I’ve been catching up this month with the “Our waste, Our resources” strategy for England that was unveiled by DEFRA in December and how we at Circle Waste can help our clients understand and assist them with the drive towards the Circular Economy.
Michael Gove promised to consider extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes to ensure industry covers the full cost of the life cycle of their products, including the recycling and recovery. This “Polluter Pays” attitude with business and manufacturing will ensure they shoulder the responsibility for the pollution caused by their products, which seems only fair that they do.
The strategy is to maximise the value of resources we use, minimise the waste we create and cut carbon emissions therefore, creating a strong secondary material market and increase UK reprocessing.
It also made me think about the waste some of our clients generate and how much of that material is created by their supply chain and how we challenge that aspect. We have actively encouraged, and chaired steering groups formed of our clients and their suppliers and included the manufacturers to help reduce the impact and this is where perhaps the low hanging fruit is. We still speak to many businesses who are looking to reduce their waste cost by container price rather than reduce the amount of waste they have forced onto them or accept as part of the sector they are in. Maybe an enforced EPR scheme will dictate this in the future but I believe if we are to become less of a “throw away” society and tread more lightly on the planet then look at what’s in your waste container today and how it was generated, where did it come from originally and get all of you round a table to come up with a plan to reduce it. It’s collaborative, it’s quick and it’s measurable. It’s also a very good topic for discussion when we hold our CIWM wastesmart courses, which we can do nationally if you’re interested in holding within your business or organisation.
-Mark Garwood
Sales Director | Circle Waste
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