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TRANSCRIPT
Realising the Opportunities of Better Resource
Productivity in the UK Circular Economy
Sue Armstrong Brown
Policy director
• Brexit means…
• How the UK can benefit from better
resource productivity
• Opportunities in the short term
• The Industrial Strategy should be a
circular strategy
2.
Brexit means…
…a more circular economy
CE Package
Components
EEA Free Trade
Legislation
Waste
Directives
Apply Recycling targets may not apply
Product standards apply if traded
with EU
Action Plan
Ecodesign Apply Applies to products destined for EU
market
2o Materials
Standards
Apply Applies to products destined for EU
market
Plastics Non-legislative measures may
not apply
Regulations apply
Compliance with REACH, other
regs and product standards to
access EU market
Finance &
Innovation
Public procurement criteria
apply
Horizon 2020 available if UK
contributes
Need consistency to win EU
procurement contracts
Horizon 2020 unlikely to apply
Politics and the EU CE Package
• CE package timescale overlaps with Brexit
• MEPs can influence Waste Directives – but will not be given key roles
• Council position legally unchanged but politically unclear
• Ecodesign rules politically sensitive: #toastergate
• Potential to impact on public perception of EEA
3.
Opportunities for the UK
Resources policy post-Brexit
• EU has been the driver
• UK will need to jump-start the economy
• Deregulation could damage CE policy and harm progressive business
Circular economy thinking has a big
contribution to make
What increasing resource
productivity can offer:
Nationally
• Reduce import
dependency
• Capture employment
benefits
• Compete on innovation
and resource efficiency
• Meet environmental
targets
Locally
• Contribute to
industrial clusters
• Reduce LA bills
4.
Improve resource capture and re-use
Smarter and fairer waste system
Policy and financial support to transition
towards consistent waste collection
• Design for recyclability
• Increased recycled content
• Boost householder engagement
• Cost redistribution
I will if you will
Local
Authorities
• Consistent
collection
systems
Households
• Pay to waste
charges
Producers
• Differentiated
payments:
recyclability,
content and
comms
4.
A Circular Industrial Strategy
What is it?O
il &
Gas
Auto
motive
Constr
uction
Agri-t
ech
Fin
ancia
l and
Busin
ess S
erv
ices
Whole Economy
Offshore
Win
d
Workforce Skills
Innovation
Enterprise and business support
Horizontal
Vert
ical
Deliver a
structural
change
Resource and energy efficiency
Make
everyone
better
What it is not
• Industrial strategy is about the supply
side – helping sector perform better
• It is not about the demand side i.e.» - a carbon plan which imposes standards on vehicle emissions
» - a resource plan which encourages recycling and recovery
» - a farming subsidy programme which focuses on nature
• ….but they are related
How can resource productivity
thinking help?
• Utilise factors of production better
• Emulate environments which foster
business success e.g. sector and clusters,
open innovation, etc.
• Encourage diversification through the
value chain, product space, or in response
to new technologies
• Provide quality jobs in the UK’s high wage,
high cost, high quality environment
Ways to integrate resources
• Future proof growth – defining sectors in a low carbon, resource efficient world i.e. construction is passive buildings, automotive is EVs, all manufacturing is novel materials
• Cross cutting theme – energy and resource efficiency route to competitiveness
• Doubling down - linking up strategies where there are supply and demand interests
In conclusion
To realise opportunities for better
resource productivity in the UK, we
need:• A UK resources policy which builds in the
advantages of a shift towards a circular
economy
• Producer responsibility reform, better
resource capture and an ‘I will if you will’
approach to resource capture
• Circular principles underpinning the
Industrial Strategy
Thank you
http://www.green-alliance.org.uk