Originally published at: https://therestartproject.org/news/defra-update/
On 27th March Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) set out the department’s plans to transition to a circular economy.
The ambition is high, and DEFRA’s decision to set up a Circular Economy Taskforce is a huge opportunity. This is a once in a generation chance to shift away from our throwaway economy.
But, with the first announcement about the detail of the Taskforce’s work, we can’t help but be dismayed about the lack of focus on electrical waste (e-waste).
The initial five priorities of the Circular Economy Taskforce will be textiles, transport, construction, agri-food, and chemicals and plastics. These were apparently chosen because they had the most potential to generate major economic gains while protecting the environment and delivering net zero.
We understand that this won’t be the full extent of the Circular Economy Strategy, just the initial focus for the Taskforce. But e-waste needs to be on the next list of priorities, and you can help to make sure that happens by continuing to show that there’s popular, and MP, support for action on e-waste.
Take action and email your MP today
Here’s why e-waste needs tackling:
- E-waste is the world’s fastest growing waste stream
- The UK is the second highest producer of e-waste per capita in the world
- The environmental impacts of manufacturing new electrical products are enormous; making a single smartphone produces over 50 kg of CO2e, uses 14,000 litres of water and depletes 6.5kg of metal ores. We must keep these products in use for longer – and to do that we have to address the factors that are leading to electrical products being disposed of so frequently.
- Almost half of the electrical products that are shredded for recycling in the UK could be reused. Across the UK this could mean that over 30,000 usable electrical products are being recycled every week.
So let’s applaud this opportunity for a truly circular economy. But let’s ramp up the pressure to consider e-waste in the next round of priorities, and continue to show how much support there is for ambition – and policies to match them on repair and reuse.
[Featured image by Mark A Phillips licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0]
