Circular Economy

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for introducing the debate and for setting out so clearly the background, the challenges and the opportunities. The noble Baroness was my predecessor on the board of WRAP and I look forward to the day when I know as much about this subject as she does. She described accessibly the way in which we look at the circular economy. However, for many people the term is confusing and most of them will prefer to look at it as a make-do-and-mend principle, particularly in their own homes.

In the short time allotted to us today I am not going to talk about the European Commission’s circular economy package; about the waste industry, which is examining its business in the light of the new models; or about big business, which is studying opportunities and challenges.

I hope that, as in the previous debate on food waste, we might hear from the noble Lord, Lord Young, with some tips about how he and Lady Young promote the circular economy in their own home. Ways of doing things which may come naturally to us need to be shared with a new generation, which finds it easier to chuck than to reuse. When I was a girl growing up, before tights were invented, we were taught to darn our own stockings—that is the circular economy. I now use laddered tights—clean ones—to filter through the pith and pips when making marmalade and recycle the residue into my compost bin. Again, it is my own personal, household circular economy. I had a beautiful pink hat which I bought in a charity shop. I wore and wore it until eventually I thought, “I cannot wear that pink hat anymore because they will all think that I’ve got only the one hat”; so, at a reception at a constituency event, when a lady came to me and said, “I so admire your pink hat”, there was no one happier than me to give it to her knowing that it would be loved and reused. That is the personal circular economy.

The circular economy is about valuing our products differently and creating a more robust economy in the process. By assessing how we design, make, sell, reuse and recycle products we can work out how to get the maximum value from them, both when they are in use and at the end of their life. So, what does this mean in practical terms? As a company, how do you move to more circular models? Where are the new business opportunities? Like the noble Baroness, I strongly recommend a good look at the WRAP website for tips and advice about helping to access the business benefits of a circular economy. As a resource for understanding the closed-loop economy it cannot be bettered.

A cursory google shows how many innovative social enterprises and businesses are being launched. The Restart Project, for example, is a social enterprise which encourages people to repair their broken electronics to extend their lifespan and prevent electronic waste. It hosts restart parties in London where you can bring your gadgets and find out how to fix them, together with their repair coaches. So far, these events have prevented over 43 tonnes of carbon dioxide in London alone. I wish there were time for more examples.

This is an agenda with great appeal to young entrepreneurs, especially in the social enterprise space. Knowledge of what is available, both to consumers and to those who wish to innovate in this space, needs to be shared more widely. I urge my noble friend the Minister and others to do what they can to vigorously embrace, communicate and promote this agenda.