EREF awards scholarships to advance waste, sustainability research

The Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF), Raleigh, North Carolina, has awarded 23 scholarships to master’s and doctoral students pursuing education and research in solid waste management. 

The award recipients are based at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. 

The research being funded includes assessing microbial effects on landfill leachate toxicity, analyzing affordability variation of landfill tipping fees, biopolymer-based composite adsorbent for selective microplastic removal, assessing and managing emissions from landfills and assessing scalability of waste plastic upcycling. 

EREF’s scholarship program has funded nearly 200 students and focuses on solid waste research and education at the graduate level. The recipients conduct research to advance innovation, inform policy and strengthen sustainable materials management systems. 

The 2025 EREF scholarship application opens Dec. 15, and EREF will consider applications from master’s or doctoral students who have demonstrated interest in solid waste management research. EREF bases awards on academic performance, the relevance of the work and its potential for success.