25 October 2018
Our Head of Waste, Resources and Development, David Lerpiniere, joins Dr. Veronica Di Bella from CDC Group’s Environmental and Social Responsibility team to explore current challenges, opportunities and best practice on plastic waste management from a private sector perspective.
Read more18 October 2018
Sarah Hargreaves, Communications Consultant at Resource Futures, says changes to services are often greeted with firm public resistance particularly where there is a lack of effective engagement to support and explain the changes. Here, she asks what’s the best way to encourage behaviour change across diverse communities?
Read more21 September 2018
In a sector where it is often said that there is ‘bad data and worse data’, the release of the World Bank’s data digest on global waste management – What A Waste 2.0 – is a much-needed resource to help us understand what is happening around the world. David Lerpiniere reflects on this new report and its potential impact in the global waste sector.
Read more10 September 2018
On behalf of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Resource Futures conducted a detailed review of global recycled plastics markets. This included evaluating trends, challenges, key issues and policy interventions.
Read more9 September 2018
In response to increasing public and waste sector attention around issues relating to waste plastics, Resource Futures was commissioned by the Resourcing the Future partnership to develop a framework to assist products manufacturers, the waste management sector and policy-makers with making decisions around waste plastics.
Read more8 September 2018
A new report by Resource Futures for WRAP Cymru and the Welsh government sets out a road map for a transformative shift in the way Wales deals with waste, through increasing re-use, and what this could mean for the environment and economy.
Read more7 September 2018
The Resource Community Impacts Tool (ResourceCIT) is our easy-to-use online tool which permits community groups and funders who enable sustainable development activities an estimate of the effects they are having on reducing waste, carbon, energy use and in making cost savings for individuals and the community.
Read more6 September 2018
Since 2015, Resource Futures has undertaken the role of directly supporting edoc’s users and managing the process of regular updates to the system on behalf of the four UK devolved administrations. We work closely with the edoc Management Board and its Technical Advisory Group, as well as supervising edoc’s specialist IT contractor.
Read more7 August 2018
I’d like to think that my job is a bit like the job of a detective or CSI – collecting data (evidence) on resource efficiency. Robust evidence will help to build a case. In the current cash-strapped world, it’s all about building a good business case to justify making changes or investments. But how do you construct your investigation so that you get the information you need while not blowing the budget? And is the upfront investment even worth it?
Read more19 July 2018
Imagine a world where the only resources we have to make new stuff are recycled materials. All the DVD players, toys, domestic appliances, cars and construction products would have to be made of so-called ‘secondary materials’, materials that have had a former life, as opposed to primary materials that come directly from mineral resource or fossil fuels. What effect would this have? David Lerpiniere, Principal Consultant at Resource Futures shared his thoughts with Greenhouse PR.
Read moreThe plastic waste challenge is complex. There are thousands of plastic polymers, numerous additives and almost limitless applications and formats. And the list of potential solutions is almost endless, running from outright bans – through scaling up recycling or replacing everything with bioplastics – to harvesting the troublesome material from the oceans. Confused? Me too.
Read more19 April 2018
In the last few weeks it’s been great seeing more discussion on recycling in flats. Throughout my time in the waste management industry flats have been overlooked, as the primary focus has been on providing services to kerbside properties and increasing recycling from these types of households.
Read more22 February 2018
My five-year-old asked me what I did for a job: “Mummy writes in a newspaper. Do you write about rubbish?” It takes the elevator pitch to a whole new level. Kids have an amazing ability to question objectively in trying to understand what is going on. Our sector is complicated, fact. We work with customers to enable positive management of materials resources. And one of our most complicated topics is plastics.
Read more1 February 2018
The consumer society thrives on a huge range of cheap, versatile plastic products, many designed for single use and spanning a range of polymer types. But such a variety makes plastic recycling hugely confusing for householders. The nuances of which plastics can or cannot be recycled is a tricky message to communicate to the public, and is further confused by regional collection variations and the influx of ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’ plastics.
Read more13 December 2017
I’ve always loved working with retailers. The scale, pace and unshakeable commercial reality make this a real challenge for a practitioner like me. If I can change behaviours or material impacts here, I’ll retire happy!
Read more7 November 2017
Jane Stephenson, Business Development Director at Resource Futures, explains why the company decided to join the B Corp movement and how others in the waste and resources industry could benefit too.
Read more7 October 2017
We were involved in producing this report from the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) Marine Litter Taskforce on how the global waste and resource management sector can better tackle marine litter.
Read more10 August 2017
Polyethylene terephthalate, or ‘PET’, is a recycling success story. It’s one of the most widely recycled plastics. It is easy to identify and therefore separate from post-consumer waste streams. 99% of UK local authorities now collect plastic bottles as part of their recycling collections, up from 80% in 2008. And it is a good example of closed-loop recycling, with an estimated third of plastic bottles collected in the UK recycled into new bottles[ii].
Read more8 June 2017
If I had a pound for every circular economy vision piece and strategy report that I’ve read in the past five years, then……well, I’d be a rich man. Perhaps it is me or does it sometimes feel like the subject itself is circular? Recirculation of the same mantra, the definitions, the diagrams and case examples within blue-chip companies and the captains of industry. Does the circular economy warrant all this attention? Just why is it so highly prized? Well, where to start…
Read more6 April 2017
When I started work on the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme, or ETBPP in 1997, the clumsiness of the title said it all. The focus was heavily on compliance (at that time with the newly launched Packaging Regulations) and waste minimisation. There was little scope for supporting innovation. Eco-design was the vanguard of the brave and whilst these products hinted at an alternative future, they were exactly that, alternative and marginal.
Read more7 March 2017
Will French, Principal Consultant at Resource Futures, says at a time of local authority budget constraints, work has become increasingly focused on waste collection efficiency.
Read more26 January 2017
Bethan Jones, Head of Engagement and Communications at Resource Futures, says that if we want to evolve towards a circular economy, then we are all going to need to change our habits.
Read more15 May 2015
As part of Bristol European Green Capital 2015, Resource Futures along with Kambe Events and Bristol City Council developed a city-wide sustainable event strategy to support organisers in managing their festivals and events with reduced environmental impact. This included three Green Event Guides: for indoor, outdoor and small events.
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