Widening communication in a crisis

SUEZ recycling and recovery UK has been a major contributor to industry thought leadership over the years, sharing knowledge at conferences, industry forums and corporate events. Amid the national lockdown, the challenge was to sustain the flow of information and support for our stakeholders.

Following the onset of the pandemic, we quickly mobilised our in-house expertise and industry contacts for a series of webinars. The programme addressed a wide range of topical issues, including challenges arising from COVID-19, ongoing government policy reforms and the future evolution of the sector. Clients and partners were invited to attend, but all interested parties were free to register.

 

Pandemic-related sessions examined the best ways for maintaining essential services as the global crisis unfolded, how specific sectors – hospitality, higher education, manufacturing, the organics industry and materials reprocessors – should respond on the ‘road to recovery’ and the lessons learned for household waste recycling centres.

 

Other webinars tackled upcoming challenges, ranging from new rules – in areas such as recycling collection, materials quality and packaging – to the climate emergency, how to decarbonise the waste sector and the triple bottom line business.

 

We also shared our own research into university students’ attitudes to recycling and how to inspire behaviour change.

We led the development and delivery of 30 webinars during 2020 – half hosted by SUEZ and the remainder by either the Chartered Institution of Waste Management or industry website news service, letsrecycle.com.

 

Some 800 organisations registered for the webinars, which attracted a live attendance of more than 4,400. Just under 600 private sector organisations took part and 188 local authorities were represented.

 

The feedback was extremely positive. Attendees were surveyed after each webinar, giving an average rating of 4 out of 5. Given this response, we have extended the programme into 2021.