Outlining an expanded vision for the circular economy in Wales

Over the past few years, Wales has set the benchmark for recycling rates across the UK with a national recycling rate above 65 per cent, and has targets in place to increase this to 70 per cent for 2024-25.

While this is a hugely encouraging start, there is a widespread understanding that recycling alone will not solve the climate and ecological challenges the country faces. There is much more to do if we are to usher in a truly circular economy in Wales.

To set out a clearer vision on how this challenge should be addressed, the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee of the Welsh Senedd recently hosted a session where key industry partners (including WRAP, Keep Wales Tidy, CIWM and us at Resource Futures) were asked to give evidence that will feed directly into the next iteration of its ‘Beyond Recycling’ circular economy strategy.

The key message that came out of this is that rather than focusing on increasingly marginal gains in household recycling, we should look at other strategies that can unlock the greatest environmental and societal benefits for Wales.

Our 2022 municipal waste composition study for the Welsh Government highlighted that further gains in municipal recycling will become increasingly marginal. Achieving this growth will depend on constructing specialist recycling facilities, which will deliver lower returns on investment due to reduced economies of scale. While this is already in development, there is a need to think longer term about strategies that can complement household recycling and keep up momentum around waste reduction.

Wales has an excellent system in place for recycling packaging materials (i.e. glass, paper, cardboard, plastics); however, a relatively high amount of non-packaging materials such as nappies, sanitary products and textiles continue to be sent to landfill.

While recycling rates of these materials have increased, many of these products are not designed to be recycled and contain complex material mixes that mean they are likely to end up ‘downcycled’ into single-use items (such as bin bags) – if they are recycled at all.

Clearly, recycled content is always preferable to using virgin materials; however, substantially greater carbon savings can be achieved through reuse. Reuse and repair can also bring local economic and social benefits, such as electronic ‘amnesties’ where tech items can be collected, refurbished and delivered to people who need them in the local community.

With strong support among the Welsh public for reuse, repair and rental, there is a real opportunity to drive a national conversation about the impact of our consumption, and generate more support for circular businesses so we can keep these kinds of products further up the waste hierarchy.
Much of the focus around waste and recycling is around packaging ; however, research suggests that the greatest opportunity for carbon savings can be found in the construction sector through increased reuse of construction materials and other circular activities.

As Wales has devolved powers on planning and building regulations, this is an opportunity where policy can play a key role in developing the circular economy. One example of this already in effect elsewhere is the London Plan, which requires developers to submit circular economy statements and whole life carbon assessments, as well as identifying where materials can be reused or recycled.

As tools already exist that allow these kinds of end-of-life considerations (i.e. assessing how buildings can be sustainably deconstructed and which materials extracted and reused) to be factored into the procurement process, this is a realistic and achievable shift that could have a substantial positive impact on the Welsh construction industry’s carbon footprint.

Wales’ economy is geared more towards its public sector than other areas of the UK: this could act as an important lever for circularity. This would involve changes in how value for money and return on investment is assessed, for example to support product-as-a-service, as well as introducing circularity-supporting measures in large institutions such as the NHS and universities.

While adequate recycling infrastructure is essential to a circular economy, greater investment in reuse and repair facilities for communities and for key industries (such as construction) will help to limit demand for all types of waste management facilities. Developing a long-term funding mechanism (such as EPR) would establish a stable environment for the sector to grow.

To ensure optimal investment, there needs to be comprehensive modelling of infrastructure needs under different policy scenarios, exploring the potential impacts of ambitious circular economy, reuse and repair policies. Doing this will avoid ‘locking in’ infrastructure and contracts that may undermine the circular economy transition, such as energy-from-waste (EfW) plants or chemical recycling of plastics.

In the next stage of progress, we believe a national conversation is needed around reducing primary resource use. Wales needs to go beyond municipal waste and individual consumption, to promote progress in key sectors of the economy and to create opportunities for large institutions to have an impact.

The reputation the country has established in this area will help attract circular economy innovation and funding to the country, which can be leveraged to move it further beyond recycling. This can empower businesses to make more sustainable and resource-efficient choices – and Wales can reap economic, social and economic benefits.

Gwen Frost is a director at Resource Futures.