Urban Ocean selects UGA’s Circularity Informatics Lab as program co-lead
The University of Georgia New Materials Institute’s (UGA NMI) Circularity Informatics Lab (CIL) has joined the Urban Ocean program as a core partner and program co-lead. Led by Professor Jenna Jambeck, CIL joins founding co-leads The Circulate Initiative and Resilient Cities Network to help steer Urban Ocean’s strategy, implementation, and growth.
Launched in 2020 by Ocean Conservancy, The Circulate Initiative, and Resilient Cities Network, Urban Ocean helps cities prevent plastic pollution and strengthen circular systems—powered by communities, guided by data, and backed by science. Since the beginning of the program, CIL has used tools and methods that underpin the program, namely the Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP).
CAP, developed by the Jambeck Research Group, documents a city’s current conditions—how materials and plastics move through local systems, where leakage occurs, and how waste management and recycling perform—so cities can establish credible baselines and chart practical pathways toward circular economy solutions.
CAP has now been conducted or is underway in 50+ cities globally, creating a growing evidence base that helps local leaders prioritize interventions, mobilize investment, and track progress over time.
As part of this planned leadership transition, Ocean Conservancy has concluded its role in Urban Ocean, following its founding partnership in launching the program. Urban Ocean’s ongoing leadership and delivery will be carried forward by The Circulate Initiative, Resilient Cities Network, and the Circularity Informatics Lab, anchoring a partnership that brings together science, city networks, and circular economy expertise to drive implementation and impact at scale.
With CIL as a program co-lead, Urban Ocean will have a stronger focus on implementation measurement—strengthening data stewardship and analysis, expanding the global CAP dataset, and accelerating the design and delivery of circular economy projects that reduce plastic pollution and improve livelihoods.
This evolution also strengthens connections between Urban Ocean, the research ecosystem at UGA NMI, and to the internationally recognized applied research and public leadership that Jambeck and her team have built—supporting governments and communities with credible science that drives practical solutions.
Jambeck is a cofounder of UGA NMI and a Regents’ Professor, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering, and a MacArthur Fellow. She is based in the UGA College of Engineering.
“Urban Ocean has always been powered by partnership and a shared commitment to measurable impact,” said Nicholas Mallos, vice president of Ending Ocean Plastics at Ocean Conservancy. “Ocean Conservancy is proud to have helped launch Urban Ocean with The Circulate Initiative and Resilient Cities Network, and to support its growth over the last six years. As the program moves into this next phase, we’re confident that bringing the UGA NMI’s Circularity Informatics Lab into a leadership role will further strengthen Urban Ocean’s ability to help cities scale solutions that reduce plastic pollution while supporting the people and systems that make circular economies possible.”
“Cities need credible, decision-ready data that can guide policy, investment, and implementation,” said Jambeck. “In this co-lead role, CIL can help expand CAP’s global dataset and accelerate the shift from baseline measurement to durable projects—reducing waste leakage and delivering community benefits.”
With this next phase, Urban Ocean will expand its evidence base, strengthen on-the-ground implementation, and support cities to scale circular and resilient waste management solutions, contributing to globally relevant models for urban resilience and reducing plastic pollution.