Six major businesses have backed the launch of a UK task force to address dwindling global resources.

The Circular Economy Task Force was launched in London yesterday to help find solutions to mitigate the rising cost of raw materials through reuse and recovery.

Set-up by environmental think-tank Green Alliance, the task force counts pharmacy group Alliance Boots, chemicals giant BASF, carpet manufacturer Interface, printer and copier firm Kyocera Document Solutions, and waste managment groups Veolia and Viridor among its members.

Representatives from the UK government, as well as associations including the CBI and manufacturers’ organisation EEF, will act as observers to the task force.

“80% of our economy isn’t circular – it relies on a supply of cheap commodities and loses valuable materials in landfill. But cheap commodities are a thing of the past,” said Julie Hill, chairwoman of the Circular Economy Task Force. “The risk is that without change, resource costs will constrain economic activity. We’re missing out on the economic opportunity that better material recovery offers.”

The task force aims to build knowledge about how a circular economy can work, find practical solutions for companies to adopt, identify barriers to more sustainable business models, and test how policy changes may speed up the transition.

By Christopher Cundy
Environmental Finance