Ben Christensen & Marisa Repka | Cambium Carbon | 2021 J.M.K. Innovation Prize

Each year 36 million trees fall in American cities. The vast majority are mulched, landfilled, or burned—at eye-popping economic and environmental cost. At the same time, cities struggle to equitably reforest neighborhoods, with communities of color long burdened by unequal access to benefits that urban trees provide. Connecting these two challenges, Cambium Carbon leverages the urban tree life cycle, showing that by processing—rather than discarding—downed urban trees, we can create a waste-to-value revenue stream that returns needed funds to replant low-canopy neighborhoods. In this circular economy model, green jobs are created through urban “Reforestation Hubs” that could upcycle an estimated 46 million tons of merchantable wood every year into products such as lumber, bioenergy, and compost. Building the infrastructure to upcycle such wood into high-value durable goods creates an opportunity to engage residents who face barriers to traditional employment, while providing training in technical skills across the tree life cycle. Meanwhile, using salvaged wood displaces emissions-intense global supply chains. And by investing in tree planting among underresourced communities, Cambium Carbon can catalyze carbon sequestration, stormwater management, air pollution mitigation, and energy savings in places that need them most.