Working towards a regenerative future: inside our 2024-25 Impact Report

As a certified B Corp, we publish an Impact Report annually to share the outcomes of our programmes, initiatives and projects, as well as our progress on our environmental and social goals. To coincide with the launch of our 2024-25 Impact Report, our CEO Sam Reeve reflects on the highlights, challenges and positive change that the 2024-25 financial year has brought.

As we reflect on another year as a certified B Corp, I am proud to share our 2024-25 Impact Report, which highlights the progress we have made and the impact we continue to deliver at Resource Futures. Even with the disruption of shifting tides in the global political landscape around climate action, we remain focused on our purpose to deliver positive impact socially and environmentally through our work.

This year saw a significant milestone for us, as we said goodbye (and a huge thank you!) to Jane Stephenson, our founding CEO in 2006 and, for the past six years, a Non-Executive Director (NED).

Jane’s impact on the company, and the resources sector at large, is immense; her legacy is firmly embedded in the DNA of the company and her ethos that regenerative change can only happen when all stakeholders come together across the value chain continues to inform and inspire our work. Replacing her as Chair from April 2024 is Kate Martin Bruintjes, who steps up to this role after three years on our Board as an NED.

At the beginning of 2025 we underwent another significant change with the launch of our new brand and narrative – this was the first major change in our 19-year history (so we felt it was the right time for a refresh!). As a founding director it was a fantastic process working through this evolution with the marketing team and colleagues. 

This was a significant undertaking to engage with staff and position the company around regenerative action through circular practices. It has been great to receive so much positive feedback on the look, feel and messaging of our new brand over the past few months.

Our new brand emphasises how Resource Futures supports our clients and partners to navigate the journey to embrace regenerative change. This means moving away from wasteful practices and towards circular models that actively contribute to a climate-positive, socially enriching, and economically resilient future. 

2024-25 saw us increase our impact as a business across all the areas we work in. Our consultancy work – shaping policy, developing circular initiatives, building better services and winning over hearts and minds – saw us identify the barriers preventing businesses from adopting circular practices, lay the groundwork for better fiscal and financial policymaking, help local council workers understand recycling reforms, and deliver crucial research into how the UK’s mobile phone e-waste crisis can be solved.

Through our data work – providing the data, intelligence and analysis needed to plan a less wasteful future – we completed a five-year, pan-European study into plastic waste composition for CEFLEX, supported Defra with the UK-wide data it needs to inform implementation of packaging EPR, and built a game-changing waste data model that will help to transform waste and recycling services across Greater London for years to come.

Our communities work – which sees us empower individuals, groups and organisations to take action to tackle vital environmental and resource challenges – continued to deliver significant positive social, environmental and economic impact. As well as taking on Recofloor, the UK’s largest commercial flooring recovery scheme, we saw the impact of our CAG networks increase significantly, helped widen access to climate education in Devon, supported electrical recycling trials through Fixy and concluded eight years of providing waste and recycling advice to residents across Devon.

Beyond our work for external clients, we have set the company a challenging target to achieve net zero sooner than initially planned (our new ambition seeks for a >90% reduction by 2040-41). The annual carbon footprint data we share in our Impact Report helps us understand the impact we have, both in delivering the research and projects that support our clients on their regenerative action journeys and in helping us identify the areas where we need to decarbonise. In the climate action section of this year’s Impact Report we outline our continued efforts to engage with colleagues and suppliers to achieve a lower carbon future for all of us.

The path to a more sustainable future is not linear, but we are committed to addressing it with purpose, focus, and collaboration. To our clients, partners, and team members: thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we are proving that business can be a powerful force for good through regenerative action. 

I hope you enjoy reading about how we are delivering on our purpose and leading the way in being a company that clients enjoy working with towards a regenerative future.

Sam Reeve, CEO of Resource Futures