Axion urges Government Circular Economy policy to support UK manufacturers

ByThe Circular Economy Team

hat’s the view of Keith Freegard, Director of Axion Polymers speaking at the first-ever Made in Britain (MiB) workshop focused on marketing in the Circular Economy (CE).
Keith commented: “Demand creation for recycled products is important if we are to create a circular economy based on efficient recovery and reuse of our existing finite resources, such as plastics.
“The technology is there to recycle these materials and there are multiple benefits to using recycled polymers from secure, locally-sourced UK supply chains with stable pricing. It’s also a brilliant carbon-saving story!”
Held at Axion’s end-of-life vehicle recycling facility in Manchester, the March event attracted more than 30 manufacturer and entrepreneur members keen to learn more about trading sustainably and supporting a more sustainable future in Britain.
Speakers also included Jane Gardner, Axion’s Head of Consulting Services on supporting business growth and development towards a circular economy; Malcolm Marnold from the Department for International Trade and Steve Poppit from Craemer UK who highlighted how their wheelie bin recycling scheme demonstrated circular economy principles.
Attendees also toured Axion’s facility, the Shredder Waste Advanced Process Plant (SWAPP) where resources are extracted from shredded scrap vehicles. Recovered materials include high-quality recycled polymers that can be used in new plastic goods, from automotive components to construction products.
For MiB member David Trotter, Managing Director of Muggi, the event has inspired him to seek recycled polymers for use in his plastic cupholder products. He said: “It’s really interesting listening to the experts and I enjoyed the networking. I found Keith’s talk fascinating and I will call him for a chat. I’m specifically interested in seeing what recycled products Axion supply that I could use in making our polypropylene Muggi tray.”
Made in Britain’s Chief Executive, John Pearce, said: “What a privilege! To have our members take the factory tour at Axion in the afternoon, after spending the whole morning learning how you turn old cars into high value polymers, which some of them will want to purchase, was as good a day as I have ever had at Made in Britain.
“For me personally, just to see…

Circular Economy? Member States want it ‘despacito’

Circular Economy? Member States want it ‘despacito’

ByThe Circular Economy Team

After an 18-hour-long last negotiating meeting between the Council and the European Parliament an agreement to review the Waste Framework Directive, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and the Landfill Directive has been found. Zero Waste Europe welcomes the new agreement which should deliver the promised benefits in jobs, economic savings and reduced environmental impact. However ZWE is concerned that the pace of ambition is too slow to address the challenges that Europe is facing today. The agreement keeps Europe in the right path but it mitigates the ambition brought by the European Parliament in March, and almost every single meaningful objective proposed by the Commission or the Parliament has been axed or delayed by the Council. New EU Waste law aims at recycling 65% of total municipal waste by 2035, later and lower than 70% by 2030 that the Parliament had proposed. The push for repair and reuse through a specific target of preparation for reuse proposed by the Parliament has disappeared along with the marine litter reduction target. ‘National governments have lost the chance of securing a quick and ambitious transition towards a circular economy’, Zero Waste Europe’s Policy Officer on Waste, Ferran Rosa said. Despite the low ambition in terms of objectives, the new directives have the potential to deliver substantial change and contain the relevant elements to move towards a zero waste circular economy, such as the separate collection of bio-waste and textiles that becomes compulsory by 2023 and 2025, respectively, and the call on the Commission to propose targets on waste prevention and food waste reduction. Additionally, the new text aims at mainstreaming economic incentives in an attempt to transform waste management policies and the design of products under producer responsibility schemes. According to Mr Rosa, ‘the text is a long list of good intentions, objectives and obligations, but only implementation will deliver substantial change’.
Read the full article at: zerowasteeurope.eu

Policy Brief On Circular Economy and Climate – Circle Economy

Policy Brief On Circular Economy and Climate – Circle Economy

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The major emissions reductions needed to achieve this heavy lift have been recognized. However, these emissions reductions often target the source of emissions. While this is a reasonable approach, additional mitigation opportunities exist beyond the point where emissions are created.Transformational ideas add new climate action possibilities to the table and increase the likelihood of staying under 1.5° C. One set of policy options, in particular, is the circular economy, offering promise for cutting the current emissions gap significantly. Circular economy policies go beyond the source of emissions to socioeconomic practices that create the demand for emissions in the first place. The strategy involves moving beyond the current linear economic models, which extract materials, produce goods, sell them for consumption, and then discard them. Undertaking circular economy strategies can be accomplished while improving livelihoods and economies, and are often attractive from a business perspective. Circular economy models have been embraced by some subnational actors, especially cities; however, they have not been examined in much detail by the international climate community.