IJGlobal ESG Rising Star 2025 – Georgia Whitehouse

The independent panel of judges chose Georgia Whitehouse to win the Rising Star trophy for the IJGlobal ESG Awards 2025 for – as one judge puts it – “driving impact within a really crucial part of the future of ESG”.

Another of the judges said: “Georgia has led award-winning research on circularity in solar infrastructure, producing industry-facing tools and policy recommendations.

“Her ERALD project has influenced thinking on end-of-life asset management and was presented at the House of Lords. While early in her career, her impact is tangible and growing.”

Georgia is group senior ESG analyst at Bluefield Partners, operating out of Bristol, having joined the fund manager in November 2022 as an ESG analyst.

This role has allowed her to develop a sustainability career in the renewable energy infrastructure space, supporting ESG strategy delivery across the Bluefield group of companies on behalf of a large cap client with a big portfolio of solar and wind assets.

In particular, Georgia has focused on developing the circular economy potential of the renewables space, working alongside academia and industry to uncover solutions to recycling assets and minimising waste.

Georgia served as project lead on the award-winning End of Renewable Asset Life Decisions (ERALD) research partnership with Lancaster University which seeks to address the prospect of industry circularity for the solar industry.

This covered 2 phases: ERALD I which focused on developing a “materials passport” for solar farms; and ERALD II which took a more holistic view of the solar value chain to propose an industry circularity roadmap for future research, innovation and policy engagement.

As project lead, Georgia has covered all facets of the project, from securing funding from the Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) to co-ordinating with Lancaster University, and managing press coverage of the project.

Most recently (at the time of writing the submission), Georgia presented the findings of ERALD II at a special event in the House of Lords.

The first project – ERALD I – focused on applying the concept of Materials Passports, a digital tool designed to track the composition of materials and support reuse and recycling, to BSIF’s flagship development project, Yelvertoft Solar Farm.

Using this asset as a case study enabled the research team to map the materials and components used onsite and assess the feasibility of using a Materials Passport to integrate circularity considerations during the construction phase of a new solar farm.

The pilot aimed to enhance visibility into the material composition of solar assets; identify barriers to recycling and reuse across the value chain; explore how circularity can be integrated into the development of new assets; and assess the feasibility of Materials Passports as a tool to support more circular practices.

The second stage – ERALD II – took a more holistic view of the solar value chain.

This project included focus group discussions and 12 semi-structured interviews, consulting a total of 33 UK stakeholders across the PV industry to map current practices and identify systemic barriers to a circular industry.

The output of the project was an industry-facing white paper and roadmap for future research, innovation and policy engagement geared towards creating a more circular solar industry.

This included 10 specific recommendations for the industry to consider and, where possible, action, including references to reuse, extraction, decommissioning, and recycling.

The first phase has thus far (at the time of writing) yielded several key insights.

Primary among these are that the Materials Passports show promise, but their effectiveness depends on broader industry adoption and data transparency from manufacturers.

It finds that circularity requires collaboration – it cannot be achieved in isolation. AS such, solutions must be co-developed across the industry and supply chain.

Proactive maintenance plays an important role in extending the useful life of components and optimising resource efficiency during the operational phase of the asset.

Further, policy evolution is essential, legislative frameworks – such as the EU’s Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive – which focuses on electrical and electronic waste, must adapt to support circular practices in the renewables sector.

The second phase has unveiled a more in-depth review of industry practises and provided several notable recommendations, which have been presented to industry, academia, and policymakers.