The Center for Zero Waste Design is a New York City nonprofit working to make waste reduction part of how buildings and urban systems are designed. It develops design strategies, advocacy campaigns, research and policy tools, and adapts the Zero Waste Design Guidelines for use in other cities.12 The organization is fiscally sponsored by the Fund for the City of New York and is based in New York City.2
The Center grew out of the Zero Waste Design Guidelines, developed for New York City with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and launched in 2017.210 It was created in April 2019; architect Clare Miflin, who led the guidelines’ development, is its founder and executive director.611 The Center works with designers, communities, organizations, city agencies, policymakers and activists, and its strategies range from the design of individual waste bins to systems serving cities and regions.24
Its work includes the “Put Waste to Work” initiative, which links waste policy with streetscapes, green jobs and neighborhood health, and the Healthy Urban Soil Agenda.2 Recent work listed on its site includes a Hoboken containerization plan, testimony on New York City’s proposed citywide containerization program, and research on collection and urban containerization requirements for larger residential buildings.1 The Center also shares case studies from different places and scales, including projects such as The Max, Via 57 and 640 Fifth Avenue.4
ThinkWoven is a separate, for-profit consultancy that shares team members with the Center and applies related design strategies to buildings, neighborhoods and cities.2 Its projects include waste-management planning for New York City Housing Authority developments and work on a proposed low-energy, low-water, zero-waste campus on Governors Island.5