EPR Finance & Economic Development Intern

Vision 
The leading Producer Responsibility Organization implementing the circular economy through paper and packaging.

Mission 
Circular Action Alliance (CAA) helps producers comply with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, delivers harmonized best-in-class services, and works with governments, businesses, and communities to reduce waste and increase recycling.

Role Overview

CAA is seeking a talented and motivated graduate student to join our team for a summer research internship focused on a high-priority strategic question: How can EPR program funds be leveraged — alongside other public and private capital — to catalyze economic development in the waste and recycling sector?

As EPR programs go live and begin generating meaningful revenue streams, there is a unique and time-sensitive opportunity to think creatively about how those funds, combined with grants, bonds, impact capital, and other financing mechanisms, can drive investment in public and private recycling infrastructure, organics processing (such as composting and AD capacity), and bolstering end markets for recovered materials. 

The primary deliverable is a substantive white paper that will directly inform CAA’s program design and stakeholder engagement in its emerging EPR states.

This is not a passive research role. The intern will work closely with CAA’s program and policy teams, engage with state-specific context, and develop actionable recommendations that could shape how EPR-funded economic development is structured for years to come.

Key Responsibilities

The intern will research, draft, and finalize a white paper examining financing mechanisms and economic development strategies applicable to CAA’s EPR programs. The work will be organized around the following focus areas:

1.  CAA Program and State Landscape Assessment

• Review and analyze CAA’s program structure, funding mechanisms, and EPR plan requirements in Washington, Minnesota, Maine, and Maryland, with a primary focus on Maryland as an emerging program with significant near-term economic development potential.
• Map the regulatory, programmatic, and financial landscape in each target state,identifyingthe statutory authorities, state agency roles, and program timelines most relevant to infrastructure investment.
• Identifyconstraints andflexibilitiesin how EPR program funds (state specific) may be deployed under existing laws and program plans.

2.  Mapping State Economic Development Resources

• Comprehensively catalog economic development programs, incentives, and financing tools available in Washington, Minnesota, Maine, and Maryland that could be applied to recycling, composting, and organics infrastructure projects (e.g., state one-time or ongoing funds, enterprise zone incentives, workforce development programs, green bank programs, and tax credit programs).
• Identifywhich programs havebeen accessed by waste and recycling sector entitiesand assess barriers to greater uptake.

3.  Financing Mechanisms and Capital Pathways

• Research and document how recycling facilities, composting operations, and end market businesses have been financed and built across the U.S. and internationally, with attention to the mix of capital sources used.
• Assess the role of multiple capital types, including private equity and private investment, philanthropic and impact capital, public and private grants (including federal programs such as EPA grants, USDA programs, and IRA/BIL infrastructure funding), municipal and state bond financing, ratepayer funds (including those collected as part of property tax assessment), and EPR program funds used as leverage or credit enhancement.
• Identifyinnovative financing structures — such as pay-for-success models, green bonds, blended finance, and PRO-backed loan guarantees — that have been or could be deployed in this sector.

4.  Community and Employee Ownership Models

• Research examples of worker-owned cooperatives, community ownership structures, and shared-equity models applied to waste, recycling, composting, and related infrastructure businesses in the U.S. and internationally.
• Assess howthese ownershipmodels have been structured, capitalized, and supported — including through state economic development programs, CDFIs, USDA cooperative development programs, and impact capital.
• Explore how EPR fund structures and program design could affirmatively support cooperative and community ownership as a strategy forequitableeconomic development.

5.  Innovative Program Design Recommendations

• Drawing onresearch findings, develop actionable recommendations for how CAA can design grant programs, investment criteria, RFP structures, and partnership frameworks that maximize economic development impact alongside EPR compliance outcomes.
• Identifyopportunities to leverage EPR funds as catalysts for attracting matchingcapital, andpropose model program designs CAA could adapt or pilot.

Skills & Competencies

• Familiarity with Extended Producer Responsibility policy, recycling systems, or solid waste management
• Experience with economic development finance, infrastructure financing, or public-private partnerships
• Knowledge of cooperative or employee ownership models, CDFIs, or community development finance
• Familiarity with one or more of the focus states: Maryland, Minnesota, Maine, or Washington
• Experience conducting policy research in an applied or professional setting

Qualifications

• Current enrollment in a graduate program in public policy, environmental policy, urban planning, public administration, business, economics, finance, sustainability, law, or a related field
• Strong research and writing skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and produce clear, well-structured policy documents
• Demonstrated interest in sustainability, circular economy, waste management, environmental justice, or economic development
• Ability to work independently, manage a research project across a summer timeline, and deliver a publication-quality written product

Compensation & Other Information

• Location: Fully Remote
• Pay Rate: $25.00 per hour. Since this is a temporary position, it is not eligible for benefits
• Interns must have their own laptop and access to high-speed internet.
• Reports To:Andrea Crooms, Maryland State Program Manager

Circular Action Alliance is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), national origin, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. If you require accommodation as part of the application process, please contact careers@circularaction.org.