BioCycle, a long-running publication covering composting, anaerobic digestion and organics recycling, has named Paula Luu as managing director while longtime editor and publisher Nora Goldstein steps back from day-to-day operations into a new role focused on editorial oversight and consulting.
The leadership transition comes after more than four decades of Goldstein’s involvement with BioCycle, which traces its roots to 1960, when her father, Jerome Goldstein, launched a quarterly journal called Compost Science while working at Rodale Press. The publication later became BioCycle and was produced as a print magazine through 2019 before shifting to a digital-only model that includes the BioCycle Connect newsletter and website.
“This transition carries great personal meaning,” Goldstein said in announcing the change. “Stewarding that mission in partnership with my family has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Goldstein said that she is not retiring, but is stepping back after years of running a small organization with an intense production schedule. “This transition carries great personal meaning,” she said. “As we prepare for the future, I could not imagine a more capable or inspiring leader than Paula to carry that vision forward.”
Under the new structure, Goldstein will become editorial chairperson and consulting principal, a role that includes oversight of editorial direction and involvement in select consulting engagements aligned with her experience. Luu will oversee both BioCycle Media and BioCycle Consulting.
Luu told Resource Recycling that the move follows several years of collaboration with Goldstein and reflects a gradual evolution in their working relationship.
“Nora and I have worked together in different capacities for over four years,” Luu said. “One conversation led to the other, and here we are today, where she has officially passed the torch on to me to lead the day to day and BioCycle into its next chapter.”
Luu, who is based in Brooklyn, said the change also shifts BioCycle’s operational center from Pennsylvania to New York, though she emphasized continuity in the publication’s mission and coverage.
Before joining BioCycle, Luu served as senior project director for the Composting Consortium at the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, working with composters, municipalities, corporations and investors to support the scale-up of composting infrastructure in the US. Her broader background includes water policy, supply chain strategy and sustainability roles across the public and private sectors.
Luu described a career shaped by sustainability work ranging from agricultural water issues to used textile upcycling, and said she views organics recycling as both an infrastructure challenge and a community-driven effort.
“For a long time, I’ve thought that waste is a valuable resource that can be harnessed and harvested to propel a circular economy,” she said. “I feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of this community, because it has grown to mean so much to me.”
Luu said she expects growth opportunities in organics recycling as more states adopt or expand food waste policies and as investment and innovation continue to develop unevenly across regions.
“I’m a fierce optimist,” she said, adding that she would not have taken the role without seeing “the potential and opportunities that are ahead for organics recycling in the United States.”
BioCycle said its media operation will continue publishing research, feature stories and industry insights online and through its newsletter, while its consulting arm will advise organizations seeking to design, implement and scale organics recycling and circular systems. Goldstein said BioCycle’s future will include continued survey work and an expanded media approach that may include sponsored offerings, while Luu brings additional experience in business and finance.
