Margaret Bates joined OPRL as Executive Director in 2020, previously she was Professor of Sustainable Wastes Management at the University of Northampton, where she still has a visiting professor role. She has been involved in wastes management for over 30 years and undertook her PhD on landfill microbiology. She was a previous President of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, is a Chartered Waste Manager, an International Wastes Manager, a Chartered Environmentalist, and a Fellow of IOM3 where she is a member of the Packaging Group. Margaret has travelled the world looking at waste issues and has advised governments, businesses and NGO on sustainable resource and waste management.