Resource efficiency could boost UK economy by £9bn

13th September 2016


Related Topics

Related tags

  • Business & Industry ,
  • Waste ,
  • Mitigation

Author

Silvana Palacios

Ambitious policy on resource conservation should be at the heart of the UK's industrial strategy, according to waste company Suez.

In a report assessing the long-term direction for the waste management industry, the firm calls on the business, energy and industrial strategy department (BEIS) to encourage greater use of secondary raw materials in products manufactured in the UK.

This would stimulate a domestic recycling and reprocessing industry focused on delivering quality secondary materials to UK-based manufacturers, it said.

The UK exports 14 million tonnes of secondary materials a year, but if all the resources remained in the country it would generate around £650 million a year, the study concluded.

The waste sector recovers around £15bn from waste in the form of secondary materials and energy, but because of disconnected waste and industrial policy half of recyclates and 90% of waste-derived fuel is exported. This is despite the fact that the UK is a net importer of primary raw materials and energy.

Keeping these resources in the UK economy would not only help to ‘future-proof’ the UK economy against supply risks, but also create employment in new waste-related activities, Suez argued. In addition, strong circular economy policies would benefit firms financially as they would reduce their use of primary raw materials.

The study highlights the opportunities for improved recycling, reuse and repair of primary materials in the textiles, furniture and electrical and electronic equipment sectors.

Improved recycling rates would also reduce the UK’s carbon emissions, with a 70% level cutting CO2 by 27 million tonnes, or 3.4% of the UK’s 1990 emissions.

The report recommends that BEIS works with the Treasury and Defra on incentives and taxation to encourage businesses to consume less primary materials and reuse more secondary ones. This could include:

  • legislation obligating manufacturers to offer longer-term warranties to influence the durability or repairability of goods;
  • obligations to include percentages of reused or recycled materials in some goods supplied to public sector organisations;
  • enhanced producer responsibility, where producers of a wider range of goods are obliged to pay the cost of recovering and recycling products and their packaging;
  • different tax regimes, such as VAT, to promote use of recycled materials over primary raw materials; and
  • tax breaks for research and development on innovative processing techniques.

Suez said its vision would be suitable under the UK’s current membership of the EU and when it leaves. However, the report acknowledges that Brexit may make some of its recommendations less likely to happen.

Dominic Hogg, founder and chairman of Eunomia Research and Consulting, which carried out the research, said: ‘An environmentally-informed industrial strategy would not only look at how we might use materials within industry, but would look to the waste and resources sector to see how industries could be supplied with the materials they need.

‘There’s a real opportunity to develop a symbiotic relationship between the waste and resources sector, and other industrial sectors, and in doing so, to support the growth of the economy. The word ‘waste’ should become a redundant one in our vocabulary,’ he said.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s new biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements could create 15,000 hectares of woodlands, heath, grasslands, and wetlands and absorb 650,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s latest Public Attitudes Tracker has found broad support for efforts to tackle climate change, although there are significant concerns that bills will rise.

13th March 2024

Read more

Multinational corporations are undermining their net-zero commitments with excessive air travel and no plans to reduce ‘the low hanging fruit’ of carbon footprints, a study by Transport & Environment has found.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

Large businesses across the world are avoiding climate action due to fear they will be called out for getting their work wrong, according to a new Carbon Trust report.

29th February 2024

Read more

A thought-provoking discussion on how storytelling can change the world took place in Central London last night, alongside an exclusive sneak preview of an upcoming IEMA film series.

29th February 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close