On Thursday, Richard attended an online event on the Circular Economy organised by waste management company Viridor and attended by the Resources and Waste Minister, Jo Churchill.
Following the event, Richard Fuller, MP for North East Bedfordshire and Member of the Business and Energy Select Committee, said:
An economically rational pursuit of a “Net Zero” target must tap the ingenuity of our businesses and entrepreneurs to help us keep resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life. This is the essence of the “circular economy”.
Our small businesses can pay a crucial role in achieving progress toward a “circular economy” and funds are available via government research grants and can be applied for here before December 8th.
At the Circular Economy event today, Minister Jo Churchill MP outlined other government initiatives such as the proposed deposit return scheme, improved coordination of municipal recycling (targeting 35% by 2030) and new proposals on Extended Producer Responsibility.
The government is also promoting initiatives to create “electronic waste tracking systems” that promise to control better illegal waste and identify more accurately who and where this occurs.
My personal view is that there is a great opportunity to create personal apps so that each of us can see how much our own consumer choices – from takeaway coffee cups to fast food to plastic packaging from our groceries – is contributing to the circular economy.
