Unprecedented temperatures and sweltering heatwaves. Yet still there are Climate Change sceptics out there!
Even for those of us who may enjoy a bit of sunshine and have been longing for some warm weather, the heatwave presents very difficult conditions for those both at work and at home. In the UK, we are not prepared as much as some other countries for such extreme temperatures and all the impacts that it has on our lifestyles. And this could well be the shape of things to come, as scientists agree that climate change will drive more and more incidents of extreme weather in the UK and the rest of the world over the years to come.
Climate change as a result of increasing CO2 levels is a well recognised concept, and thus it is even more important than ever to continue to address CO2 levels, and the waste and resources industry is well placed to do exactly that. The move to a circular economy by reducing resource use and repairing and reusing what we can, will have a significant impact. Recycling still very much has its place however, which is why it is also still important to continue to increase recycling as much as possible.
We do of course have a number of government reforms that will be put into place over the next few years that will support this and aim to enable Local Authorities to recycle as much as possible by providing legislation for more materials to become recyclable and increase levels of recycling infrastructure within the UK. This is still a number of years away however, and there is less support for the move towards a circular economy in terms of resource use. However, we are still moving forward with changes nonetheless and it is encouraging to see that things are moving in the right direction (albeit not as fast as we may have hoped).
One part of the UK that is certainly fully embracing recycling and holds the impressive accolade of being the 3rd highest country in the world for recycling, is Wales.
I had the pleasure of attending the Wales LARAC conference last week, and it was a great opportunity to hear from a number of excellent speakers about the progress within Wales, and the plans for the future.
The Welsh Government have produced some documentation on their plans for addressing Climate Change and moving towards Net Zero and they spoke about how they are moving up the waste hierarchy, so thinking outside the box and beyond recycling.
So there's lots to be encouraged by, amongst other frustrations of legislation delays. But for the time being we all need to stay indoors, remain hydrated, keep cool and carry on!
