Emily Freeman

Emily Freeman is a Policy Advisor for the City of Boulder managing policy development to help Boulder transition to a circular economy. She oversees the success and future direction of Boulder’s deconstruction ordinance to keep carbon intensive building materials available for reuse and recycling. Through Emily’s efforts, Boulder has diverted 84%, or over 144,450,000 pounds, of building materials from the landfill since July 2020. Boulder’s landmark hospital deconstruction was the first U.S. project to reuse structural steel at this scale – achieving 93.5% diversion with 584 steel I-beams salvaged for reuse in new construction. Emily continues to lead efforts to identify opportunities for improvement, highlight economic value in deconstruction, engage with contractors, and drive progress towards the city’s climate action goals.

Emily’s other policy work focuses on developing single-use disposable reduction policies – where Boulder’s partnerships ensured over 112,000 reusable, returnable items have replaced single-use items. She is an experienced public and private sector sustainability professional adept at developing sustainability roadmaps, waste audits, managing environmental management systems, and recycling program management. Emily is a Board member with Build Reuse, a Commissioner on Colorado’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission, is the Chair of Recycle Colorado’s C&D Council and was a 2024 U.S. delegate on an exchange trip with The Netherlands to engage on circular construction best practices. She holds a Masters in Sustainability from Arizona State University.