Technology, EPR, and the Business of Recycling: Jim Keefe (GIE Media) on Circular Strategies

In the latest episode of the Circular Strategies Podcast, host Bob Alvarez sits down with Jim Keefe of GIE Media for a candid look at what’s reshaping recycling and waste—from purpose-built technology and AI to policy levers like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and recycled-content mandates. Keefe traces GIE’s environmental services coverage (waste, recycling, metals, and C&D) and how Recycling Today evolved with the modern environmental movement.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Recycling = Raw Materials Business

Keefe reminds listeners: “They think of the recycling industry as an environmental business or a tree hugger business, but the truth is it's a raw materials business. And we're in the business of reclaiming materials to be introduced back into the manufacturing process. And that is a raw material, a supply chain kind of process.”

From Repurposed Machines to AI-Native Systems

The industry has moved beyond adapted mining/timber equipment to purpose-built recycling technologies, “all the way up to bleeding edge artificial intelligence being used for materials identification” that improve both recovery and purity.

EPR’s Promise and Limits Without Recycled Content Mandates

Keefe has “mixed feelings” about EPR: it can build producer accountability, but without mandated recycled content, economics often snap back to virgin. As he notes, when recycled feedstock is even “half a penny [per] pound more than virgin, they go back to using virgin material.” Parallel EPR channels can also strand existing municipal and private infrastructure.

Follow the Volume: System Design and Carbon Reality

Fragmenting end-of-life streams into multiple channels raises costs and can expand the carbon footprint. Facilities need volume and throughput to offset fixed costs and sustain investment.

The Underhyped Win: Construction & Demolition (C&D) 

Mixed C&D is a large, often segregated, and readily recyclable stream (wood, concrete/aggregates). Redirecting it efficiently can extend landfill life and unlock high-volume diversion.

Metals Recyclers: Misunderstood Workhorses

Keefe highlights a persistent gap in public understanding: facilities often manage legacy toxics they didn’t create, “They didn't actually create the problem… But they get the responsibility to clean it up.”

Leadership Lesson: Curiosity Over Conclusions

For Keefe, the critical skill is“being curious, being inquisitive, asking questions,”and resisting quick conclusions from limited information.

What’s Next: AI + Wider Circular Acceptance

AI won’t just sort better; it will deepen business and process analytics. Meanwhile, recognition that “we need to do this, that circularity matters” is broadening, and therefore, incentives must align for durable adoption.

Why This Conversation Matters

Changing entrenched systems is hard, especially when incentives favor non-circular choices. Keefe points to moments when policy nudges (like recycled-content mandates) helped realign markets, and he looks ahead to a resource-constrained world where urban mining, technology, and smarter system design are essential. His north star is generational: “None of us inherit the earth from our parents. We borrow it from our children.”

🎥 Watch the full conversation above to hear Jim’s insights on the future of recycling. From AI-driven innovation to the economics shaping circularity—learn why aligning incentives, technology, and policy is key to building systems that truly last.

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