The UK has come up with measures backed by government funding to help keep products and materials in circulation for as long as possible and at their highest value, including through increasing reuse-repair-remanufacture, helping to grow the economy and boost employment.
- Announcing the measures called ‘Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste’, UK’s Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said that the government’s long-term aim is to use fewer new resources, drive up the repair and reuse of existing materials, and increase recycling.
- The approach will be informed by the rigorous analysis into resources and waste which we have been carrying out over previous years.
- Textiles has been identified as a priority waste stream given the significant quantities of waste produced and its impact on Net Zero goals—which is why it has brought forward actions such as consulting on collections of textile waste from businesses, and continuing to support voluntary actions taken by industry through Textiles 2030.
The actions include:
- Developing policy options to tackle fast fashion—keeping textiles out of landfill and in circulation for longer through reuse and recycling.
OVERALL PICTURE: The government pledged to publish this programme in the comprehensive Environmental Improvement Plan earlier this year – and it will play a crucial role in achieving our goals of reusing materials as much as possible, and minimising their impact on the environment.
The programme sets out government’s intentions on waste prevention in:
- three cross-cutting areas: designing out waste, systems and services, and data and information
- across seven key sectors: construction, textiles, furniture, electronics, food, road vehicles, and plastics/packaging.
- The government remains committed to delivering on its commitments to eliminating avoidable waste by 2050 and recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035.
WHAT THEY SAID:
We mean business when it comes to preventing waste. We’re targeting the sectors responsible for the biggest impacts on the environment, and working with business to take the right steps for better use of our precious resources. Today’s announcement sets out a long-term vision to improve our use of resources and protect the environment.
— Rebecca Pow
Environment Minister
United Kingdom
Nearly half of all greenhouse gases come from our own ‘consumption’ - what you and I do every day, how we shop and what we buy. Tackling these emissions from food to clothes, packaging to electronics and more is imperative if we’re to have any chance of limiting the crisis of our changing climate. Increasing repair and reuse is key to supporting the move towards more circular living which many people and community groups are embracing and WRAP welcomes more support for such initiatives.
— Harriet Lamb
Chief Executive Officer
WRAP
