Towards Zero Podcast - how to end the climate crisis by wasting less
Don’t waste anything - Build Back Better by Doing More Differently to Make Things Last
This Zero Waste Scotland podcast is for everyone who is interested in doing things differently to help end the climate emergency.
Each episode features interesting stories, information and ideas from a wide range of guests, including our own experts, on how we can all waste less and do more.
Life after Lockdown
How to make sure going electric really will help end the climate crisis
Our guests
- Dr Euan McTurk, electric vehicle battery engineer and host of YouTube show, Plug Life Television;
- Charlotte Stamper, circular economy energy infrastructure specialist, Zero Waste Scotland;
- Paul Codd, Cleantech investor, Co-Founder of Cheesecake Energy and CEO of Flexergy Ltd.
In this episode...
...we talk about the need to switch from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles as we enjoy the freedom to get around again without making the climate crisis worse.
Electric vehicle battery engineer Euan McTurk crunches the numbers in a bid to answer to a common question: Are electric cars really better for the planet than petrol or diesel?
Zero Waste Scotland’s circular economy energy infrastructure expert, Charlotte Stamper, shares our latest research highlighting the risk of creating more waste as demand for electric vehicles soars – and discusses innovative solutions to avoid that risk and create more sustainable jobs in the process.
Paul Codd explains how Cheesecake Energy, his tasty-sounding circular economy business, is pioneering an unlikely sounding way to make the switch to electric more sustainable.
Find out more:
Zero Waste Scotland provides a range of free expert advice and information to help everyone waste less to cut the carbon emissions behind the climate crisis.
The wasteful way we produce, buy and bin everything is the single biggest cause of the emissions behind the crisis in Scotland. That’s unsustainable because it’s destroying the planet and because we don’t have a limitless supply of metals and other natural resources.
The key to ending the crisis here is to stop wasting everything and make things last instead. That’s what the circular economy does – reducing, reusing, repairing, remaking and only then recycling products and materials.
The switch from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric is vital to help save the planet. But we need to make the switch sustainably. That means renting and sharing cars, and buying secondhand instead of new, to make the most of what we already have.
It also means using batteries sustainably. Latest research commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland enabled our experts to forecast that battery waste will triple in 25 years, with 40 per cent of that caused by electric vehicles. The report adds to evidence that most batteries are currently exported for recycling or sent to landfill, with no recycling of batteries currently done in Scotland. It highlights a key opportunity for Scotland to reprocess and recycle batteries here, creating new green jobs and reducing waste and emissions further as we switch to electric vehicles. Read the research summary and reports here.
Zero Waste Scotland’s Circular Economy Business Support Service (CEBSS) provides tailored, one-to-one expert advice to businesses across all sectors in Scotland.
It’s designed to help companies do business differently to help end the climate crisis by finding more circular ways of working, including alternative supply chains. This can increase resource efficiency, profitability, product quality and customer base.
Circular economy business models include sharing resources, modular design, re-use and repair, reprocessing and remanufacturing.
To hear more from Euan McTurk about electric vehicles and batteries visit Plug life Television.
For more information on Cheesecake Energy click here.