CIWM recognises the value in a wide diversity of voices and viewpoints in all that we do, and that embracing this approach will ensure CIWM, and the wider sector, is even more successful. 

CIWM is fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through all of its operations and activities, and to educating and encouraging good practice in this area among members and throughout the resource and waste sector as a whole.

We also recognise that the workforce of the future will be a diverse one, and we want to reflect both our members and the communities we serve.

You can find more about CIWM’s EDI policy here.

CIWM’s EDI Strategy

To achieve our goal of moving the world beyond waste, CIWM needs support from an inclusive community with diverse voices, knowledge, skills, and perspectives. With this in mind, CIWM has developed an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy as part of our mission to be open and inclusive to all, regardless of background, ability, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

EDI is central to CIWM’s Corporate Social Responsibility commitments and values, as well as our aim to move the world beyond waste. To help begin our journey we established the EDI Working Group in 2021 with the aim of ensuring we provide equal opportunities and support within CIWM, our membership, and the sector as a whole. The Group has been instrumental in forming the strategy.

Read our EDI strategy today to find out how we intend to create a welcoming and inclusive community.

Download CIWM’s EDI Strategy (Executive Summary)
Download CIWM’s EDI Strategy (Full Document)

As the membership body for the waste and resource sector, we aim to provide a voice for all of our members. When we embarked on the creation of our Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy, we knew that we needed to reach as broad, diverse and inclusive a group as possible for their input.

To achieve this, we created a working group made up of members from a variety of backgrounds, ran focus groups to invite members to share their views and undertook an EDI survey, which was open to the whole sector. As well as gathering input into the EDI Strategy, one of our aims was to collect data on the make up of the sector and the experiences of those who work in it. 

Download CIWM's EDI Survey Summary Report  (Summary Document)
Download CIWM's EDI Survey Report (Full Report)

CIWM's Sector Inclusion Forum

We have established a Sector Inclusion Forum to support us in delivering our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Strategy and act as an advisory body on its deliverables, including a Code of Conduct.

The Sector Inclusion Forum, chaired by Dr Tracey Leghorn, Chief Business Services Officer at SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, will also establish links with other parts of the sector to drive positive change, facilitate task and finish groups to deliver specific activities, establish member EDI communities to bring in wider member input, endorse the work of the EDI strategy, and promote good practice by highlighting the importance of EDI in the sector.

The Forum will be comprised of representatives from waste and recycling businesses, key stakeholder groups such as ESA and EU Skills, as well as CIWM members, a Trustee, and a member of CIWM staff.

“Since its launch in 2020, we have made significant strides in advancing the objectives outlined in our EDI Strategy. The launch of the CIWM Sector Inclusion Forum marks a pivotal milestone in this journey. To truly move the world beyond waste, we need the support of an inclusive community that embraces diverse voices, knowledge, skills, and perspectives, and the work of our Sector Inclusion Forum will be instrumental in achieving this.” - Katie Cockburn, Senior Director of Policy, Media and Education, CIWM

Our Sector Inclusion Forum Charter outlines how the Forum will help drive the vision and required outcomes of the EDI Strategy.

EDI resources

EDI Glossary
When we conducted Focus Groups on the topic of EDI, we heard a recurring theme – uncertainty about the correct or appropriate terminology can impede our intention and impact in this area. Most of us are worried that we’ll say the wrong thing, which results in avoiding the conversations that we should be having on topics such as race, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

In response to this, we have created a Glossary of terms for the sector, which includes over 145 words or phrases which we hope are helpful to know and understand, to enable you to start important conversations around EDI.

We are aware that the terminology is changing and updating all the time and sometimes there are various terms that are being used simultaneously. In these cases, we have included all terms and given any recent update information, where available.

We would like to hear from our membership about any words or phrases we may have missed, or which you think need amending or updating. We are committed to reviewing this list annually to keep it as relevant as possible.

We have created the list both in Alphabetical order and by EDI topic so that you can reference words either way. For a list of sources, please see the reference page at the back of the glossary.

We look forward to hearing from you and would love any feedback as to how you have used this tool via membership@ciwm.co.uk.

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