GreenBlue, a nonprofit institute that works to enable the positive redesign of industrial systems, has announced the acquisition of Metafore, a nonprofit organization that specializes in working with businesses to promote environmentally preferable wood and paper products. “This is an exciting development and natural union, as both GreenBlue and Metafore have built strong reputations as organizations that bring scientific rigor and technical expertise to work with the private sector on sustainability issues,” said GreenBlue Board chairman Scott Seydel. “This acquisition will give us new opportunities to work with leadership companies in addressing the environmental challenges of our time.”

Metafore projects will continue to operate after the acquisition and will complement existing GreenBlue projects such as the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, an industry working group of nearly 200 companies from across the packaging supply chain, and CleanGredients, which promotes green chemistry in the cleaning products industry. Several leading companies have been working with both organizations on sustainability initiatives and this acquisition will add expertise and effectiveness to these efforts.

Metafore’s operations will be based in New York City and GreenBlue’s Charlottesville, VA headquarters. To ensure continuity of programs, former Metafore employees Tom Pollock and Theron Jourdan will continue to manage Metafore projects, and Metafore CEO Kim Rendleman and board members Anthony Russell (Russell Design) and Lyn Brown (Catalyst Paper) will join the GreenBlue board of directors to ensure the integration proceeds seamlessly. In addition, GreenBlue has announced the addition of Roger McFadden, VP, senior scientist at Staples, to the board of directors.