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baseline data on which to assess progress against the target. The package did not
survive the formation of the new Commission and was formally withdrawn in
February 2015, as part of a drive to cut ‘red tape’ (Euroactive 2015 ). At the same
time, the EU Commission pledged to propose a ‘new and more ambitious’ package
by the end of 2015. The uncertainty thus generated has been widely criticized by
NGOs and some businesses.
3 UK Policy Responses to Circular Economy Objectives
Businesses are ahead of the policy debate on circular economy in the UK, in terms
of their promulgation of the ideas and their understanding of the opportunities and
barriers. This is evidenced by think tank/business partnerships such as the Ellen
Macarthur Foundation (EMF 2013 ), the RSA’s Great Recovery Project (RSA 2013 )
and the Green Alliance’s Circular Economy Task Force ( 2015 ).
In the UK, the last decade of policy developments in Europe have worked through
into policy into four main ways:
• Efforts to implement the 50 % recycling target.
• Efforts to divert waste from landfi ll into recycling and energy from waste, particularly biodegradable wastes.
• The implementation of producer responsibility schemes for packaging, end of
life vehicles, electronics and batteries.
• Discussions in the four countries comprising the UK of how to move to the ‘inner
loops’ of re-use and remanufacturing, as well as greater product longevity.
The fi rst three have been relatively successful, but focus on the lower parts of the
waste hierarchy or the ‘outer loops’ of the circular economy. The last has been most
evident in (1) the publication of a Resource Security Action Plan jointly by the UK
Departments for Environment and for Business, and (2) the development of ‘Waste
Prevention Plans’ by the four countries of the UK.
4 The Resource Security Action Plan
The UK’s Resource Security Action Plan (RSAP) (Defra 2012 ) was a joint initiative
of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to examine strategies for addressing resource security in the UK. The RSAP put more emphasis on recovery (i.e. circular approaches) than on opening up new sources of materials as a means to provide
greater resource security. It also encouraged the environmental think tank Green
Alliance to establish the Circular Economy Task Force as a means of engaging businesses in the solutions. The task force’s fi rst report, Resource Resilient UK, was published in July 2013 (Benton and Hazel 2013 ) and provided a new account of material
J. Hill
baseline data on which to assess progress against the target. The package did not
survive the formation of the new Commission and was formally withdrawn in
February 2015, as part of a drive to cut ‘red tape’ (Euroactive 2015 ). At the same
time, the EU Commission pledged to propose a ‘new and more ambitious’ package
by the end of 2015. The uncertainty thus generated has been widely criticized by
NGOs and some businesses.
3 UK Policy Responses to Circular Economy Objectives
Businesses are ahead of the policy debate on circular economy in the UK, in terms
of their promulgation of the ideas and their understanding of the opportunities and
barriers. This is evidenced by think tank/business partnerships such as the Ellen
Macarthur Foundation (EMF 2013 ), the RSA’s Great Recovery Project (RSA 2013 )
and the Green Alliance’s Circular Economy Task Force ( 2015 ).
In the UK, the last decade of policy developments in Europe have worked through
into policy into four main ways:
• Efforts to implement the 50 % recycling target.
• Efforts to divert waste from landfi ll into recycling and energy from waste, particularly biodegradable wastes.
• The implementation of producer responsibility schemes for packaging, end of
life vehicles, electronics and batteries.
• Discussions in the four countries comprising the UK of how to move to the ‘inner
loops’ of re-use and remanufacturing, as well as greater product longevity.
The fi rst three have been relatively successful, but focus on the lower parts of the
waste hierarchy or the ‘outer loops’ of the circular economy. The last has been most
evident in (1) the publication of a Resource Security Action Plan jointly by the UK
Departments for Environment and for Business, and (2) the development of ‘Waste
Prevention Plans’ by the four countries of the UK.
4 The Resource Security Action Plan
The UK’s Resource Security Action Plan (RSAP) (Defra 2012 ) was a joint initiative
of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to examine strategies for addressing resource security in the UK. The RSAP put more emphasis on recovery (i.e. circular approaches) than on opening up new sources of materials as a means to provide
greater resource security. It also encouraged the environmental think tank Green
Alliance to establish the Circular Economy Task Force as a means of engaging businesses in the solutions. The task force’s fi rst report, Resource Resilient UK, was published in July 2013 (Benton and Hazel 2013 ) and provided a new account of material
J. Hill