works, it changes how people see waste, and that’s real progress.”

Product & Zero Waste Specialist for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin

With nearly two decades in recycling, hauling, and composting, Jamie Brown brings deep experience as a waste diversion professional to her role as a Project & Zero Waste Specialist (PZW) at Eco-Products. Based in the Midwest, she works with foodservice operators, haulers, and composters to build programs that cut contamination and improve diversion rates.

Jamie’s career began in Minnesota, where she co-launched the region’s first commercial organics collection routes and helped divert millions of pounds of food scraps from landfills. Later, as a consultant to independent haulers, she grew customer bases, secured county grants, and designed practical waste reduction programs for schools, hotels, and local governments. That history shaped her ability to spot problems quickly and design solutions that work.

At Eco-Products, Jamie often begins with hands-on waste sorts that show operators just how much of their trash can be recovered. She then guides them through concrete steps, aligning purchasing with both operator and composter needs, improving signage, and providing staff training. Her work with a community college in Illinois is one example: by fixing procurement issues that led to rejected loads, she helped restore the program’s success and credibility.

Jamie’s contributions have earned her recognition, including the Sun Foundation’s “Making Waves Award.” She is known for building trusted partnerships, listening carefully, and offering practical, achievable solutions.

“People don’t view me as a salesperson,” she says. “They see me as a consultant who wants to help them succeed.”

Product & Zero Waste Specialist for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia

Wayne Koeckeritz has built his career around one central idea: Food waste doesn’t belong in a landfill. As a Product & Zero Waste Specialist (PZW) at Eco-Products, he helps organizations across the South and Southeast design programs that turn discarded food into compost and put it back to work in local soils.

Wayne’s path began in hospitality, where he saw firsthand how much food was being discarded. That led him to launch his own hauling company in Charleston, S.C., collecting food scraps and taking them to the state’s only commercial composting facility. Customers soon began asking for compostable products, so Wayne became a distributor for Eco-Products, delivering cups and plates along with his hauling service. “It was the perfect symmetry,” he says. “I’d drop off compostables and later pick them up for composting.”

In 2018, Wayne officially joined Eco-Products, bringing his hands-on experience and strong industry connections to the PZW team. What makes the role unique, he explains, is the focus on what happens after products are used. “We’re not just selling packaging. We’re helping people understand how to use it, where it should go, and why it matters.”

Wayne is particularly optimistic about the future of composting because of the number of young people entering the field. “So many small operators are starting with little more than a truck, some land, and a dream. They’re committed, they’re doing the hard work, and they’re building something that aligns with their values. That gives me hope.”

Now based in Knoxville, Tenn., Wayne is also president of the Tennessee Composting Council and an active member of the U.S. Composting Council. For him, the work is about more than diverting waste. It’s about building relationships, mentoring new sustainability professionals and helping communities close the loop.

“I still get excited about composting,” he says. “Because every successful program reminds me why this work matters.”

Product & Zero Waste Specialist for Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Toby Alves has built his career around composting, sustainability, and the belief that waste can be transformed into a valuable resource. As Eco-Products’ Product & Zero Waste Specialist (PZW) for the Northeast, he works with universities, corporate campuses, stadiums, composters, and others to support composting programs that keep food scraps and packaging out of landfills.

Toby’s career began in golf course management, where he learned how to care for landscapes successfully while still protecting the environment. From there, he moved into organics recycling, serving as a product manager at Casella Organics. He then co-owned a bagel shop and later built and managed a food-scrap composting company in Maine. Each role added perspective on how foodservice operations function, how composting systems succeed and where the challenges lie.

Since joining Eco-Products in 2019, Toby has drawn on his broad experience to guide customers through every step of waste diversion, from choosing certified compostable packaging to setting up back-of-house systems, training staff, and working with composters and haulers. He is especially focused on reducing contamination, the biggest challenge to successful organics recycling. His work often involves building collaboration among operators, composters and haulers to create solutions that last.

One project that stands out for Toby is Princeton University’s dining hall conversion to compostables, combined with an on-campus composting program. Beyond diverting waste, the effort became a valuable teaching tool for students and a national model for other institutions.

Toby likes to visit sites in person, knowing that face-to-face collaboration makes programs stronger.

“I love being able to bring people together around composting,” Toby says. “When the right products, partners and systems are in place, you can see waste transformed into a real resource. That’s the most rewarding part of the work.”