Dr David Greenfield will take over from outgoing president Tim Walker, who has been office since mid-2024.
Greenfield was inaugurated today (19 June 2025) at a ceremony held in the House of Commons, ahead of the annual CIWM Presidential Dinner tonight.
The new president said: “The UK uses more than 15 tonnes of virgin materials per person per year – most of which is imported. Our circularity rate is just 7.5%. Over half of our household and municipal business waste ends up in residual streams. Globally, things are no better – circularity plateauing.
“During my year as CIWM president, I am committed to championing the development of a more sustainable and circular economy and facilitating the cross-sector collaboration needed to make this a reality. But knowledge alone is not enough. We need action – coordinated, courageous, and consistent – to make the transition from linear to circular. Let this be the moment we step up, reach across sectors, and turn waste from a symbol of failure into a source of possibility.”
Vicki Hughes and Liz Parkes MBE will now become vice president and junior vice president, respectively.
Charlotte Davies will enter her second year as early careers president.
Sarah Poulter, CEO of CIWM, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank Tim Walker for his hard work, dedication, and leadership during his term as CIWM president.
“We are excited to welcome David as president. He brings extensive expertise in waste management and circular economy innovation.
“In his professional roles he champions sustainable resource recovery and innovation on a day-to-day basis. As visiting professor of Circular Economy at the University of Brighton, he has demonstrated his commitment to advancing a more circular and resource-efficient economy.”
CIWM Presidential Report 2025
Greenfield’s inauguration also marks the release of the CIWM Presidential Report 2025, written by Dr Ryan Woodard.
The report is entitled “Lost Opportunities? Winning Back Materials to Drive the UK’s Circular Economy” and focuses on the need for the UK to transition to a more circular and resource-efficient economy.
The report highlights six commonly overlooked materials that are currently lost to the economy – both in the UK and internationally.
These include three renewable organic materials: cooking oil, seafood shells and wool; as well as three essential finite mineral resources: lithium, gallium and tin.
The report explores how much waste of each type is generated, why it is lost to the economy, and current and future management pathways.
It concludes with a series of recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders, including:
- Align UK policies to capture ‘lost’ resources
- Develop business cases to capitalise on these opportunities
- Align public sector procurement policies to support resource recovery
- Foster cross-sector collaboration
- Implement a National Material Data System
- Establish a cross-organisational, open-access research repository
The analysis added that the same approach could be applied to many other “lost” material streams.
Greenfield added: “We cannot afford to waste what the planet and economy cannot easily replace. My report highlights both the challenges and opportunities we face, reinforcing the importance of rethinking not just how we manage ‘waste’, but how we define and prevent it.
“Through improved design, collection systems, policy interventions, lifecycle thinking and circular innovation, there are significant opportunities to harness many of the currently lost materials beyond and including the six highlighted here, for the benefit of the environment, society, and the UK economy.”
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