Sustainability and circular economy principles should be at the heart of Government policy to encourage UK manufacturers to incorporate more recycled content in new goods, conserve raw material resources and promote locally-made goods.
That’s the view of Keith Freegard, Director of Axion Polymers, who was speaking at the first-ever Made in Britain workshop focused on marketing in the Circular Economy.
Freegard said: “Demand creation for recycled products is important if we are to create a circular economy based on efficient recovery and reuse of our existing finite resources, such as plastics.
“The technology is there to recycle these materials and there are multiple benefits to using recycled polymers from secure, locally-sourced UK supply chains with stable pricing - it’s also a brilliant carbon-saving story.”
Axion Polymers event in Manchester
Held at Axion’s end-of-life vehicle recycling facility in Manchester, the March event attracted more than 30 manufacturer and entrepreneur members keen to learn more about trading sustainably and supporting a more sustainable future in Britain.
Speakers also included Jane Gardner, Axion’s Head of Consulting Services on supporting business growth and development towards a circular economy; Malcolm Marnold from the Department for International Trade and Steve Poppit from Craemer UK who highlighted how their wheelie bin recycling scheme demonstrated circular economy principles.
Attendees also toured Axion’s facility, the Shredder Waste Advanced Process Plant (SWAPP) where resources are extracted from shredded scrap vehicles. Recovered materials include high-quality recycled polymers that can be used in new plastic goods, from automotive components to construction products.
David Trotter, Managing Director of Muggi, who attended the MiB event, said: “It’s really interesting listening to the experts and I enjoyed the networking. I found Keith’s talk fascinating and I will call him for a chat. I’m specifically interested in seeing what recycled products Axion supply that I could use in making our polypropylene Muggi tray.”