State of the Nation: Waste and Resource Management 2011

In an age when we will all have to do ‘more for less’, there's a compelling value-for-money case for the shift to resource management.

Extracting more benefit from material as it moves through our economy can also help us achieve value for carbon. Recycled products can substitute virgin materials with high embodied carbon, whilst energy from waste can make a contribution to replacing the high-emission power stations that must be taken offline in the next decade.

To achieve these outcomes, Government and industry must:

• Increase the quality and quantity of recycled and recovered materials
• Make it easier for private organisations to invest in waste and resource management
• Ensure the UK has a waste and resource management infrastructure that can adapt to changing demands