OPINION: Whatever happened to the Government’s “Circular Economy” agenda?
Two years ago it felt as though this might be placed front and centre within Defra policy by the incoming Labour Government. There seemed to be a perceptive understanding that what had previously been deemed a “waste” to fret over, could actually become a “resource” with monetary value that could contribute meaningfully to economic growth.
There also seemed to be an understanding that keeping feedstocks in the UK and adding value to them by reshoring certain processing industries was far better than putting it all in a shipping container and expecting India or Malaysia to sort it out for us. In short, the strong impression given was that we might have been on the cusp of moving beyond an agenda which simply says “we really ought to try to recycle a bit more” to one which made the circular economy a central mission for delivering economic growth.
There was a lot of excitement around the Circular Economy Taskforce. It started with a great deal of energy and held various engagement meetings with the sector to bring new ideas to the fore. It was very open in its work. I remember constructive engagement with Professor Paul Etkins, the Deputy Chair of the Taskforce, who took the trouble to attend an event focusing on the potential for biomethane capture on farms, and there was a lot of positive feedback on the process.
The Taskforce was supposed to publish the first phase of its work in October 2025, but that was eventually paused. Then we were told its output would be reflected directly in a series of sector roadmaps due at the beginning of 2026. Then it slipped to the spring. Here we are, almost past summer recess, and it is still all stuck somewhere. This is incredibly frustrating for the sector, who increasingly fear that this will become a missed opportunity.
Issues around waste and resource management are more prone to getting stuck in Government than other Defra issues because lots of other Departments have a view and an irritating tendency to interfere without taking the time to properly understand the issues. Perhaps there was a suggestion that the circular economy agenda might need investment, causing the Treasury to storm in and shut it all down? Perhaps there was a suggestion that certain prices might need to rise slightly to make the circular economy truly work, causing a bout of “now’s not the time” syndrome from No. 10? Maybe the Government is simply sitting on its hands awaiting orders from Brussels? Or perhaps it concluded that the last Resources and Waste Strategy (published in 2018) had it all covered and that, for the foreseeable future, all available bandwidth within Defra needs to focus on delivering existing policies like Extended Producer Responsibility and the Deposit Return Scheme, which started under the previous Government?
It is probably a combination of all those things. I am bound to say that the 2018 “Resources and Waste Strategy” was a good plan and the Environment Act 2021 introduced a range of new powers to give it effect. It is, therefore, not really a huge problem that it remains the guiding document for the current Government, however, it was still coloured by EU agendas of the time, so lacked creative and original thought. Apart from putting the word “resources” before “waste”, it perhaps also didn’t place as much emphasis on the value of waste as a resource and the opportunity to reshore industry to drive economic growth as it could have done.
A Labour Government with a belief in “re-industrialisation”, where the circular economy was part and parcel of the growth agenda, had a unique opportunity to evolve the 2018 strategy in a really positive way and make it their own. As another new Prime Minister takes the reins in No. 10, I hope it might yet.
George Eustice is the Managing Director of Penbroath, a regulatory affairs practice specialising in resources and waste, the environment and food. He was a Defra Minister for nine years including almost three years at Cabinet level.
Register for free to comment