Recycling could create at least an additional 160.000 jobs in a
circular economy say executives at WRAP a British advisory company which
works with a wide range of partners, from major UK businesses, trade
bodies and local authorities through to individuals looking for
practical advice on recyclin. They are funded by all four governments
across the UK and the EU and run programs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.
As a practical example of a circular economy - Norway, along with many other northern European countries, has built a network of cogeneration plants that produce heat and electricity from recycled waste. Referred to as waste-to-energy facilities, the process is relatively simple. Garbage is burned in a portion of the facility, creating steam, ash and flue gases. The facility collects the steam and uses it to turn turbines, which generates the electricity used throughout much of the country. The ash is trucked away to a landfill, while the remaining gases are either filtered and dispersed into the atmosphere, or collected and used for additional products like biofuel.
With a growing recycling infrastructure diverting more European waste from landfills, as well as systems R&D investments from integrated waste handling firms the EU could eventually be turning their waste into gold and jobs.
EU-Digest
A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.
As a practical example of a circular economy - Norway, along with many other northern European countries, has built a network of cogeneration plants that produce heat and electricity from recycled waste. Referred to as waste-to-energy facilities, the process is relatively simple. Garbage is burned in a portion of the facility, creating steam, ash and flue gases. The facility collects the steam and uses it to turn turbines, which generates the electricity used throughout much of the country. The ash is trucked away to a landfill, while the remaining gases are either filtered and dispersed into the atmosphere, or collected and used for additional products like biofuel.
With a growing recycling infrastructure diverting more European waste from landfills, as well as systems R&D investments from integrated waste handling firms the EU could eventually be turning their waste into gold and jobs.
EU-Digest
