Waste reduction at heart of Defra’s resource security action plan

Businesses will be encouraged to safeguard the future supply of critical resources through greater recovery and reuse operations under the Government's forthcoming Resource Security Action Plan.


In an exclusive article for edieWaste, Defra Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman says that the action plan, due to be published shortly, will provide businesses with “information about the risks to the supply of individual materials” such as key metals and minerals required for cleantech technologies.

Defra also intends to build up a strong evidence base by studying the approach of other countries towards resource efficiency, and by exploring global opportunities for UK companies that look to recovery, recycle and reuse critical materials.

According to Spelman, UK business could save up to £23bn a year by using raw materials, energy and water more efficiently. The action plan, which has been developed in partnership with business, will home in on non-energy and non-food resources – for example rare earth metals as these are subject to increasing price volatility risks.

In the article, Spelman says that the reduction of waste is “vital to the new, green economy we need to build” across all sectors and along supply chains. She adds that Defra is helping food producers to find ways of using less energy, carbon and water intensive processes.

Maxine Perella

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