Manufacturers’ concerns around resource security and scarcity are mounting. Surveys of businesses show factors ranging from geopolitical tensions and demographical changes to shifting resource demands and climate change are combining to threaten the access to raw materials essential to the UK’s economy and growth.
Government needs a broader view of resources: one that maximises extraction of valuable, reusable materials currently disposed of. There is a need to consider the how the materials required to sustain a healthy manufacturing industry flow through the economy.