Round-the-world yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur has called for an urgent “redesign revolution” at the British Science Festival in Bradford.

Dame Ellen outlined her aim for an economical system which did not produce waste as her charitable foundation announced a Post Gradate Certificate in the circular economy at the University of Bradford.

Speaking at the festival, she extolled the virtues of the “circular economy”, which aims to see waste become food for another process, rather than being thrown away.

Dame Ellen, who completed the Vendée Globe solo circumnavigation race and then broke the non-stop solo world record, said the move would require a redesign of our material world, a concept many companies in Britain were beginning to realise the importance of.

She said: “A transition to the circular economy offers a framework for creativity and the context within which the debate about our future prosperity will increasingly take place.

“I am delighted to be announcing the launch of a new PGCert course in partnership with the University of Bradford. It will give business and education leaders a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading circular economy thinkers and provide a framework to equip organisations for change.”

Last November, the Telegraph & Argus reported how the Ellen MacArthur Foundation had forged a three-year link with the university.

Elsewhere at the festival, the Society of Dyers and Colourists opened its doors as a rare treat, with two events at the Colour Experience, formerly the Colour Museum, in Grattan Road.

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