Rethinking how we buy, use and throw away
Everything we buy, eat and dispose of has a carbon footprint. Reducing waste and using resources more efficiently is essential to achieving net zero.
The Consumption, Waste and the Circular Economy Sector Group has been formed to create and steer Emissions Reduction Action Plans with the goal of achieving a carbon net zero Cumbria by 2037.
Most of the products we use follow a linear model: make, use and dispose. This approach relies heavily on finite resources, energy-intensive production and waste disposal.
Major challenges include:
Reducing consumption-related emissions can:
Our ‘scope’ covers emissions from household and visitor consumption of food and other products, including emissions associated with the supply chains.
Including all Cumbrian residents’ household emissions from goods and services bought and used, including food, packaging and recreational activities.
This scope includes goods and services bought and used, food, and recreational activities of visitors to Cumbria.
This scope examines the options for preventing and reducing waste. It includes: reusing, repairing, recycling and the treatment of waste.
Including the circular econonomy and supply chain.
Moving towards net zero requires changes in how products are designed, purchased, used and managed at the end of their life. The sector group’s suggested approach to tackling these emissions has been split across four strategic priorities, which you can explore below.
AVOID
Repurpose
Recycle
Disposal/recovery
Looking for more detail?
You can see the full list of recommendations the Sector Group have put forward for businesses, local authorities, communities and individuals to help achieve each of these priorities in the Consumption, Waste and Circular Economy ERAP below. See where you might be able to help!
The Emissions Reduction Pathway document sets out the strategic direction to reduce carbon emissions.
The Emissions Reduction Action Plan (ERAP) document sets out detailed proposed actions for emissions reduction.
Consumption, Waste and the Circular Economy
Success stories from across Cumbria showing how steps are being taken to reduce carbon emissions from consumption and waste.
The sector group brings together organisations with expertise in resource management, waste, food systems, business, education and behaviour change.
The group helps identify opportunities, develop action plans and support delivery of Cumbria’s transition to a circular economy.
It will be based on Guardians of Grub for delivery within hospitality organisations and submission to suitable funding programmes, led by Cumberland Council.
It will promote low-carbon purchasing, social value, sustainability, and community wealth building across Cumbria.
Sector group members meet frequently throughout the year, usually online. Meeting overviews will be shared below.
The group has recognised that many of the actions within the consumption and waste emission reduction action plan are about enabling people, businesses, and community groups to make more informed sustainable choices. Repeated exposure to information will help build habits and increase demand for local, more climate-friendly products and sustainable processes.
To support this, the group is developing a communications campaign focused on nine ‘R’s of waste and material management – the things we no longer use. Using guidance, stories, and statistics, the campaign will aim to help people manage waste more effectively.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse, rethink, reclaim, repair, refill and recharge!
If there are any organisations that would like to be involved in the campaign and access the resources once developed please email consumption@zerocarboncumbria.co.uk
Another area the group sees as crucial to progress is ensuring that procurement policy and buying power help build resilient, sustainable supply chains. A document is being drafted for the Cumbria Anchor Network, asking members to show leadership and commit to stronger contract conditions that place greater value on low-carbon, local supply chains, while also supporting the community wealth-building agenda through new economic activity within the county.
These two discussions have made up 2 of the 3 priorities for the group to focus on in the short term.
A letter of support was also signed by the group to Government, lead by the Green Alliance to publish the Circular Economy strategy for England which was due last year.
Priorities:
1 – Finalise and deliver The Power of 9 – Cumbria’s Waste Revolution. Develop a delivery framework for all partners to help amplify consistent messages over the next 12 months about best practice in consumption and waste, and the benefits to people and planet of rethinking habits at every stage. Plan a webinar session for partners to learn more about the resources and how to use them.
2 – Develp a climate-friendly food and food-waste reduction project based on Guardians of Grub, delivered more directly within hospitality organisations, for submission to the National Lottery or another suitable funding scheme (led by Cumberland Council).
3 – Develop a procurement document, charter, or shared ask for the Cumbria Anchor Network (made up of Cumbria’s public sector organisations and other key partners) to consider commitments to stronger procurement conditions. This should focus on products and services that prioritise low carbon, maximise social value, and deliver strong environmental and sustainability impacts, while also supporting community wealth building in Cumbria.
Laura Blake (Low Carbon Food Project Manager) gave the group an update on the Place-to-Plate project. Cumbrian Carrot Connections – Zero Carbon Cumbria – Carbon reduction action across the county.
The group have reflected on the comments from the Summit held in early March, and have been working on amendments to the asks to Government and the recommendations from the SOB to clarify the barrier to be overcome. This group had two separate sessions at the Summit – one focused on food and drink, and the other focused on waste and circular economy. The group are also looking at building on the work in the Emission Reduction Pathway (ERP) to develop a sector profile for waste and circular economy in Cumbria. This will sit alongside the asks of Government to outline why some of the asks are overcoming barriers that are specifically (more) challenging for Cumbria. You can find a report from the sector group workshops at the summit here.
This group has also spent time extracting generic consumption and waste actions from the ERAP and other strategic documents to develop a series of draft actions around food and drink. These were developed into draft asks to the different sectors as part of the 2025 Summit. Laura also gave a presentation to delegates summarising the emissions from food and drink, which can be found here: Food workshop with notes presentation for the ZCC Summit.pdf.
The group have had two presentations from Rufus Henderson from NuGreen:
Low Carbon Footprint: Foods that are produced with minimal greenhouse gas emissions.
Resource Efficiency: Utilizing resources such as water and energy more efficiently during food production.
Biodiversity Conservation: Supporting agricultural practices that protect ecosystems and wildlife.
Support for Local Economies: Encouraging the purchase of local and seasonal foods to reduce transportation emissions and support farmers.
Members of the group have met with Emily Carr of the Green Alliance Circular Economy Task Group to talk about how they are working with the new national Circular Economy Hub, and what that might look like for rural areas like Cumbria. They also discussed their new publication: In the loop: stories of businesses delivering the circular economy » Green Alliance.
The group are considering an offer from Cumbria Education Development Centre (CDEC) about involvement of young people in sector group plan communication, including “public proofing” elements of the action plans/asks, meeting with a Sector Group representative to talk about emissions reduction and the sector plans, and the Sector Group being involved in young people running events in schools around food waste, waste management, etc.
The group are thinking about the challenges to engaging businesses in the ERAPs, particularly around the circular economy. Tim Bloomer, co-founder and sustainability manager of Fell Brewery and Fell Bars, joined Sector Group members to share his insights around this.
Visits to waste management and recycling facilities in the county are being arranged including to Sinkfall, Biffa and Cumbria Waste Management.
The group is thinking about potential topics for the Summit in 2026.
If you feel you’d have something to contribute to a sector group meeting, get in touch to request an invite.
The Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership is driving change through the work of its four Sector Groups, which focus on the main sources of emissions in Cumbria.
To get involved and find out more about the Partnership, please contact Partnership Manager, Michael Robinson.
