An announcement was made before Christmas that nearly two dozen experts had bene appointed to assist with developing national plans to tackle barriers for expanding the reuse and repurposing of a range of materials otherwise consigned to landfill.
The taskforce commenced its work in November with the stated intention to look at both opportunities and challenges around reducing waste across a range of supply chains to assist national and local authorities to extract value from the waste sector and other industries. These ambitions are seen by the taskforce experts as simultaneously helping to address with UK-wide emissions reduction plans with effective implementation.
Wayne Hubbard, chief executive with the ReLondon partnership that seeks to build effective collaboration between different boroughs to create a more circular economy for the capital, said he expected the group to be crucial in addressing critical national challenges.
Hubbard said: “The Government’s Circular Economy Taskforce marks a real opportunity to move away from our current linear ‘take, make, throw’ economic model and make real progress towards a low carbon, circular economy – with the added benefits of economic growth and social value.”
“Having led the development by ReLondon of the first ever city route map to a circular economy, I’m delighted to be on the Taskforce – in particular as a voice for cities and their pivotal role in making circularity happen.”
Also included among the taskforce members is academic expert David Greenfield, who noted that the vast network of experts of representatives aimed to be forward thinking about circularity.
Greenfield, vice president with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and a visiting Professor specialising in the circular economy at the University of Brighton, said there was a clear understanding among members about the importance of circularity to carbon reduction aims.
He said: “The opportunity to be part of cohort of multi-disciplinary experts from a cross section of the supply chain and sectors to lead the creation of national strategy that will move the country towards a more resource efficient and circular future is an absolute honour.”
Libby Peake, head of resource policy for The Green Alliance think tank and charity, said that the Government’s stated commitments to circular economy principles had implications for both waste management as well as procurement plans and other environmental strategies. This broader approach to reuse and recycling was expected to create unprecedented opportunities, members of the taskforce noted.
Peake said: “I’m delighted to be amongst the people who are taking up the challenge of creating an effective strategy that removes barriers, changes mindsets and delivers the many, many benefits we know are there for the grasping.”
Dr Colin Church, chief executive with the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, welcomed the broad range of expertise in the taskforce to look at stated commitments of ending linearity in the economy.
Linearity is used to describe traditional economic approach of manufacturing, consuming and then disposing of goods and products. A circular economy, based on a definition set out by ReLondon, would seek to prioritise extracting as much value from waste and other materials in the supply chain beyond a single use or purpose.
Dr Church said: “This taskforce is a novel approach from the Government to addressing the substantial challenge of converting our largely linear economy to a more circular one.”