Ed Cook

(He / him )

4

Articles

6

Comments

Ed is a Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. His work focuses on obtaining a better understanding of plastic waste generation and fate in low and middle income countries. He has worked on several major plastic pollution models including the P2O model published in Science, the OECD's Plastics Outlook and the Spatio-temporal Plastic Pollution Origins and Transport (SPOT) model published in Nature. He specialises in quantifying the activities of the informal recycling sector and has an ongoing interest in the transboundary trade in waste plastics and the open burning of waste.

Ed has has more than 25 years' experience in the waste management sector, initially working as the Managing Director of Network Recycling, a waste management and cleaning contractor in the events industry and later as a Senior Waste Management Consultant for Resource Futures where he was the specialist practice group lead for waste plastics, waste processing technology, niche materials and recyclate markets. The international hiatus around plastics led to his involvement in more policy focussed work including production of publications for the OECD, The Resourcing the Future Partnership (WRAP, CIWM, ESA, Resource Association) and several NGOs.

Ed is a Chartered Waste Manager, member of the International Solid Waste Association. He has a Master’s Degree in Waste and Resource Management from Cranfield University and a PhD in Circular Economy Systems from the University of Leeds.

Experience

  • 2026–present
    Research associate, Imperial College
  • 2018–2025
    Research fellow, University of Leeds

Education

  • 2025 
    University of Leeds, PhD Circular Economy Systems
  • 2014 
    Cranfield University, MSc Waste and Resource Management

Publications

  • 2026
    Design principles for the global plastics treaty’s financial mechanism, Cambridge Prisms
  • 2024
    Informal recycling sector contribution to plastic pollution mitigation: A systematic scoping review and quantitative analysis of prevalence and productivity, Resources, Conservation and Recycling
  • 2024
    A local-to-global emissions inventory of macroplastic pollution, Nature
  • 2023
    Plastic waste reprocessing for circular economy: A systematic scoping review of risks to occupational and public health from legacy substances and extrusion, Science of The Total Environment
  • 2022
    Scaling up resource recovery of plastics in the emergent circular economy to prevent plastic pollution: Assessment of risks to health and safety in the Global South, Waste Management & Research
  • 2022
    Plastic waste exports and recycling: Myths, misunderstandings and inconvenient truths, Waste Management & Research
  • 2022
    Construction and Demolition Waste Management: A Systematic Scoping Review of Risks to Occupational and Public Health, Frontiers in Sustainability
  • 2022
    Medical and healthcare waste generation, storage, treatment and disposal: a systematic scoping review of risks to occupational and public health, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
  • 2021
    Waste management needs a data revolution – Is plastic pollution an opportunity?, Waste Management & Research
  • 2021
    Open uncontrolled burning of solid waste undermines human health: Time to act, Waste Management & Research
  • 2021
    Mismanagement of Plastic Waste through Open Burning with Emphasis on the Global South: A Systematic Review of Risks to Occupational and Public Health, Environmental Science & Technology
  • 2020
    Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution, Science
  • 2015
    Investigation into the non-biological outputs of mechanical-biological-treatment facilities, Waste Management

Grants and Contracts

  • 2017
    Sanitisation process for textiles from waste mattresses
    Role:
    Project Manager
    Funding Source:
    Innovate UK SBRI

Professional Memberships

  • Chartered Institute of Wastes Management
  • International Solid Waste Association

Contact Ed for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision