Welcome to 2026! I hope you’ve all had a happy and restful break over Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to a productive year ahead.
Of course, Christmas and New Year has meant little in terms of update to policy, so I’ll rave about my seasonal adventures (whilst staying somewhat on topic...) for a bit instead!
Before Christmas I finished a few days early to fly out to the south of France, taking the train through the Cote D’Azur to Monaco.
Aside from the predictably ridiculous wealth on display and the most incredible Christmas decorations around and in Casino Square, what really stood out is just how immaculate the place is. Also, a surprising number of green spaces considering it’s the most densely populated country in the world.
I suppose the benefits of being a microstate that can govern a small area, a high police presence and a seemingly infinite amount of money, but the number of bins and street cleaners, and the pride in the city, clearly paid off. I don’t think I saw a single piece of litter in four days there! Not entirely sure what, if anything, can be learnt from this for the UK, but it was nice to see, nonetheless.
Also, great that the deposit on cups for drinks at Christmas market stalls is seemingly the rule now rather than an exception. I do wonder what came of the frankly incredible number of real Christmas trees now the season is over, though…
Full disclosure, I failed to use a reverse vending machine that was exclusively in French. I did manage to successfully use a French roulette table though (that’s a story for a different blog) so I guess you can only do so much for people until they need to take responsibility.
I’ve nearly inadvertently completed the microstates now – Vatican City in 2017, San Marino in 2023, and Andorra in 2024. So, just Liechtenstein left. Maybe I’ll have better luck with the RVMs there? I’ll be sure to report back.
Anyway, 2026 and UK policy.
As mentioned, and unsurprisingly, there isn’t a lot to update on, though we will get straight back into it this week as we submit the LARAC response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on a Draft Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland.
Just prior to Christmas, PackUK shared the Q&A document for the local authority pEPR payments webinar from November. This document is available on the LARAC website here.
This month, we have our scholar site visits to look forward to, a webinar scheduled for 21 January (registration details are available here), and in-person events expected to begin from February.
So, Happy New Year, and hopefully we will see you and speak soon!
