Turning complexity into practical solutions at RWM Expo 2025
At this year’s Resource & Waste Management (RWM) Expo, the conversations were big and the challenges ahead for our sector were laid bare. The sector knows what needs to be done, but the path forward is crowded with complexity. Across the sessions, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK speakers repeatedly pulled the discussion back to a central point, where progress will only come if we adopt straightforward solutions and if responsibility is shared across the chain. It was a purpose-driven presence, aligned with our commitment to build a sustainable future that doesn’t cost the earth.
Systems not slogans
Many panellists spoke of the scale of the circular economy challenge. There was enthusiasm for reform but also anxiety: how do you move from headline ambition to day-today delivery?
John Wrigley, Managing Director of Municipal Services at SUEZ, alongside other municipal leaders, discussed how collections need to be seen as part of a wider process rather than an end point. Speakers underlined the need for national-level education to support residents, as well as other parts of the chain including producers, manufacturers, distributors, legislators and operators to work from the same road map.
A similar theme surfaced in the Circular Economy Taskforce session, with SUEZ represented by Stuart Hayward-Higham, SUEZ’s Chief Technical Development and Innovation Officer. The panel stressed the importance of government and industry working together if policy is to succeed. They pointed out that plans must be practical, based on what materials can be genuinely recycled or reused, drawing lessons from abroad and making sure that what is decided nationally can actually be put into practice locally.
Together, the discussions showed that progress won’t come from big statements alone, but depends on building approaches that actually work in day-to-day life.
People at the centre
Many speakers raised concerns about the sector’s ability to attract and retain the skills it needs. Recruitment challenges and a lack of visibility for green careers were recurring themes.
Dr Adam Read MBE, Chief External Affairs and Sustainability Officer at SUEZ, put the point plainly: “You can be an accountant in the circular economy.” He said that sustainability runs through every role, not just technical ones, and stressed the need for a new narrative around skills that makes careers feel accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. Also notable was the concern that small businesses are at a disadvantage, as they often lack the resources to dedicate staff to sustainability in a way larger firms can.
In other sessions, SUEZ’s Chief Business Services Officer Dr. Tracey Leghorn and Director of Public Sector Development Amanda Padfield contributed to discussions about how to make the sector more inclusive and supportive. Their respective panels explored the link between inclusion and diversity, and looked at the barriers women can face in progressing to senior roles.
For SUEZ, it is important to place the spotlight on culture and opportunity, which are important conditions that will actually keep new entrants in the sector once they arrive.
Innovation for efficiency
Conversations about innovation at RWM were shaped by a clear tension of balancing environmental ambition with economic reality. John Wilkinson, SUEZ’s Chief Development Officer, noted the pressure local authorities face in meeting sustainability goals while managing shrinking budgets. He emphasised the need to expand re-use and strengthen customer collaboration if progress is to be made.
The wider panel also examined the risks that come with new waste streams. The rise in lithium battery fires was highlighted as a growing threat to safety and costs, with a warning that the industry could become uninsurable if the trend continues. Others noted the impact of AI in waste management, regulatory changes, carbon pricing introduction at energy-from waste sites and waste crime.
Craig Partridge, National Health and Safety Support Manager at SUEZ, contributed practical examples of how SUEZ is applying technology to improve outcomes, such as fitting collection vehicles with AI-enabled 360° cameras to cut accidents and enhance safety. Elsewhere, the SUEZ Air & Climate team led by SUEZ Advanced Solutions Air Quality Specialist Craig Lewis demonstrated how their new High-Efficiency Advanced Biomedia (HEAB) system is delivering up to 98% odour reduction, while using less energy and with an extended media lifespan up to 10 years.
Re-use as part of everyday business
In the re-use session, speakers explored how circular approaches are already working but face barriers to growth. Some of the topics discussed included the expansion of re-use shops, with SUEZ now running 37 of them, including the award-winning Renew Hub, as well as the uneven VAT rules that make reused goods less competitive for operators than for charities.
Sarah Ottaway, SUEZ’s Sustainability and Social Value Lead, summed up her message clearly: “This isn’t just about the public sector. We need system-wide change, from design through to end of life, and policies that remove barriers like VAT and make repair and re-use affordable and accessible.”
Adding to this perspective, Emma Jordan, SUEZ’s Head of External Communications, explained that focus groups reveal that language is a real barrier to consumers’ full engagement with the circular economy.
“Consumers do not connect with terms like ‘circular economy’ or ‘waste prevention’. In fact, those phrases can make them switch off. Yet many are already engaging in behaviours and buying services we would consider circular; they just don’t describe them that way,” she said.
SUEZ will be launching an upcoming report that will explore how to bridge this gap and identify interventions to make circular choices feel normal and accessible, without the jargon.
Where others dwelt on the obstacles, SUEZ offered proof that viable models exist, and that clearer language and policy frameworks could help them scale.
Facing costs with clarity
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was a hot topic at RWM, with SUEZ speakers unpacking both the risks and opportunities.
In one session, Stuart Hayward-Higham underlined the pressure the sector is under. He noted that registrations are likely to be delayed and that SUEZ will end up shouldering some of the cost, though work is already under way with customers to share the burden. He added that the impact will be felt in people and operations, making early action all the more important.
Leigh Broadhurst, SUEZ’s Environment and Sustainable Development Lead, said the ETS will bring a sharp rise in the cost of managing waste. But he stressed that much of this impact can be reduced through existing measures. This can range from cutting waste in the first place to boosting re-use, doing Simpler Recycling well, as well as removing plastics before they reach energy recovery. He noted these actions could cut ETS costs by around half, but warned that awareness of the issue is still low among local authorities, with some considering it a tomorrow problem and that funding intended to help must be retained in waste management budgets and channelled into real change.
At the session, Leigh and Adam announced a new SUEZ-commissioned report on ETS, ‘Strategic approaches to minimising emissions trading scheme costs for waste producers’, which highlights both the risks and practical steps councils and other waste producers can take to prepare and mitigate the associated costs. Packed with usable, real-world interventions that don’t require new technology or innovative approaches, the report created by Ceres Waste Renewables & Environment uses a combination of publicly available data and information from the SUEZ ‘Waste Data Book’.
Download the new report here.
Reflections on progress
As the Expo drew to a close, Adam offered a note of honesty that resonated across the two-day event. “Ultimately, everybody’s worried about things costing more. So, part of our job is helping dispel the myths about what the real costs are and how you can avoid those costs by segregating better and Simpler Recycling, or choosing to embrace refill and re-use rather than single use,” he said.
Events like RWM, he added, are all about cutting through the uncertainty, including “spotting new opportunities and finding partners we might never have expected”.
Overall, the whole event was a reminder that sustainability will only succeed if it is both environmentally credible and economically viable. Throughout RWM 2025, SUEZ contributions underscored this balance via our speakers engaging attendees in conversation either at the SUEZ-sponsored Net Zero Summit Theatre and other speakers’ venues.
Our presence also extended to the Complete Auto Recycling Show (CARS) and Metals Recycling Event (MRE) where we showcased specialist recycling solutions delivered by our experts at Lithium Battery Recycling Solutions (LBRS) and Cawleys. All of these showed how simpler systems, shared responsibility and purposeful innovation can turn today’s resources into tomorrow’s way of life.