Episode 64 - From Waste to Resource: Data, Behaviour Change and the Real Circular Economy with Sa...

Send us Fan Mail (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2124748/fa...) The real power to tackle the climate crisis isn’t in shiny new tech. It is in how we design, use and discard everyday material. On Earth Your While, Jack and Ellie talk to Sam Reeve, CEO of Resource Futures, an independent, employee‑owned sustainability consultancy that’s been reshaping how the UK thinks about waste for nearly 20 years. From grassroots recycling projects in Bristol and Leeds to becoming one of the UK’s leading circular economy voices and a certified B Corp, Sam shares how the company grew out of three small disruptors and why collaboration is baked into its DNA. Sam unpacks what decades of waste composition analysis really show about our bins, why behaviour change is as critical as infrastructure, and how data can guide smarter policy and business decisions. Topics covered include: • How three grassroots recycling organisations merged into Resource Futures • What waste composition studies reveal about our recycling habits and “wishcycling” • Why behaviour change, communication and systems thinking matter as much as technology in circular economy • The biggest misconceptions about the circular economy • What the UK’s new EPR rules really mean for brands, costs and packaging choices  • Why some companies are scared to talk about their sustainability work – and how to avoid both greenwashing and greenhushing • A realistic 10‑year vision for a more circular UK economy, and the role businesses, communities and policy all have to play Music by Stock_Studio (https://pixabay.com/users/stock_studi...) from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/music//?utm_sourc...) .