Insights

23 December 2020

In a challenging year for so many, the environment and sustainability may not be at the heart of our choices, but it is possible. Our Junior Consultant Olivia Sweeney shares her tips for a sustainable Christmas and a green New Year.

2 December 2020

Listening to Kate Raworth use familiar language to explain the concept of Doughnut Economics, Resource Futures Consultant, Carla Worth, realised the importance of words in opening the circular economy conversation to novices and experts alike.

18 November 2020

The new ban on some single use items on 1 October 2020, following Scotland’s ban in 2019, signifies the growing commitment across the UK to address single use plastics. Now, in the midst of a global pandemic, we are faced with a fresh onslaught of single use plastics being used to tackle the spread of the virus. Senior Consultant Hanna Plant looks at where that leaves reusables, and what the future may hold.

13 November 2020

The most common thing I’m asked for when presenting is examples of successful circular economy models to help prove the business case. This request suggests people remain to be convinced. Similarly, its regularly suggested that circularity in business is a ‘leap of faith’ or ‘high risk’ and that consumer demand is not yet there to …

Continue reading “Circularity hidden in plain sight”

2 October 2020

Pete Wills, Senior Consultant at Resource Futures, has been looking at the emerging opportunities made available by new technology to help identify post-production and post-consumer plastics in the field, and in particular plastic film. He considers the challenges for the waste sector and how this advanced technology will improve the identification of plastic types and thus aid their sorting, disposal and routes to recycling.

30 September 2020

David Lerpiniere, Head of Global Resources and Waste Policy at Resource Futures, says we must redouble efforts to create a global circular economy, not only for the health of our global citizens, but of our planet and our future.

24 August 2020

Consultant Katie Powell’s new found love of sewing during lockdown has taken her on a sustainability journey looking at how we can minimise the environmental impact of the clothes we buy.

5 August 2020

Jenny Robinson, Senior Consultant at Resource Futures, has been talking to her many contacts within local authorities about how they have been responding to new ways of working in response to Covid-19 safety measures – both for their staff and the public – at HWRCs. What can local authorities learn from each other and which of these new ways of working will become the norm in future?

22 June 2020

Fiona Jarvis considers how new patterns in food waste behaviour are beginning to emerge under lockdown, suggesting the way in which we value food has changed. Can the current Covid-19 crisis help to ignite a long-awaited food waste revolution?

10 June 2020

Consultant Abby Mason considers how the impact of Covid-19 could shape recycling in the UK and what it will mean for materials markets in the future.

21 May 2020

With a plethora of guidance available to help local authorities re-open their Household Waste Recycling Centres, Senior Consultant Laura Snoulton identifies the key communications areas to help councils ensure a smooth transition when re-opening.

11 May 2020

These extraordinary times are giving us an opportunity to reflect on some important issues, and how we need to place our environment at the centre of building a better future together. Here, Senior Consultant, George Cole, looks at how ocean plastics will drive part of the change that is needed.

1 May 2020

Consultant Sally Scholefield considers how shortages of disposable nappies in the shops during the Covid-19 crisis have contributed to a surge in parents making the switch to reusables.

24 April 2020

Local authorities and their contractors have risen to the challenge of managing waste in these difficult times and are doing a great job of maintaining services.

20 April 2020

Matt Polaine, Principal Consultant in Circular Economy, says we must look past the excess of information competing for our individual and collective attention to visualise new ways of solving global problems – and take inspiration from visionaries of the past.

3 April 2020

Reflections on news way of working at Resource Futures under the UK coronavirus lockdown, increased connectivity and flattening the curve

18 February 2020

The climate emergency might be just the catalyst the waste industry needs says Will French, Principal Consultant at Resource Futures. It is time to embrace the drive for measuring the carbon footprint of waste and the advances that may bring. There is a new line cropping up in local authority waste collection and treatment optimisation models. …

Continue reading “Through the carbon lens”

13 February 2020

To date, there has been a focus on the consumer’s role and responsibility in relation to marine litter. But our research has found that this pollution stems from decisions made further up the supply chain, and that the private sector has great potential to help tackle this problem.

28 January 2020

Bethan Jones, Head of Behaviour Change at Resource Futures says there’s a “gaping hole” in the Resources and Waste Strategy debate. Particularly when it comes to deposit return schemes.

22 January 2020

While the climate emergency is omnipresent in day to day life, that ‘emergency’ does not seem to have incited the endlessly pragmatic, can-do people of the construction sector into action. The figures speak volumes. Construction and/or buildings account for a staggering: • 1/2 of all extracted materials • 1/2 of all energy consumption • 1/3 …

Continue reading “Counting carbon – tackling climate change in construction”

30 December 2019

“This is the fight of our lives” says Ovais Sarmand, Dep Exec Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Every single person needs to make this a priority in the way they operate in the world.” It’s clear that there are early signs that we are starting to wake up to the threat of climate …

Continue reading “Construction and the fight of our lives”

18 December 2019

Christmas is not known as the most sustainable of times, being more commonly associated with excess – in terms of food, waste and consumerism. So is a sustainable Christmas actually possible? We’ve been making small changes at home over the past few years and this year it definitely feels like there’s been a positive shift …

Continue reading “Is a sustainable Christmas possible?!”

17 December 2019

Our teams help local authorities and businesses across the UK to find out what items and materials they are disposing of. These representative waste composition analysis studies provide not just insight into the materials that make up our waste, but also insight into the average volume of waste per house or per premises, which sheds …

Continue reading “5 ways to extract value from your waste data”

4 December 2019

From plastic-free living to Greta Thunberg and growing your own veg, the team at Resource Futures have compiled their favourite books on all things eco this Christmas. Whether you have an aspiring business owner, an enthusiastic young dreamer or know someone who simply wants to do their bit, this Christmas book guide offers hints and …

Continue reading “25 books to gift the greenies in your life”

3 December 2019

This week, Resource Futures has handed over the care of the CAG Oxfordshire Project to the local project itself. We’ve been working with the team over the past two years to consult with the network and set up the project as a new entity, a Community Benefit Society, so that it can take forward the …

Continue reading “The power of community action at a local level”

5 November 2019

Archana Pisharody, Consultant at Resource Futures gives an update on what has been happening in the world of WEEE and what is on the horizon for 2020.

14 October 2019

As Environmenstrual Week kicks off for 2019, Kate Chambers explores the issues around #plasticfreeperiods from consumer choice to flushing behaviours, marine litter and the rise of reusables.

9 October 2019

The arrival of the artificial grass pitch was a major leap forward for sports enthusiasts active in colder, wetter climes, used to scrabbling around on muddy pitches. Fast forward forty or so years and we now have third generation artificial turf pitches that have overcome the ‘performance problems’ associated with early solutions. But at what cost?

26 September 2019

Pressure is mounting for organisations to announce how they will respond to the ‘plastics’ issue. Many of our clients are looking to reduce their plastics consumption and find new solutions that benefit the environment. But where should they start? Senior Consultant, George Cole, explores the materiality assessment as a potential approach.

23 September 2019

The negative impact of fast fashion is an issue that is close to my heart. I worry about it a lot… In fact, I even wrote a poem about it! We have a warped relationship with textiles. In the UK, we consume more new clothing than any other European country, send 11 million garments to landfill every week and many of us feel embarrassed to be seen in the same outfit multiple times!