This event aims to help join up thinking across sectors. The tendency to silo our contributions to environmental policies leads us to push for solutions that may cause challenges elsewhere, or not solve wider issues. It is time to realise that everything is connected.
The one-day conference will address how climate change, soil and water quality, biodiversity loss, food production and waste, packaging and packaging waste, energy policies and health, are inextricably linked. In this complex nexus of policies, investments, consumer behaviour, industrial strategy and public health, we will also look at how innovation can improve life quality and provide a range of cross-sector solutions, whilst stimulating investments and employment in cutting-edge industries in the UK. With this event, we aim to feed into policies on resources and waste, the bioeconomy, the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Industrial Strategy and the Clean Growth Strategy.
This is a call for action: the IPCC report published on October 8th demonstrates with chilling bluntness that the time for talking has ended and the need for climate action is immediate. The BBC documentary Drowning in Plastics illustrated with tragic clarity how wildlife from the Arctic to the Antarctic is being killed by plastic pollution- and how this is damaging humanity too. We need to act immediately to change the paradigm from business as usual to one which stimulates disruptive innovation to drive forward environmental protection.
PROGRAMME
Plenary session 9.30-10.50am – The Big Picture
Chairman: Lord Chris Rennard.
Welcome and introduction from Andy Sweetman, Chairman of BBIA
- Waste and resources: Circles, spirals, lines – Dominic Hogg, Chairman Eunomia Consulting
- Soil, the food chain, food waste and climate change – Stephanie Draper, Forum for the Future, Sustainable Soil Alliance
- Food, crop protection, health and soil: How biotechnologies will supply us with healthier food – Mark Waltham, CEO of CERTIS Europe
- Bioeconomy, circular economy, pollution abatement, soil and water – speaker, Steven Pritchard, Fuchs Lubricants UK.
Discussion Q&As
Coffee break 10.50-11.15am
Second session 11.15am-1.00pm – Towards a blueprint for a resource efficient economy
Chairman: Felix Gummer, Director, Sancroft International.
- Why we should turn off the plastic tap – Sian Sutherland, Co-founder, A Plastics Planet
- The end of the pipe or a resource supplier?: Waste management in the 21st century – Suez Environment, Adam Read
- The UK Plastics Pact: The ambitions and progress to date – Mike Falconer-Hall WRAP
- The challenge for on-the-go-materials recovery – Martin Kersh, FPA
- Making smart materials for the circular economy in Britain – John Williams, Aquapak Polymers
- How the reform of the EPR/PRN system should look – James Piper, CEO Ecosurety
Discussion Q&As
Lunch break 1.00-2.00pm
Third session 2.00-5.00pm – It is not just about plastic packaging.
Chairman: Professor Stephen Jenkinson, Manchester Metropolitan University.
- The last mile: The responsibilities and challenges faced by the ethical retailer and consumer
Richard Walker, Iceland Foods Group UK, Managing Director - Iain Ferguson, The Co-operative Food Group, Environment Manager, Commercial Team – Food Policy
- Giles Harvey, Supply Director, SKY UK
- The UK Bioeconomy Strategy: Supporting clean growth through the power of bioscience – Paul Henderson BEIS
- The new EU17033 standard on biodegradable soil mulch: Protecting and fertilising our soils – Jens Hamprecht, BASF
- The missing ingredient: Food waste – Charlotte Morton, ADBA CEO
- Biomaterials, food, packaging and waste: A blueprint for the biocycle – David Newman, MD of BBIA and President of the World Biogas Association
Discussion Q&As
Conclusions
Andy Sweetman, Chairman of BBIA
All presentations will be available on the BBIA website, subject to author permission, 10 days after the event.
Cost: All local authority delegates, delegates representing civil society not-for-profit organisations, MPs, Lords, parliamentary assistants and BBIA Members (two per member) pay no fee. Places for these delegates are limited to the first 50 who register. No-shows will be invoiced at the cost of a paying delegate.
All others: £100 +VAT
The cost includes coffee breaks and lunch
Please visit the conference Eventbrite page to reserve your place.