Impact case study database

Research from the University of Northampton (UoN) informed policy development and best-practice for waste management, with an international focus on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and waste from healthcare facilities in nationally and internationally. Due to its largely applied nature, this research has informed both policy and practice:

Advising UK government bodies

Bates and Tudor have both contributed to policy development in the UK through advisory positions with governmental and non-governmental organisations. Bates was a member of the advisory board for the All Party Sustainable Resource Group (Jan 2001 – Jan 2020). and has contributed advice to a number of government reports. This includes contributing to policy options regarding compostable food packaging (2019) In 2016, Bates advised the Government Office for Science in the development of their report From Waste to Resource Productivity, which formed the evidence base for the Government Chief Scientific Adviser’s Report created for policymakers, regulators, local authorities and industry stakeholders [5.3, 5.4].

The report set out 13 specific areas to facilitate strategic direction, enhance understanding of the issues, risks and opportunities, and to encourage action on the ground to make the UK a more resource productive society. It has informed the development of the Resources and Waste Strategy for England that was published in December 2018. The Resources and Waste Strategy sets out a plan for how resources such as plastic, paper and metals will be conserved by reducing the amount of waste generated and promoting efficient use of existing resources, with the aim of promoting the values of a circular economy [5.5]

In May 2018 Bates joined the Scottish Government’s expert panel on Environmental Charging and Other Measures to provide advice to Scottish Ministers ‘with the goal of encouraging the long-term and sustainable changes in consumer and producer behaviour required to move towards a circular economy.’ The resulting report was received by the government, who was ‘broadly content to accept the package of recommendations set out by the Panel.’ [5.4]

Bates and Tudor have both worked extensively with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (2017-2020). Bates was the organisation’s president (2016-2017) and served as the chair of the Executive Committee through 2020.

Tudor contributed to the sections on waste handling and storage for the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management’s official guidance document for healthcare waste management in England & Wales [5.6]. Although some local NHS hospitals have produced their own guides, to date this is the only nationally recognised guide in the UK for managing waste produced in a healthcare setting. Building on this work, Health Protection Scotland and the Scottish National Health Services applied Tudor’s research on the management of clinical waste in the NHS [3.1] to their review of the safe disposal of healthcare waste. The resulting document informed the Standard Infection Control Precaution (SICPs) section in the Safe Disposal of Waste in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual [5.7].

REBus; Enabling Industry to change (2013- 2017)

UoN partnered with REBus, an EU Life+ funded partnership project, pioneering and testing a methodology that enables companies to transform their strategies to profitable, resilient and more resource efficient business models (REBMs). In the UK, the project worked with companies directly, in particular on schemes that incentivise the return of products for recycling or reuse, in order to divert them from waste streams, for example, REBus helped Argos, a retailer with 740 high-street outlets, implement a “gadget trade-in” service. The work done by REBus involved preparation of the business case, assistance in promoting the scheme and in staff training. The “gadget trade-in” service rolled out to all UK Argos stores in May 2015 [5.8].

Creating guidance for waste management in Europe:

The research has impacted policy in Europe more widely, and contributed to the European Union’s ambitious plan for a circular economy. Tudor was a member of the European Union’s Wastes Management Technical Working Group and contributed to the European Commission’s JRC Science for Policy Report ‘Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management Sector’ (2018) in relation to effective management of healthcare waste across Europe. The report articulates a necessity to develop alternative modes of waste disposal and cites Tudor’s research extensively in relation to the requirements to effectively segregate and thermally treat healthcare waste [3.4, 5.1]. The report serves as one of the key guidance documents of Interreg Europe, which is the main pan-European non-governmental agency that supports regional and local governments across Europe in the development and implementation of waste management policy [5.9].

As part of the PolyCE project researchers at the university contributed to the design of videos as part of an EU-wide consumer-awareness raising campaign on the benefits of recycled plastics in WEEE, and were featured in parts of the video as experts. The campaign was promoted via social media and through a Colombian TV programme organized by Click-Verde (November 2019).

Improving waste management in developing countries

In 2018, Bates appointed as an expert for the EU project ‘Promotion of sustainable growth in Palestine through an environmentally safe, innovative and economically valuable treatment of WEEE’. As the advisor for The E-waste Solutions Alliance for Africa project Bates worked with companies such as Dell, HP, Nokia, Phillips and Reclaimed Appliances to develop regulations, guidelines and infrastructure, to increase recycling in Lagos and Nigeria, particularly in second-hand markets.

Bates contributed learning materials to the development of innovative tools for LaWEEda, which raised knowledge and understanding of WEEE for a variety of third-sector stakeholders in Brazil and Nicaragua, including non-governmental workers, charity workers, waste management practitioners, training organisations, in addition to policy makers and higher education institutions. This research has led to more circular and financially viable organisations and the development of new entities, including spin-offs from participating universities such as Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. The project improved the quality of higher education and enhanced its relevance for the labour market and society by creating new connections between higher education institutes and industry partners in the area of e-waste management between Brazil and Nicaragua as well as the EU. LaWEEEda led to an upskilling of participants, who were drawn from informal social sectors, and the development of new ways of working. It resulted in the creation of new support networks, and the cascading of the training, through a train-the-trainer approach [5.2].