Marine plastics expert Professor Richard Thompson OBE has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for day two of this year’s Resourcing the Future conference (13-14 June), run by CIWM, as the programme for the two-day policy event fills up with high-profile speakers.

Professor Thompson is head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth and will be looking at potential solutions to the global plastics problem that has occupied column inches and airwaves in recent times.

In 2014, Professor Thompson presented his research to the then US Secretary of State, John Kerry, at his Our Ocean meeting in Washington, while his more recent research contributed to parliamentary discussions on legislation to prohibit the use of microbeads in cosmetics. In 2017, he received the Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation for his work on plastics, and was recognised in the New Year Honours List, with an OBE for services to Marine Science.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) also announced last week that due to her recovery from a bout of illness, Therese Coffey MP will be temporarily replaced by David Rutley MP as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the department. Although confirmation is still to be forthcoming regarding Rutley’s availability to speak at Resourcing the Future, Defra has confirmed a keynote speaker from the department will be present at the event.

In addition, the Head of Sustainable Packaging for supermarket chain Iceland, Richard Parker, will be speaking in the opening session on day one, which will tackle the themes set out by Defra in the forthcoming Resources & Waste Strategy: maximising resource productivity, maximising the value we get from resources throughout their lifetimes, and managing materials at end of life.

Other speakers include Tim Silman from Ipsos MORI on communications and how to capitalise on the ‘Blue Planet’ effect, Dr Ioannis Hatzopoulos from Procter & Gamble on producer-led nappy recycling and Keith Rundle from Bristol City BID on a new partnership approach to waste collection service for city centre businesses.

The latest conference programme is as follows:

Day one

• Keynote address from Defra minister
• Session 1: Future resource and waste strategy – Eco-design
• Session 2: Future resource and waste strategy – Smarter recycling
• Breakout session 1: Rolling out Extended Producer Responsibility to challenging waste streams
• Breakout session 2: A new dawn for communications: capitalising on the ‘Blue Planet’ effect
• Breakout session 3: Zoning: a different approach to MSW and commercial recycling and waste management
• Breakout session 4: Waste crime: priority actions to tackle serious fly-tipping and illegal waste operations
• Breakout session 5: Going for DRS – the latest developments

Day two

• Keynote address from Professor Richard Thompson OBE
• Session 1: Materials and markets: the latest research
• Session 2: Zero avoidable plastic waste by 2042
• Session 3: Supporting secondary materials
• Session 3, part 1: Beyond China; current and future export market trends
• Session 3, part 2: Supporting the UK economy: building domestic markets

To book your place for Resourcing the Future 2018, please visit the CIWM website.