On certain subjects I’m sure there will be plenty of debate as to the merits of our long association with Europe however in terms of environmental direction few could argue that without their legislation the UK would not be in the positive position we are today.
The legislative structure created by Europe and adopted by the UK give us both the foundation and the opportunity to move towards a more circular economy. With the Waste framework directive, Landfill directive and the Circular economy package we were given a set of targets and framework to aspire to and over a twenty-year period we moved from a sector based on almost entirely landfill treatment to one that now focused on capturing materials and value.
Fortunately, the new Government has adopted the key principles from Michael Gove’s Waste Strategy from 2018 and in a short time swept away the seven long years of inertia in policy development. This year sees the implementation of Extended producer responsibility under the banner “simpler recycling” for both domestic and commercial streams followed soon by the introduction of a Deposit Return system. We have had many aspirational policies in the past but never ones backed by real regulation as we have in front of us.
The evolution of waste management practices is as we all know linked to the effectiveness of environmental policy and therefore if we want to create a more circular economy with all the benefits flowing from this, we need our legislators to continue to evolve. The “Circular Economy Taskforce” which is tasked by Government to look at ways of accelerating our move the circular economy and the growth potential this can deliver will be pivotal to maintaining an effective policy evolution. Without Europe’s constant regulatory development, witness the recent development of a textile EPR and some clear targets on food waste reduction we will need to fill this policy void.
Let’s hope that DEFRA through the “Circular Economy Taskforce” can fill this regulatory void and set us on a course for greater circularity but remember there’s no harm in looking occasionally to Europe who after all gave us our present framework for some positive ideas.
