Morgan Holl on Transforming Waste Into Circular Building Materials

 

The Green Impact Report

Quick take: Morgan Holl reveals why "connectivity drives circularity" in recycling and how his glass processing innovation tackles the 38% of landfill waste from construction—plus the strategic insight that could transform your approach to sustainable materials sourcing.

Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion

Morgan Holl is a current founder in the sustainability space, with past C-suite experience in general management, strategic planning, corporate development, and product innovation. Previously, he's led product teams encompassing both long-cycle innovation in the chemical space, and short-cycle SaaS/HaaS in IoT domains. He's led decisions tied to large and small bolt-on acquisitions, authored strategic roadmaps, and prioritized organic capital deployment. Nothing excites him more than when he is able to create value and solve complex problems through partnerships. His model is rooted in humility, empathy, and an insatiable, innate curiosity.

🌱Breaking Ground on Better Building

In this episode, Morgan revolutionizes traditional waste management approaches:

Key Insight #1: Connectivity Drives Circularity in Construction

• The Challenge: People feel disconnected from recycling outcomes, leading to reduced participation and mistrust in the system
• The Solution: Create transparent, local processing that shows exactly where materials go and what they become
• ROI: Increased recycling participation, community engagement, and cost-effective local material loops

Key Insight #2: Glass Processing Unlocks Hidden Material Value

• The Challenge: Glass breaks in single-stream recycling, contaminating other materials and making processing expensive
• The Solution: Process glass locally for non-traditional applications like engineered soil blends and sustainable building materials
• ROI: Captures high-volume recoverable material typically sent to landfills while creating functional building products

Key Insight #3: Construction Waste Represents the Biggest Circular Opportunity

• The Challenge: Construction and demolition waste accounts for 38% of all landfill material—massive volumes with huge environmental impact
• The Solution: Scale thoughtful reuse and recycling of C&D waste while incorporating recycled materials into new building products
• ROI: Outsized improvements in circularity with significant cost savings and LEED credit opportunities

Sustainable Soundbite

"We launched this business with the idea of overcoming those challenges in the world of recycling... connectivity drives circularity." – Morgan Holl

Your Green Building Action Plan

Transform your next project with these steps:

1. This Week: Audit your current project's waste streams—identify high-volume materials that could be processed locally instead of landfilled
2. This Quarter: Research local circular material suppliers and calculate potential LEED credits from C&D waste diversion
3. This Year: Develop partnerships with regional processors to create closed-loop material systems for your building portfolio

Connect & Learn More

• 🌿 Learn about Overlooked Materials: Overlooked Materials
• 🔗 Connect with Morgan Holl: LinkedIn
• 📚 Recommended reading: The Wide Lens by Ron Adner
• 🗒 Read the transcript [LINK TO BE ADDED]

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