Danish Resource Efficiency Strategy Conference Dr Mervyn Jones Head of Collaborative Programmes

Set up in 2000 to help recycling take off in the UK and to create a market for recycled materials Over the last decade, we have continued to help governments and businesses to devise strategies to deal with these issues Our expertise in delivering resource efficiency has developed our position as thought leaders on the ‘circular economy’ Background Source: EEA, 2013 (includes EfW)

Why a circular economy? Carbon Recovery Recycling Repair Re-use Material extraction Disposal Design & Production Use Retail & Distribution Resource Minimisation Waste Prevention WaterMaterials StabilityResilienceCompetition

UK resource efficiency

What resource efficiency requires Government Business Consumers Collections Ensuring supply of quality material for recycling Infrastructure Establishing the capacity to sort, recycle & reprocess Supporting recycling enterprises Markets Building demand for & confidence in recycled materials

Collections & Sorting De-risk & incentivise Investment Evidence base Specifications & Standards SUPPLY DEMAND Public-private partnerships The value chain Informed choice purchase and disposal Developing markets for materials Technology Quality Waste prevention Procurement Consumer campaigns

PPP strategy for action Raw material extraction Manufacturing Retail or service Use Collection Recycling Material production Re-use & repair Public sector –policy frameworks – Danish Resource Strategy –accelerate market transformation –enable market confidence –encourage growth –deliver social improvement –public procurement Private sector –ensure quality of supply and market confidence –resilience –innovation –business efficiency –market-based approach –product service models

Behaviour change Food waste prevention – Love Food Hate Waste WRAP developed Recycle Now – ‘what to recycle and where’ Communication materials for local authorities and partners, e.g. Recycle Now for UK Local Authorities; retailers & brands; London 2012 etc ‘On pack’ labels for packaging in partnership with retailers and brands

Effective mass collections Materials streams: –glass, wood, metal, plastics, paper & cardboard, organic Kerbside recycling Bring sites Collections for re-use Take-back schemes

Social interventions to deliver behaviour change Collections designed for different housing types –types of container –capacity of container –collection frequency Legal compliance for collections Simple ‘rules’ Consistency in national recycling services Can collections at home & at work be the same? Anaerobic Digestion Sorting Recycling Make participation easy

Recycle Now examples

National campaign - local delivery Guidance by materials stream Guidance by locality, e.g. high – low densities Branding guidelines for customising messages Guidance on away from home & ‘on street’ Guidance for businesses in communicating with consumers Providing a consistent message, look and feel

Infrastructure Ensure quality and capacity by: Addressing technical barriers Determining capacity requirements Providing financial support to leverage private sector investment Obtaining clarity on end market requirements for outputs (e.g. quality requirements) Composting organics Sorting Recycling

Market development Encouraging demand for recycled materials and products in existing markets construction sector e.g. inerts retail e.g. packaging agriculture e.g. food waste Addressing barriers to market entry Encouraging new business and retail models Public sector procurement e.g. leadership

End Markets – financial drivers Increased processing

Market development example

Working with retailers & brands Design in recyclability Encourage innovation Match labelling on packaging where available Create demand for recycled content Simplify packaging where possible

Impact & evaluation Benchmarking Forecasting Monitoring & reporting Tools & guidance industry self reporting Evaluation Scale is important: National metrics impact of regulation Sectoral Product/material Mechanisms campaigns voluntary agreements financial mechanisms

UK economic benefits (€1.35bn) (€550M) (€4.8bn) (€4.8bn  €23bn) UK recycling sector

Employment opportunities “Growth in the circular economy can be expected to have lasting beneficial effects on the labour market.” Employment and the circular economy, WRAP & Green Alliance, 2015 Between 2000 and 2010, sales turnover in the waste and recycling sector had nearly tripled, to over £19 billion (€26Bn).

Thank you Dr Mervyn Jones