A welcome from Martyn Cheesbrough, Director, PTZW

I remember a phrase: “If you do what you always did; you will get what you always got.”

If we continue to perceive the by-products of manufacturing, service industries and daily life as ‘waste’, then we will always plan to throw them away, frequently in the cheapest possible way. In other words, we will continue to litter the countryside with waste, either legally or illegally. And we will need to pay for a legislative regime, (and resources), to protect the planet from our approach.

But what if we thought about these materials as products, (not by-products), with intrinsic value. Then we might naturally value them, keep them safe, and trade them for other goods. And we will have created a cycle akin to those occurring in nature: water, nitrogen, and other life sustaining systems.

I ask – which approach would you prefer?

My name is Martyn Cheesbrough, and I’ve taken over from Chindarat Taylor as Director, Pathway To Zero Waste.

Chindarat played an important part in accelerating the cultural shift to view waste as a resource in the South East, and drove forward the ‘Pathway’ approach with determination and imagination. Her energy and enthusiasm were crucial to establishing and implementing the project to date, and I wish her well in her future ventures.

My task is to ensure that we continue the excellent work to date and demonstrate that we meet – or exceed – all the goals we have set ourselves until the end of March 2010, when we hand over to other partners such as the European Pathway to Zero Waste programme.

Martyn Cheesborough
Director - Pathway To Zero Waste