Northeast Recycling Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030367144
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brattleboro, VT, USA
Phone
8022543636
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Recycling Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$644,532
Expenses
$710,962
Assets
$1,127,096
Liabilities
$4,167

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MEGANSCHULZ-FONTES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & SECRETARY)
  • MICHAEL NORK (PRESIDENT)
  • JOSH KELLY (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEGANSCHULZ-FONTES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & SECRETARY): $94,659 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Nerc's mission is to minimize waste, conserve natural resources, and advance a sustainable economy through facilitated collaboration and action.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule o1. Developed and presented one conferencerethinking resource use: regional perspectives keynote on reuse for businesses all things reuse research spotlight: methods for managing difficult to recycle fibers following the stream identifying opportunities to leverage and expand recycling markets behind the scenes: reworking ny's sustainable procurement guidelines collaborating for impact: building smm messages and strategies through partnership keynote: global learnings on plastic reduction systems the power of participation: successful engagement strategies from state recycling campaigns a dive into extended producer responsibility (epr) for products strategies for market development in states organics: leveraging the strengths of composting and anaerobic digestion the role of life cycle analysis in certification and green procurement roundtables: case studies to increase quality & quantity of recyclables building blocks for consumer recycling innovative approaches to reuse a dive into extended producer responsibility (epr) for packaging2. Developed and nerc held 15 webinars and forums with 1,888 unique individuals registering for multipleevents. Of those unique individuals, over 700 participating during the events, while an estimated 500 users visited our webinar and materials reuse forum libraries. Of survey respondents, 96% reported valuable events. Material reuse forum 6: online materials exchange: viablilty and reach (september 4th, 2024) extending the life cycle of textiles forum series (september 2024)a. Forum 1: community planning b. Forum 2: policy landscape c. Forum 3: corporate strategy, case studiesd. Forum 4: technological advancement reducing and diverting plastic waste in bio-medical laboratories and facilities, part 1: challenges and opportunities in biopharma and medical institutions (september 26th, 2024)reducing and diverting plastic waste in bio-medical laboratories and facilities, part 2: diverse solutions to meet the supply of bio-med plastic waste (october 3rd, 2024) material ruse forum 7: unpacking reverse logistics (december 5th, 2024) benefits of ai in the waste stream, part 1 (december 10th, 2024) benefits of ai in the waste stream, part 2 (december 12th, 2024) material reuse forum 8: online resale business models (march 13th, 2024)examining and identifying solutions for plastic and organic waste in industrial food productiona) part 1: addressing impacts of plastic in industrial food production (april 9th, 2025)the lifecycle and future of battery embedded devices (may 7th, 2025)material reuse forum 9: how to make reuse centers economically viable (june 5th, 2025)3. Consulting projects provided fiscal and administrative support to the recyclect foundation managed the Vermont state e-cycles program provided fiscal and administrative support to the electronics recycling coordination clearinghouse (ercc) program6. Maintained online presence and engagement through: social media platforms on facebook, twitter, and linkedin updated dynamic website and new customer relations manager (crm) platform / database listserv members: dei connect (diversity, equity & inclusion), eppnet (environmentally preferrable purchasing), and organics management9. Developed and published new resources freely available online: four quarterly material recovery facility reports on commodity values chemical recycling policy position - the chemical recycling committee, which was established to better understand processes that fall under the umbrella term 'chemical recycling and their environmental impacts to make informed policy decisions. 10. Maintained ongoing committees for member states and organizations: - bottle bill - chemical recycling - diversity, equity and inclusion - glass markets - regional recycling markets - supply side policy - organics management

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.59; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.6% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $502K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.