And, the event, held last Friday (March 4) at City Hall also heard that the cities of Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London have agreed to collaborate on projects to accelerate the circular economy.
Representatives of the three capital said they were keen to collaborate on practical projects, as well as “share information and experience in the development and delivery of circular economy action plans”.
The collaboration was instigated by the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and the Greater London Authority working with officers from Amsterdam and Copenhagen to develop a project around the improved capture of plastics. In the future it is hoped that the work will spread to other circular economy projects where there is a joint interest.
Mr Pencharz said: “London, along with Amsterdam and Copenhagen, is at the forefront of the circular economy and this partnership will help develop sustainable projects that will boost the capital’s thriving green economy.”
Logistics
Abdeluheb Choho, Amsterdam’s Deputy Mayor for sustainability, said: “In a densely populated country like the Netherlands we think carefully about the logistics of our resources. With the city growing we are looking to implement smart solutions. We already have great projects concerning a circular economy, and are eager to make the transition to a larger scale. We would like to collaborate with London and Copenhagen as front running cities and share knowledge and successful practices ‘.
And, for Copenhagen, Morten Kabell, Mayor for technical and environmental affairs said: “We have got to rethink the way we live. Sustainability and green economy are key words for the evolution in Copenhagen and I’m sure that the collaboration with London and Amsterdam will be a guarantee for progress on circular economy”.
“We want to support more businesses to transition to more circular business models with a focus on small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs)”
Matthew Pencharz, Deputy Mayor for environment
London
Matthew Pencharz, Deputy Mayor for environment and energy, explained to delegates how London is Europe’s only megacity, covering 1,623 sq km with 8.4 million people. He noted: “We are also growing at the fastest rate in our history. We have just overtaken London’s greatest population which was in 1939 and growth is now over 100,000 a year.”
And, Mr Pencharz said that while these figures may appear small when compared to China and Shanghai, for a European city, with all our planning regulations this is profound and presents a real challenge.”
Mr Pencharz gave examples of how work on the circular economy was already underway in London.
Opportunities
In particular, he highlighted employment opportunities in small and medium sized enterprises which make up 50% of all London employment, and 48% of business turnover (at around £430 billion).
The deputy mayor said: “We want to support more businesses to transition to more circular business models with a focus on small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and we are doing this through the creation of a support programme. This work is being done with LWARB, the LSDC and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and will create a package of support for these inspiring young enterprises.”
Following a request from the Mayor of London for LWARB to work with the private sector and the London Infrastructure Delivery Board on the development of a ‘route map to the circular economy’ in London, LWARB published a “Towards a Circular Economy” report in December 2015
The report identifies a £7bn per year opportunity for London and potential for 40,000 from the circular economy in London.
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