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