Dr Louis Dawson

I am an environmental law academic whose research sits at the intersection of law and science. My work examines both abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) environmental media, particularly through three core strands of research: waste and the circular economy; biodiversity; and chemical regulation.

My research interests encompass all aspects of environmental law, although my work primarily focuses on waste and the circular economy, biodiversity and chemical regulation. As part of a large multidisciplinary research project for the Faraday Institution, my PhD at the University of Birmingham critically analysed four European Union extended producer responsibility Directives to assess their support for a circular economy. I have an ongoing research pipeline in critical raw material circularity, while also advancing research on biodiversity and chemical risk, including the regulatory support for and use of artificial intelligence. My work has informed policy at various levels, including in the UK, the EU, and internationally.

• Louis Dawson and Jyoti Ahuja, ‘Building a Critical Minerals Circular Economy: Conceptualising New Ways to Maximise the Potential of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)’ (forthcoming), Environmental Law Review.
• Louis Dawson, ‘Over-Regulation? Comparing England’s Statutory Biodiversity Net-Gain (BNG) with Wales’ Non-Statutory Net-Benefit for Biodiversity (NBB)’ (2026) Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy.
• J de Paula Souza and others, ‘Advancing the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Regulatory Frameworks for Chemical Safety Assessment by Defining Robust Readiness Criteria’ (2026) 8 Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence.
• Louis Dawson, Jyoti Ahuja and Robert Lee, ‘Steering Extended Producer Responsibility for Electric Vehicles’ (2021) 20 (2) Environmental Law Review 128–143. Jyoti Ahuja, Louis Dawson and Robert Lee, ‘A Circular Economy for Electric Vehicle Batteries: Driving the Change’ (2020) 12 Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law 235.
• Louis Dawson, ‘‘‘Our Waste, our Resources; A Strategy for England”– Switching to a circular economy through the use of extended producer responsibility’ (2019) 21 (2) Environmental Law Review 210-218.

I am interested in supervising PhD students on topics relating to environmental law, and in particular, waste and the circular economy, biodiversity, or chemical regulation.

Waste and the circular economy, biodiversity or chemical regulation.