On the 30th June I attended (Re)making infrastructures workshop, organised by the Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester. The event brought together academics working on the questions of transport, waste, water, electricity, gas and digital infrastructure to discuss research methods and trends happening the various networks in relation to climate emergency.
During the afternoon, the participants drew and wrote ideas on large table clothes, themed in accordance with the respective infrastructure types. On the ‘waste’ table where I sat the researchers mainly talked about the waste itself. I noted some of the questions raised at my table:
- re-use and standardisation of packaging and PPE equipment
- complex material used for crisp packaging and inconvenience of the alternatives
- inefficiencies in the current recycling practices
The discussion were mainly focused around the themes of circular economy, re-use, materials. The transport and facilities for waste, more relevant to my work, received significantly less attention.
no.balsa 