"The days of extracting virgin natural resources, making things with them and then throwing them away must come to an end. The transition to a circular economy has a key role to play in climate action. 45% of our emissions are directly related to producing goods. Reducing the quantity of natural resources that we use and waste also reduces pressure on the quality of our air, soils and water and creates sustainable employment around the country.
"We all understand how saving energy and being energy efficient are critical for the climate. Now, we need to think this way about our material resources, like food, metals, plastic, concrete. A circular economy shows us how we can do this. This new strategy provides a really important policy signal across the public and private sectors that circularity belongs at the heart of sustainability.
The strategy was the subject of a public consultation early in 2021 – one of a series of consultations undertaken since early 2020 in this area. Public feedback was strongly supportive of moving towards a circular economy.