rio - kn

The consultations published last December by DEFRA and the Treasury have a deadline for submissions of May 12^th and 13^th.  They concern how England should manage its waste collections and treatment; how the UK should manage its packaging waste; and how the UK should tax plastics.  Within the scope of the consultations on packaging waste, the Government is consulting on two questions- how to make the producers pay for all the costs of managing the waste they create (known as Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR).  In the UK our EPR system only covers approximately 10% of the cost of managing the waste of items put on the market, leaving the other 90% of the costs falling on our Local Authorities.  This is very different from the ‘Green Dot’ system adopted across Europe that covers full costs. The other question being asked is whether and how to introduce a deposit-return scheme (DRS) for drink containers (bottles and cans) to reduce littering and increase recycling.

No, this is not an article about ninja warriors but about how Chinese policies on waste have impacted recycling and waste management in the UK (and elsewhere).

A bit of history...

This edie insight report, produced in collaboration with Ditto Sustainability, provides clear, practical steps that can be taken by sustainability and CSR professionals to embed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within their organisation’s business strategy.

You can download our report from edie below...

We had a really interesting time together at Ditto Sustainability's event on 27 June at the City of London offices of investor, IP Group. The subject of discussion was 'Will the Circular Economy save the Planet?' and about 50 of us crowded the rooftop room. I acted as compere for this afternoon meeting, and this was really fun because the speakers were well informed, sharp, and up to the task of replying to some rather provocative questions from me and the audience.

Here's the video of the day...

World Environment Day (WED) is an event that has been running since 1974 and is regarded as the ‘UN's most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment’. Each year the event has a host country and a theme. This year’s theme was unsurprisingly, ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ and giving up single-use plastics; hosted in India.

Giving up single-use plastics is amicable, but it's a polluted drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things...

The consultancy Eunomia published a report recently which lifts the lid on declared recycling figures.

Their analysis finally gives some data credibility to what many of us already intuitively knew... ...it cannot be possible that we recycle half our waste in the UK...

The world's largest environmental movement. And a good week for plastics? Earth Day (organised by the Earth Day Network) is a global event; it all started in 1970 when millions of people took to the streets to protest about the negative impacts of industrial development and how it was impacting the earth! Earth Day is now a recognised day of political action and civic participation. This year took place on Sunday 22 April, and focused on ending Plastic Pollution.

But what about beyond Earth Day...?