25,000 steps later…I’m back from a brilliant couple of days at Resource & Waste Management Expo (RWM Expo) in Birmingham.

Tech-Takeback's Managing Director, David Greenfield, helped kick off the event, joining Libby Peake, Stuart Hayward-Higham, Wayne Hubbard and Jacob Hayler on a panel discussion about The UK Circular Economy Task Force. The panel emphasised how collaboration between business, government and civil society is reshaping policy and practice. Real examples from construction, electronics and packaging highlighted what’s possible when we move beyond the linear model. David was appointed to the Circular Economy Taskforce in December 2024.

On day two, Tech-Takeback's Chief Operating Officer, Jodi Harford, spoke about the social value of reuse, sharing findings from a CIWM-funded pilot where reusing 60 laptops generated £2.3m in social value - an ROI of 83:1.
With over 10 million people in digital poverty and more than 22million devices hoarded in the UK, the case for reuse has never been stronger. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/euDeS9K4

Other highlights from the two-day event included:

Thank you to the team from Greyparrot for answering my endless questions about waste intelligence. As someone who often shies away from AI, I found it really interesting to hear how your platform is driving circular change within the waste sector!

At the Circular by Design panel, one fact stood out: there’s already enough clothing in the world to clothe everyone for the next 150 years!

The CIWM Early Careers Team's networking event for professionals with fewer than 10 years’ experience. It was great to have a space dedicated to peer connection and advice.