The recent COP21 climate change talks in Paris have concluded with an agreement on the key principle of keeping “global temperature increase to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C”.
While the aspiration on limiting global temperatures must be applauded, we have a long way to catch up following both the Rio and Copenhagen Summit failures. With no binding legislation or measures it’s difficult to see how this target can be achieved and the dichotomy is that we must not even contemplate failure.
Moving towards a circular economy
The reality is that to achieve anything meaningful much of our locked up carbon has to remain in the ground and that means moving towards a circular economy as fast as we possibly can – is it coincidence that the European Commission released its Circular Economy package days before the Paris talks?
I believe that the role of a Producer Compliance Scheme in developing business partnerships or integrated sectoral approaches to resource and energy use could be pivotal – and with the European Commision estimating carbon savings of 450 million tonnes through the circular economy it’s an opportunity that’s literally too good to waste.
Robbie Staniforth
Head of policy
As head of policy, Robbie is responsible for liaising with government, regulators and industry organisations to represent our members’ views and interests. In previous roles, he helped to instigate market-based change and he brings that dynamism to his current role of influencing regulatory change. With years of experience working across a number of departments at Ecosurety, it’s fair to say he has an excellent understanding of producer compliance and recycling, which enables him to provide high-level policy expertise, industry insight and market analysis to our members.
Useful links
Following HM Treasury’s call for evidence on single-use plastics earlier this year, the Chancellor yesterday announced plans for a new tax on plastic packaging which contains less than 30% recycled plastic, subject to consultation.
Read More >>The UK’s biggest collaborative push to improve on-the-go recycling is now one month into a six-month run and the results so far are being closely monitored.
Read More >>Ecosurety’s policy manager Robbie Staniforth told the Sustain Wales Summit that within Wales, manufacturers are beginning to realise the responsibility that they have to reprocess the plastic packaging they produce.
Read More >>
