Liverpool not-for-profit environmental business Changing Streams appoints PhD student as it continues its push to reduce plastic use in the construction industry. Tony McDonough reports

Not-for-profit environmental consultancy Changing Streams has recruited PhD student Asmaa Sadou Ammar to work at its research centre.

She will support the Liverpool business in its efforts to persuade the construction industry to reduce its plastic use and carbon footprint.

Changing Streams CIC was founded in 2019 by Liverpool businessman Neal Maxwell, a long-time entrepreneur in the building industry. 

He formed the venture with academics from the University of Liverpool following his life-changing trip to the Arctic where he witnessed the devastation caused to the environment and wildlife by plastic pollution.

It works with businesses to research sustainable ways of working with non-plastic based materials. Construction is the second-biggest user of plastic (after the packaging  industry) generating more than 50,000 tonnes of waste each year in the UK.

Asmaa will work under the supervision of head of the centre, Dr Gareth Abrahams, from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Liverpool.

She said: “My work will investigate the intricate balance of operational energy, embedded carbon and plastic in construction.

“It will have the ultimate aim of championing sustainable practices in design and policy and contributing meaningfully to the evolution of architectural methodologies.”

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Dr Abrahams added: “Asmaa’s work will build on what we’ve been doing with industry leaders such as Peel’s Wirral Waters and Your Housing Group.

“It will help us develop new ways to integrate carbon and plastic reduction in real-world design and construction processes.”