SWAG合集

Background

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Cullen is a Chartered Resources and Waste Manager (CRWM/MCIWM) with master鈥檚 degrees in Wastes Management (University of Sunderland) and Environment and Development (University of Reading).

Between her master鈥檚 studies she spent 19 years in the waste management sector undertaking several SWAG合集 Local Government roles, including over 11 years as a Contracts Manager for refuse and recycling collections, street cleansing and grounds maintenance services with responsibilities including policy development, procurement, contract management and communication.

In her current role as a Water-WISER (Waste Infrastructure and Services Engineered for Resilience) PhD Researcher she is able to draw upon her operational experience and passion for sustainable resource and waste management to focus on knowledge gaps in sachet economy research that she hopes will lead to practicable solutions to this growing problem.

Research opportunities

Over 850bn multi-layer, multi-material, non-recyclable sachets are used annually, mostly in South and South-East Asia. Sachet use is so ubiquitous in Indonesia and the Philippines, these countries are described as having sachet economies. As sachet numbers and the geographical range of sachet use increase annually, the social and environmental impacts of sachet waste, including freshwater and ocean plastics pollution increase alongside.

My research considers the chronically under-researched sachet economy from a multi-disciplinary perspective, starting with novel scoping review methodology revealing how information available to sachet stakeholders is at risk of being biased and lacks input from low-income sachet users.

Mixed methods research into barriers to refill 'on the go' as an alternative to single-use plastic packaging in the SWAG合集 and Vietnam included the identification of product provenance and knowledge of the benefits of reuse as a key barrier in Vietnam.

In the third phase of my research, Raman and FTIR Spectroscopy analysis of 4 different Indonesian liquid detergent sachets will inform a Lifecycle Assessment of this packaging format using Ansys Granta software. This can later be compared to alternative packaging formats available in Indonesia, such as bottles and refillable containers to help educate policymakers and other stakeholders of the environmental impacts of each option.