Research areas

Environmental quality is closely connected to human health. Improving environmental conditions is essential for ensuring access to clean water and food, promoting human well-being, and maintaining sustainable, healthy living conditions globally. To promote environmental and human health quality, CPRP members undertake research in the following areas:

• Mechanistic understanding of chemical exposure: Establishing cause-and-effect relationships by investigating mechanisms that underpin biological and physiological responses to chemical exposure in animal and human health.
• Monitoring of chemical pollution: Development of state-of-the-art analytical methods to measure multiple contaminant classes across different environmental compartments (e.g. water, sediment, soil, biota) to characterise the chemical space and fate in the environment.
• Developing Predictive Approaches:  Development of innovative techniques, tools and workflows to detect early signs of environmental stress and toxic exposure in wildlife and humans, with an emphasis on mechanisms of disease, test method development and new approach methodologies (NAMs).
• Assessing Contaminant Impacts: Investigating the effects of pollutants, including microplastics and chemical contaminants, on ecosystems and human health to inform risk assessment and regulatory actions.
• Promoting Environmental Health: Advancing research on the links between environmental quality and public health, advocating for policies that protect ecosystems and reduce health risks.

Integrated water resource management is crucial for maintaining a healthy environment and meeting one of humanity's most essential needs. While sustainability in this field is vital, it faces significant challenges. Members of the CPRP are actively working in the following key areas to ensure that research supports practitioners and policymakers in making feasible, viable, and sustainable decisions:

• Waterbody Ecological and Chemical Status: Understand the sources, transport pathways, of pollutants in aquatic systems, and investigate their fate and impacts on biota and ecosystem services.
• Strategic Asset Management: Developing decision-making tools to strategically prioritise investments in water industry assets and infrastructure. Reveal vulnerabilities in wastewater systems that are operating at (or over) their design capacity.
• Integrated Catchment Management: Implementing holistic strategies for managing entire catchment areas to enhance water quality and ecosystem health.
• Water Governance and Regulation: Investigating the role of institutions, governance, and regulation in achieving sustainable water use and protecting freshwater systems.

Sustainable resource and waste management is essential for building resilient economies that use resources efficiently and minimise environmental harm. Today’s production and consumption systems often lead to material losses, inefficient value chains, and growing waste streams. Addressing these challenges requires practical, systems-based solutions that connect science, policy, and industry practice.

At CPRP, we work with policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders to develop evidence-based strategies that improve resource efficiency, reduce pollution, and support the transition to a circular economy.

• Maximising Resource Efficiency: Developing strategies and decision-support tools that help organisations optimise resource use, reduce material losses, and accelerate the transition to circular production and consumption systems.
• Plastic Waste and Sustainable Alternatives: Assessing the environmental and health impacts of plastic waste while developing practical solutions, including alternative materials, improved product design, and policy interventions, to reduce reliance on plastics across value chains.
• Sustainable Waste Management Systems: Designing and evaluating integrated waste management approaches that support the design of effective collection, treatment, recovery, and reuse of materials across industries and communities.
• Policy and Governance for Sustainability: Providing evidence and policy insights that help governments and organisations design effective regulations, governance frameworks, and economic instruments to improve resource management and pollution control.