How will Brexit affect the U.K.’s transition to a circular economy?

19. April 2019 | Politics | via Fastcompany.com

(Credit: FC / fastcompany.com)

The objective of the circular economy is to move away from a linear throw-away system toward one in which depleting resources are reused to maximize their potential and minimize waste.

According to an article on fastcompany.com recycling plays a key role, reflected in one of the EU’s pan-European objectives to reach 50% of reused or recycled residential waste by 2020. It is difficult to overestimate the role the European Union has played in the protection of the circular economy in the U.K.; around 80% of the U.K.’s environmental laws have been created by the European government.

But with the March 29 deadline now less than two weeks away, and Theresa May still unable to successfully pass a deal through parliament, there are doubts about the future of the circular economy in the U.K. The EU’s latest Circular Economy Package will not come into full force until after the currently scheduled exit day and, dependent on the type of Brexit deal achieved, the U.K. may or may not be obliged to keep to these targets.

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