It Starts with Design: Continuing the Conversation
Following FOCE 2025, join host Mark Shayler as he recaps some of the key insights shared at this year’s Festival alongside an expert panel. From material innovations, to responsible business models and tackling resource access across global supply chains, hear the key takeaways about the role of designing for circularity. How do we design with nature at the top of the circular hierarchy? Adding another layer to the conversation, hear from experts in regeneration and regenerative design about how we design in and for nature to take a holistic approach to a circular economy that supports natural ecosystems. This webinar is sponsored by Routeware The post It Starts with Design: Continuing…
How the humble fly can make future food systems more circular
CIWM Early Careers Ambassador Emma Copley, Senior Waste Consultant at WSP, explores what the food of the future may look like and how organic waste management can play a role in making the future food systems more circular. The Black Solider Fly (Hermetia illucens), also known as the humble fly, has distinctive eating behaviours which distinguish it from other insects. Black Soldier Flies are detritivores: organisms which obtain nutrients by eating decaying organic material. Their larvae have an amazing ability to use their mouthparts to liquefy their food rather than digesting it internally, which allows them to consume a range of organic material. Because of these unique features, the…
Over 50 councils recieve £1.2 million to tackle chewing gum litter
Over 50 councils across the UK will receive a share of £1.2 million to tackle chewing gum litter. The grants, provided by the UK Government and environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, are part of the fourth round of funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force. Launched in 2021, the Task Force is a partnership between industry, government and funds from gum producers, which aims to prevent anti-social littering and help local councils acquire cutting-edge cleaning equipment. Bradford Metropolitan District Council plan to use the funding to deploy specialist steam cleaners. While Cheshire Council say they will hire new specialists to undertake intensive cleaning in areas with high public footfall.…
Circular economy could deliver £25bn boost to the UK, MPs say
Build national resilience and deliver £25 billon boost to UK economy by kickstarting the circular economy, say cross-party group of MPs. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Environment says transitioning to a circular economy could deliver a £25 billion boost to the UK economy by 2035 and create ‘hundreds of thousands’ of jobs across the country. Chaired by Labour’s Andrew Pakes MP, the APPG says the UK can become more resilient to global instability by using resources more efficiently and giving consumers a ‘right to repair’, which ensures products can be fixed when they break. For many of the questions facing us, the circular economy provides some answers.…
CIWM Presidential team appear at Waste Management Europe Conference 2025
CIWM President Tim Walker and Early Careers President Charlotte Davies spoke at the Waste Management Europe Exhibition & Conference 2025 in Bologna, Italy. Taking place between 10-12 June, the Waste Management Europe (WME) 2025 Exhibition and Conference connects global experts in waste management, recycling, reuse and circularity. WME 2025 says it promotes ‘cutting-edge thinking in applying innovative solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges’. CIWM President Tim Walker delivered the Keynote Address at the Exhibition on new frameworks for a holistic waste management strategy. Walker also spoke on the ‘Next steps for the waste management sector – a call to action to policy makers’ session, which identified areas…
74% of UK consumers want retailers to offer reusable packaging
Research published on World Refill Day 2025 shows that 74% of UK consumers want more brands and retailers to offer reusable, refillable or returnable packaging. As part of World Refill Day 2025 (16 June), environmental charity City to Sea has called on retailers and the UK Government to commit to ensuring 30% of packaging is reusable by 2030. However, despite this demand, the research indicates that only 18% of shoppers are aware of where to find these refillable options. Commenting on the research, CEO of City to Sea, Jane Martin, said: “The public (is) ready, but retailers, brands and government are stuck. “We’re calling time on this broken system where…
74% of UK consumers want retailers to offer reusable packaging
Research published on World Refill Day 2025 shows that 74% of UK consumers want more brands and retailers to offer reusable, refillable or returnable packaging. As part of World Refill Day 2025 (16 June), environmental charity City to Sea has called on retailers and the UK Government to commit to ensuring 30% of packaging is reusable by 2030. However, despite this demand, the research indicates that only 18% of shoppers are aware of where to find these refillable options. Commenting on the research, CEO of City to Sea, Jane Martin, said: “The public (is) ready, but retailers, brands and government are stuck. “We’re calling time on this broken system where…
Volvo Cars signs recycled steel deal with SSAB
Volvo Cars have signed a new agreement with Swedish steel firm SSAB for the supply of ‘high-quality, recycled and near zero-emissions steel’ starting this year. Volvo Cars says it is the first car maker to sign a supply agreement with SSAB for recycled steel for serial production deliveries. The agreement is an extension of a long-term existing collaboration between the two companies to be at the ‘forefront of the transition to more sustainable steel’. The recycled steel will be used in selected components of the forthcoming, fully electric EX60 SUV, as well as other cars based on Volvo Cars’ next-generation SPA3 car architecture. Volvo Cars says the recycled steel…
Volvo Cars signs recycled steel deal with SSAB
Volvo Cars have signed a new agreement with Swedish steel firm SSAB for the supply of ‘high-quality, recycled and near zero-emissions steel’ starting this year. Volvo Cars says it is the first car maker to sign a supply agreement with SSAB for recycled steel for serial production deliveries. The agreement is an extension of a long-term existing collaboration between the two companies to be at the ‘forefront of the transition to more sustainable steel’. The recycled steel will be used in selected components of the forthcoming, fully electric EX60 SUV, as well as other cars based on Volvo Cars’ next-generation SPA3 car architecture. Volvo Cars says the recycled steel…
Defra hit with major cuts in 2025 Spending Review
The UK Government’s 2025 Spending Review has delivered a complex message to the environmental sector: major capital commitments for clean energy and carbon capture sit in stark contrast to sharp operational cuts to the very department charged with environmental stewardship. While Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged a real-terms increase of 2.3% in total departmental spending across the review period, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) faces one of the steepest real-terms reductions—an average 2.7% cut per year to its day-to-day budget. That equates to a fall in resource spending from £4.8 billion in 2025–26 to £4.7 billion by 2028–29, with only the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office…
