Several names familiar to Green Retail World readers have been revealed as members of the new UK government Circular Economy Taskforce, which aims to support green jobs and economic growth.
One is Catherine Conway, director & reuse lead at the consultancy GoUnpackaged, which developed the Refill Coalition supported by Ocado Retail and Aldi. Other organisations represented in the membership are waste management NGO Wrap, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, water and waste management company Suez, and London-based circular economy group ReLondon.
The full Circular Economy Taskforce:
- Andrew Morlet (Taskforce chair), former CEO of Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Professor Paul Ekins (Taskforce deputy chair), professor of resources & environmental policy at University College London
- Jack Barrie, circular economy senior research fellow at Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) UK
- Natasha Boulding, founder & CEO at Low Carbon Materials
- Colin Church, CEO of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)
- Catherine Conway, director & reuse lead at GoUnpackaged
- Andrew Dove, professor of sustainable polymer chemistry at Birmingham University, and co-founder & chief scientific officer at 4D Biomaterials Ltd
- Debbie Fletcher, director of Climate, Zero Waste Team, Local Partnerships
- Shak Gohir, strategic programmes officer at CPI
- David Greenfield, founder & managing director at Social, Environmental & Economic Solutions (SOENECS) Ltd; and co-founder & managing director of Tech-Takeback Ltd; and vice president of Circular Economy Institute; and vice president of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management; and visiting professor of Circular Economy, University of Brighton
- Stuart Hayward-Higham, chief technical development & innovation officer at Suez
- Professor Peter Hopkinson, professor of circular economy & co-director of Exeter Centre for Circular Economy; and academic director for partnership at Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Wayne Hubbard, CEO at ReLondon
- Keith James, head of policy & insights at Wrap
- Hans Jensen and Chris Newsome (shared seat), directors at UKWP
- Dr Greg Lavery, founder & CEO of Rype Office
- Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance
- Phil Purnell, deputy head of school (Civil Engineering) at Leeds University
- Charlotte Williams, statutory chair in inorganic chemistry at University of Oxford; and founder & chief scientific officer at Econic Technologies
The Circular Economy Taskforce will aim to promote efficient and productive use of resources, and accelerate the transition to net zero emissions. It is part of the new government’s commitment to environmental welfare which also includes the recent relaunch of the Net Zero Council, co-chaired by Co-op Group chief Shirine Khoury-Haq.
According to the government, the key objectives of the taskforce are to identify and assess mechanisms that can underpin a circular economy strategy for England that – among other targets – will stimulate investment in technologies, sectors and infrastructure that enable resource circularity, and reduce emissions.
It is also part of the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
