Sarah Wilkinson

Sarah Wilkinson joined Local Partnerships in November 2024 as an Assistant Director in the Climate unit, within the Zero Waste team. Sarah is now part of the Devolution and Circular Economy practice area.

Sarah’s role includes waste and climate change research, business case development, waste strategy and policy development.

Sarah’s recent projects include:

• Policy development and implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) for Welsh Government, including writing the public consultation document on expanding pEPR to include litter in Wales, and working with PackUK and the governments of the four UK nations on model development for local authority payment calculations
• research for Welsh Government on multiple problematic waste streams, developing a materials handbook for prioritisation and future policy development
• developing the business case for Westmorland and Furness Council’s waste change programme
• reporting on residual waste infrastructure capacity and needs forecasting for another local authority in England
• updates to our waste carbon emissions calculator tool (a free resource for local authorities)
• work for Welsh Government on the 2025-26 river water quality summits
• research on local government reorganisation and the impact on waste services

Prior to joining Local Partnerships, Sarah worked at Cambridgeshire County Council where she led the Council’s carbon footprint calculations and reporting and provided advice on the carbon and climate impact of local authority projects and services, including waste disposal, highways, property and planning. Her work with the planning team included responding to county planning, minerals and waste applications and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, including energy-from-waste, focusing mainly on the greenhouse gas emissions aspect of Environmental Impact Assessment. Sarah has a deep knowledge of the carbon impact of waste services and was involved in the project to develop the specialist waste carbon calculator tool that is now hosted by Local Partnerships.
At Cambridgeshire County Council, Sarah also managed a programme of low carbon heating, renewables and energy efficiency projects, contributed to developing the Council’s Climate Change and Environment Strategy and was responsible for procurement and contract management of electricity, gas and water supplies for Council assets.

Previously, Sarah has also worked in the water industry in a variety of roles, including managing Health and Safety, Quality and Environmental Management Systems.

Sarah has an MSc in Environmental Management and is a full member of ISEP (formerly IEMA) and a Chartered Environmentalist.