The House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee has appointed a sub-committee, chaired by Lord O‘‘Neill of Clackmannan, to look at sustainable approaches to waste reduction. The inquiry will focus on the first level of the waste hierarchy, waste reduction, and will look into ways in which products and production processes can be made more sustainable and therefore produce less waste.

The Committee invites evidence on the following questions. Witnesses are encouraged to focus on those issues of which they have particular knowledge or experience-submissions are not required to cover all questions.

Better design and the use of materials

§ what role can better design and materials play in minimising the creation of waste?

§ are there any barriers to how knowledge in this area can best be translated and applied?

§ what factors influence the use of materials?

§ in what way do considerations of sustainability feature in the selection of most commonly used materials?

§ to what extent do product designers and engineers take into account the availability and the end of life impacts of raw materials?

§ what impact does the development of new materials have on design?

§ how much interaction is there between material scientists and designers?

§ can better designed products offset the increase in consumption?

§ are there any other gaps in knowledge and how are they being addressed?


Business framework

§ does the current policy, regulatory and legal framework support and incentivise the development of better, more sustainable products and processes?

§ how is the framework communicated to businesses and what is the level of awareness and understanding among businesses?

§ how central is sustainable design to business thinking?

§ what initiatives are in place to encourage this and are they meeting business needs?

§ what other measures can promote a focus on waste reduction among businesses?

§ what lessons can business learn from international experience?


Government policy

§ what is and should be the role of Government in addressing the issue of waste reduction?

§ how does Government policy link up with European strategies and action plans?

§ what lessons can be learnt from other countries - within the EU and globally?


Consumer behaviour

§ how can better product design be used to effect a change in consumption patterns and behaviour?

§ what role do marketing strategies play in influencing more sustainable design?

§ are there any gaps in knowledge in this area?


Skills

§ how is sustainable design integrated into the design syllabus?

§ to what extent are considerations of sustainable waste reduction part of broader industrial training courses?


The Committee would also be interested to hear about any other issues not already covered by this call for evidence that are relevant to the scope of the inquiry.