Started in January 2019, firstly the Project was submitted to and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of LUBS (reference LTLUBS-255). The first third of the research schedule was also a time to participate in several training courses and workshops offered by OD&PL and Priestley International Center for Climate at UoL for supporting the grantee's (JR) long-term career goal of developing the ability to act as an independent researcher in the CE field at the international level.
Research and field studies were also carried out to capture information about the EU P-EPR to gather what was known about the schemes, origins, context and main recommendations for the practice; main results, and what was uncertainty around findings. Data were collected from the main packaging Producers Responsibility Operators, policymakers and waste managers, through participatory observation at professional conferences and study visits such as those organized by EXPRA - EU EPR Alliance in Brussels, ISWA - International Solid Waste Association in Austria and the Houses of Parliament in London. Participatory observation activities were carried out also in WP settlements, scrap yards, and dumps in Serbia and Northern Macedonia to find out how the IRS operates in EU countries. Meetings with technicians and public managers in these countries were organized to discuss the research hypothesis on the possibilities of disseminating the inclusive P-EPR model.
The second third of the project was a time to discuss initial research results.An “EPR Inclusive Policy Briefing” was shared as a collaboration for four different initiatives that could benefit from the research findings. The first, the "Inclusive EPR" working group, organized by WIEGO(
https://www.wiego.org/(opens in new window)) GAIA - Global Alliance for Alternative Incinerators (
https://www.no-burn.org/(opens in new window)) and other international NGOs to discuss recommendations for an "inclusive model" for EPR Initiatives around the world. It aimed primarily at providing tools for WP and civil society and influencing policymakers to seek solutions to problems caused by packaging waste and FMCG producers' initiatives and responsibility. The research also contributed to Tearfund's report (
https://www.tearfund.org/(opens in new window)) "Private sector partnerships with the informal waste sector: developing good practice guidelines and a framework for action". The results were also discussed with the Fair Plastic Alliance, which seeks a partnership to develop inclusive approaches to recycling plastics in the Global South and with the UK's WaterAid network.
A Portuguese version of the policy briefing is being used by the Brazilian WP to negotiate with the government and packaging producers in Brazil about their formal participation in the P-EPR schemes that are being reformulated. In December 2019, the document was discussed, in Belo Horizonte / Brazil, in a workshop with the participation of about 30 people, leaders of the Brazilian WP, public managers, academics and other members of ORIS - Observatory for Inclusive Recycling, a Brazilian network built around selective collection and solidarity recycling.
Research results were presented at the Innovative Recycling Session at ISWA Congress, held in Bilbao in October 2019. Results papers were approved to be presented in 3 other different 2020 conferences – in India, Italy, and Brazil, but they don´t due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also prevented any possibility of disseminating the results in the press and also the discussion planned to take place at a round table on the CE at Leeds Digital Festival.
The research results are publicised on the Leeds University Business School blog (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/dir-record/research - blog / 1634 / including-recycling-green-jobs-to-support-a-circular-economy-in-sustainable-cities) and in EURAXESS Brazil and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Newsletter (
https://bit.ly/QNL12020(opens in new window)).Final results are described on paper “Circular Economy for packaging: improving Extended Producer Responsibility with inclusive recycling” based which is being processed under assigned number RECYCL-D-20-01571 for publication at the journal “Resources, Conservation and Recycling”.
The research data is openly accessible on
https://doi.org/105518/832(opens in new window). The research results and data can be useful for those interested in understanding how waste pickers operate in emerging countries and what contribution they make to waste management and EPR schemes for packaging. The data will also be useful for policymakers who seek improvements in waste management and in recovering resources from waste.
