My Fellowship was a study on waste recycling and river transport in the USA, which I completed in 1991. I was the manager of a Thames lighterage operation transporting waste from the City of London and Westminster to landfill in Essex. The Fellowship allowed me to research waste transport and disposal in New York City, where 11 million tonnes each year were transported by barges to Fresh Kills landfill site on Staten Island. This compared with London's three million, of which 900,000 tonnes per annum was carried by barge to landfill.

The USA was leading the way in incineration and producing heat and power from waste, as well as recycling. Of the many observations, the biggest change to happen in the short term was the introduction of lorry covers that prevented wind-blown litter and dust from the vehicles.

The USA had also introduced a superfund provided by the landfill owners to be used in the event of future pollution leaching from landfill sites, which can happen on old closed sites and is often found by future owners developing the land for other uses. This prompted the UK Government to seek similar schemes from our operators.