From waste to resource productivity
Durham University research has informed a switch in UK Government waste and recycling policy - from disposal to resource recovery and embracing a more circular economy. The research influenced both the framing and conclusions drawn in the Government's inaugural comprehensive cross-departmental waste and resource recovery report.
Issue
The UK faces numerous challenges in moving to a circular economy. The quality of recovered materials has been adversely affected by UK policy that has, for over 15 years, quantified success in waste management in terms of volumes diverted from landfill. UK local authorities are locked into this weight-based policy via their current waste and recycling contracts. These contracts will frustrate any move away from an export-dependent model, hindering the progress toward a more circular economy.
Approach
Led by geographers at Durham University, The Waste of the World project (2006-2011) examined how wastes in the Global North become resources elsewhere through international trade. The project explored these issues through a focus on ship breaking as a resource recovery sector. Findings emphasised that resource recovery is fundamentally about materials quality.
Subsequent Durham research on materials recovery facilities, and on the anaerobic waste digestion sector, pushed findings into further sectors of resource recovery in the UK.
Impact
UK Government policy on waste and recycling has shifted over the last three years from an emphasis on management and disposal to a focus on resource recovery and a more circular economy. This shift began with the commissioning of a report on waste and resource productivity by the UK Government Office for Science (GO-Science) and has continued through publication of strategic documents by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Defra. Durham University research has informed both the development of this policy framework and its subsequent scrutiny by the House of Commons.
More information:
Institution: Durham University
Researchers: Professor Louise Amoore, Dr Volha Piotukh
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How to cite
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (2023) From waste to resource productivity. Available at www.rgs.org/From-waste-resource-to-productivity Last accessed on: <date>