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Waste is something that every single one of us creates but very few of us understand and we are squandering our planet’s finite resources as waste at ever increasing rates. Many nations, including the UK, have embraced the Circular Economy as a way lessen our impact on the environment while preserving economic prosperity but the data we have on the materials flowing through our economies as waste is rubbish.

To enable us to move to a more circular economy we need to understand these material flows. In this talk Sophie will lift the dustbin lid on the murky world of waste data and explore the opportunities that building open data infrastructure could have on an industry on the cusp of digital transformation.

About the speaker

Sophie is the COO and Co-Founder of Dsposal a clean-tech company who along with its sister social enterprise Your Dsposal, is on a mission to empower people to make better decisions with their resources and waste by increasing transparency and accountability to make a positive impact on our environment.

She’s passionate about sustainability and draws on her varied background and experiences. Born in Tamil Nadu, India, she spent her early years on rural development projects before moving to North Devon, UK. Prior to founding the company in 2016, Sophie gained a degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford, cycled 8,700 miles around North America and enjoyed a winding career encompassing logistics and supply chain, the food industry and sustainability. She brings a fresh pair of eyes and breadth of experience to her new-found passion for the waste and resources industry. In her spare time, she volunteers on the Tech for Good Live podcast and is a trustee for the charity Village Service Trust, which supports health and community development in rural Tamil Nadu.

She was voted joint 5th in the 2019 Resource Hot 100, is shortlisted for the Northern PowerWomen Outstanding Entrepreneur award 2020, is the Group Coordinator of the Waste Compliance Taskforce and is an alumna of the CSC Leaders Programme. She speaks internationally on waste, digitalisation, open data and open standards.